In war-torn lands, even the dead whisper. But Jin Rou had no interest in ghosts — only the truth that killed them.
The flames had long died in the ruined village, but their heat remained in the stones, clinging like old anger. Jin Rou sat cross-legged inside what had once been a shrine, now barely a skeleton of stone pillars and blackened wood.
Before him, the scroll lay unrolled. The seal was broken, the script faded, and parts were scorched. But enough remained for him to understand.
"Those who follow the Spiral Path must first empty the body of false fire."
He frowned.
The phrase wasn't just poetic. It was dangerous.
False fire referred to unstable Qi — wild, tainted, or forcibly consumed. If someone tried to cultivate advanced flame techniques while holding onto false fire, their body could burn from the inside out.
"Second: breathe not from the lungs, but from the marrow."
That line… he'd seen it before, once. Long ago, in the archives of the Ember Lotus Pavilion, now likely buried or looted like everything else.
[System Note: Hidden Martial Scripture Recognized]
[Fragment matched with "Spiral Flame Body – Incomplete (2/7)"]
[Progress: 28% | Memory Nodes Updated]
[Advancement Path: Body Tempering (Flame-Type)]
Jin Rou's eyes narrowed.
This wasn't just some lost sect's technique. It was a piece of something ancient — something forbidden even in his time. The Spiral Flame Body wasn't for normal cultivators. It altered the body's structure, replacing blood with flame-path essence over decades.
That process alone could kill 99 out of 100 cultivators.
He sighed and leaned back against the broken pillar. His body still hurt, and his Qi was barely more than a trickle.
And yet… the path had started.
---
By morning, he had buried the two mercenaries beneath stone piles.
Not out of kindness — but because leaving them to rot would attract beasts. The Flame Forest, just beyond the ridge, was known to house spirit creatures sensitive to blood and residual Qi.
He needed time. Quiet.
But fate was never quiet.
As he crossed a shallow river at the forest's edge, something shimmered across the water — a ripple, unnatural. Like silk disturbed.
He stopped.
The wind paused.
Then — movement.
A girl, no older than sixteen, sprinted from the treeline, her robes torn and soaked in blood. Behind her, two shadows emerged — cloaked figures, their faces wrapped in talismans that glowed faint red.
Assassins. Trained.
Her feet slipped as she reached the riverbed. She fell.
The assassins didn't slow.
Jin Rou didn't think.
He moved.
---
To a casual onlooker, it would've looked like a madman with wild hair and ruined clothes throwing himself at trained killers. But to those with true sight, Jin Rou's every step was precise.
He rolled through the first attacker's guard, striking their wrist.
> [Ember Palm Activated – 19% Stability]
The assassin's blade sparked as flames licked up their arm. They screamed and fell back, writhing as the Qi tore through their nerves.
The second one was faster. Smarter. He stepped around and slashed low, aiming to sever Jin Rou's leg.
Jin twisted — too late.
The blade bit into his thigh.
Pain exploded up his leg, but Jin caught the assassin's cloak and yanked hard. The man stumbled, and Jin drove his knee into the assassin's chin.
The blow cracked bone.
He collapsed.
Silence.
The girl stared at him, wide-eyed. She had a long scar on her cheek, and her eyes burned with both fear and fury.
"You… you're not with them?"
Jin winced, pressing a hand to his bleeding thigh. "Do I look like I'm winning?"
"…No."
She knelt beside him, drawing a small vial of silver liquid from her pouch. Without asking, she poured it on his wound.
It burned. Like molten needles.
Jin grit his teeth but didn't cry out.
> [System Alert: Foreign Alchemical Agent Detected]
[Purification Process: Accelerated Wound Closure]
[Vitality: 31%]
"What's your name?" he asked finally.
The girl hesitated. "Yue Ling."
He looked her over. Her robes were badly torn, but the inner lining showed a crest — three falling stars encircled by wind. A hidden sect emblem.
That meant trouble.
"Someone's hunting you."
She nodded. "They killed my family… our mountain was sealed off. I… escaped."
Jin felt a pang — one he didn't show. So many survivors now. So many fragments of a shattered world, wandering the ruins.
"What was your sect?"
She hesitated. "The Moonveil Pavilion."
That name hit him like a thunderclap.
He knew it. He'd visited their library once, decades ago. It was a small sect, but they were masters of wind-and-mirror techniques — illusions mixed with spiritual detection. Their founder once helped him escape a pursuit from Heaven's Gate Sect.
"I'm sorry," he said simply.
Yue Ling bit her lip but said nothing.
Then — she looked at the fallen assassins, her hand tightening on her pouch.
"You took a hit for me," she said. "And I don't know who you are. But… if you're going to travel through the Flame Forest…"
"Yes?"
"…you're going to need me."
Jin blinked. "You can't be serious."
"I'm the only one left who knows the invisible paths," she said, her voice stronger now. "The forest doesn't just kill with beasts. It shifts. It traps you. I've trained in its illusions since I was five."
He studied her.
Thin arms. Half-starved. But her eyes held a core of steel.
A spark. One that refused to die.
Jin Rou extended a hand.
"We travel until it stops making sense," he said. "After that — we decide again."
Yue Ling nodded and helped him up.
Behind them, the river shimmered again, and then went still.
Far above, in the trees, unseen eyes blinked open — golden, patient, and hungry.