Within the Azure Flame Hall, Lin Xun's name rose like smoke on a battlefield—slow at first, but soon suffocating all who dared to ignore it.
He had beaten Duan Yue.
He had taken Rank 49.
He had drawn the eye of Yun Qingyue herself.
But for Lin Xun, victory was never rest. It was fuel. His days were forged in trial, his nights steeped in cultivation. The inner sect offered no pause for celebration—only greater cliffs to scale.
And far away, dark forces stirred.
---
Nightfall at the Azure Peaks
By the third week, Lin Xun's daily routine had become as fierce as it was lonely.
At dawn, he trained under the frozen waterfall behind Azure Flame Hall, letting its biting waters crash against his bones to temper both will and body.
By day, he sparred with disciples who no longer mocked, but feared.
And by night, he entered seclusion in the Skyfire Caverns—an ancient spiritual ground where flame Qi bloomed like molten flowers beneath the earth.
Each breath refined his meridians.
Each whisper of flame brought clarity.
Each spark spoke secrets only he could hear.
On the twenty-first day, as he sat within the cave's heart, the flames bent unnaturally.
Then came a voice.
"You… are not ready."
---
A Trial in the Flame Lotus Realm
Lin Xun opened his eyes to find the cavern gone.
He now stood in an endless lotus field—each blossom ablaze, dancing between planes of reality. This was not a place of the living.
It was the Flame Lotus Realm—a spiritual trial left behind by the first founder of the Skyrect Sect.
"Another has awakened the path…"
The voice echoed from nowhere. The trial was meant for chosen disciples—those destined to inherit the Flame Emperor's legacy.
Lin Xun was not chosen.
But the realm accepted him.
And so it began.
Fiery lotuses rose as guardians—each petal a blade, each stalk a serpent. Lin Xun fought for hours, his frost shielding and flame striking. The more he bled, the more the lotus petals bowed to his spirit.
Then came the Lotus Emperor's Writ.
A scroll of gold and crimson light descended into his palm, branding his left arm with an ethereal mark—The Twin Flame Seal.
Power surged. His flames grew brighter, his frost colder.
But a whisper followed the gift.
"They will come for you now."
---
The Crimson Letter
As Lin Xun returned to Azure Flame Hall, breath ragged and skin steaming, a message waited.
A blood-red scroll tied with black silk.
He unraveled it carefully.
> "To the boy who walks with fire and frost.
The sins of your blood have not been forgotten.
The Blood Sect sees you.
The hunt begins."
— Xue Tian, Third Prince of Blood
His pulse slowed.
The Blood Sect.
A forbidden force exiled centuries ago—banished from the Eastern World after committing soul-level massacres across multiple realms. They were dark cultivators, devourers of talent, wielders of cursed Qi.
And now, they were watching him.
---
The Gathering of the Thirteen Peaks
News of Lin Xun's rise, the trial of the Flame Lotus Realm, and the Blood Sect's message stirred the entire Skyrect Sect.
The thirteen peak masters gathered under the Moon Summit Pavilion, the sacred seat of sect deliberation.
Mist rolled like dragons across the courtyard as elders debated in hushed urgency.
"He's too unstable," said Elder Mo Jian of Thunder Abyss.
"He survived the Lotus Realm. That cannot be faked," replied Yun Qingyue calmly.
"He's marked by the Blood Sect," another growled. "That makes him a beacon for disaster."
The Peak Lord, an ancient man named Daozi of the Nine Paths, finally raised a hand.
"Then test him again. If he endures, let fate claim him."
---
Visit from a Masked Stranger
That night, as Lin Xun meditated beneath the burning moon, a masked woman cloaked in black landed silently beside him.
Her mask bore a silver crescent. Her presence felt… ancient.
"You carry more than flames, Lin Xun."
He did not rise.
"I carry questions. Perhaps you have answers?"
"I have none. But I bear a warning."
She dropped a shard of obsidian at his feet. It bore a sigil—one he had only seen once before.
His mother's pendant.
His heart stilled.
"What is this?"
The woman turned. "The truth that was hidden. The shadow your bloodline cast. Seek the Frozen Pillars of Kunlun. There you will find it."
Before he could ask more, she vanished into mist.
---
Frost Secrets, Distant Echoes
Later, alone, Lin Xun stared at the shard.
His mind wandered—to dreams of flames and cries in the snow.
To the scar across his father's face.
To the village elder who had whispered, "Your name is cursed."
He clenched the shard until blood ran from his hand.
The Blood Sect knew him.
The Skyrect Sect doubted him.
The truth lay buried in frost.
He would dig it out with fire.
---
Across the Star-Crossed Sky
Beyond mortal skies, in a floating palace stitched between dimensions, a girl gazed down into a spirit mirror.
She wore robes of phoenix feathers and bore eyes of starlight.
Her name: Bai Ziyan.
Heir to the Everlight Sect.
Daughter of the Sovereign Star Lord.
She saw Lin Xun fight.
She saw him rise.
And she whispered, "That flame… it calls to me."
Her servant bowed. "Shall I summon him?"
"No," she smiled faintly. "Let him climb. If he can reach the summit, then perhaps he is worthy of my gaze."
---
Lin Xun did not know of Bai Ziyan yet.
But their fates had beg
un to intertwine.
And so, the dance of fire and stars began—two souls meant to collide. One born of ashes, the other of starlight.
Together, they would shake heaven itself.
End of Chapter 25