> [Location: Whispering Province – Outer Reach: Cloudhide Valley]
Time Since Monolith Collapse: 1 day 7 hours
Pursuit Status: Cold – Overseer Team Sigma in Recovery
Flame Bond Sync: Stable | Phoenix Hatchling – Skyflare Phase II | Nightflame Lynx – Shadowmeld Phase II
Objective: Establish Safe Flame Anchor | Locate Hidden Flame Nexus (Historical Site Reference: Emberveil Temple)
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Arrival in the Valley
Cloudhide Valley wasn't listed on most maps anymore. After the Second Flame Purge, it had been scorched, sealed, and erased. But old maps didn't burn easily.
Jiang and Tian Xue landed at dusk. The Phoenix Hatchling shimmered with residual light, its glow dimming with each beat.
> "This place feels… quiet," Tian Xue said.
> "Too quiet," Jiang replied. "Like something's listening."
They made camp near a stone circle half-buried in moss. Jiang unpacked the Monolith Core Shard, embedding it into a flame anchor glyph.
The air changed immediately.
A pulse—subtle, deep underground.
> [Hidden Flame Site Detected – Proximity: 2.4km – Echo Signal Faint]
Designation: Emberveil Temple (Classified: Lost Pre-Sovereign Sanctuary)
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The Broken Sects
As night fell, Tian Xue explored the perimeter—and found symbols scorched into nearby bark and stone.
Old ones.
> "These are flame clans," she said. "Broken ones. Like the Verdant Ash Sect and the Nine Sparks of West Ridge."
> "I thought they were wiped out," Jiang murmured.
> "They were," she replied. "But someone came here… and remembered them."
Jiang knelt beside one of the trees and activated Echo Vision.
What he saw stole his breath.
> A girl in gray flame robes, young, surrounded by children and elders.
She was teaching them how to hold flame in open hands—not clenched fists.
She smiled like Tian Xue.
But her eyes…
> They looked like Long Chen's.
---
The Voice in the Wind
The campfire flickered suddenly.
And then it spoke.
> "You carry the ember, don't you?"
Jiang and Tian Xue turned, blades half-drawn.
A woman stood at the edge of the trees.
Her flame aura was subtle but ancient. Robes faded. Hair tied with charred string.
> "Who are you?" Jiang asked.
She stepped forward.
And bowed.
> "My name is Qing Yue. I am the last descendant of the Emberveil Temple. And I have been waiting for your flame."
---
The Legacy Hidden
Qing Yue led them deeper into the valley, through overgrown paths and memory-thick trees.
At the base of a hollow cliff, a set of flame runes activated as Jiang approached.
They pulsed in a rhythm matching his heartbeat.
The stone wall melted away—revealing an underground temple of ashstone and white ember.
> [Welcome Flamebearer – Free Flame Thread Recognized. Entry Permitted.]
Inside: dozens of sleeping chambers, collapsed flame circles, and at the very center—
An altar of pale silver marked with seven unbroken glyphs.
> "This is where the Sovereigns began rewriting the flame," Qing Yue said.
"But this is where we refused to let the original truth die."
> "You knew Long Chen," Tian Xue said softly.
Qing Yue's eyes shimmered.
> "I trained under one of his shadows. He passed the fire to us. But you—you carry the spark that was never tamed."
A New Path Begins
Jiang stared at the Nexus Altar.
The Monolith's shard flickered gently within it—no longer pulsing wildly, but steady, like a heart finally at rest.
> "We have a place now," Tian Xue said.
> "We have a flame."
> "Now we find the people who still believe."
Jiang smiled.
> "And light the whole world again."
The fire in the altar flared—rising into a silent beacon.
The world may not have noticed it yet.
But it would.