The sky above the Veil Ridge burned crimson, a war-torn canvas of fire and demonic haze.
Liu Shen stood in the heart of a crater, one hand clenched around the Cinder Core, the other dripping with charred blood. Before him, Xue Ran, the Crimson Envoy, crouched low, her shoulders heaving, lips curled in a bloodstained grin.
> "You've grown stronger," she said, coughing.
"But not strong enough."
Flames licked around her like serpents, fanned by her fury.
Liu Shen's eyes remained cold, but his heartbeat was no longer calm. The Cinder Core was awakening faster than expected.
It pulsed.
Hungered.
> "One more seal," he whispered.
> "And I burn the sky itself."
---
Forbidden Awakening
The flames around Xue Ran swirled, forming a burning phoenix that let out a shriek heard across the mountain range.
She launched herself forward, her blades melting the air.
Liu Shen didn't retreat.
He raised his hand. The Demonic Sigil of the Black Flame ignited behind him.
He spoke three words in the tongue of the Ancient Abyss:
> "Yuan Huo Jie—Break."
A ring of black-red flame erupted around him, halting Xue Ran mid-strike.
Her pupils constricted. "Impossible! That's… that's a Heaven-Sealed Technique!"
Liu Shen didn't answer. He fed more Qi into the Cinder Core.
It responded like a beast unchained—roaring, splitting the sky.
His robes whipped violently as flame took on new form—not red, not black, but silver.
> "The Flame Beyond Flame…!" Xue Ran gasped.
It was a myth. A concept of fire that existed outside of the Five Elemental Laws. It couldn't be created—only awakened.
And Liu Shen had just done it.
---
Soul Burn
But the price was steep.
The Cinder Core trembled. Cracks formed along its edges.
Liu Shen's soul quaked, parts of his memories—fragments of the woman in blue robes, a lake of lotus flowers, and the first betrayal—flashed behind his eyes.
> "No… I can't forget her now."
But the core demanded payment.
With a growl, he forced it back, pouring demonic Qi into stabilizing the fusion.
Xue Ran wasn't waiting.
She summoned two flaming javelins and hurled them with precision.
One for his chest. One for Zhaoyu, who watched from afar.
> "Too slow."
Liu Shen vanished—then reappeared midair, catching both spears with his bare hands. They hissed and sizzled but didn't burn him.
His eyes glowed silver now.
> "Your fire belongs to the heavens," he said softly.
> "Mine comes from beyond the void."
---
Breaking the Crimson Curse
Xue Ran, feeling her advantage slip, activated her Crimson Curse—a forbidden brand etched into her bones.
Her body erupted with power.
Veins glowed crimson, and her silhouette became a flickering avatar of divine fire.
> "I won't lose to a demon!" she screamed.
> "You already did," Liu Shen replied.
He traced a single rune in the air. It shimmered, then collapsed into a spear of silver flame.
He thrust it forward.
> Silent. Swift. Final.
Xue Ran tried to dodge, but it was not a technique to evade—it was a truth to be accepted.
The spear pierced through her chest and exploded.
Not outward. Inward.
Her curse broke. The divine fire shattered. She dropped to her knees, blood spilling from her lips.
> "What… is that flame…?"
Liu Shen stepped forward. "The flame that remembers everything Heaven tries to erase."
> "Even you."
---
Burial and Echoes
He didn't kill her.
She knelt, exhausted, waiting for the final blow.
Instead, he walked past her, placing the Cinder Core back into his robes.
> "Tell your empress. Tell her the Sovereign doesn't need to march into her court."
> "He'll burn it to the ground."
Xue Ran looked up, eyes flickering with both defeat and curiosity.
> "Why… spare me?"
Liu Shen glanced back, eyes dimming.
> "You weren't the one who broke her."
He vanished into the mist, leaving only smoke and silence behind.
---
Retreat to the Frostpass
The party reconvened that evening, several miles north of the Ridge.
Lei Qing had burns across his arms. Yu Meixing was oddly quiet. Nian Zhaoyu had taken to staring at the sky.
> "That flame," Meixing finally said. "It wasn't demonic."
Liu Shen nodded. "It was something older."
Lei Qing frowned. "And more dangerous?"
Liu Shen looked to the horizon.
> "Only to those who built the heavens on lies."
---
In the Phoenix Empire
Xue Ran returned, body broken, spirit dimmed.
She stood before Empress Feng Jiali, who watched her in silence.
After a pause, Xue Ran knelt.
> "I failed."
Jiali rose from her throne, walking toward her.
> "Did he speak?"
> "Yes."
> "And?"
> "He remembers things he shouldn't."
Feng Jiali stopped. "Then the seal is breaking."
> "What shall I do, my Empress?" Xue Ran whispered.
> "Pray," Jiali said, turning away. "That the Flame Beyond Flame doesn't spread."
She dismissed her with a flick of the hand.
In the dark behind the throne, three shadowed figures—each wearing a mask of celestial jade—whispered to one another.
> "He is too early."
"Perhaps not. The Sovereign's soul seeks what was taken."
"Then let us prepare the next gate."