Chapter 10 – Flames of the Void
The night over Wudong Mountain Range was heavy and hollow — the kind of silence that felt alive. Even the wind dared not whisper.
Baifang sat sharpening his spear by a faint campfire. "I hate quiet nights," he muttered. "They're never just quiet."
Yin Jin stood a few steps away, eyes fixed on the treeline. His aura was still, but the air around him hummed softly — the kind of pressure that warned of something coming.
Then the ground trembled.
A low growl slithered through the darkness, echoing like thunder under water. The air twisted, and from the shadows ahead, two figures stepped through the fabric of reality itself.
Wolves — vast and formless, their bodies flickering between existence and emptiness. Their eyes gleamed with violet fire, and the space around them rippled as if rejecting their presence.
"Void Wolves," Baifang whispered, tightening his grip. "Creatures from beyond the realm's edge… we're in trouble."
The wolves didn't walk — they shifted. One blinked out of sight, reappearing above them. Baifang spun, lightning bursting along his spear, and parried the strike with a crack of thunder.
Yin Jin unleashed his crimson fire — but it passed harmlessly through the creature, the flames vanishing into the void like drops into an endless sea.
"Physical attacks don't work," Baifang grunted. "Neither does your fire!"
Yin Jin's mind raced. If fire cannot burn the void… then I must give it form.
He spread his palms, summoning the remnants of his inner flame. This time, he didn't simply release it — he shaped it.
The fire coalesced into a dozen glowing figures — tall, armored warriors wreathed in heat. Each raised a sword of molten light.
Baifang's jaw dropped. "You just made soldiers?! Out of fire?!"
Yin Jin didn't reply. His gaze burned with focus. "Knights of my flame… march."
The Fire Knights surged forward, their blades cutting radiant arcs through the shadows. Every strike burned with intent — their master's will made manifest. The first Void Wolf howled as golden-red fire pierced its shifting form.
But the second wolf lunged from the side, its claws slicing through Yin Jin's chest. Pain lanced through him — yet instead of retreating, he planted his feet.
"Then let's end this… in my own way."
He thrust both hands forward. Fire erupted again — but this time, it wasn't red. It darkened… deepened.
A storm of gold and black flames exploded from his core, burning brighter than lightning yet darker than shadow. The air screamed as reality warped under the pressure.
From the inferno, a colossal dragon of flame and void emerged — its scales glinting black as obsidian, its veins glowing gold.
Baifang stumbled back, shielding his eyes. "Yin Jin… what in the heavens is that?!"
Yin Jin's voice echoed within the storm, layered and resonant — not entirely human.
"My will given form… the Nebula Flame Dragon."
The dragon roared, shaking the mountains to their roots. Its wings spread wide, scattering sparks like falling stars. The Void Wolves howled in defiance — but their cries were drowned beneath the dragon's fury.
Flame met void.
Gold met black.
Light devoured darkness.
When the storm cleared, one Void Wolf was gone — reduced to nothing but dust in the wind.
But Yin Jin swayed, his body trembling. The dragon dissolved, the fire fading into embers.
"Yin Jin!" Baifang shouted, catching him as he collapsed. The remaining Void Wolf circled warily, growling.
Yin Jin's vision blurred. The world dimmed. His last thought before darkness took him was a single phrase —
I saw… the void staring back.
---
In yin Jin's nner Space
Silence.
Then a spark.
Yin Jin awoke in an endless void, suspended between light and darkness. Around him, gold and black flames danced slowly in spirals, like galaxies in miniature.
He reached out — the flames brushed his fingers, alive, whispering.
From the distance, a voice echoed — deep, familiar, resonant with power.
> "You have walked through the fire… and looked into the void."
A silhouette emerged — a towering figure of gold-black fire, its eyes burning like twin stars.
> "I am the reflection of your will — the fusion of creation and destruction within you. The Nebula Flame has accepted your soul."
Yin Jin's pulse quickened. "Then… what am I now?"
The figure stepped closer, its aura vast and calm.
> "You are its heir. The flame that burns where light and void meet."
The world around him flared in color — black and gold swirling together, forming a vast sigil beneath his feet. The power surged through him, uncontainable yet pure.
> "Awaken, Yin Jin — bearer of the Eclipsed Flame."
The light consumed him.
---
Outside, Baifang watched as Yin Jin's unconscious body became wrapped in a cocoon of swirling gold and black flame. The very air trembled around it — a force beyond comprehension.
Baifang gripped his spear tighter, teeth bared. "Guess I'll keep watch, partner… try not to blow up the mountain this time."
Above the cocoon, the symbol of twin flames
— one golden, one black — shimmered faintly in the night sky.
The next stage of Yin Jin's evolution had begun.