The Flame Pagoda towered at the heart of the sect like a god's monument — nine levels tall, each forged with divine inscriptions and molten jade, untouched by time.
But today… it stirred.
Today, it would awaken.
---
Day of the Trials
Disciples gathered at the summit with solemn hearts and sharpened eyes.
The top thirty were announced, names projected into the sky by the Sect Master's divine token.
Among them:
Long Feng – Outer Disciple
Mei Ling – Flame Awakening Candidate
Xue Yiran – Inner Core Disciple, Phoenix Bloodline
Jin Hao – Elder Bai Wen's direct disciple
And others — some hopeful, others quietly trembling at the rumors of deaths in the night.
---
Inside the Pagoda
Elder Hua Tian stood before the sealed gate, voice steady as his hands formed ancient hand signs.
> "Today, the Flame Trials begin. You each carry a flame token. Your trial is simple: ascend as high as your soul dares. Every floor tests your body, mind, and flame."
He turned to the gate.
> "May fire show your truth."
With a roar, the pagoda opened.
A wave of spiritual heat spilled out — alive, heavy, ancient.
Long Feng stepped inside first, Mei Ling behind him. The others followed.
The gate shut behind them.
Darkness swallowed all.
---
Floor One: The Tempering Flame
Flames burst from the ground, licking at their robes. This wasn't illusion — it was refining fire. The kind used to temper spirit tools.
Screams echoed behind them as three disciples collapsed, overwhelmed.
Mei Ling winced but stood firm.
Long Feng placed a hand on her back, silently transferring part of his Qi to stabilize her meridians.
"You're okay," he said quietly.
"I wasn't… until you touched me," she whispered.
He smirked slightly. "That's dangerous talk in here."
---
Floor Two: Mirror Flame
Here, a giant mirror formed from fire. When each disciple looked into it — they saw their greatest fear reflected in flame.
Long Feng saw himself, kneeling in blood, surrounded by corpses of those he'd failed to protect.
> Mei Ling.
Lan Xueyin.
Even strangers who once called him "monster."
He didn't flinch.
Instead, he stepped into the mirror.
The flames swallowed him—and vanished.
> "He… accepted himself," one disciple whispered in awe.
Mei Ling stepped forward next.
She saw a younger version of herself… crying as her parents sold her to a wandering cultivator for three spirit coins.
She walked into the mirror too.
Her tears stayed behind.
---
Floor Three: The Flame Gate Choice
Two doors. No explanation.
One glowed red. The other… silver-blue.
Most disciples chose red — the safe flame path.
Long Feng and Mei Ling chose silver.
The moment they touched it, the floor cracked open.
They fell.
---
The Forbidden Floor
They landed in a chamber of black stone. Torches burned with white flame — ancient, colorless, and pure.
In front of them stood a woman.
Not alive.
A spiritual imprint. A remnant soul.
She had long violet-black hair, eyes like night wind, and wore battle-scorched robes stitched with the symbol of a fallen sect.
She studied them both.
Then spoke:
> "The Twin Flame returns… and the Phoenix Root stirs.
You are not meant to be here.
And yet… you are the reason this seal broke."
Long Feng stepped forward cautiously.
"Who are you?"
She turned to him.
> "My name was Yue Shenli — former Saintess of the Void Flame Palace.
In life, I was called Flame Witch.
In death… I became prophecy's jailer."
---
. Yue Shenli – The Flame Witch
She looked at Mei Ling first.
"You carry the Lotus Yin Flame… the cold fire of compassion."
Then to Long Feng.
"You… carry judgment. Wrath. War. The Eternal Ember. I felt your rebirth long ago."
She raised her hand.
> "You broke this seal… not with power, but with fate."
A glowing lotus sigil floated between them — spinning, splitting… then fusing.
It formed a symbol unseen in the world for thousands of years.
> The Heaven-Breaker Flame Crest.
Her voice shook.
"Only one person ever bore that crest before."
Long Feng's brow furrowed. "Who?"
She smiled faintly.
> "Me."
---
Her Story
She showed them a memory — the pagoda dissolving around them, replaced by a battlefield of stars and falling gods.
She stood among the bodies of gods, her flame burning with loneliness.
"I fell in love with a mortal," she said quietly. "And for that, the heavens marked me. Hunted me. Buried me in this pagoda."
She touched Long Feng's cheek — though her hand passed through.
"You… remind me of him."
Then she looked at Mei Ling.
"And you… will suffer more than he ever did."
---
A New Thread – Second Flame Appears
Before she faded, she whispered something to Long Feng only:
> "Another walks the realm who also bears your mark.
A flame once tied to mine.
Find her… before she burns alone."
As the Forbidden Floor crumbled, Mei Ling and Long Feng were suddenly thrust upward by divine fire.
They landed hard—on Floor Four.
Gasps erupted around them.
Other disciples had only reached Floor Two.
Even Elder Bai Wen, watching through a divine mirror, narrowed his eyes.
> "They unlocked the Forbidden Floor…?"
He stood.
And whispered darkly:
> "Then we have less time than I thought."
---