The dawn after Kai's breakthrough painted Emberheart in crimson light.
From the outer disciples' barracks to the inner courtyards, cultivators felt a shift in the spiritual atmosphere. The flame Qi had thickened, as if something old had stirred and left its mark.
Kai stood atop a lonely cliff behind the training halls, a flame sabre planted beside him, as wind howled through the canyon below.
His body still ached, but his movements were sharp. Cleaner.
The First Seal was broken.
And though he didn't know exactly what it meant, he could feel the dragon's presence now like a second soul—watchful, silent, and waiting.
Behind him, his footsteps crunched on the gravel.
It was Linya.
She approached without her usual arrogance, her eyes resting on the glowing marks along his forearm.
"You broke through," she said flatly.
Kai didn't turn. "You feel it?"
"Everyone felt it." She stepped beside him. "But only I recognize the aura. Your fire is different now. It… bows, but only to you."
Kai didn't respond.
Linya's voice lowered. "That wasn't a normal breakthrough, wasn't it?"
He looked at her then. "What do you think I am?"
She met his eyes. "Something the elders fear. Or want to use."
Then she handed him a scroll.
"A mission. For us."
Inside the scroll was a crimson wax seal with the Emberheart crest.
Location: Shadow Ash Forest
Objective: Investigate disappearances near sect borders. Suspected rogue cultivators.
Participants: Kai, Linya, and 1 senior disciple escort.
Departure: Tonight.
Kai frowned. "They're sending us out so soon?"
"They're testing you," Linya said. "See what your flame does outside their walls."
He rolled up the scroll. "Or hope I'll die."
That night, the two stood at the edge of the sect's barrier, joined by a tall, pale figure clad in gray robes. Senior Disciple Wei Chen, known for his silent demeanor and brutal efficiency, didn't say a word as they departed.
The journey was uneventful until they reached the forest.
The moment they stepped into the dense, ashen woods, Kai felt it.
A wrongness in the qi.
The flame here was… twisted. Like it had been bled dry and re-lit with something else.
Something is dead.Something is dead.
Wei Chen knelt beside a tree, brushing the bark with two fingers. It crumbled into black ash.
"Blood Sect," he muttered.
Linya stiffened. "Are you sure?"
"Positive. This isn't just rogue activity. It's a sacrificial field."
Kai's eyes narrowed. "So they know where we are."
A whisper rode the wind behind them.
"Welcome, dragon-blooded."
Black mist surged up from the ground.
Figures in crimson robes rose from the ash, their faces masked, their hands marked with runes that glowed faintly red.
One stepped forward and pulled off his mask.
His face was young, but his eyes were hollow.
"You broke the First Seal. The matron wants your heart."
Kai gripped his sabre. "She'll have to tear it out herself."
The forest erupted into chaos.
Linya vanished into smoke, striking fast and vanishing faster. Wei Chen summoned blades of cold flame, cleaving through the cultists with emotionless precision.
Kai stepped into the fray, his sabre roaring to life.
Every swing was decisive. Every strike burned hotter than before. The golden dragon flame obeyed.
But the cult leader was fast. Stronger than expected.
He moved like a shadow, and his flame wasn't real flame—it was blood turned to fire.
When he clashed with Kai, the impact shattered the trees around them.
"You don't even understand your gift," the cultist spat. "But soon, you will beg to be rid of it."
Kai parried, flipped backward, and raised his sabre to the sky.
The flame coiled along the blade, then burst outward in a radiant arc, slicing through the enemy's spell and cutting the mask clean off his face.
For a heartbeat, their eyes met.
And in those eyes, Kai saw fear.
Real fear is.
The cultist turned to flee, but a blade of white fire from Wei Chen impaled him before he got far.
The remaining attackers fled into the night.
Later, Kai stood in the scorched clearing, breathing hard.
Linya approached, wiping blood from her cheek.
"We'll report on this."
Kai looked at the ash-covered bodies. "They were looking for me."
"Yes," Linya said. "And next time, they won't send initiates."
Far above, hidden in the trees, a raven with crimson eyes watched the trio leave.
It cawed once.
And in the mountains far beyond the forest, the Blood Sect Matron opened her eyes.
"The dragon's heir draws breath," she whispered. "We will begin the hunt."