Rain had ceased by dawn, but the mist lingered, wrapping the capital in a pale, breathless veil. The palace bells chimed thrice, echoing through every level of the Eastern Empire's imperial compound. The day of reckoning had come.
From the outer walls to the inner courts, banners bearing the crimson orchid sigil flapped in the wind. Servants rushed with offerings. Courtiers whispered behind silk fans. In the skies above, cultivators from major sects arrived on spirit beasts: thunder-winged falcons, cloud-footed tigers, and golden flame cranes. They circled the looming spire of the Orchid Flame Pagoda—the ancient tower at the edge of the empire where trials and executions alike had taken place.
Xie Lan stood before it now.
He was robed in black, the edge of his sleeves embroidered with pale silver lotuses, his hair bound high by a simple jade pin. No royal insignia adorned him. He looked more like a wandering disciple than a prince and yet, none mistook his identity. The cursed mark pulsed faintly at his throat, barely visible above his collar.
Behind him, a cluster of minor princes muttered.
"They really let him in?"
"Didn't he fail the entry trials in the last round?"
"I heard he poisoned a tutor…"
Xie Lan ignored them. Their words were the buzzing of flies before a storm.
---
At the base of the pagoda, a platform had been erected for the Imperial Announcer, a thin, sharp-eyed eunuch named Lian Sheng, dressed in red and gold.
He cleared his throat. His voice, amplified by spiritual resonance, boomed across the courtyard.
"By decree of His Divine Majesty, the Crimson Orchid Trials shall now commence!"
A surge of golden light burst from the tip of his scepter, illuminating the inscriptions carved into the pagoda's obsidian stone walls.
[Crimson Orchid Trials: Threefold Path of Flame, Flesh, and Faith] Participants: 72 Survivors Required for Completion: 18 First Trial: The Thousand Flame Labyrinth]
Gasps rose from the crowd.
The Thousand Flame Labyrinth. A cursed relic from the Age of War, its creator had died inside it. No one had seen it in over a hundred years.
The gate creaked open.
Xie Lan's system pulsed.
> [Main Quest Activated: Survive the First Trial - 0% Completion] Bonus Objective: Place in Top 5 (Reward: Unnamed Black Flame Seed) Warning: Spiritual Combat Authorized
He stepped forward without hesitation.
---
Inside the Labyrinth
The moment Xie Lan crossed the threshold, the light vanished.
Heat slammed into him like a fist. The floor shifted beneath his boots, glowing veins of magma crawling along the stone like living veins. The walls twisted as if watching.
> [System Sync: Labyrinth Map Unavailable] [Villain Points Accrued by Entry: +5]
He was alone.
Somewhere in the darkness, he heard a scream cut short.
A moment later, a body dropped from the ceiling. Half-burned. A crown prince from a southern province.
Xie Lan didn't blink.
He reached for the Shadow Cloak, activating its stealth field. The air shimmered and swallowed his form. Then he sprinted into the firelit halls.
Every chamber shifted. Traps layered over illusions. Pressure plates that summoned flame serpents. Puzzle doors requiring blood seals. In one room, he faced a mirror double of himself that wielded a corrupted version of the Shadow Lotus Technique.
He killed it in six moves.
> [Mini-Boss Defeated: Flame Phantom | Villain Points +20 | Rare Drop: Flickering Lotus Shard (x1)]
Hours passed.
He encountered three other survivors. One begged him to join forces.
He left them behind.
In this place, mercy equaled death.
---
At the trial's control station outside, the Emperor sat beneath a jade canopy, surrounded by High Elders, generals, and foreign dignitaries. His expression was unreadable.
"That boy… he moves like a shadow," whispered one elder. "I thought the cursed one was weak."
The Emperor said nothing.
A sharp-eyed noble lady the Dowager Li, grandmother of Crown Princess Li Meiyan—smiled faintly. "Perhaps the rumors of his rebirth are more than metaphor."
---
Xie Lan: The Core
In a chamber of obsidian mirrors, Xie Lan found the heart of the labyrinth. Floating above a pedestal: a lotus made of black fire.
A trial guardian waited beside it a construct, shaped like a woman in flowing robes. Her eyes were twin lanterns of blue flame.
"Do you seek to survive, or do you seek to rule?" she asked.
Xie Lan smiled.
"I seek to unmake."
"Then take the flame."
He did.
The moment his fingers closed around the lotus, pain tore through him like lightning. Flames raced through his veins. The cursed sigil flared and burned black.
> [You have absorbed the Unnamed Black Flame Seed] [Trait Gained: Soul-Brand Flame] Warning: Mutation Unstable
His vision blurred. His heartbeat thundered.
Then, silence.
---
Trial Completion
Outside, the pagoda doors burst open.
Xie Lan stepped out, robes scorched, blood on his fingers, the flame of the lotus flickering in his palm.
Gasps erupted.
He was the first to emerge.
> [Main Quest Complete | Bonus Objective Achieved] [Villain Points +50 | Title Gained: Black Flame Successor]
From the terrace, Crown Prince Xie Yan stood and clapped slowly, a cruel smile on his lips.
"Well done, Seventh Brother," he said. "Let us see how long you last."
Xie Lan raised his gaze, and for the first time, their eyes met as equals.
"Long enough to burn you alive."
The flames around him danced like hungry wolves.
---
The echoes of triumph had barely settled before the true games began.
The Crimson Orchid Trials were never a mere test of strength. Not in the Eastern Empire, where the court's politicking ran deeper than its rivers and more venomous than a viper's fangs. Now that Xie Lan had emerged first from the Thousand Flame Labyrinth, eyes—hungry, hateful, calculating—had turned to him.
He felt them like daggers pressed between his shoulder blades.
> [System Update: Inner Court Intrigue Arc Unlocked] Objective: Establish Dominance in the Hidden Power Strata New Stat Unlocked: Influence (Court Faction Power Level)
The palace had shifted.
---
The next trial would not be fought with blades or cultivation. Not openly.
It began with an invitation.
Delivered in the hand of a trembling eunuch: a folded lotus parchment with the crest of the Crown Prince embossed in silver.
[ To the Honored Seventh Prince,
By the grace of His Imperial Majesty, you are summoned to a banquet held in the Golden Pavilion this evening.
In recognition of your performance, the court awaits your esteemed presence.]
A trap. Of course.
---
The Golden Pavilion Banquet
As twilight bled across the sky, Xie Lan walked the jade path alone.
He wore his scorched robes with pride, the blackened lotus mark gleaming faintly at his chest. Servants flinched as he passed. Palace guards whispered.
Inside the pavilion, gold lanterns swayed and music drifted through incense-laced air. Nobles, ministers, cultivators, and royalty sat in a vast half-circle, silk and satin layered over steel.
Crown Prince Xie Yan stood at the head.
"Welcome, Seventh Brother," he said, lifting a wine cup. "You've earned a place among us."
"I never asked for it," Xie Lan replied calmly, settling at the edge of the circle.
Chairs shifted. Eyes narrowed.
From the corner, Li Meiyan appeared, her red lips painted like blood over porcelain skin. "How poetic. But we all must play our roles. Even villains have their stage."
> [System Notice: Passive Intimidation Aura Activated | Influence +2]
She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes.
---
The banquet flowed with wine and poisoned words.
One prince toasted Xie Lan for his "unexpected survival."
Another recited a poem titled The Ashes That Rose Too High.
By the third round of subtle barbs, Xie Lan had begun responding in kind:
To the prince who questioned his honor, he responded with a tale of a noble who betrayed his master and was later devoured by his own spirit beast.
To the minister who mocked his cursed sigil, he smiled and said, "Better a cursed mark than a corrupt soul."
Laughter, low and dark, followed.
> [Influence +5 | New Trait: Silver-Tongued Serpent (Passive Verbal Retaliation Bonus)]
---
But the banquet was not the true test.
It came after.
When the Crown Prince invited him to a private conversation.
They stood on a jade balcony, beneath moonlight and swaying plum blossoms.
"You surprised me," Xie Yan said. "I thought you'd die in that labyrinth."
"Many still might," Xie Lan answered.
"True. But you see, Lan-ge... this game we're playing? It doesn't end with fire. It ends with alliances. With loyalty."
"Spoken like a man who doubts his own grip."
Xie Yan's smile never faltered, but something in his eyes darkened.
"I could elevate you. Give you command. A proper place in the court."
"You already gave me a place. At the foot of your sword."
A pause. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Then Xie Yan laughed, softly. "Very well. Let's see how far your shadow reaches."
He turned and vanished into the palace.
> [New Quest Unlocked: Build Your Court | Objective: Gain Allies Before the Second Trial]
---
The Hidden Court
In the following days, Xie Lan moved with purpose.
He met with forgotten eunuchs, retired generals, outer court cultivators, and failed concubines. Those cast aside by the Empire. Those who remembered slights.
In candlelit chambers and abandoned training halls, he spoke of justice wrapped in flame.
He promised nothing except vengeance.
They listened.
> [Faction Formed: House of Ash and Embers] [Influence: 17/100 | Loyalty: 42%] New Recruit: Former Assassin Yin Bai New Recruit: Spirit Beast Trainer Liao Xun
Each night, his system whispered in his mind, weaving data and foresight. Telling him who to trust. Who to blackmail. Who to save.
The court did not sleep. And neither did he.
---
Meanwhile…
Within the Empress's chambers, a secret meeting unfolded.
"He should've died," she hissed, her long-nailed fingers gripping a scroll.
"He didn't. And now the people whisper of the Black Flame Prince."
Crown Princess Li Meiyan's face was unreadable.
"Then let them whisper," she said. "For whispers can be drowned... in blood."
---
Xie Lan stood in the Hall of Silent Wind once more. His growing faction awaited his orders. The second trial loomed: one of soul resonance and spiritual connection.
But first, he would plant deeper roots. He would shake the foundations.
"The Inner Court plays with snakes and roses," he murmured. "Time to plant a garden of knives."