The air was thick with tension as Xian Hei's power warred against the oppressive force of the Seal of the Eternal Night. The flame that had burned within him so brightly now flickered, its intensity wavering as the artifact worked to suppress it. He could feel the very essence of his being slowly being pulled away, like a fire suffocating in water, its heat and life stolen from him.
But Xian Hei was not any ordinary cultivator, and his ambition was always his greatest strength-the very reason that had thrown him into the impossible with an unremitting lust for power. And even now, as the seal doused his flames, his mind was a cauldron of whirling thought, seeking that little missing something to breach the seal and overcome his restraint. He would not fall here, not in front of the empire's gates.
Before him stood Azhira, holding the Seal of the Eternal Night, as the dark power of it sucked the very life force out of the air. She could see the struggle in his eyes, the way his strength was faltering, but there was no hint of mercy in her heart. The power that had devoured Laiyun, the terror which had coursed through the empire like a wildfire-this was her opportunity to bring it to a stop. "You cannot escape it," she said, her voice soft but final. "The seal will hold, Xian Hei. The Flame of Heaven will burn out, and you will be no more than a mortal man again.
Xian Hei narrowed his eyes, and for one fleeing instant, it seemed time would freeze around him. At his feet, shadows started twisting, growing outwards to be finally stretched, resembling tendrils that were living and reaching for something. His body was trembling but not due to the seal, it was something growing within him- darker. That was laying since his very first death and waiting for the moment when it should be free and outside.
"You think I am like the others," he growled, his voice rising, with a terrible certainty. "You think you can contain me with a trinket. But you have forgotten one thing, Azhira."
The world around them exploded in a dark burst of energy, and before she could react, it was happening.
The Flame of Heaven flared up, roaring to life as though some slumbering beast now awoke. The shadows snapped back into his control, the Seal of the Eternal Night straining against the newfound power he wielded. Xian Hei's form flickered with an infernal light, his body surrounded by a corona of fire, but this was not the flame of the Flame of Heaven. This was something deeper—darker—a power that transcended his previous form. The ground cracked beneath their feet, and the stone fissured in several directions as the earth itself began to shake under the surge of energy. Azhira took a step backward, her eyes wide with astonishment. "What is this…? You should have been suppressed!"
Xian Hei smiled-cold and sharp, full of the promise of destruction. "You may have the seal, but you simply don't understand the fire you are playing with. The Flame of Heaven is not the only form I was given mastery over." As his voice dropped to a whisper, the shadows right at his feet twisted up into towering figures-mighty and fearsome.
The Dark Soulfire.
A force born from his previous life, part of him that had never reached such completeness as at that moment.
The Dark Soulfire was the essence of pure destruction, embodying his suffering, rage, and hunger of bygone lives.
It was born from the very bottom of those cursed reincarnations-the product of betrayals and deaths, and an unrestrained thirst for vengeance. The Flame of Heaven was powerful, but the Dark Soulfire was ancient-primal, forged in the blood of his enemies. On and on, Azhira's face had drained of color as she slowly realized the truth: The Seal of Eternal Night had not suppressed Xian Hei. It had awakened something far, far more terrifying. --- She barely had time to react before the Dark Soulfire surged forward, washing over her like an unstoppable wave of flame and shadow. She lifted the seal high above her, invoking the incantation that enhanced its power, but that mattered little. The twisting shadows ripped the seal out of her hands and cast it into the air to smash into the ground, breaking the seal as the spell lost all its potency.
"You should never have come here," Xian Hei said, his voice like the roar of a thousand storms. The fire around him grew in intensity, sending waves of heat and light into the night. The Dark Soulfire was alive-screaming for destruction, for revenge. It devoured everything in its path, sweeping away all obstacles with ease.
Azhira attempted to retreat, but the flames pursued her. She darted between the buildings, trying to find refuge, but Xian Hei's flames were everywhere—hunting her, smothering her, burning away the very air she breathed. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
"You cannot escape me," Xian Hei's voice boomed as the flames closed in. "I will burn this world down to nothing."
Yet all the same, Azhira did not go without her strong points either. Running away, she reached into her robes for another artifact-a gem black as night, pulsating with its dark energy. She whispered something under her breath, and that gem flared to life. Cast around her body, an iridescent shield materialized. The flames of Dark Soulfire hacked at it, but none could pass.
Another artifact, and Xian Hei narrowed his eyes.
"It is no mere gemstone," Azhira finally replied, her voice quavering, yet determined. "It is the Heart of Obsidian-a tool that could absorb even the most intense flames. It seems not only you had learned how to make something of power from nothing in the shadows."
Xian Hei snarled but paused at the sight of the Heart of Obsidian. The flames around him faltered, almost as if they were recoiling from the gem's dark aura. Another pulse, and the Heart of Obsidian absorbed the dark energy now beginning to overwhelm Xian Hei.
His breathing was in ragged gasps as he realized the momentary shift in the balance of power. The Flame of Heaven and the Dark Soulfire could be suppressed, even momentarily contained. But only if he allowed it.
He grinned again-this time not in frustration, but in triumph. "You will not stop me. Even your Heart of Obsidian cannot hold me for long."
---
While Azhira and Xian Hei fought, the imperial palace was about to erupt itself. Within its walls, the Ten Immortals were in council, each feeling the shaking from the battle. The atmosphere was heavy with portents. The emperor, too, stood before his generals, knowing full well the time had come for action.
It was not Xian Hei they were concerned about now, but other things: the Unseen Court, the Searing Heart, the Vengeful Moon—all of them just started to make their play. The struggle for this empire had reached a size far beyond a single person. This marked the true beginning of war.
And in the distance, the thunderous roar of Xian Hei's flames could be heard—a harbinger of the destruction to come.