Chapter 1 – The Forgotten Flame
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The night sky over Cinder Wind Village was darker than usual. The twin moons, which usually bathed the land in silver light, were veiled behind thick clouds, and the air carried an eerie stillness. It was as if the world itself was holding its breath.
Inside a small wooden hut on the village outskirts, a boy sat cross-legged, his eyes tightly shut. His body trembled, drenched in sweat, as an unbearable heat surged through his veins. His breathing was ragged, and his fists clenched the straw mat beneath him.
"Argh…!"
Xiao Tian felt as if his soul was burning. A raging inferno swirled inside his chest, threatening to consume him from within. He had experienced fevers before, but this… this was something else.
Then, for the first time in his life, he saw it—a vision deep within his mind.
A vast battlefield of flames stretched endlessly before him. In the center stood a lone figure, his back facing Xiao Tian. His robes fluttered in the fiery winds, and in his palm burned a flame so overwhelming that the very heavens seemed to tremble before it.
The figure spoke, his voice distant yet powerful.
"The Dao of Fire… is never-ending…"
Before Xiao Tian could make sense of the words, the vision collapsed, and he snapped back to reality. His body was no longer in pain—instead, a strange warmth pulsed within his core, spreading through his meridians.
He gasped for breath.
"What… was that?"
He clutched his chest. Something inside him had awakened.
A faint ember flickered to life in his palm—a flame unlike any other. It wasn't blue, nor black, nor golden. Instead, it shifted colors constantly, as if it were… alive.
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Meanwhile… Deep in the Unknown Realms
In a distant plane beyond mortal reach, an ancient flame altar suddenly trembled. Atop its towering pillars, 24 flickering flames burned, each representing a Heavenly Flame known to the world.
And then—one more ignited out of nowhere.
A cloaked figure, standing before the altar, suddenly opened his eyes.
"Impossible…" he muttered, his voice laced with shock. "A new Heavenly Flame…? But all flames were accounted for after the fall of the last Dou Di!"
His gaze turned sharp.
"Find the source. Immediately."
And thus, the hunt for Xiao Tian… had begun.
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