The wind blew gently across the golden mountains as Lin Xun stood at the gates of the Skyrect Sect, robes billowing, eyes calm as an ancient sea. Towering spires pierced the heavens, each adorned with mystic symbols and dragon-carved pillars. This was no mere sect—it was a domain of legends.
The moment his feet crossed the threshold, he felt it: the pulse of divine energy, old as the stars, woven into the very stone.
Elders watched from above, seated on platforms high in the sky, eyes narrowed in scrutiny.
"Another hopeful?" one whispered.
"No," another said, voice like grinding stone. "There's more in that boy… something deep. Something dangerous."
But Lin Xun neither bowed nor boasted. His flame burned quietly now, hidden beneath layers of frost and purpose.
As his token was scanned and his name recorded on the new disciples' roll, he was led toward the outer disciple quarters—stone huts nestled along the eastern cliffs, each facing the rising sun. The wind here smelled of clouds and challenge.
His guide, a quiet elder named Wu Jian, paused before the last hut.
"You'll start here," the man said. "But know this—Skyrect doesn't pamper its cubs. If you can't hunt, you'll be hunted."
Lin Xun offered a simple nod.
That night, as stars littered the sky like silver sparks, Lin Xun sat cross-legged within his room. The ring pulsed faintly.
> "New land. New enemies. New flames to control…"
He whispered ancient chants, circulating his dual-core essence. The frost qi had grown more obedient, while his flame qi blazed brighter since the last beast he absorbed in the Firebone Range.
But now, there was something new.
Something foreign.
> "Could it be... the Skyrect's spiritual field?"
He reached inward and felt it—a thread of spatial force wrapping around his cultivation base, light yet unyielding.
Suddenly, the ring shimmered.
A fragment of memory flooded his mind: his mother, standing in a snowstorm, fire swirling around her like a crown, facing a mountain-sized beast made of shadows.
> "To stand above gods," she had said, "you must swallow storms and breathe chaos."
Sweat dripped from Lin Xun's brow. His cultivation flared. Foundation Realm, Third Stage.
---
The next day dawned with a horn's cry.
All outer disciples were summoned to the training arena—an amphitheater carved into the bones of a mountain. Thousands gathered. Elders floated above on cloud-carved thrones.
At the center stood an arena made of burning jade.
A middle-aged man in flowing black and gold robes floated above the center.
He spoke with authority that bent the wind:
"New disciples, today marks your first step into our path. The sect is no sanctuary—it is a furnace. You will fight. You will bleed. And if you survive, you may earn a place among our ranks."
He raised a single hand.
"Combat assessment—begins."
Whispers turned into roars. Names were called. Fights erupted one after the other.
When Lin Xun's name echoed across the field, a hush followed.
"Lin Xun… vs. He Yuntai!"
A tall youth in crimson robes stepped forward, fire talismans swirling around his wrists. He grinned arrogantly.
"You must be the stray dog from the outer province," He Yuntai sneered. "Let me teach you how Skyrect tames beasts."
Lin Xun said nothing.
The signal flared.
Yuntai struck first—twelve fire bolts shaped like serpents burst toward Lin Xun.
But before they could hit, frost exploded outward from Lin Xun's body, encasing the bolts in mid-air and shattering them into snowdust.
Gasps echoed from the crowd.
> "Dual elemental manipulation?!"
Lin Xun took a step forward. His hand lit with crimson flame.
> "Flame Step: Skyburning Fang!"
He vanished.
Reappeared behind Yuntai.
A blast.
Flame and frost collided into Yuntai's back, launching him into the wall with a sound like thunder.
Dust settled.
Silence.
Then an elder's voice broke it.
"…Winner, Lin Xun."
The crowd roared, some in awe, others in disbelief.
A few, in fear.
---
Later that evening, Lin Xun sat at the edge of the cliff behind the quarters, watching the stars.
He heard footsteps.
"You made quite the entrance," a voice said.
He turned.
A girl stood behind him—tall, elegant, clad in white robes that shimmered like snow in moonlight. Her eyes glowed faint blue. An aura of divine frost encased her like a second skin.
"Who are you?" he asked.
She smiled faintly. "Yan Qingxue. Inner disciple. I noticed your battle. Dual elements, rare… dangerous."
He offered a nod. "And you're not afraid?"
She stepped closer. "The strong are never afraid of strength. They measure it."
Then she handed him a scroll.
"Use this. A frost technique—Snowflower Descent. It'll help you tame your imbalance."
Before he could thank her, she turned and vanished into the night.
> "Yan Qingxue…" he murmured. "Why would someone like her help someone like me?"
He looked at the scroll, then at the stars.
> "No matter. I'll rise either way."
And from deep within the sect, far above where even the elders sat, a shadow watched Lin Xun through a scrying mirror, fingers tapping the throne of bones.
> "The son of heretical blood has returned... and the seal didn't kill him."
---
Three nights later, Lin Xun descended into the Thousand Trials Labyrinth—an underground cavern where outer disciples tested themselves against mystic beasts, illusions, and spirit guardians.
He faced a serpent of fire, a wolf made of shadow, and a blade trial that tested not strength, but resolve.
Each trial he overcame, and each time, the ring grew hotter.
> "You are nearing the First Flame Gate," the ring whispered for the first time in days.
He pressed forward.
In the tenth chamber, he collapsed, breath ragged, body bleeding from twenty wounds.
But as his blood dripped onto the stone, the chamber glowed.
A hidden formation activated, revealing an ancient altar.
Upon it sat a book bound in black flame.
He crawled forward and took it.
The moment he touched it, visions struck.
A man burning like a sun. A woman of ice freezing mountains with her tears. A child—him—floating between them, eyes glowing with storm and flame.
> "You are the Balance," the voice echoed. "Born of chaos. Destined to dominate."
The book burned into his palm.
New power surged into him.
Flame Technique Acquired: Infernal Rebirth Sutra.
Frost Technique Acquired: Ninefold Lotus Bloom.
Lin Xun rose slowly.
Stronger.
Wiser.
Hungrier.
> "I'm not just chasing strength anymore. I'm reclaiming my name."
---
Back on the surface, whispers stirred.
Elders began to argue.
Inner disciples felt threatened.
The core sect members grew curious.
And deep within the Skyrect archives, a sealed
document glowed faintly—one that bore the blood-seal of Lin Xun's mother.
And her name: Xuanyin of the Nine Flames.
> "He lives," said the High Elder. "The Emberblood rises again."
And the heavens trembled… just a little.