The ascent up Shaded Peak was steep and silent.
Not a single sentry, disciple, or formation guard blocked their path.
It was too quiet.
Even Zhao Kai whispered, "Feels like they want us to reach the top."
Bo Ren nodded grimly. "Because they don't think we'll survive what's waiting there."
Yue nocked an arrow. "Let them try."
Jiang Han led the way.
Each step forward, Sovereign Emberfang pulsed heavier in his grip—resonating not with threat, but urgency.
> The flame inside the vessel is waking up.
And it's waking up wrong.
---
The Sanctum
They reached the peak summit just as the clouds pulled apart like a curtain.
There, carved into the mountain's crown, sat a perfect sphere of crystal and flame—a floating sanctum protected by layered formations.
Inside it floated Tian Xue.
White-haired. Slim. Delicate in appearance. Her body suspended mid-air. Her robes torn, flesh glowing like molten silver.
She wasn't screaming.
But her soul was.
Flame thrashed against the walls of the sanctum, creating cracks that spidered outward with every pulse.
Jiang stepped closer.
Bo Ren extended his hand, channeling soul-sense carefully.
> "Her soul is splitting. The flame is too old, too wild—it's clawing for sovereignty."
Zhao Kai clenched a fist. "So they really just stuffed it in her like a bomb."
Yue snarled. "Monsters."
Lin Yao said softly, "She's awake in there. I can feel her… barely."
Jiang approached the barrier.
The flame inside responded.
The crackling softened. The aura calmed—for a moment.
Tian Xue's eyes snapped open.
Pure white.
She saw him.
And whispered, from within the inferno:
> "Help… me…"
Then the flame surged again—ripping a hole in the sky.
---
The Flame Surge
Warning glyphs activated. Sect bells rang across the peak. Scribes and cultivators in sky-robes flooded from temple towers.
But they didn't attack.
They stood in ranks… watching.
A man in violet robes with obsidian-etched gloves descended slowly on a hovering disk of flame crystal.
He wore no sect emblem—but the aura around him was unmistakable.
Elder-class.
He raised his hand.
> "Let the flame decide."
> "If she lives, the world gains its Sovereign."
"If she dies, we'll forge another."
Jiang Han stepped forward.
> "Or you'll face me."
The Elder's eyes narrowed.
"You claim ownership of a fire you failed to control once already."
Jiang held up Sovereign Emberfang.
The blade glowed in three colors now—his current flame, the soul-thread of his old self, and the purified spark of Tian's echo.
"I don't claim to own it," he said.
"I earned it. I broke for it. I came back for it."
Then he turned to the sanctum.
> "And now I'm going to share it."
---
Soulforge Link – Twin Flame Bridge
Bo Ren's eyes widened. "You're going to link your soul with hers?"
"That flame is eating her from the inside," Jiang said. "But I've walked it. I became it. If I share my path…"
"She might survive," Lin Yao whispered.
"Or you'll burn too," Yue added.
Jiang smiled.
"I've burned before."
He raised Sovereign Emberfang.
> "Soulforge Protocol: Twin Flame Bridge – Initiate."
The blade stabbed into the sanctum's barrier.
A stream of golden fire poured from him—into the glass.
Into her.
Tian Xue arched.
Screamed.
Then stilled.
---
Inside the Flame
For a moment—time stopped.
Jiang Han stood in a space of white fire.
Across from him: Tian Xue, curled into herself, flickering, shattering.
He stepped forward.
She looked up.
Her voice was a whisper of cinders.
> "It hurts…"
He knelt beside her.
"It's not your fault. They forced the flame into a heart that wasn't ready."
She trembled. "I'm not strong enough."
"You don't have to be. Not alone."
He reached out.
Their hands touched.
And the fire around them changed.
Not destructive.
But warm.
Gentle.
Unified.
---
Awakening
In the real world, the sanctum shattered like brittle ice.
A pillar of twin-colored flame erupted into the sky—orange and gold woven like a helix.
Jiang Han fell to one knee.
Tian Xue floated downward into Lin Yao's arms—alive.
Breathing.
Awake.
Her eyes met his.
And for the first time, she smiled.
---
The Elder of the Glorious Sky Sect hovered in silence.
Then turned his disk away.
"We leave. For now."
His voice echoed as he vanished into the clouds:
> "But the Immortal Realm has taken notice. You delay the flame's true ascension. But you will not stop it."