The silver token glowed faintly in the starlight.
Its carving—a lotus surrounded by nine stars—seemed ordinary to anyone else. But to Long Feng, it was a mark more painful than any blade.
> A flame sect… that should not exist anymore.
A sigil that belonged to a woman who once called him "beloved."
He traced the etching with his thumb, heart still, but breath shallow.
> Lan Xueyin.
That name hadn't passed his lips in over a hundred years.
---
She Once Burned Beside Him
Back in the heavens—before the betrayal, before his fall—Lan Xueyin had been the Saintess of the Lotus Flame Sect, one of the three Great Flame Clans of the Upper Realm.
She was calm, calculating, and terrifyingly intelligent. But beneath that, she had a quiet warmth that only few ever saw. And of those few… only Long Feng had ever held her heart.
They were opposites.
His flame was wild, dominant, chaotic.
Hers was slow, elegant, patient—capable of dissolving enemies without even igniting them.
But she had been loyal.
Even when the heavens whispered, even when Long Feng was hunted… she stood beside him.
Until the day she didn't.
Until she turned away without a word… as he bled alone on the Starfire Battlefield.
---
🏯 Present Day – Crimson Flame Sect
The token weighed heavily in his pocket as Long Feng descended into the sect's ancient archives, a place few disciples had reason to enter.
Ancient scrolls were stacked in long jade shelves, lit by blue lanterns enchanted to burn for a thousand years.
He moved toward the flame sect records and unrolled a brittle piece of parchment.
> "Lotus Flame Sect – Destroyed during the War of Severance.
Surviving members: none.
Archives sealed by Divine Court order."
> Lies.
He knew the Divine Court well enough to see the truth hidden between their lines.
The Lotus Flame Sect hadn't been destroyed. It had been erased.
> And someone… someone is bringing it back.
---
Echoes of Guilt
Mei Ling found him sitting at the edge of the lotus pond behind the Alchemy Hall, alone, staring at the water as if it held answers.
She hesitated at first. He hadn't been this quiet since the day of the flame inheritance.
She finally walked up and sat beside him.
"You haven't spoken all day."
He didn't look at her. "I've been thinking."
"About?"
"…A mistake I made in another life."
She turned toward him, confused. "You've never spoken about your past. Not really."
He sighed, slow and heavy.
"There was someone I loved. Back in the Upper Realm. She saved my life. Twice. And betrayed me once."
"Did you love her?"
"Yes."
"Do you still?"
He turned his head toward her. The look in his eyes wasn't cruel—it was… worn. Like someone who had carried too much fire in his soul for far too long.
"I don't know what she became after I died," he whispered. "And I don't know if the woman I loved still exists in that body."
Silence hung between them like mist.
Mei Ling clenched her robe tightly but said nothing.
Instead, she stood up. "I'll leave you to your thinking."
She didn't walk away bitterly. But she didn't look back either.
---
A New Message
That night, Long Feng returned to his chambers.
Another message awaited him—this time in flame rather than blood.
A single paper talisman hovered above his pillow, glowing faintly with fire sigils. As he stepped close, it ignited and spoke.
A female voice.
> "Long Feng.
If you're alive, then you know whose symbol that was.
I did not kill you. But I did let you die.
Come find me if you still dare.
I'll be waiting…
At the ruins where our flame first touched."
The flame vanished into smoke.
His hand slowly lowered.
His jaw clenched.
> Lan Xueyin…
> You're alive.
---
Flashback: The Ruins of Twin Lotus Peak
Long Feng sat cross-legged in his room, eyes closed, spirit drifting back into the realm of memory.
He could still feel her soft fingers as they guided his flame during their first dual cultivation session—years ago, at Twin Lotus Peak, a place sacred to both of their clans.
Back then, their Qi had mingled perfectly, like two flames dancing as one.
She had whispered to him, "If I betray you one day… burn me first."
But when the betrayal came, he didn't burn her.
He just let her walk away.
And it cost him everything.
---
The Decision
Morning came with golden light pouring through the paper windows.
Long Feng stood near the edge of the outer gate, dressed in his travel robes. His flame aura was completely suppressed. Only the mark of the Eternal Ember pulsed faintly beneath his collarbone.
A journey was calling him.
A journey back into the burning ashes of memory.
He didn't leave a message.
Didn't ask for permission.
Because some ghosts aren't meant to be reported to the elders.
They must be exorcised with fire.
---
Meanwhile…
Far away, on a shattered mountaintop buried in vines and silence, a woman stood with her arms crossed, flame robe fluttering in the cold wind.
Her eyes were pale violet. Her lips held no smile.
She turned as a servant approached and knelt behind her.
"Report," she said softly.
"He's coming."
Her expression didn't change.
But her fingers tightened slightly around the jade ring on her hand.
> "Good."
> "Let's see if the boy I abandoned… has become the man I once dreamed of."
---