The moment Long Feng absorbed the Soul Flame Crystal, the entire fifth floor began to collapse.
Not in rage.
Not in punishment.
In fulfillment.
The trial had served its purpose. The chosen soul had been crowned.
And the heavens trembled quietly in the distance.
---
Soul Flame Rebirth
Long Feng felt the moment the crystal melted into him — not just his body, but his spirit sea.
The flames didn't just strengthen his cultivation. They rewrote it.
> Heaven-Breaker Body… fused with Soul Flame Core…
Spiritual foundation: evolving.
Compatibility: 97%... 98%... 100%...
His meridians shuddered. His dantian cracked.
Then, as his body trembled with unbearable heat, something inside him awakened — a second divine core, pure white and shaped like a blooming lotus made of soul fire.
It wasn't a flame he controlled.
It was a flame that answered only to him.
And when he opened his eyes…
His pupils were no longer black.
They were ashen silver, with a spinning flame mark in each.
---
Xue Yiran Notices
Xue Yiran, who had failed to claim the Soul Flame, didn't hide her gaze as she studied him.
"Your flame… it's alive."
Long Feng nodded once. "Yes."
"It'll kill you if you lose control."
"I know."
Her lips curved slightly. "Then don't lose."
---
Mei Ling's Fear
Behind them, Mei Ling wrapped her arms around herself, eyes never leaving Long Feng.
He was changing.
His power, his eyes, the aura that now surrounded him — they were no longer mortal.
They were closer to what she imagined gods felt like.
And though her heart ached with pride…
…it also whispered fear.
> Will he still see me… when he stands on mountains I can't reach?
---
Outside – The Order Is Given
In the highest chamber of the Crimson Flame Sect, Elder Bai Wen stood before the Grand Flame Council — an elite gathering of six ancient elders who governed the sect's fate.
The Soul Flame Crystal's activation had alerted them all.
They watched its aftermath in silence from the floating mirrors around the chamber.
"It's begun," one of them said.
"After a thousand years…" another muttered. "He has returned."
Bai Wen dropped to one knee. "Honored Council, we must act before it is too late. Before he gathers the Five Flames."
The oldest among them — a withered man known as Elder Huang, who had once fought against Long Feng in his first life — narrowed his cloudy eyes.
"I remember that soul," he rasped. "He broke five realms with flame alone. I watched him burn heaven's banners in defiance."
Another elder added, "If we strike too late, he'll reclaim everything."
The chamber grew silent.
Then came the words:
> "Issue the Kill Order.
Let no one know who gave it.
Long Feng must die before the sixth floor opens."
---
The Kill Order
In the shadows of the sect, a crimson scroll burned into existence.
It passed through hidden hands — masked elders, hidden assassins, old enemies from Long Feng's past life — and landed in the possession of a silent man wearing a black hood.
The assassin bowed.
"I will end him before dawn."
---
Back in the Flame Pagoda – Nightfall
Long Feng sat cross-legged beside a shallow spiritual pool beneath the fifth floor's resting chamber. The Soul Flame within him was still stabilizing — swirling like a coiled dragon beneath his skin.
Mei Ling sat nearby, silent, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.
"You're quiet," Long Feng said without opening his eyes.
She hesitated.
Then softly: "You're changing."
"I have to," he said.
"Will you still… be you?"
His eyes opened. They glowed faint silver in the dark.
"I don't know," he admitted. "But I'll never forget who stood beside me when I was still weak."
Her heart shook.
And for the first time, she leaned forward and touched his hand.
---
Midnight – The First Attack
The air shifted.
Long Feng's eyes snapped open.
Boom—!
A seal exploded at the chamber door.
A figure dressed in black crashed through the flames — his blade glowing with death Qi, his breath silent, his killing intent like a frozen moon.
> "Long Feng," the assassin whispered.
"You weren't supposed to make it this far."
Long Feng rose slowly, dusting ash from his robe.
"I'm used to that."
The assassin lunged.
Their blades clashed, and fire swallowed the night.
---