A thousand stars blinked across the heaven's dome,
Yet none shone bright as Lin Xun's flame-born soul.
Where fate once shackled, now freedom dared to roam,
For deep within him, destiny took control.
Upon the ridge of Thousand Echo Peak,
Where sword-shaped cliffs stood tall and proud and steep,
The winds howled hymns in ancient tongues and creeds—
The Skyrect Sect's sacred summit, buried deep.
His robes now trimmed with the Elder's seal,
His aura cloaked in a sky of zeal,
Lin Xun, though young, stood like a storm unstilled,
A tempest robed in vengeance, strong-willed and real.
The ceremony had passed. The elders bowed.
Their words, though cautious, trembled through the crowd.
> "He bears the mark—the dual flame! He lives!"
"Is he the heir the Heaven's Lotus gives?"
And whispers weaved from chamber halls to shrines,
That Lin Xun's path would shake the sacred lines.
Yet unaware, within his dantian's storm,
Two forces danced, not fused but still deformed.
—
The Pavilion of Inner Flame was quiet.
Only the whisper of old incense stirred.
Lin Xun sat cross-legged before a violet lotus flame,
Its petals pulsating, every beat a word.
> "You've crossed to Core-Stage First with godly might,"
"But true strength comes not just from fire or fight."
So spoke Elder Hei Yao, guardian of arts,
His beard as white as frost, his tone like sparks.
The man had once faced ten Sect Masters down,
And now he stared at Lin Xun with no frown.
> "Balance," he said. "Your fire devours too fast."
"Your frost suppresses. They clash, not blend."
"Control your core, or you'll never last—"
"Your rise will end where your bones must bend."
Lin Xun absorbed each syllable like gold.
He bowed with grace, his eyes both fierce and bold.
> "Then teach me. Even if it costs my soul,"
"I must ascend. Completion is my goal."
—
A week then passed in silence, flame, and ice,
He practiced breath control and stilled his vice.
He walked barefoot through frozen cave halls,
Then swam through magma streams behind stone walls.
Each trial taught him pain. But more—refinement.
Until at dusk, his dual force aligned.
The frost no longer chilled the fire's ascent.
The flame no longer scorched the cold-defined.
He smiled through blood, his core now smooth and vast,
His dantian pulsing like a furnace blast.
From novice steps, he'd forged his footing firm.
And deeper still, he felt his power churn.
—
But fate had ink to spill beyond his hand.
Far in the East, across the crimson sand,
Another power moved with dark intent—
A Saint from Silent Jade, on vengeance bent.
His name: Sect Saint Luan, cold as death.
His sect destroyed by Lin Xun's mother's breath.
He bore the mark of Cursed Serpent Flame,
And now he sought the heir to stake his claim.
With scroll in hand and blade at hip,
He crossed ten thousand li with vengeance-lips.
> "Skyrect dares protect that cursed son?"
"I'll crush them both before the moon is done."
—
Meanwhile, Lin Xun studied deeper lore.
The Flame Scripture—Volume Three's core.
He read of Voidflame Steps and Heaven's Brand,
And how to carve flame sigils on one's hand.
But one page caught his eye like burning glass,
It told of ancient beasts none could surpass.
The Scorching Frostwing—a phoenix rare—
Said to hold flame and ice within its lair.
And suddenly, his breath came quick and sharp.
> "If I devour its core, I'll form my path—"
"A perfect harmony of fire and freeze."
"A sacred beast… and I will seize."
But it was not alone. This beast was sealed
In Nine-Blood Valley, where the skies were peeled.
Forbidden, cursed, the elders had declared.
But Lin Xun's soul was not easily scared.
> "I must go."
He packed his sword, his ring, his map.
And through moon's gaze, he slipped past gate and trap.
Toward Nine-Blood's maw, where only silence grows,
To chase a beast and tame what only foes.
—
But fate was cruel and liked to jest,
For as he left, a visitor reached the sect.
A girl with robes like woven dusk and gold,
With eyes that told of worlds both young and old.
Xu Qingxue—of the Eternal Jade—
A sect so high, even Heaven obeyed.
She sought a sword from Skyrect's lore,
But found instead a tale worth more.
She met the elders, sipped tea with calm.
But when she passed Lin Xun's quiet dorm,
She paused, her gaze a frozen breath of charm.
> "Who stayed here?" she asked. "Whose aura haunts this path?"
And when she heard his tale, she merely laughed.
> "A dual core? Flame and frost?" she mused aloud.
"That boy will die, or break the sacred clouds."
Yet something in her voice betrayed a spark.
A flicker, brief—but not without a mark.
—
Nine-Blood Valley roared with ancient storms.
The skies above were torn, the land deformed.
Lin Xun stepped past bones of saints and fiends,
Toward a cliff where blue and crimson screamed.
The Frostwing Phoenix perched in solemn rest,
Its feathers shimmering, its soul compressed.
And as Lin Xun drew close, it opened flame-drenched eyes,
And roared a challenge, sundering the skies.
The battle shook the valley's spine to shards.
The flames kissed trees, the frost carved battle scars.
Lin Xun, engulfed, endured each strike and lash,
Until he stabbed his will through time's great crash.
His ring pulsed once—then twice—then shone like suns.
The beast collapsed, its final song undone.
And from its heart, a core of perfect make—
Flame and frost—he reached, prepared to break.
> "I claim you," he whispered, blood on lips.
"Let us become one and never slip."
He crushed the core into his chest and screamed,
As twin infernos tore his soul in streams.
But through that agony, a path was paved—
A higher realm, once locked, now unchained.
—
A
nd far away, Xu Qingxue turned her face,
A sudden shiver rippling through her grace.
> "Someone dares awaken ancient flame," she said.
"A dragon sleeps… and it knows its name."
—
—Chapter 34 ends—