> [System Update: Jiang Han – Status: Flame Sovereign Nominee]
Special Buffs Applied: Soul Sync Bonus | Flame Bond Depth Increased | All Companion Growth Accelerated
---
Back at Azure Sky
Jiang Han stepped through the academy gates—unchanged in body, but subtly transformed.
Tempest crackled brighter.
The Phoenix Hatchling flew ahead of him like a rising sun.
And everyone knew.
Students stared. Instructors bowed their heads. Even the elders stood when he passed.
Zhao Kai whistled.
> "You leave for two days and come back a demigod?"
Yue elbowed him. "He didn't become a god, he refused to."
Bo Ren added, "That's rarer."
Tian Xue met Jiang's eyes across the courtyard.
> "Still you?"
He smiled.
> "Still me."
---
Grand Finals Reignited
> [Match Announcement – Grand Finals Resumed]
Jiang Han (Team Dawnflame) 🆚 Shen Lianfeng (Team Nightspire)
Location: Celestial Flame Summit Arena
Battle Condition: Flame Resonance Storm Imminent – Environmental Mutations Expected
The Grand Finals were set atop Celestial Flame Summit, a floating volcanic skyplate wrapped in elemental storm belts and laced with ancient flame ley-lines.
Tian Xue clutched Jiang's shoulder.
> "This is where Long Chen fought his final match."
> "Then we finish what he started," Jiang replied.
---
A New Challenger… Uninvited
The day before the match, a sealed relic gate opened near the summit.
A figure in gray flame robes stepped out.
> "By order of the Ancient Jiang Clan, I invoke Bloodfire Right of Challenge."
The crowd gasped.
Bo Ren spat. "That's outlawed."
> "Not anymore," Yue muttered. "Not if a surviving elder authorized it."
The figure's name rang across the sky:
> Jiang Tianxu – cousin to Jiang Han's father, exiled flame heretic.
> "You refuse the Flamewheel's crown? Then I'll take the Seventh Throne before you."
---
Dual Path to Victory
The Sovereign Council transmitted their judgment.
> "Jiang Han's path to the final throne must now pass two flames:"
1. Defeat Shen Lianfeng in the official Grand Final.
2. Survive Jiang Tianxu's Challenge—a battle within a sealed relic space tied to the Seventh Throne Flame.
Jiang Han stood at the center of it all.
Flame on his skin. Lightning in his veins. Phoenix on his shoulder.
> "Then we take both battles."
> "We finish the finals…"
> "And we take the next step."