> [Location: Ember Crossroads – Outer Fields]
Trial Countdown: 3 Days Remaining
Status: Tian Xue safely arrived | Trap Web: Partially compromised
System Alert: Unknown Flame Signature Detected – Origin: Internal Flamebearer Camp
---
Morning – First Lessons in Fire
Jiang Han sat cross-legged in the flame-cleared ring behind Ashroot Pavilion. Tian Xue sat opposite, face serious, flame aura faintly pulsing.
The Phoenix Hatchling chirped between them like a teacher with no patience.
> "You've stabilized your first Flame Ring," Jiang noted, "but your soul tempo's off by half a beat."
> "Still adjusting to Void Sky," Tian Xue replied, brow furrowed. "Everything here feels… heavier."
> "It is," he said. "Because this realm doesn't just test your strength."
He tapped his chest.
> "It tests your intent."
He activated Soul Thread Sight, and a faint white-gold line drew itself between them.
> "Your flame reacts to mine," he said softly. "Same as it did the day I awakened."
Her expression softened.
> "And you're still trying to carry the weight alone."
> "That's what the thread's for," he said, smiling faintly. "So I don't have to."
---
Midday – A Shadow Crawls Back
A message arrived.
A trialist, barely alive, crawled from the outer dunes with half his body scorched and his soul core fractured—not stolen, but broken from the inside.
Jiang rushed to him, stabilizing his breathing with a burst of healing flame.
The boy gasped one word:
> "Scythe… still here… working with one of us…"
Tian Xue stiffened. "You mean a Flamebearer?"
The boy nodded, tears mixing with soot.
> "He warned them… told them where we sleep… I saw his crest. Red ring. Right shoulder…"
Then he passed out.
Jiang's system flickered.
> [Flamebearer Registry Search: Red-ringed crest, right shoulder position…]
→ Match Found: Trialist Jin Moxian – Rank: Mid-tier Flamebearer | Background: Northern Starfire Sect]
Jiang stood slowly.
> "I know him."
---
Afternoon – Preparing Tian Xue
> "You're not ready for trial duels yet," Jiang said, leading her back toward the outer camp. "But you will be."
He handed her a flame scroll, its edges etched with stormruned protection.
> "Read this at dusk. It's a condensed formation from the Embermist Echo Cycle."
> "But you never even showed that to Yue—"
> "Yue wasn't being hunted by syndicate assassins in a cross-realm trial war."
She gave him a dry look. "You always this romantic?"
He smirked. "Only when lives are on the line."
They trained until sundown.
And when Tian Xue unfurled the scroll, her flame flared so hard it cracked the earth beneath her.
Jiang watched from the ridge, proud.
And deeply worried.
---
Evening – Scouting the Traitor
Bo Ren returned from reconnaissance with blood on his coat.
> "I followed him. Jin Moxian."
He threw down a burnt scrap of paper—barely holding together, but lined in Scythe code.
> "Message drop. Hidden beneath a blackstone rune slab. Coordinates matched your trap zone."
Jiang's eyes narrowed.
> "He sold Tian Xue's name."
> "And someone else's," Bo Ren said, lowering his voice. "You're not the only one on their kill list now."
Jiang picked up the paper.
Two names.
Tian Xue. Jiang Han.
But below them…
Long Chen.
His breath caught.
> "He's… alive?"
Bo Ren shook his head.
> "I don't know."
> "But someone thinks he is."
---
Nightfall – Decision
Jiang stood over the Embermist flats again.
Tempest flew slow circles above. The Phoenix Hatchling nuzzled his leg.
He looked to the flameleaf tree where Tian Xue now meditated.
One hand gripped Emberfang.
The other, the Scythe-marked message.
> "We fight in three days."
> "But the real war starts now."