> [Location: Ember Ridge – Exit Point: Solstice Hollow Vault]
Status: Sovereign Spark Integration 61%
Companion Sync: 93% (Stable)
Next Destination: Blue Star Academy (Old Main Campus – Sector 3)
Threat Alert: Overseer Kill Orders Active – Flame Surveillance Engaged
---
Emerging from the Hollow
The stone spiral sealed behind them with a soft quake. The stars above the ridge had shifted—at least two days had passed. Jiang and Tian Xue emerged with their clothes torn, their flames steadier but heavier.
The Phoenix Hatchling let out a low cry, sensing the unnatural quiet of the upper Crossroads.
> "They know we're alive," Jiang said.
> "They just don't know what we've become," Tian Xue replied.
Bo Ren waited at the clearing, pacing beside a rune-etched transport disk.
> "You're late," he said.
> "You're lucky," Jiang shot back. "What's changed?"
Bo tossed him a folded parchment—stained, half-burnt, smuggled from the Overseer archives.
WANTED: Jiang Han & Tian Xue – Flame Theft, Gate Tampering, Trial Desertion.
Classification: Rogue Sovereign Candidates – Kill on Sight Authorized.
> "Congratulations," Bo said. "You've been upgraded."
---
Travel Plan – Return to the Academy
Jiang unrolled a second scroll—the blueprint of Blue Star Academy, retrieved from the Sovereign Vault. It revealed something most students never saw.
A Gate Matrix sealed beneath the ruins of Sector 3: the old combat arena destroyed in Chapter 209 of the previous era, when Long Chen fought the First Flame Serpent.
> "This is where he anchored the Second Spark," Jiang said.
> "No wonder they buried it," Tian Xue muttered.
> "We'll enter through the utility channel near the western cliffside."
> "That's a death zone."
> "Not for flame thieves."
---
Meanwhile – Overseers React
In the Sovereign Division chamber, five masked Overseers stood around the flickering projection of Solstice Hollow. The flames showed only silence now, but the spark residue pulsed bright silver.
> "He's no longer just an inheritor," one whispered.
> "He's a candidate."
> "Can the Gate under Blue Star still be sealed?"
The eldest Overseer shook his head.
> "Not if he brings the Spark to it."
Another voice, from behind a veil of black glass, rasped:
> "Then we send a candidate of our own."
---
Arrival – Perimeter of the Academy
It was dusk when Jiang, Tian Xue, and Bo reached the outskirts of Blue Star Academy. From this far, it looked as it always did—tall flame towers, flying glyph banners, the echoes of students sparring in training domes.
But inside?
Surveillance flared in every direction.
Jiang activated a minor disguise glyph, one of Bo Ren's crafts. Tian Xue used a breath-suppression charm.
They entered not through the gate—but beneath the cliffs, slipping into a rusted service hatch.
---
System Sync – Beneath Sector 3
> [Location Reached: Buried Arena – Sealed Flame Sector]
Spark Sync Pulse Detected – Dormant Flame Signature Matching Long Chen's Echo Pattern 72.6%
Unlock Requires: Dual Bearers. Sovereign Sync Threshold 65%
→ Current: 61% | Progressing.
They stepped into a place few had seen in a decade.
Crumbled tiles still bore scorch marks from a fight so powerful, it burned into Academy legend. Broken stands, melted steps, and a soulburned sword still embedded in the arena's heart.
> "That's… his," Tian Xue whispered.
Jiang stepped toward it, the Sovereign Spark in his chest pulsing wildly.
> "And it's calling us."
---
Above – A Familiar Face Returns
Back on the surface, in the western dormitory, a girl watched the flame horizon shift unnaturally.
She'd felt this presence once before—in the days of Long Chen.
She turned, whispering to her mentor in the shadows.
> "He's back."
The mentor nodded slowly.
> "Then maybe… this time, the fire won't go out."