> [Destination: Charred Sky Monolith – Access Path: Riftlands Border]
Sovereign Spark Integration: 68.5% → 70.2%
Bond Sync: Maximum Tier Achieved – Twin Flame State Stable
Notice: Overseer Surveillance Disengaged (Flame Distortion Zone Active)
---
Pre-Dawn Departure
Jiang and Tian Xue left Blue Star Academy beneath cover of darkness.
No celebration.
No goodbyes.
Even Bo Ren had vanished into the crowd, leaving behind only a coded note:
> "The spark's not just yours. It's ours now. I'll meet you when the world stops trying to kill you."
They slipped through the north gorge, Tempest soaring ahead, masking heat signatures with wind funnels. The Phoenix Hatchling had grown—no longer a fledgling, but a true combat companion, its crown glowing with violet-white fire.
> "How far to the Riftlands?" Tian Xue asked as they crossed into the foothills.
> "Twelve hours on foot," Jiang replied, checking the map etched in flame. "Less, if the wind holds."
She smirked. "It will."
---
A World Left Behind
They paused on a high ridge one last time.
Below, the once-proud towers of Blue Star Academy shimmered in gold as dawn broke.
But neither felt warmth from it.
> "I used to dream of being the top-ranked student there," Jiang said softly.
> "Now you're on a list they'd rather erase."
> "So are you."
She smiled.
> "We're good at sharing things."
He nodded. "Let's go find out why they never taught us where the flame really came from."
---
The Riftlands – Forbidden Ground
By midday, the land changed.
The grass faded into ash-colored moss.
Trees became twisted black skeletons.
The Riftlands stretched wide before them—a dead region known for flame anomalies and broken mana ley-lines, officially declared off-limits by the Sovereign Council.
> [Entering Zone: Riftlands Border]
Warning: Flame Field Distortion – System Map Obscured. Tracking Suspended]
For Jiang and Tian Xue, it was perfect.
> "Why's the Charred Sky Monolith here?" she asked.
> "Because no one's allowed to remember it."
---
A Flicker of the Past – The Flame Sect Remnant
As they approached the second ridge, ruins appeared—half-sunken temples, broken statues, and fire-rune pillars long deactivated.
But one still glowed.
A faint ember.
Tian Xue approached carefully, running her fingers along the black stone's side.
> "This symbol… isn't Sovereign code."
> "It's older," Jiang said. "From the Pre-Flame Order. Before the trial system."
Suddenly, the ember pulsed.
Then spoke.
> "You carry the stolen fire."
Both froze.
A figure emerged from the stone's side—ghostly, glowing red.
A man in priest-like robes, eyes made of swirling golden flame.
> "I am Elder Huo-Shan. Flame Archivist of the First Path."
---
The Forgotten History
The flame spirit bowed, slow and grave.
> "You awakened the Nullflame. Then you are ready to remember."
He waved his hand.
The temple ruins shimmered—and revealed their true form, just for a moment.
An enormous spiral-shaped altar with four Thrones of Fire. Only one still burned.
> "These ruins were not a sect," Elder Huo-Shan said. "They were a council. Flamebearers who governed the spark before the Sovereigns came."
> "And what happened to them?" Tian Xue asked.
> "They were devoured. Absorbed into the current system… or silenced."
Jiang stepped forward. "And the Charred Sky Monolith?"
> "It contains the first flame fragment ever gifted to a mortal. Not chosen. Given."
> "Where is it?"
Elder Huo-Shan pointed beyond the third valley.
> "In the heart of the Riftlands. Beneath the Monolith Grave—where all flames forget who they are."