On the second floor of the teahouse, in a window-side booth.
Su Chen held his teacup, feeling a trace of warmth through its sides.
Down on the main street, crowds surged. Most of the onlookers who had gathered outside the Xiao Residence to watch the spectacle had already dispersed, leaving only a handful of busybodies still craning their necks in vain to peer through the tightly shut gates.
Inside the teahouse, though, the mood was lively.
"Tsk, tsk. You should've seen the Misty Cloud Sect's procession. What a grand display!"
"Do you even need to ask? The Jia Ma Empire's number-one sect! Having them come to our little Wutan City is a real honor!"
"I just wonder what they're doing at the Xiao Clan's residence. From the looks of things, they don't seem to be here to arrange a marriage."
A burly mercenary lowered his voice, a hint of schadenfreude on his face.
"Hey, what good could come of it? Have you forgotten the Xiao Clan's genius? Three years ago, he was a once-in-a-century prodigy in Wutan City. He reached the Dou Zhe level at just twelve! But what happened after that? His cultivation started declining instead of improving. Three years later, he probably can't even manage the third stage of Dou Qi!"
"You mean... the Misty Cloud Sect came to break off the engagement?"
At those words, several people at the neighboring table drew in a sharp breath.
Breaking off an engagement.
For a once-glorious clan, it was a slap in the face louder than any other.
Su Chen took in every word, but his expression didn't stir. He simply sipped his tea in silence, his gaze crossing the street to settle on the Xiao Clan's imposing gates.
He was waiting.
Waiting for the storm to finally break.
Waiting for a voice destined to resound across the entire continent.
Time trickled by amid the fragrant steam rising from the tea.
Just as the teahouse grew noisier and the crowd's guesses about the Xiao Clan's future grew more and more vicious—
A sudden commotion came from the direction of the Xiao Clan's residence.
It was a jumble of startled cries, angry rebukes, and heated arguments. Though it came from far away, it was still clear as day.
The teahouse fell silent in an instant.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look out the window in unison.
The commotion came and went quickly.
In just a few breaths, silence returned, as if nothing had happened at all.
But that only stirred everyone's curiosity even more.
"Did the talks fall through?"
"Most likely! I knew it. How could an exalted force like the Misty Cloud Sect accept a useless son-in-law who couldn't cultivate Dou Qi?"
"Well, the Xiao Clan's reputation is in tatters now..."
Mocking laughter rang out in the teahouse, utterly unrestrained.
Su Chen set down his teacup.
He knew the clash inside was over.
Next would come the humiliated youth's final, proudest counterattack.
He stopped looking out the window.
Slowly, he closed his eyes. His mind settled like still water as he sank into the familiar Void Space, deep within his consciousness.
The ancient Stone Platform floated in the very center, unchanged since time immemorial.
The entire space was as silent as the point before the birth of the universe.
Su Chen's consciousness lay in wait like a patient hunter.
He was waiting for a signal.
One only he could detect.
One breath.
Two breaths.
Three breaths.
Then, in a single instant—
Without warning!
Boom—!!!!
Su Chen's entire consciousness space shuddered violently!
It was a terrifying upheaval beyond words.
If the Stone Platform's reaction to the Beast Flame had been a ripple across a lake, then this Void Space had just been struck by a star plummeting from beyond the heavens!
The entire space twisted and wailed!
The ancient Stone Platform, suspended at its center since time immemorial, erupted with an unprecedented, blinding white light!
The light was no longer gentle. It no longer brought comfort.
It was filled with a yearning and excitement that seemed to have been forcibly awakened, something instinctive...
Bzzzz—!
Countless profound runes on the Stone Platform's surface seemed to come alive. They spun wildly and flashed at dizzying speed, forming a vast, rotating vortex that seemed intent on devouring the entire Void Space!
Amid this unprecedented storm, Su Chen's consciousness was as tiny as a lone boat about to capsize!
He couldn't begin to understand what was happening!
He didn't even have time to react!
Just then—
A wisp of aura.
An aura that was exceedingly faint, yet pure and incomparably noble. It seemed to pierce through infinite space and dimensions, then was forcibly seized from the real world and dragged in by the vortex of spinning runes!
It was the aura of a flame!
The moment it appeared, the entire raging consciousness space abruptly stilled!
Cold.
A bone-deep chill that came from the depths of the soul!
As if it could freeze all things, freeze space and time, freeze every spark of life!
It was utterly unlike any Beast Flame Su Chen had encountered before!
The Fire Rock Lizard's Beast Flame was impure and violent.
But this aura was pure and restrained, with an aloof, tyrannical majesty that seemed to place it above all flames!
It was too faint.
Faint as a candle about to go out.
But its essence, its "rank," was so exalted that even Su Chen's soul trembled!
It was like...
The night.
An endless, pitch-black night, so dark he couldn't see his own hand before his face. It was the darkness of countless mortal flames across the Dou Qi Continent.
And it—
It was the only Lighthouse!
Though distant and faint, its light pierced through all the darkness. The Stone Platform locked onto it and marked it with absolute clarity!
"Unknown high-tier flame source detected..."
"Category: Heavenly Flame (fragmentary soul form)"
"Name analysis in progress... analysis failed..."
"Energy properties: extreme yin, extreme cold, capable of tempering the spirit of all things..."
"Status: dormant, extremely weak..."
"Warning! A powerful, unyielding will is stirring this flame source!"
One broken, blurry message after another branded itself into Su Chen's mind!
A Heavenly Flame!
Those two words struck his soul like a thunderbolt from the ninth heaven!
The second floor of the teahouse.
"Crash—!"
The sharp crack of breaking porcelain rang out, instantly cutting through the noise.
Everyone's gaze snapped toward the sound.
In the booth by the window, a frail-looking young man sat frozen, his face deathly pale.
At his feet lay a white porcelain teacup shattered into pieces, brown tea and leaves splattered across the floor.
"Sir, are you all right?"
The waiter hurried over with a rag, an edge of irritation on his face.
The young man seemed not to hear him.
He remained in the same position, eyes wide. Deep in his pupils lingered a look of utter shock and horror that had yet to fade.
His chest heaved violently. Each breath seemed to wring all the air from his lungs.
Cold sweat slid silently down from his temple.
"Sir...?"
The waiter called out again.
Su Chen's body jolted.
As if waking from a deep dream, he suddenly came to his senses.
The clamor around him, the waiter's impatient voice, the fragrance of the tea... all his senses returned.
He lowered his eyes to the mess on the floor, then looked at his hand, still trembling faintly, empty of anything.
That just now... wasn't an illusion!
He forced down the storm raging inside him like a tidal wave, reached into his robes for several silver coins, and spoke in a voice roughened by a faint rasp.
"Sorry, my hand slipped. Will these... cover the damages?"
At the sight of the gleaming silver coins, the waiter's irritation vanished in an instant, replaced by a beaming smile.
"That's more than enough! Please, make yourself comfortable. I'll clean this up right away!"
Su Chen paid him no further mind.
He slowly sat down, hiding his hands beneath the table as he clenched them into fists. His nails dug deep into his palms, pain helping him hold on to the last of his composure.
He quickly glanced around.
The other patrons had only glanced his way before returning to their gossip about the Xiao Clan.
No one.
No one had noticed that terrifying aura, powerful enough to freeze the soul, in that fleeting moment.
It was as if he alone had experienced a storm and purification of the soul.
He slowly exhaled, trying to still his trembling body.
Once again, his gaze locked firmly on the silent residence across the street.
At this moment, in his perception—
In his consciousness space—
The Lighthouse the Stone Platform had forcibly marked was unmistakably located deep within that residence!
There was no mistaking it.
Absolutely none!
That rank, standing above all flames; that bone-chilling, domineering cold...
There was only one possibility: the flame that devoured all things and tempered the soul...
The eleventh-ranked flame on the Heavenly Flame Ranking...
Bone Spirit Cold Flame!
And its master...
Yao Chen!
Just then—
Creak—!
The tightly shut gates of the Xiao Residence were flung open once more!
A thin, stubborn figure burst through them!
The youth's clothes were slightly disheveled, and his handsome face was flushed red. His usually dull black eyes now blazed with fury and defiance!
He paid no heed to the strange looks cast his way. He stared fixedly at the gates behind him and roared, his voice almost a bellow!
"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river!"
"Don't bully a young man just because he's poor—!!"
His voice rang out like thunder, rolling into the distance!
And in that same moment—
Su Chen sensed it clearly.
Deep within the Xiao Residence, the Lighthouse that represented the Bone Spirit Cold Flame stirred at the youth's soaring spirit. It flickered faintly, then... began to move!
It followed the youth as he charged out of the gates, step by step, slowly heading in Su Chen's direction!
Su Chen's heart nearly leaped out of his chest!
He watched the youth, humiliation and resentment etched across his face, yet his back held straight as a rod.
He looked at the ancient, unremarkable black ring on the youth's finger.
Everything fell into place.
Su Chen's lips parted slightly.
He murmured to himself in a voice only he could hear.
His voice held boundless shock and an uncontrollable tremor of sheer elation.
"No mistake..."
"This is..."
"the real Heavenly Flames!"
Before you continue