Mortal Fire Sets the Plains Ablaze

On the frontier of the Western Region, amid a wasteland of yellow sand and crimson rock, a small village named Ash Kiln stood in silence. No powerful expert guarded it, no legacy of heavenly flames resided there, and even Dou Zong were rarely seen. Its villagers made their living gathering Fire Crystal Stone, working at sunrise and resting at sunset—the most ordinary speck of dust beneath the New Order.

Yet tonight, that speck of dust caught fire.

Above the village, eerie dark-red flames coiled like vines, sealing off the entire settlement. Several gray-robed remnants held the village entrance, Dark Flame flickering in their hands as they controlled the corrupted villagers. "Hand over that boy, and we may spare your lives," they said coldly.

"Never!" An old man planted his walking stick before them, blocking their way. "Lin Yan is our village's only hope! You remnants of Dark Flame will never defile the New Order!"

"Hope?" A gray-robed man sneered. "A bastard who isn't even a Dou Shi dares speak of hope? The Emperor Fire Trial was prepared for prodigies, not for ants to dream!"

Before his words had faded, a lean figure suddenly charged out of a cave behind the village—it was Lin Yan, seventeen years old, whose parents had died in an Old Clan purge and who had been raised by the village elders since childhood. He gripped a battered Flame Blade tightly. His dou qi was weak, but his gaze was iron.

"You... want me, don't you?" He panted, yet his voice remained firm. "I'll go with you. Let them go."

"Lin Yan! Don't!" the villagers cried.

But Lin Yan had already taken a step forward. The Flame Blade trembled faintly in his hand. Though his dou qi was weak, an unyielding flame burned within him.

"Interesting." The gray-robed leader sneered. "Let me see what gives an ant like you the courage to enter the Emperor Fire Trial."

He raised a hand, and Dark Flame lunged like a snake straight at Lin Yan's face.

At that very instant—

Boom!

Without warning, a wisp of crimson-gold fire erupted from Lin Yan's chest!

The fire was faint but searing, like a newborn sun, and actually drove the Dark Flame three feet back! Stranger still, it was neither heavenly flames nor dou qi given form, but shaped by his will, kindled by his conviction—

It was mortal fire, yet resembled emperor flame!

"This... is impossible!" The gray-robed man recoiled in shock. "How can a mortal's fire contend with Dark Flame?!"

"Because..." Lin Yan slowly raised his head, crimson-gold flames dancing in his eyes. "My fire doesn't burn to hurt people."

"It burns—to protect them!"

Boom—!

As his words fell, heaven and earth abruptly changed.

Far away in the Central Plains, the Nine Flames Emperor Stele shuddered at that same moment. Throughout the nine trial stages, every cultivator attempting them felt heat bloom in their chest, and the emperor flame within them resonated beyond their control!

"What's happening? The emperor flame is... responding to something?"

"It's fire from outside the trial... mortal fire!"

"But how could mortal fire... deserve to stir a resonance with emperor flame?!"

At the Nine Flames Emperor Court, Xiao Yan's eyes snapped open, emperor flame swirling within his pupils. "This aura... isn't emperor flame, yet it's purer than emperor flame. It is Heart Flame, it is Will Flame, it is the true seed of fire for the New Order."

He took one step, the void split open, and his figure vanished.

Above Ash Kiln Village.

Lin Yan stood amid the flames. Though his mortal fire was weak, it was like an undying lamp wick. No matter how the Dark Flame ate away at it, it never went out.

The gray-robed man was so furious that he laughed. "An ant's fire dares rival the heavens' radiance? Today, I'll make you understand—without a legacy, without a bloodline, you aren't even worthy of standing before me!"

He formed seals with both hands, condensing Dark Flame into a False Emperor Spear that thrust straight at Lin Yan's heart!

At that moment, when his life hung by a thread—

Rumble!

The sky split open, and a blaze of crimson-gold fire descended, like an emperor arriving in the mortal world. Xiao Yan strode through the flames, his imperial might towering like a mountain. He thrust out a palm, and the False Emperor Spear instantly shattered. Before the gray-robed man could even scream, he turned to drifting ash.

"Em... Emperor Xiao?!" The villagers fell to their knees, trembling.

Lin Yan stared blankly at the man before him. The legendary Dou Di had actually come here for him.

Xiao Yan turned, his gaze settling on Lin Yan, and remained silent for a long time. Then he raised his hand and gently touched a wisp of emperor flame to Lin Yan's chest.

"Are you afraid?" he asked.

Lin Yan gritted his teeth. "Yes. Afraid of dying, afraid of being powerless, afraid I won't be able to protect the people I want to protect. But I... am not afraid to kindle my fire."

Xiao Yan smiled, his smile filled with relief and emotion.

"Good," he declared. "Mortal fire can set the plains ablaze, and Heart Flame can forge an emperor. You, Lin Yan, are the true seed of fire for the New Order."

He raised his hand, and a phantom image of the Nine Flames Emperor Stele appeared. A crimson-gold flame seal slowly descended and sank into Lin Yan's brow.

"From this day onward, you are a specially authorized entrant to the Emperor Fire Trial. You may enter its nine stages directly, without qualifications or recommendations—for your will already accords with the true meaning of emperor flame."

"Remember, the Emperor Road never asks where you came from. It asks only—do you dare to burn?"

Several days later, before the Emperor Flame Hall.

Lin Yan knelt before the stone stele, mortal fire flickering in his palm. He looked up at the Nine Flames Emperor Stele and asked softly, "Senior, can I... really become an emperor?"

The old man guarding the hall smiled. "You have already kindled your fire. All that remains is to keep walking the road."

Far away on the horizon, Xiao Yan stood atop the clouds, emperor flame swirling around him, and murmured:

"Back then, I broke the deadlock with heavenly flames. Now, you establish the order with mortal fire. The fire of this new age lies neither in the ninefold heavens nor within the Emperor Stele—"

"It lies in the hearts of millions who dare to kindle their fire."

"This fire will one day set the plains ablaze."

End of chapter

Next chapter preview: "Ninefold Flame Trial"

Lin Yan entered the first stage of the Emperor Fire Trial—the "heart-burning tribulation"—and pitted his mortal fire against the Heart-Demon Illusion. The other prodigies sneered, "A country brat thinks he's worthy of attempting the trial?" Yet when the trial stele trembled in resonance with him, the entire gathering fell silent. Xiao Yan transmitted his voice: "If he can pass this stage, the nine flames shall open the way for him."