Several months passed. Heavenly Tribulation.
Scarlet flames swept over the clouds. The fire crane stretched its body, its long beak like a sword, its red feathers scorching the wind. Now, wrapped in a ball of crimson fire, it plummeted before the Forge Rectitude Artifact Chamber, burning the surrounding plants yellow.
The commotion was considerable. At least, Wen Guang and Wang Cheng Yan both emerged from the Forge Rectitude Chamber. Seeing the scene before them, they cried out anxiously:
"Flamefeather?"
Before them was the Fire Essence born within the Earthflame Noon-Origin Tree, one of Bifang's three subordinate envoys, the [Disaster-Flame Crane], bestowed the name Liu Yanyu. Xu Xuan had assigned her to help at Forge Rectitude.
Wen Guang hurried forward. He had arranged for the fire crane to patrol the skies and gather fire qi. Nothing had gone wrong all these years, so why had she fallen today?
A mass of scarlet fire rose from the crane, as though burning her flesh. Her red feathers fell away one by one, and her flesh reshaped itself. Soon, someone walked out from within-a spirited little girl dressed in festive red, about the same height as Wen Guang.
"Sorry to have worried you, master. I was taking human form, so I couldn't keep my magical power under control."
Liu Yanyu spoke in a clear, childish voice. By the reckoning of spirits like her, she was only the equivalent of a human child of six or seven. Her cultivation had already reached the eighth level of Qi Refining, however, and she was advancing extremely quickly.
Wen Guang said nothing, first examining her.
Though he too was a Fire Essence, his origins were far nobler. He was a Bing Fire Spirit, awakened through the orthodox intent of true fire, capable of both refining and burning. He