The sky above the Inferno Arena was stained crimson, the last remnants of the Nirvana Flame lingering in the air. The crowd was still stunned into silence, unable to process the scene that had unfolded before their eyes.
At the center of the scorched stage stood **Xiao Tian**, relaxed yet unreadable, his bamboo stick casually resting on his shoulder. In front of him, descending with the elegance of a celestial goddess, was the **Flame Empress Huo Lian**.
Her golden robe shimmered like liquid fire, her long, flaming red hair cascading down her back. Her eyes, molten gold in hue, glowed with a strange mixture of intrigue and caution. She stopped only a few steps from Xiao Tian, her presence suffocatingly divine.
> "You have done the impossible," she said, her voice calm, but laced with something deeper.
Xiao Tian smirked, tipping his chin in an exaggerated nod. "Impossible is my middle name, Empress."
A murmur of disbelief passed through the crowd at his casual tone. To speak so nonchalantly to the Flame Empress? That was arrogance bordering on madness.
But **Huo Lian** didn't flare in anger. Instead, her expression deepened in thought. She raised her hand, a delicate but commanding motion, and a small seal of crimson flame hovered above her palm.
> "This is the Flame Oath," she declared. "A pact made not through contract, but through soul resonance. Once formed, it cannot be broken—not by time, not by death."
Whispers erupted like wildfire.
"Flame Oath? Isn't that... a bond reserved for... consorts or successors?"
"Heavens! Is she going to claim him?"
But Xiao Tian didn't flinch.
He stared at the glowing seal, then at the Empress, and his voice turned unusually quiet.
> "This bond... will it be of servitude?"
> "No," Huo Lian answered, stepping closer. "Not of master and servant. Not of Empress and subordinate. It will be...
> ...a bond of equals."
For a heartbeat, everything stilled. The world seemed to hold its breath.
Xiao Tian looked into her eyes — those proud, lonely eyes that had stared down generations of sect leaders and immortals.
He grinned.
> "Alright then. Let's shake the heavens together."
The Flame Oath seal blazed with fierce red light, and two streaks of golden fire surged forth—from Xiao Tian's chest and from Huo Lian's heart.
They met in mid-air.
The explosion of fire that followed painted the skies in gold and crimson, forming a twin-lotus sigil visible for hundreds of miles.
A new era had begun.
---
:-- Rise of the Silent Storm –
The courtyard was still shrouded in silence, the air thick with tension as the aftermath of Xiao Tian's quiet declaration still echoed in every heart. But what followed was not uproar. It was reverence.
The disciples of the Scarlet Flame Palace, both inner and core, now watched him with unblinking eyes. Even the guards—those chosen by the Flame Empress herself—felt their breathing deepen in unconscious respect. Xiao Tian had not merely walked through the Infernos. He had danced with their essence, mocking death, and turned the impossible into his playground.
The sky above slowly began to change.
The scarlet clouds that hovered ominously since the trial began began to shift. Slowly, reverently, they parted—and a single ray of golden sunlight descended, striking Xiao Tian like the touch of the heavens themselves.
In that radiant column of light, he stood—neither proud nor humble. He simply was.
---
Meanwhile, high above in the Vermillion Throne Hall, **Flame Empress Huo Lian** sat in silence. Her gaze had not moved from the youth below.
"He should not exist," one elder whispered.
"And yet he does," murmured another, his ancient eyes reflecting the firelight.
**Huo Lian**, known across realms as the *Infernal Monarchess*, tilted her head. Her long crimson hair spilled over the side of her throne, and her robe—woven from Phoenix Silk—rippled gently in the heatless breeze. She saw something in Xiao Tian. Something dangerous. Something... divine.
She rose.
That one motion silenced the hall.
She descended the long stair of flame-wrought marble, her steps graceful and without sound, yet each step sent ripples of spiritual pressure down the mountain. The formation barriers flickered, strained to contain the weight of her presence.
In the courtyard, Xiao Tian felt it. A firestorm of divine pressure heading toward him. But his bamboo stick merely tapped once. He did not kneel. He did not bow.
He looked up.
Their eyes met.
---
**Appearance Highlight – Flame Empress Huo Lian**:
- *Title*: Infernal Monarchess of the Vermillion Throne
- *Hair*: Flowing like molten fire, reaching past her waist
- *Eyes*: Gold mixed with scarlet, like suns encased in rubies
- *Skin*: Flawless and pale, as if carved from moonlight
- *Aura*: Supreme. Unreachable. The embodiment of flame and judgment
- *Rank*: One of the Seven Flames of Dominion, ranked third
- *Beauty Rank*: Ranked **2nd most beautiful woman** in the cultivation world
---
"You defied my trial," she said, her voice like fire wrapped in silk.
Xiao Tian grinned. "I didn't defy it, Your Majesty. I simply... enjoyed it."
Gasps echoed from the crowd. Even the eldest of elders stiffened. To speak so lightly before the Empress?
But she... smiled. Just slightly.
"You seek something from me," she said.
"Perhaps," he replied. "Or perhaps destiny simply insists we meet."
A dangerous flicker passed through her eyes.
"Do you think I will favor you just because you danced through flames?"
"Favor? No," Xiao Tian said with a lazy shrug. "But perhaps... entertain you."
The silence that followed was thick enough to cut.
And then—she laughed.
The Flame Empress, known for never laughing before mortals, chuckled like thunder wrapped in fire.
She stepped closer. "You intrigue me, Xiao Tian. You truly believe the heavens are yours to tease."
He whispered low, so only she could hear: "Only if the heavens are as beautiful as you."
For the first time in centuries, Flame Empress Huo Lian was rendered momentarily speechless.
And thus, the storm began.
The Silent Storm.
Unseen, unfelt—but unstoppable.
**Embers of the Unknown
The moment Xiao Tian stepped out of the gate carved with Phoenix patterns, a strange wind stirred the air. It wasn't from any natural force—this wind carried an ancient scent, like aged scrolls and the iron taste of blood. Even the leaves in the courtyard, normally crisp and bright under the sunlight, dulled for a heartbeat.
He paused, bamboo stick in hand, his casual smirk fading slightly as his eyes narrowed.
Above, the sky shimmered faintly—a ripple, like something shifting just beyond mortal perception.
"That presence again..." Xiao Tian murmured, tilting his head.
---
Far away, hidden in the folds of space, within a dimension sealed away since the First Era, a pair of crimson eyes opened. They hovered in an eternal void, watching, waiting.
"He awakens..."
A voice echoed, genderless and chilling.
"The seal weakens with his rise. We must not allow it to break fully."
Another presence stirred.
"Too late. The boy carries the mark of *The Forgotten Flame*. Destiny has already turned."
---
Back in the Flame Sovereign Palace, Empress **Huo Lian** sat alone in the meditation chamber. Her golden eyes were closed, her aura calm—but only on the surface.
"So many anomalies... His body is of a mortal, yet he withstood Nirvana Flame. His soul is fractured, yet unyielding. What are you hiding, Xiao Tian?"
She opened her eyes slowly. A flicker of memory crossed her face—an ancient battlefield, the scent of lotus and blood, and a figure wrapped in shadow and fire.
"Could it be..."
A knock interrupted her thoughts.
"Come."
An elder entered, bowing deeply. "My Empress, the Flame Sect's Ancestor has sent word. They sensed a shift in the Flame Veins beneath the land. The roots have begun to stir."
Huo Lian stood, her expression solemn.
"Prepare the Flame Mirrors. I want to see every thread of change across the Eight Domains. And summon Xiao Tian. If he truly is the bearer of the Forgotten Flame... then the war of eras might begin with him."
---
Meanwhile, Xiao Tian wandered through the inner courtyard, where young disciples usually trained. He walked past stunned faces, avoiding the respectful bows and whispers.
He wasn't looking to bask in fame—he was searching.
That strange tug in his chest, like a string pulled from another lifetime, guided him through a lesser path behind the training grounds. There, hidden beneath the roots of a fire-tree, lay an ancient slab of stone, glowing faintly with forbidden runes.
He placed his palm over it.
The runes lit up. A voice echoed—not aloud, but inside his mind:
> "Bearer of the Forgotten Flame... Return the embers, or burn the world anew."
His hand trembled slightly.
> "What am I truly...?"
Suddenly, a fiery silhouette appeared behind him.
It was **Yu Xuelan**.
Her beauty, as always, was breathtaking—icy blue-red eyes that shimmered like winter fire, long white hair flowing like moonlight, and her aura carried the grace of a silent avalanche.
She stepped forward, her voice calm, but tinged with something deeper.
"You heard it too, didn't you? The voice of the seal."
He turned to her, surprised. "You know of it?"
She looked at the stone, her expression unreadable.
"There are things even the Empress hides. The Forgotten Flame wasn't meant to be reborn."
Xiao Tian grinned faintly. "Then it's a good thing I was never good at following rules."
They stood there in silence—two beings tied not just by fate, but by a fire long extinguished, now threatening to blaze once more.
---
— Dance of the Forgotten Flame
The world trembled.
From the heart of the scorched land, a lotus bloomed—
but not one of fire or flame.
This one was silver.
Ancient.
Unfathomably cold.
A chilling silence spread like a ripple, freezing even the drifting embers mid-air. The flame that Xiao Tian had absorbed—no, awakened—was not merely powerful; it was sacred. Forgotten. Forbidden.
The **Forgotten Flame**.
Its silver hue shimmered across the heavens, casting strange reflections in the eyes of every cultivator present. Some stumbled back, clutching their chests as if their very souls trembled. Others bowed without realizing it, overcome by an instinctual reverence they could not explain.
Even the high elders and sect masters stood in stunned silence.
And then, breaking the air like thunder, came the voice of **Flame Empress Huo Lian**—not gentle, not amused, but serious.
> "Silver flame... It cannot be. That flame was lost ten thousand years ago—erased from the very memory of the heavens."
A breeze swept through, and Xiao Tian opened his eyes.
They were no longer black.
They now shimmered with streaks of silver and crimson—like molten moonlight.
He exhaled, and frost danced from his breath, though his body still radiated unbearable heat.
> "Empress," he said softly, "This flame... it chose me. Not the heavens."
That single statement shook even the Nine Flame Sects to their core.
Huo Lian descended slowly, her golden robe whispering against the scorched earth. Her expression was unreadable.
> "You speak as if you are above fate."
> Xiao Tian smiled faintly. "No. I just believe that fate is too lazy. Sometimes, someone needs to slap it awake."
The Empress studied him. Not just his appearance, but the air around him. His soul.
> "Do you even understand what you've ignited?"
> "Not entirely," he admitted. "But I know this—"
He raised a hand.
The silver lotus bloomed once more, and the ground beneath their feet cracked with ancient glyphs—
runes forgotten by time.
> "—this flame remembers me. Even if I don't remember it."
A hush spread across the crowd.
**From the shadows, an old figure stirred. Cloaked in ashes and silence.**
An ancient cultivator, who had not spoken in seven centuries, whispered two words:
> "...He returns."
The sky darkened. Clouds formed a spiral above the land. And high above them all, a golden decree burst into flame and fell from the heavens—its celestial script dissolving as it came closer.
**Heaven was watching.**
And Heaven was not pleased.
---
**The Crimson Omen**
As twilight descended upon the Burning Sky Plateau, a strange hush fell over the realm. The flames that usually roared in the sky dimmed as if kneeling before a greater force. Above, the moon emerged from behind smoky clouds, not white or silver, but blood-red—an omen not seen in ten thousand years.
The cultivators still recovering from the shock of Xiao Tian's unprecedented trial paused, their gazes drawn upward by an inexplicable force. Even the most battle-hardened experts found their hearts trembling under the eerie glow of the Crimson Moon.
---
**In the Heavenly Pavilion...**
Flame Empress Huo Lian stood silently before the grand obsidian mirror. The reflection before her did not show her own image but instead a crimson lotus blooming in fire, coiling around a silhouette bathed in starlight—Xiao Tian.
Her eyes narrowed. "The Celestial Convergence has begun... ten thousand years earlier than the ancient texts foretold."
Behind her, Grand Elder Huowen entered, kneeling respectfully. "Empress... is it true? The Crimson Moon is the sign?"
She did not look at him. "It is not a sign, Elder. It is a verdict. The heavens have spoken, and the judgment has begun."
---
**Elsewhere in the world...**
From the Sacred Ice Mountains to the Abyssal Sea, every divine sect and hidden clan witnessed the Crimson Moon rise. The ancient arrays buried deep in ancestral grounds activated on their own. Forbidden artifacts shimmered with unstable light. Sealed beasts howled in unison.
A child born at that very moment in the Verdant Mist Village had eyes that glowed scarlet, terrifying the midwife into silence. In the Hidden Spirit Forest, a thousand-year-old tree spontaneously bloomed, its petals shaped like fire lotuses.
The world was changing.
And all signs pointed to the name now engraved upon the golden scroll:
**Xiao Tian — Bearer of Destiny.**
---
**Back at the Arena of Flames...**
Xiao Tian slowly turned his gaze to the sky, his lazy smile fading for a brief moment. He narrowed his eyes at the Crimson Moon. "So you finally noticed me, old heavens? Took you long enough."
A low chuckle escaped his lips, though his heart stirred with unknown emotion. He felt it now—not just the weight of attention, but the gaze of something ancient and boundless. Something watching.
He gripped his bamboo stick. The aura around him, though calm, pulsed with a quiet defiance.
---
**A Whisper From Beyond**
That night, as he meditated in the quiet chamber granted by the Flame Empress, Xiao Tian heard a whisper.
Not from a person.
Not from a beast.
But from the stars themselves.
> "You are the anomaly. The rebel of fate. The one destined to end the Age of Control."
His eyes snapped open, glowing faintly with a color not seen before — a mix of crimson, gold, and void black.
He smirked.
> "Then let the Age of Chaos begin."
---