The silence after the Third Gate wasn't peaceful.
It was… expectant.
Zhu Yan stepped from the flesh-forged passage, boots landing on soil that sizzled faintly beneath him. The terrain had shifted again—no longer a cave, no longer a maw, but a vast, open plain of scorched earth under a sky that bled crimson mist.
"There should be no sky here," he murmured.
And yet… there it was.
A sky that watched.
Suddenly, the ground cracked. A faint tremor pulsed outward in a perfect ring from his step. The soil beneath him wasn't inert—it reacted.
"It's listening," Zhu Yan realized.
Then came the whispers.
Not from the Manual.
Not from his memories.
From the earth itself.
"He has passed the Fang. He carries the hunger."
"But does he carry command?"
Zhu Yan clenched his fists. "I don't need permission. I need direction."
The whispers paused.
Then, the ground ahead peeled open, revealing a spiral path descending into molten light. He didn't hesitate.
The deeper he walked, the heavier the air became—not with heat, but with presence.
He wasn't alone.
A figure stood at the bottom, cloaked in robes woven from black smoke, its face featureless. It bore no weapon, no aura, and yet it radiated authority.
"I am the Warden of Flame," it said.
"You have passed the test of hunger. Now, prove you can wield it."
Zhu Yan didn't bow.
"I don't beg fire to burn. I command it."
The Warden raised its hand.
In an instant, the cavern exploded into flame—not Wrathfire, but something deeper. Soulfire. It didn't scorch flesh—it burned truth.
Zhu Yan screamed—silently.
His past, his pride, his pain—everything was exposed, stripped bare.
But he stood firm.
"I am not here to be purified," he growled.
"I am here to rise."
The Soulfire bent.
The Warden lowered its hand.
"Then rise, Heir of Hunger. Rise… Commander of the Ash-Born."
The flames collapsed into a sigil—sharp, angular, and seething with silent power. It branded itself onto Zhu Yan's chest without touch.
「New Skill Unlocked: Ember Command」
Flame can now obey not instinct… but will.
Zhu Yan exhaled.
For the first time, the Manual did not whisper.
Because it no longer needed to.
It was no longer leading him forward.
He was leading it.