A New Fire Within
The city skyline glittered beneath a crescent moon, but Jayden wasn't looking at it. He sat cross-legged on the roof of an abandoned dojo, eyes closed, body still.
The aftermath of the tomb trial still coursed through him. His chi was volatile, like lava beneath the skin, waiting to erupt. Every breath he took shimmered faintly in the air, tinted with the golden-red hue of dragon fire.
He had to stabilize. Fast.
He inhaled slowly, feeling the world shrink. Every sound in Southcross became clearer: dogs barking two blocks down, traffic humming miles away, a whisper of wind stirring broken blinds.
His senses were sharp — too sharp. The fire essence from the Dragon Flame Core had activated not just his internal energy but the Pulse Meridian, a rare channel that only those with awakened bloodlines possessed.
Marcus had warned him: "If you don't master it, the pulse will burn you from the inside out."
Jayden focused, tracing the chaotic currents in his dantian, channeling them along his meridians using the breathing rhythm described in the scroll. It wasn't smooth — like dragging fire through thread — but inch by inch, the chi began to settle.
He entered the Lunar Cultivation State.
Time blurred.
One hour. Two. Five.
Then, a soft thud on the rooftop behind him.
He didn't move. But his hand tightened over his knee.
"Still meditating?" came a girl's voice.
Jayden opened his eyes.
A silhouette stood in the moonlight. Long black coat. Hood down. A familiar smirk on her face.
Eve.
The girl with the silver eyes.
The Phoenix Vessel.
Allies and Enemies
Jayden stood slowly, guarded.
"What do you want?"
Eve stepped closer, raising her hands. "Relax. I'm not here to kill you. Yet."
She tossed him a jade vial.
Jayden caught it, eyebrows raised. "What's this?"
"Stabilizer. Your chi is still burning. You're lucky I didn't just let it consume you."
He glanced at the bottle, then back at her. "Why help me?"
"Because…" she sighed, sitting on the edge of the roof, "our enemies are bigger than you think. The tomb was a test. The real war's still to come."
Jayden hesitated, then sat beside her.
"You're from the Phoenix Sect."
"I was born there," she said quietly. "Raised to believe the Dragon Bloodline should never rise again."
"And now?"
Eve looked at him, silver eyes glowing faintly. "Now I'm not sure. You're not what they told me you'd be."
Jayden chuckled. "Sorry to disappoint."
They sat in silence for a while, the wind rustling softly around them.
"I saw my father," Jayden finally said. "In a vision. In flames."
Eve nodded. "You will see him again. But not until you're strong enough to walk into the realm where they took him."
"Where?"
She stood.
"They call it the Sky Rift. It's not of this world."
Jayden frowned. "You've been there?"
"No. But someone who has… just returned."
She tossed him a black envelope, sealed with phoenix wax.
"Come to the Twin Lantern Sect tomorrow. Midnight. You'll get answers. Or maybe your death. Depends on your luck."
Then she vanished in a burst of flame, leaving behind only scorched roof tiles and more questions.
Training With the Master
Jayden didn't wait until morning.
By sunrise, he was deep in the forest outside the city, standing before a small waterfall and an old stone hut covered in moss. Inside, the only man who could help him now: Master Yuan — the greatest acupuncture and chi manipulation expert alive.
His master sat meditating, surrounded by floating needles.
Jayden knelt. "I'm ready."
Yuan's eyes opened slightly.
"You're not."
Jayden gritted his teeth. "Then help me become ready."
Yuan raised a hand. "Stand."
Jayden did.
In a flash, Yuan flicked two needles — one into Jayden's chest, the other into his back.
Jayden gasped as his body froze. Every nerve buzzed. His meridians felt like threads of lightning.
"Do not resist. Feel the flow," Yuan said.
Jayden closed his eyes, letting the sensation pass through him.
The needles shifted slightly. Yuan moved closer, placing his fingers on Jayden's temples.
"You've awakened something divine. But divinity is unstable without control."
Suddenly, a surge of chi burst from Jayden's back — a spiraling dragon-shaped stream of fire.
Yuan's eyes widened.
"So the legends were true…"
Jayden collapsed to one knee. "What… what was that?"
"Your Dragon Pulse is fully formed. But it is incomplete."
Jayden looked up, panting. "How do I complete it?"
Yuan smiled faintly.
"By finding the Dragon Mirror — the relic your father was searching for when he disappeared."
The Ghost Who Knew Too Much
Later that night, Jayden arrived at the edge of the abandoned temple ruins known as the Twin Lantern Sect. Two massive red lanterns burned outside, casting an eerie glow.
He stepped inside cautiously, the black envelope still in his jacket.
A dozen masked figures stood in silence around a fire pit. At the center, a man in white robes — long hair, eyes covered in a cloth band, body covered in burns.
He turned toward Jayden, even without sight.
"I dreamed of your arrival."
Jayden blinked. "Who are you?"
The man smiled. "I am what your father once was. A Flame Seeker."
He stepped forward, holding a scroll wrapped in obsidian.
"This belonged to your father. He left it with me when he crossed into the Sky Rift."
Jayden took the scroll. His fingers trembled.
"What happened to him?"
The man's smile faded.
"He made it through the Rift. But something followed him back."
Suddenly, a loud roar echoed through the mountain.
All eyes turned.
The sky above the temple cracked with thunder.
From the clouds descended a massive beast — half dragon, half shadow, its wings like torn banners.
The flame pit flared.
The man turned back to Jayden.
"Read the scroll. Now."
Awakening the Dragon Seal
Jayden opened the scroll.
Golden letters floated upward, surrounding him in a cyclone of light. Symbols merged, forming the shape of a dragon's eye.
Then his body lit up — not with flame, but with lightning.
The beast above shrieked.
Jayden raised his hand.
The dragon eye embedded itself into his chest, pulsing once.
Then he spoke a word written on the scroll — in an ancient tongue.
The sky cracked again.
And the beast was struck by divine fire, vaporized in a scream.
The others fell to their knees.
Jayden collapsed, vision spinning.
But one thought rang clear in his mind:
He was getting closer.
To his father.
To the truth.
To godhood.