The bells of the Azure Heaven Pavilion tolled thrice at dawn, their echoes rolling down the mountainside like thunder. To disciples, it was the call to gather. To the elders, it was the call to judgment.
And for Feng Xieyun, it was the call to ruin.
---
The grand square brimmed with disciples in azure robes, ranks stretching like a sea. At its heart stood the trial platform—stone etched with suppressive runes, glowing faintly under the morning sun.
On that platform, bound by chains of silver, knelt Lian Zhi. Her silver hair spilled across the stones, violet eyes hidden beneath her lashes. Yet even kneeling, she radiated a presence the Pavilion could not contain.
The Pavilion Master stood above, his robes bright against the dawn. His voice carried, sharp as a blade.
"Today, before the heavens and all disciples, we test this girl's truth. If she is Immortal, we shall seal her power and claim her fate. If she is demon, we shall cut her down."
A roar of approval answered him. Some eyes burned with fear, others with greed. Not one voice questioned his decree.
Except Xieyun's.
He stood among the crowd, his gaze cold, his fists hidden in his sleeves. The Demon Bone pulsed inside him, whispers hissing like venom.
Let them cut her. Drink her blood. Break her chains. Take her power.
And beneath those whispers, the System stirred.
> [Trial Detected.]
[Outcome: Azure Heaven Pavilion must fall.]
[Mission Assigned: Burn the Pavilion.]
Xieyun's breath froze. Burn… the Pavilion? His sect, his teachers, the very halls where he had grown?
Yet even as the thought stabbed him, his gaze slid back to the platform—where runes flared, and Lian Zhi screamed as chains pierced her skin.
Her blood dripped again, crystal droplets that hissed against the runes. Disciples gasped, elders leaned forward, and the Pavilion Master raised his hand to press the seal deeper.
That was when her eyes opened.
Not violet now, but burning with starlight—an endless night sky condensed into pupils that devoured sight. Her voice thundered, shaking stone.
"You dare chain the heavens? Then choke upon their wrath."
The platform cracked. The runes split. A wave of Immortal pressure surged outward, flattening disciples and tearing banners from their poles. Mountains shuddered as if bowing.
The Pavilion Master roared, unleashing his full cultivation. Elders flared their qi to suppress her, layering seals upon seals.
But the moment was enough.
The Demon Bone inside Xieyun erupted. Crimson light flooded his vision, drowning the world in blood-hued fire.
> [Mission Activated.]
[System Authority Unsealed: Demon Flame Manifestation.]
Xieyun's robes tore as demonic aura poured from him, coiling like dragons of shadow. Disciples around him staggered back, eyes wide with horror.
"The Silent Child…" one whispered. "He's—he's not human—!"
Xieyun leapt onto the platform, landing beside Lian Zhi as the runes shattered completely. He raised a hand, and crimson fire blazed from his palm, devouring the chains in an instant.
The Pavilion Master's eyes widened. "You—traitor—!"
Xieyun's voice was calm, cold, every word dripping with finality.
"No. I am truth. And your Pavilion is a lie."
With that, he unleashed the Demon Flame.
It roared across the square, a tidal wave of crimson fire. Disciples screamed, structures cracked and toppled, banners ignited. Elders formed barriers, but the flame ate them like dry leaves.
The Pavilion, proud for centuries, became a pyre.
---
Amid the chaos, Lian Zhi rose. Freed, her wounds closed before the disciples' eyes, her aura surging skyward like a beacon. She turned her gaze to Xieyun, and for the first time, bowed her head slightly.
"Debt owed," she murmured. "Debt remembered."
He did not answer, only turned his gaze on the Pavilion Master—who now stood upon the collapsing platform, fury and fear twisting his face.
"Feng Xieyun!" he roared. "Ungrateful wretch! You destroy your sect for a demon girl?"
Xieyun's flame surged higher, his hair whipping like a banner in the storm. His eyes glowed with crimson light, yet beneath them, a tear traced silently down his cheek.
"I destroy it," he said, "because it would have destroyed me."
The Pavilion Master charged, aura blazing, sword raised. But before his strike could land, Xieyun's flame and Lian Zhi's starlight collided, erupting in a storm that swallowed the square.
When the light cleared, only ash remained.
The Azure Heaven Pavilion—its banners, its halls, its legacy—was gone.
---
The mountain was silent save for the crackle of fire and the weeping of survivors. Smoke curled into the heavens, a funeral pyre visible for miles.
Xieyun stood amidst the ruin, robes torn, eyes burning. Lian Zhi stood beside him, silver hair flowing like a banner of its own.
The System chimed softly in his mind.
> [Mission Complete.]
[Reward: Demon Flame Evolution — Crimson Lotus.]
But the reward felt hollow.
For though he had destroyed the Pavilion, the whispers within him promised only more blood. And above, beyond the smoke, he could feel gazes descending—immortal, demonic, divine.
The world had noticed him now.
And the storm had only begun.
---
✨ End of Chapter Sixteen ✨
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