Wind howled across the Flame Orchid Courtyard, a rare silence blanketing the grounds like ash after wildfire. Morning had not yet come, but lanterns were already being snuffed by trembling disciples. Not by wind but by fear.
Shen Yao was meditating under the shattered archway of Tower Seven, where flame had once consumed half the structure. Where divine punishment had landed years ago.
That was poetic, really.
He opened his eyes. The embers beneath his skin didn't flicker. They waited. Hungered and tonight, they would eat.
[System Directive – Sinflame Ledger Initiation Eligible.]
Detected: Karmic Flame Thread – Individual: Zhou Liang (Past Betrayal: First Degree).
Crime: Sale of soul-locked tokens to divine enforcers. Orchestrated death of host in prior timeline.
Sin Value: 2.6 Flames.
Directive: Burn.
Shen Yao stood.
Zhou Liang had been his closest brother in the past life. A warm smile, quick temper, generous words — and a dagger buried deep behind them all. He had sold Shen Yao's soul trace to the Celestial Tribunal for elevation. Claimed it was "for the sect's survival."
Then watched as Shen Yao burned alive.
Ten years ago, Shen Yao had screamed his throat raw while Zhou Liang looked away.
Now? Now the scream would come from the right throat.
The inner court was guarded, but it was not invincible. Especially not to Void Ash Step.
One flicker — Shen Yao vanished from the rooftop like smoke curling through cracks. The second step took him into the sect's bamboo grove, where spirit wards dulled sound and spirit senses.
The third — a sudden pulse of soul flame — dropped him beside a flowing river. Zhou Liang was inside a nearby pavilion, laughing with two fellow cultivators, drinking wine over a fire pit, playing liar's dice. No guards. No caution.
Shen Yao walked through the open gate.
His footsteps didn't make sound.
His presence didn't trigger any formation.
He was flame without light and then the door creaked. Zhou Liang turned, casually annoyed then saw the figure in black robes — half-burned sleeves, fire-kissed eyes — and the color drained from his face.
"You—Yao…?" Zhou Liang blinked rapidly. "What—what are you—"
"Alive," Shen Yao said.
Then raised his hand.
No chant. No martial seal.
Just a flick of fingers — and the Ashforged Flame Blade formed in his palm, shaped like a sickle carved from molten night. Zhou Liang screamed, scrambling backward, overturning wine and kicking one of the other disciples toward Shen Yao.
That one got sliced through the chest before he could scream.
[Sinflame Ledger – Minor Interference. Karmic Thread: 0.4 Flame. Burned.]
Zhou Liang fumbled for his storage ring. Pulled out a defensive scroll — lit it with spirit Qi.
A flame barrier erupted between them.
Too slow.
Shen Yao stepped through it. Literally.
The flames parted for him. Welcomed him.
The barrier collapsed as if ashamed.
Zhou Liang cried out, backpedaling, pleading. "Shen Yao—wait—we are brothers! I—"
"You sold my name for a divine medal," Shen Yao said, his steps slow but sharp. "You sold my soul for Heaven's applause. What's a damn brother worth to you—less than a pat on the head?"
Zhou Liang threw a talisman.
Shen Yao didn't dodge. Let it hit.
The explosion of flame engulfed the entire pavilion but only one figure walked out — slowly, wreathed in black and crimson fire.
Shen Yao's robes smoked. His eyes glowed.
Zhou Liang collapsed on the gravel outside.
"I—I was scared. They told me you would doom the sect. I—"
"No," Shen Yao interrupted. "You were ambitious. You just wore cowardice like a badge."
He raised the sickle.
Zhou Liang sobbed. "I—I'm sorry! Spare me… please, I don't want to die!"
Shen Yao hesitated for one breat then whispered, "So was I." And cut.
The sickle didn't slash skin.
It burned history.
[Sinflame Ledger – Karmic Thread Burned.]
- Target: Zhou Liang.
- Sin Value: 2.6 Flames.
- Ash Reward: +1 Flame Resonance Charge.
- Flame Memory Unlocked: "Betrayer's Brand."
Zhou Liang didn't just die. His karmic stain ignited like a sunburst. His ashes didn't scatter.
They clung to Shen Yao's flame. Fed it. And somewhere inside the Tribulation Core, something began to glow.
By sunrise, the pavilion had collapsed. The river nearby had steamed dry.
Shen Yao walked into the courtyard of Inner Peak as the sect bell began to ring.
Disciples were already whispering. Zhou Liang's death was too clean. No blood. Just ash. The ash marked the stone in a spiral. Only one flame technique leaves no scream.
They didn't know his name yet but they would. Later that day, Elder Xin Cheng summoned a private council.
The corpses — or what remained — were inspected.
Ash spirals. Flame resonance scars. Minor traces of tribulation energy, despite no storm having occurred.
"This was no simple inner court conflict," one elder said tightly.
"Agreed," another growled. "Only a system cultivator could wield flame like this."
Xin Cheng's fingers drummed his chair. He already knew who it was and he realized something worse: The system wasn't being used.
It was being fed.
Back in Tower Seven, Shen Yao sat alone again. He held out his palm. Within it, a small ember danced — not red, not orange, but a quiet gray, threaded with violet.
[System Notice – First Sin Burned.]
Ash Memory unlocked: "Betrayer's Brand" – When facing karmically-linked enemies, your next three attacks gain soul-piercing properties. Can bypass spiritual armor.
Tribulation Core now reacting to Karma Threads.
System Directive: Next target marked – "Elder Mu Shan."
Shen Yao didn't smile.
He simply whispered to the flame in his palm: "Not yet. I'll burn him slowly. That's where the real joy lies."
And the flame answered by swirling.
Hungry.