The forest was quiet.
Too quiet.
Shen Liun walked slowly, his hand resting on Dawnmourne's hilt. The stars above were veiled by drifting clouds, and the trees whispered with the wind—but there were no birds. No beasts. Only tension thick enough to suffocate.
He stepped into a small clearing, where the moonlight filtered through the branches in fractured beams.
And stopped.
She stood in the center of the clearing, dressed in crimson imperial armor, her back to him, long braid swaying in the breeze.
> Ye Ruoxi.
Once, she had been his world.
Now, she was his hunter.
Liun didn't speak.
He waited.
She turned.
The moment their eyes met, the forest felt colder.
Ruoxi's gaze was unreadable—sharp, poised, but not cruel. The years had changed her. Hardened her. There was no warmth in her eyes, only calculation.
"I wondered if you'd still come alone," she said at last.
"You didn't give me much choice," he replied.
Ruoxi took a step forward. "You pulled the founder's blade. Passed the trials. You've come far, Liun."
He narrowed his eyes. "So it is you."
She tilted her head. "Did you doubt?"
"I thought maybe the empire just sent someone wearing your face."
A flicker of something crossed her expression—regret, or maybe just recognition.
"I was told to retrieve you," she said. "You've triggered ancient alerts. The Council won't allow another Ashen God to rise."
Liun laughed quietly.
"So they sent you," he said. "The woman who once swore to walk beside me. Now leading the charge to chain me."
"You don't understand," she said, voice low. "Back then, I had no choice. Your family fell. Your sect burned. And you… you were dying. You had no core. No power. I—"
"You left," he interrupted. His voice didn't rise, but the words cut deep. "You turned your back when I needed you most."
Ruoxi looked away. "I was told you were dead."
"No," he said. "You just didn't care enough to look."
Silence settled between them, heavy with years of pain.
Then she said, "You don't know what I've done. What I've had to become."
Liun stepped forward.
"I didn't rise to punish you, Ruoxi. I don't care about your regrets."
She stiffened.
"I rose because I had nothing else," he said. "Because you, and the sects, and the heavens themselves told me I was nothing."
"And now?"
"Now I burn."
His words echoed with quiet flame.
Ruoxi's hand hovered near the hilt of her blade.
"You don't understand what you're stepping into. If you continue down this path, the Empire will declare you a threat. You'll be hunted."
"I already am."
"Liun," she said softly, "you can still stop. You can still surrender. If you come back with me, I can—"
"No."
The word stopped her cold.
"I won't kneel. Not to them. Not to you."
She drew her blade in a smooth motion, the steel gleaming with spiritual runes.
"Then I have to bring you in by force."
Liun didn't flinch.
"Try."
---
The forest exploded.
Their blades clashed midair, Dawnmourne meeting her imperial sword in a burst of light and sparks. Ruoxi's strikes were fast, precise—elegant. She fought like a dancer forged in fire.
But Liun didn't falter.
He moved with purpose. Every step calculated. Every strike powered by soul, not fury.
"You've improved," she said through clenched teeth.
"So have you," he replied. "But you forgot something."
"What?"
"I don't hold back anymore."
His next strike shattered her guard, sending her skidding across the clearing. She caught herself, panting.
"You're… stronger than the reports said."
"You think I've shown the world everything?" he asked, stepping forward. "You think I stopped growing the day you left me?"
Ruoxi's sword wavered.
"You hate me."
"No," he said. "I outgrew you."
The words struck deeper than any blade.
She lowered her weapon.
And for the first time… she looked afraid.
Not of him.
Of what she had lost.
"I didn't want this," she whispered.
"I did," he replied. "I wanted the pain. I wanted the fire. Because it made me become what I was never allowed to be."
A moment passed.
Then, quietly, she sheathed her blade.
"If you keep going," she said, "we'll meet again. But next time, I won't hesitate."
"You didn't hesitate this time either," he said. "You just couldn't finish it."
She stepped back, fading into the trees.
Gone.
---
Ning'er appeared beside him moments later, her expression tense. "Was that… her?"
Liun nodded.
"I thought you'd kill her."
"I did too," he admitted. "But she's already haunted enough."
Ning'er stared at him. "You still feel something for her?"
He turned away.
"No. I feel everything else."
---
Far to the east, in a skybound temple wrapped in storm clouds, a man clad in silver robes stood before a burning map.
He watched as a crimson marker flickered, then turned black-gold.
A voice behind him whispered, "The Ashen Flame walks again."
The man's eyes narrowed.
> "Then the time has come to awaken the old blood."
---