Chapter 23: Embers of the Ancients

The sanctuary's air hummed with the weight of the Silent Patriarch's revelation. Lin Mei stared at her hands, her hybrid flames sputtering between cobalt and void-black, as if the truth itself had destabilized her. Yuelin paced the geometric spirals of the grass, Astralon's cursed shard glowing faintly in her grip. Lin Wei knelt at the stone altar, his blood still smeared across its carvings.

"The First Flame," Yuelin said, her voice sharp. "If it's in you, Mei, we need to use it. Before Astralon turns this valley into another fen."

Lin Mei's flames flared. "Use it? I don't even know what it is! What if it burns me out? What if I become… like him?" She gestured to the distant, distorted stars.

Lin Wei stood, his Qi Refinement senses tracking the tremors beneath their feet. "The Patriarch said mortals used the Flame to banish the stars' hunger. Maybe it's not about power. Maybe it's about sacrifice."

A cold laugh rippled through the sanctuary. Astralon materialized atop the altar, their star-map cloak shimmering with malice. "Sacrifice. How quaint. But you mortals always misunderstand the recipe."

Yuelin lunged, the shard slashing empty air as Astralon dissolved. Their voice lingered: "The Flame demands kindling. Find the Ash of Eternity. Or watch her soul unravel."

The ground split, revealing a staircase of light descending into the earth.

The catacombs below reeked of ancient ash and forgotten wars. Murals depicted mortals wielding flames that scoured the sky, their faces blurred by time. Lin Mei's ghostfire illuminated a pedestal at the chamber's heart, holding a cracked urn labeled in dead tongues: Ash of Eternity.

[Ancient Relic: Ash of Eternity (Corrupted).]

[Warning: Sovereign Residue Detected.]

Yuelin reached for the urn, but Lin Wei caught her wrist. "Astralon wants us to take it. This is a trap."

"Everything's a trap," Yuelin snapped. "But we're out of choices."

Lin Mei's flames brushed the urn. The ash inside stirred, whispering in the Sovereign's voice: "Burn with us."

The sanctuary above shuddered as they emerged. Void-touched beasts circled the valley—wolves with crystalline fangs, eagles with serrated wings. Lin Mei clutched the urn, her hybrid essence resonating with its corrupted ash.

"Do it," Yuelin urged.

Lin Wei carved mortal qi sigils into the ground. "We bind the ash to your flames. Purify it."

Lin Mei hesitated, then poured the ash into her palms. The moment it touched her ghostfire, the world screamed.

[First Flame Activation: 10%.]

[Lin Mei's Corruption: 95%.]

Her body flickered, torn between light and void. The ash fused with her flames, erupting into a column of primal fire that scorched the sky. The void-touched beasts disintegrated, but the stars writhed, their light bending toward the Flame.

Astralon reappeared, their form fraying at the edges. "Fools! You think this ends with him? The Sovereign was but a seedling. The Harvesters come."

The Flame guttered. Lin Mei collapsed, her veins glowing like molten ore. The urn shattered, its ash spent.

[First Flame Activation: Partial Success.]

[Lin Mei's Status: Critical (Essence Instability).]

Yuelin hauled Lin Mei onto her back, her mortal-scarred arms trembling. "We need to move. Now."

Lin Wei stared at the sky. The distorted stars were shifting, aligning into a sigil of hunger—a black sun devouring its own light.

"Too late," he whispered.

The horizon cracked. A figure emerged—taller than mountains, its body a lattice of dying stars, its voice the silence between heartbeats.

[New Threat Detected: The Harvester.]