The Spark That Burned Too Bright
The Sparkblood Temple wasn't made of stone.
It was made of flesh.
Charred. Twisted. Alive.
The entire building pulsed like a heart, veins of molten spirit Qi webbing its walls.
Qing'er staggered the moment we saw it.
Lan Ruo caught her.
"Are you alright?"
Qing'er's skin was glowing faintly. The same eerie warmth that came from the Void Flame when it was... reaching for something.
She whispered, "It's calling me."
I placed a hand on her back. "Don't answer."
Too late.
The gates opened.
---
Inside the Sparkblood Temple, everything reeked of regret.
There were no guards. No traps. Just old relics suspended mid-air—broken swords, torn robes, half-melted rings, all humming with residual soul fragments.
"This was a forge," I said. "Not for weapons—for people."
Lan Ruo squinted. "People?"
I pointed at a spiraling diagram on the wall—drawn in blood, etched in flame.
> Merge the body, burn the weakness. Let spark become soul.
Ashen Fang's doctrine.
The temple was where he created Sparkborns—flame-infused followers crafted from tortured cultivators desperate for power.
And Qing'er…
She stood in the center of the room, eyes wide.
"I remember this place," she said. "I was here."
---
A pedestal lit up beneath her feet.
A scroll emerged.
Sparkblood Oath: Claimed
> "Wait," Lan Ruo snapped. "You just… took a blood scroll?"
"I didn't try to!" Qing'er said, panicked.
"Try harder next time!"
---
I stepped forward, examining the scroll's seal.
Ashen Fang's signature—burned, not written.
But instead of breaking it, I turned to Zhao Feng, who was chewing dried jerky like it was sacred.
"Watch Qing'er. Don't let her burn anyone."
He saluted. "I am the fire babysitter."
---
Further in, we reached a room that made my bones ache.
Dozens of flame coffins, glowing faintly.
One opened as we stepped in.
Inside... a man.
No, a creature.
Burnt skin stretched tight across his bones. Flame stitched his mouth shut. His eyes were missing—but his soul burned hotter than anything we'd felt so far.
Then—he spoke.
Not with words.
With heat.
> Ashen Fang... you return.
> But smaller. Weaker.
> Still wearing her scent.
Qing'er gasped.
Lan Ruo drew her blade.
"Who are you?" I asked.
> I am the last spark you left behind. The one who begged to be yours... and was left to rot.
The figure stood.
Fire coiled around him like snakes.
> And now... I return the favor.
---
He attacked.
Lan Ruo met him mid-air, blades clashing.
The heat cracked the floor.
Zhao Feng, trying to protect Qing'er, yelled "Retreat!" while simultaneously pulling a scroll from a shelf labeled DO NOT READ.
Naturally, he read it.
---
[Cursed Flame Technique: Activated]
> WARNING: You have angered a spirit-infused archive of unstable flame karma.
> Additional Warning: This scroll insults your mother.
Zhao Feng screamed as the scroll burst into fire and smacked him across the face repeatedly.
"IT'S ALIVE! THE SCROLL IS ALIVE!"
---
Back to the fight.
I focused the Void Flame, calling on everything I had.
Ashen's echo—whatever this creature had become—was powerful.
But unstable.
"Lan!" I yelled. "Strike when I pin!"
She nodded.
I released Void Binding Chains, wrapping his limbs in black flame.
Lan Ruo's sword—shining with inner-light Qi—pierced his chest.
He screamed, flame pouring from his mouth.
> "You abandoned us!"
> "We burned for you!"
> "And she—SHE STILL LOVES YOU!"
Qing'er trembled.
"Who was he?" she whispered.
I stepped closer to the dying spark creature.
"I don't remember you," I said honestly.
"But I'm not him anymore."
---
He laughed as he disintegrated.
Ash and regret swirling.
> "Then you will burn like he did."
And he was gone.
---
We regrouped, shaken.
Lan Ruo cleaned her blade in silence.
Zhao Feng sat in a corner, glaring at his scorched scroll. "It said my aura smelled like a potato."
Qing'er finally spoke.
"I think… I was supposed to be like him."
"Like the spark creature?" I asked.
She nodded. "Ashen... made me. Or tried to. I was part of the experiment. But something failed. I escaped before it finished."
Lan Ruo frowned.
"You're saying you were... created?"
"Changed," she said quietly. "Not human anymore. Not fully."
---
I took her hand.
"Doesn't matter."
Qing'er looked at me.
"It might," she whispered. "Someday."
---
As we left the temple, the air shimmered.
The scroll in my sleeve burned.
> Spark Memory Fragment Acquired
Identity Verified: Qing'er (Linked)
Void Flame Harmony: 76%
Relic Ignition Status: Imminent
Warning: Flame Echo Detected
Emotion Unlocked: Longing
Companion Emotional States Updating…
Lan Ruo: Torn (jealousy rising)
Qing'er: Devoted (and scared of it)
Zhao Feng: Offended (by scroll insult)
---
To be continued…
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✍️ Author's Note – by [Your Author Name from Shadows of the Last Light]
🔥 Chapter 22 featured:
The horrifying Sparkblood Temple
Qing'er's connect
ion to Ashen Fang finally surfacing
An emotional showdown with a flame-corrupted former disciple
Zhao Feng vs the cursed scroll (he lost)
Lan Ruo fighting beside the MC—but pulling away emotionally
MC realizing Qing'er might not just love Ashen Fang… she might have been made by him