Chapter 35:When heaven falls silent -The sixth flame Awaken
> "Some paths are never meant to be walked.
But when a man dares to walk them,
even the gods must kneel…
or bleed."
---
The Flame Soul Platform was in ruins.
Blood still stained the broken stone.
But Long Feng knelt in the center — alive. Breathing.
With two women by his side.
Mei Ling, her soul flame trembling, her eyes locked on him like he was the only warmth in the world.
Ru Xue, reborn in fragile flesh, her presence ghost-like but real… her first tears since death falling silently.
The priest stared at them both, pale with dread.
> "He… he carries six."
No cultivator in known history had ever bonded more than four flame maidens.
Long Feng had six petals burning — though only five were fully formed.
And the sixth…
It pulsed black.
---
Within Long Feng's dantian, a sixth lotus flame had begun to grow — darker than night, colder than death, flickering with silver and shadow.
It did not pulse with warmth.
It pulsed with hunger.
> It wasn't born from love.
It was born from defiance.
The priest whispered in awe:
> "That's… not a flame of bond.
It's a flame of consequence."
---
Far above, in the Thunder Palace, Lei Wuxian stood before the Divine Mirror.
He watched Long Feng standing between two flame maidens — two he should never have been allowed to hold.
His jaw clenched.
"Six petals…"
He turned to the divine elders. "He must be destroyed before the sixth becomes complete."
"But he broke no law—" one elder began.
Lei Wuxian's voice was low, sharp. "Then I'll write a new one."
---
Long Feng returned to the Crimson Flame Sect gates days later, still weakened, his steps heavy. Yet he carried himself differently now — like a man who had chosen to walk a path no one else would dare.
Ru Xue remained hidden within a frost spirit veil, her form fragile, unable to remain outside for long.
Mei Ling walked silently beside him, hand in his, her heart burning with quiet ache.
She didn't hate him.
But she no longer knew where she stood.
> "Two is a choice," she had whispered the night before.
"Three… feels like a prophecy."
---
The sect's highest elders gathered under moonlight — even Elder Huang, whose eyes gleamed with strange anticipation.
Elder Bai Wen stood slowly. "You have done what no flame bearer in history dared. You now hold five true flames… and one unknown."
Long Feng bowed. "I did not seek six. I only refused to sacrifice love."
Another elder hissed, "And now you've doomed us all."
Elder Huang stepped forward at last.
> "Not if he learns to master it.
Not if the sixth flame… obeys."
---
That night, as Long Feng meditated, the sixth flame pulsed violently within his spiritual sea.
Then… it spoke.
Not in words.
But in feelings, memories, dark truths.
> A divine war.
A soul eaten alive.
A throne made of flames and bones.
A woman — not Ru Xue, not Mei Ling —
someone else… watching from a cage.
The sixth flame whispered with a voice made of sorrow and fury:
> "Set me free… and I will give you everything.
Bind me… and I will devour your world."
---
Later that night, Mei Ling entered his chamber.
He stood at the window, hands behind his back, staring at the moon.
She didn't speak at first. Just stood behind him. Silent.
Then:
> "Do you love her… more than me?"
He turned, meeting her eyes.
> "I loved her before I ever met you.
But now… I love you both. In different ways."
Her voice broke.
> "But there's only one of you, Long Feng."
He stepped toward her, took her hands in his.
> "Then I'll become more."
---
She kissed him — not out of desire, but desperation. Her hands trembled against his chest.
> "Don't lose yourself," she whispered.
"Don't lose me."
"I won't," he said softly.
But in his chest, the sixth flame burned darker.
And it laughed.
---
Far in the Shadowed Void, a chained figure stirred — her face veiled, her wrists bound in cursed flame.
She watched through a mirror of soulfire as Long Feng took his first step into the abyss.
> "Finally," she whispered.
"My king is coming back to me."
And behind her, the sixth lotus began to bloom — not from love…
But from something far more ancient.
Obsession.