---
The beast with six eyes and bone-scripture wings now followed Luan like a loyal pet.
Except it wasn't a pet.
And it definitely wasn't loyal.
"Sit," Luan said.
It blinked.
"Roll over."
It summoned a spectral storm that nearly flattened half the inn.
Zurok, standing beside him, just muttered,
> "Great. You hatched an apocalypse with a personality disorder."
---
They named it Giri—short for Giryapa, The Screeching Heir of the Obsidian Throne.
But Luan didn't care for titles.
Meanwhile, Luan's reputation exploded.
Not because of Giri,
Not even because of the tournament win—
But because of what happened after.
You see, Luan tried to leave the Quarry quietly…
Until he bumped into Nia.
Nia of the Jade Cicada Sect.
Hair: white as snow.
Eyes: venom green.
Aura: like hugging a sword that hated you.
She caught Luan falling out of a third-story window (don't ask why he was up there in the first place—it involved soup, a goat, and a misunderstanding about "spiritual detox").
> "You're the black fire guy," she said.
> "No I'm the guy who's late for absolutely nothing—bye!"
> "I'm recruiting you."
> "I'm declining."
> "Too bad."
She knocked him out and dragged him to her sect like a sack of potential.
---
Back at the Jade Cicada Sect, things were awkward.
Nia gave him a guest room.
The sect girls stared.
One kept sketching him. Another tried to steal a strand of his hair "for research."
Luan: confused.
Giri: offended.
Zurok: jealous.
---
Then came the duel.
A hotheaded genius from a rival clan—Fenrir Lei—heard rumors of the "Black Flame Drifter."
He challenged Luan in public.
On a lake.
At sunset.
With fireworks.
Because of course.
> Fenrir: "Show me the flame that shook the Quarry!"
> Luan: "...I'm just here for free food, man."
> Fenrir: "Draw your sword!"
> Luan: "Don't have one."
> Fenrir: "Fist, then!"
> Luan: "Okay."
He flicked a finger.
Fenrir flew back twenty feet and landed in a tree.
Which caught fire.
Then exploded.
Everyone stared.
One sect girl fainted.
Nia blushed.
Zurok muttered, "I hate this guy."
---
Later that night…
Luan sat under the moon, Giri sleeping beside him like a demon-shaped dog.
And suddenly… she appeared.
Not Nia.
Not anyone he knew.
But the girl from his coin's dream.
She was barefoot. Her dress shimmered like starlight.
Her eyes were still shut, but she spoke.
> "Luan. You're starting to remember."
> "Who are you?"
> "You."
> "What?"
> "Shhh…"
She raised her hand.
And in that moment, he saw something—
A battlefield beyond worlds.
His own corpse burning in black fire.
And a throne…
empty…
waiting.
Then he blinked—
She was gone.
Only one word burned in his mind:
> "Ascension."
---
Back at the sect, Nia paced in her chambers.
"He's not a normal cultivator," she muttered.
"No Qi. No meridians. But that pressure… it felt like divinity."
She paused.
"...and why is he so annoyingly handsome?"
---
Far away, in a realm unspoken...
An elder slammed his fist on a jade table.
> "He awakened the Screeching Heir?! That beast was sealed by the Forgotten Lords themselves!"
Another elder:
> "The boy's not rising through the world…
The world is tilting toward him."
A shadowed figure chuckle
d.
> "Let it tilt.
Let it crack.
Let's see what a fire without Qi can do."
---
End of Chapter 12
Ready to turn up the chaos in Chapter 13?Because soon…
Luan won't just face enemies.