The flames between Shen Liun and Yan Wudi sparked violently at first—two souls carrying the same legacy, yet shaped by vastly different scars.
One burned with purpose.
The other with memory.
But as their hands touched, something deeper ignited.
> A fusion not of power… but of understanding.
In the silence of the Tomb of Withered Fire, time itself seemed to hold its breath.
---
Liun stepped back, still gripping the warmth of Wudi's fire in his palm.
"I thought I had inherited the Ashen Flame," he said quietly.
"You did," Wudi replied, his voice like distant thunder. "But what you carry is not just inheritance. It is evolution."
Aoshen stirred deep within Liun's core, whispering with awe.
> "The Sovereign Embers… they're awakening."
Ranyi stepped forward cautiously, sword sheathed but still in hand. "Then tell us the truth. What are they? Why were they erased?"
Wudi turned to the stone wall behind him. With a simple gesture, he lit ancient carvings aflame—revealing a mural hidden beneath soot and dust.
It depicted two flames.
One golden. One blackened with red veins.
At the top: a figure cloaked in fire, split down the middle.
Wudi spoke.
> "Before the Empire, before the current era of Sects and Clans… there was a time when cultivators walked paths aligned with the heavens themselves."
He pointed to the golden flame.
> "This was Judgment. The Ashen Flame. Born of balance."
Then, to the darker one.
> "This was Sovereignty. Born of rebellion. Of choice. It did not wait for fate to rule—it burned it away."
Liun stepped closer. "Why was it forbidden?"
Wudi's eyes narrowed.
"Because the Sovereign Path taught that mortals could reshape the heavens. Not serve them. Not bow to them. But change them."
He looked to Liun.
"That terrified the gods. And the rulers who called themselves divine."
---
A sudden tremor shook the tomb.
Dust rained from above.
Aoshen snapped alert. "Something's coming. Something... bound."
Liun turned to Wudi.
"What are the Heavenbinders?"
Wudi's expression darkened.
"They are the Empire's final weapon. Cultivators who survived Heavenly Tribulation not by merit… but by binding themselves to divine law."
"They gave up their humanity," he said. "And became living chains."
---
Outside the tomb, the forest wilted.
The air itself turned stiff and cold, like the world had forgotten how to breathe.
And then—
They arrived.
Seven cloaked figures descended from the sky, each wrapped in gray flame that twisted like iron bands.
At their center was a tall woman with white eyes and silver thread woven through her skin.
> "We are the Heavenbinders," she declared. "By command of the Throne Eternal, the heretic flame shall be extinguished."
Inside the tomb, Wudi's jaw tightened.
"We must move. Now."
---
Liun's party burst from the mouth of the tomb just as the Heavenbinders surrounded it.
Ning'er's arrows flew instantly, striking two in the chest—but were absorbed into their bodies as if by air.
Ranyi rushed forward, dual blades slicing wind into crescents. A Heavenbinder met her blow with a hand wrapped in divine Qi. Metal screamed. Sparks flew.
But it was Liun and Wudi who became the center of the storm.
Standing side by side.
Two flames. One rebellion.
Liun raised his blade. "Ashen Verdict—Soulbrand Ignition!"
A seal exploded outward, targeting all seven Heavenbinders at once—judging them not for their titles, but their sins.
Only three staggered.
The others smiled.
One stepped forward. His chest opened like cracking stone to reveal a Heavenly Seal fused into his core.
"You cannot judge what has no soul," he hissed.
Wudi's flames surged, and for the first time, his full aura revealed itself.
Dark-gold, twisted, and boundless—like a sun that had never been allowed to rise.
> "Then I'll burn what's left of your false divinity."
He raised his palm.
> "Sovereign Embers: Sky-Writhe."
The sky above cracked, and dozens of flame marks etched themselves across the clouds—each one a forgotten truth.
The Heavenbinders reeled.
Some screamed as their bindings flickered.
They were being unraveled.
---
But it wasn't enough.
The leader of the Heavenbinders raised a long staff carved with divine bone and slammed it into the earth.
Chains exploded from the air, coiling toward Liun.
Wudi jumped in front of him—
The chains wrapped his body and pierced his side.
"NO!"
Liun rushed forward, catching him before he hit the ground.
Wudi's breath was ragged. "She's stronger than I thought… Her seal is different. Older."
The woman's white eyes focused on Liun.
> "You will break. Or burn. Either way… this ends tonight."
Liun stood, heart thundering.
His flame flared, the Verdict Seal hovering behind him, spinning faster and faster.
Ranyi and Ning'er moved to his side.
"You're not alone," Ranyi said.
"I never was," Liun replied.
Then, softly—
> "Ashen Verdict: Flame Beyond Judgment."
The seal exploded in light.
But this time, it wasn't golden.
It was deep crimson, tinged with black edges.
A new evolution—born not of balance or vengeance…
…but of defiance.
---
The battle had only just begun.
But as Shen Liun took his first step toward the Heavenbinders, Yan Wudi's words echoed behind him:
> "This is no longer a war of rebellion."
"It's the final reckoning between heaven and man."
---