Emergency lights flicker overhead as Lin Ye hears the audience's commotion underscored by a low-frequency vibration—like the earth swallowing something. He pulls Xiaotao and Ajiu toward the backstage, where Chen Zhuo stands at the corridor's end, holding an old-fashioned camera aimed at the floor.
"Look," Chen Zhuo turns the camera screen toward them. The photo shows marble tiles warping at visible speed, forming dark golden patterns identical to the Burning Heaven Flame Patterns on Lin Ye's wrist.
"Spiritual veins are awakening," Chen Zhuo's voice trembles uncharacteristically. "During the finals three years ago, I photographed these patterns—they crawled out of the arena along the spiritual pattern core's cracks."
Ajiu's Shadow Raven bursts from her hair, circling the corridor with piercing shrieks. Its talons point to the floor, dark purple patterns trailing across the tiles to interweave with the golden lines, forming a hexagram.
"Down we go," Lin Ye touches the Starmoon Meteorite bracelet, which hums in sync with the vein vibrations. "The spiritual vein node is in the lowest level."
—
The third underground floor's passage is sealed by an iron grate, rusted bolts coiled in black vines. Ajiu's Shadow Raven patterns crawl over the bolts, corroding the vines to ash. As the door creaks open, a stench of putrid spiritual energy hits—mingling sulfur and rotting flesh, identical to the arena's burning odor during the surge three years ago.
"Spiritual energy concentration exceeds 200%," Xiaotao raises her Starmoon Meteorite bracelet, its deep blue light revealing winding blood-red patterns on the floor. "These aren't spiritual patterns, they're..."
"Heaven-Burning Beast's saliva," Chen Zhuo crouches, dipping his fingertip in the mucus. "After the finals three years ago, I found this in the backstage. I thought it was a vein leak, but now—"
His words are cut off by a roar.
The emergency exit at the passage's end explodes, black mist surging forth with the sound of grinding bones. A translucent form materializes: a massive serpentine body covered in dark golden scales, each embedded with burning flame talismans; the serpent's head is a maiden's face, divination patterns at her eyelids matching Oracle's, now weeping black blood.
"Is that... her?" Xiaotao's voice shakes. "The maiden in the photo?"
"No," Lin Ye's throat tightens. He senses the energy within the form resonating with his wrist's Burning Heaven patterns. "It's the Heaven-Burning Beast's vessel."
The serpentine creature opens its mouth, spewing not venom but golden runes that condense into chains—trajectories of the "Burning Heaven Domain" he unleashed in the finals three years ago.
"Watch out!" Ajiu's swarm of Shadow Ravens lunges, their black wings deflecting the rune chains. Xiaotao's Starmoon Meteorite bracelet blazes, drawing a defensive array on the floor. Runes crash into it, sparking, but tendrils of black mist still seep into her sleeve.
"Ajiu!" Lin Ye reaches for her, but a serpent's tail strikes his chest. He slams into the wall, tasting blood, as black mist crawls into his wound, tangling with his Burning Heaven patterns.
"Don't resist," a strange female voice echoes in his mind. Fragments flash: a maiden kneels at the center of a burning arena, digging out her heart and placing it in a talisman-carved stone casket. The casket is inscribed with "Heaven-Burning Beast Seal," and her face overlaps with the serpent's.
"I am Su Li," the voice continues. "The spiritual pattern user devoured by the Heaven-Burning Beast three years ago. Now, use your patterns to awaken me."
Lin Ye's pupils contract. He recalls a forgotten detail from the finals video—when he surged, a silver-masked girl in the stands wept, half her face matching Su Li's.
"How?" he grits out.
"With your blood," Su Li's voice chokes. "The Heaven-Burning Beast recognizes its master through blood resonance."
Lin Ye draws a dagger, slashing his wrist. Blood drips onto the golden floor patterns, instantly absorbed. The serpentine creature wails, flame talismans on its scales extinguishing. Xiaotao charges forward, pressing her Starmoon Meteorite bracelet to the serpent's head, flooding it with blue energy; Ajiu's Shadow Raven patterns climb the serpent's body, slicing through its skin like scalpels to reveal a beating golden heart—Su Li's heart, the core of the Heaven-Burning Beast's seal.
"Hurry!" Su Li's voice fades. "Use the spiritual pattern core's power... burn it..."
Lin Ye's core activates spontaneously. Golden flames erupt from his palm, engulfing the heart. Su Li's memories surface in the fire: she was the next league's star, but before the finals, she discovered the truth—spiritual pattern cores are mere vessels for sealing the Heaven-Burning Beast. The surge three years ago was her attempt to detonate her core and perish with the beast, only to be saved by Lin Ye's accidental Burning Heaven patterns.
"So... I saved you," Lin Ye's voice trembles.
Su Li's phantom rises from the heart, her divination patterns finally turning gold: "No, you awakened me. The Heaven-Burning Beast isn't a monster; it's an ancient divine beast that guarded spiritual veins. Three years ago, someone corrupted its mind with vile patterns..."
The serpentine creature shudders violently. The floor cracks like a spiderweb, black mist pouring from the gaps to form a masked figure—the same man in the photo who gave Chen Zhuo the half-spiritual pattern core.
"Finally, the vessel," the man's voice is like scraping metal. "Su Li's core has awakened. Now, use your blood to awaken the true Heaven-Burning Beast!"
He raises his hand, and the half-core flies from his trench coat, resonating with Lin Ye's wrist core. As the forces collide, the underground space begins to collapse. Lin Ye feels something ancient awaken within—power older than patterns, a memory written in the beast's and his blood.
"Team Rebellion, fall back!" he yells, flames in his palm forming a dragon that charges the masked man. Xiaotao's bracelet and Ajiu's patterns erupt simultaneously, their energies weaving a golden cocoon around the flame dragon.
The masked man's scream is drowned in the roar. When dust settles, the cracks seal, and Su Li's phantom stands before Lin Ye, holding the complete Heaven-Burning spiritual pattern core—where the two halves have fused, dark golden patterns flowing with life.
"It won't surge again," Su Li smiles. "Because you found true partners."
Chen Zhuo's voice echoes from the passage. Through his camera, Lin Ye sees the core and the forgotten finals detail—Su Li's core now perfectly aligns with his Burning Heaven patterns.
"So... you always knew," Lin Ye looks at Chen Zhuo.
Chen Zhuo lowers the camera, gazing at Su Li's phantom and Lin Ye's bracelet: "I just hoped you'd uncover the truth yourself."
Arena lights reignite. Lin Ye holds the core, sensing Su Li's presence—no longer a vessel, but a partner. Xiaotao and Ajiu approach, their patterns glowing in harmony with his Burning Heaven flames.
"Where to next?" Ajiu asks.
Lin Ye smiles, tossing the core into the air. Golden flames dance across its surface, reflecting the rising sun beyond the arena.
"Where we belong," he says. "To show everyone that real spiritual pattern competition is just beginning."