The wind howled across the barren valley, brushing over ancient ruins buried deep within the Black-Crater Wastelands. A scarlet sun hung low on the horizon, casting flickering shadows across the cracked stone altar that stood at the center of the desolate land.
A young man knelt before the altar, his robes torn, his hands trembling. His name was Yan Mu, a seventeen-year-old outer disciple of the decaying Yan Clan—once heirs to the mighty Flame Emperor's legacy, now reduced to beggars in the cultivation world.
His blood dripped slowly onto the center of the altar, tracing glowing red lines along ancient flame-etched patterns.
Thump... Thump...
His heartbeat echoed louder than the wind. The moment his blood touched the final glyph, the ground trembled.
Then came the voice.
> "Heir of forgotten flame... Do you dare awaken what your ancestors sealed in fear?"
Yan Mu's eyes widened. "Wh-who are you?" he shouted into the empty air, his voice hoarse.
> "The one whose name was erased... whose fire once scorched heaven itself."
A ghostly figure emerged—a towering silhouette cloaked in flickering flames, with two blazing eyes staring straight into Yan Mu's soul.
> "You are but a spark... yet I sense the remnants of his will within you. Xiao Yan's blood lingers."
Yan Mu gasped. Xiao Yan—the Flame Emperor. A name spoken only in legends now, a name few believed had ever existed.
"But… my clan never told me—"
> "They feared it. They buried the truth. But now, you will carry it. The heavens need fire once more."
Suddenly, flames burst from the altar, wrapping around Yan Mu like a fiery cocoon. The pain was unbearable. His meridians burned, his skin cracked, and his soul screamed. And yet, he did not fall.
> "Good..." the voice whispered. "You endure like he did. Then listen, child of fire… for the path beyond the Dou Di shall now open."
The world shifted. The valley vanished. Yan Mu found himself floating within a void of molten gold, surrounded by ancient flame orbs—twelve of them—each with inscriptions older than the Dou Qi continent itself.
From one of them, a new voice echoed—deep, calm, and godlike.
> "The Flame Inheritance Cycle begins. Your rank: Flame Embryo. Your path: Eternal Blaze. Your enemy: The Void Sovereigns."
Yan Mu fell to his knees, overwhelmed by the knowledge crashing into his mind: laws of flame, secrets of space, fragments of Xiao Yan's final battle against the Void Lords…
And one final truth:
> "Dou Di… is not the end."
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