The wind whispered through the ruins as Ash walked alone in night. Before going for the battle with yin estate he wanted to find answers for the questions he had for months now.
As he walked through the buildings he unknowingly stopped before a small house which didn't seem like anyone lived here.
Ash stood before a broken stone gate, half-buried beneath overgrown vines . The old estate had once belonged to Feng Yao's branch of the Yin Clan—cast out, disgraced, forgotten. Now, it was little more than rocks dirt and vines on the edge of Blackflame city's living quarters.
No guards. No watchers. No memory.
Just dust and silence.
He stepped inside.
The floor creaked beneath him. Broken furniture lay strewn across the room, and scorched symbols marked the walls—partially erased clan seals and one he didn't recognize: a stylized feather of fire.
Ash knelt near the hearth, brushing aside ashes long since gone cold. Something clicked beneath his hand.
A false stone.
He pulled it loose, revealing a small compartment lined with heat-resistant metal. Inside, wrapped in faded silk, sat a dull crimson orb. As he touched it, flame essence flared to life.
A projection shimmered in the air—an avatar of fire, shaped like a man cloaked in burning robes. His face was obscured, features indistinct, but the voice was unmistakably calm. Purposeful. Measured.
"If you're seeing this, it means your phoenix Soul Mark has awakened. And You are twelve years old."
Ash's heart thudded.
Twelve?
He was sixteen now.
"If it awakened and you're seeing this.… then I have failed to protect you. My enemies acted sooner than I feared I had to leave to save both you and your mother. Know this—your mother, She sacrificed her future to save mine."
The flame shimmer wavered slightly, as if reacting to Ash's qi. The voice continued, a note of sorrow beneath the surface.
"She bore a divine-element Soul Mark—one not meant for this realm. They wanted me for my legacy, and I… I brought danger to her door. She is strong, stronger than you know. So protect her and tell her I'm sorry and I love her"
Ash clenched his fists.
"As for you… your Phoenix Mark is not ordinary. It carries the echo of the Flame Sovereign, the ancient progenitor of the Feng Clan. It does not just burn—it remembers. Every flame you absorb, every spark you master… the mark will grow. But beware—what awakens may also be hunted."
"Your soul flame was my final gift. Not to give you strength. But to help you survive what comes next."
The avatar leaned forward. Though its face was blurred, Ash felt the weight of its gaze.
"Trust no one blindly. Hide your rise. And when the time comes—burn down the heavens that sought to erase us or stay hidden and live your life peacefully. You shouldn't carry the burden of blood which flows through you. It's your choice"
"You're still not strong enough… or old enough… to know the full truth. Some knowledge will only harm you before you're ready. But when the day comes that you are ready to leave this plane and carry the burden and fight… go to the Forbidden Zone in the heart of the Central Continent. No one who enters ever returns—but that is where you'll find the path. Where answers wait."
> The flame flickered, dimming as if resisting interference. The voice grew strained.
> "I can't say more. If I speak too long, they'll sense my flame across the realm. And I've stayed hidden too long for that."
> A pause. Then, softer, warmer—
> "Remember, I love you. Protect your mother, always. Tell her… I'm sorry."
> As the fire began to collapse, it shimmered one final time—leaving behind a faint symbol scorched into the stone wall behind it. A phoenix sigil, elegant but faded, its wings tucked and head bowed.
> Ash stared at it, pulse quickening.
> It was similar to the mark etched in his own soul… but simpler, less regal. A lesser echo of the same lineage.
> His was different.
> Stronger.
> And far from dormant.
The projection flickered, then faded. The room fell silent again.
Ash sat frozen.
Twelve years old.
They had suppressed him for four years—sealed his mark, buried his lineage, fed him lies. And he had lived it. He remembered the haze, the weakness, the voices telling him he was nothing. A disgrace.
But now… the fire in his blood roared to life.
"She sacrificed her future…he doesn't know that she's not with me" he whispered.
He looked around the ruin, the place where a family once lived. A home stolen by treachery and sealed in shadows.
Behind him, the serpent emerged from the shadows of his soul space, unusually quiet.
"Well," it finally said, voice low, "so that's what was buried. I thought you smelled too regal for a mutt."
Ash didn't rise. He stared at the ashes before him.
"Flame Sovereign. Divine mark. And a father who vanished."
"They must be keeping her alive and imprisoned to manipulate father." Ash mumbled.
The serpent said nothing. Its silence, for once, was telling.
"She's in a cell somewhere," Ash said, more to himself now. "Hidden deep in Yin grounds. And they think she's still a tool."
"Maybe she is," the serpent whispered. "Or maybe she's waiting. Burning from the inside out, but alive."
He closed the stone again, hiding the orb once more.
"No more shadows," Ash whispered. "No more stolen years."
He turned, fire curling faintly around his hands.
"Now it wasn't just about revenge.
It was about restoration.
And war."
The serpent tilted its head. "So noble, suddenly. Is this sentiment? Or strategy?"
"She may have answers. And the right to see what her son became."
Tomorrow, the missions would resume. But tonight, something deeper had shifted.