The Fire Within – The Phoenix Awakens
Yunxi stared at the flower, her hand still tingling from the force that had thrown her back.
The rejection stung more than her pride — it awakened something.
Something ancient.
Something burning.
"Why?!" she shouted, voice cracking the silence like thunder. "I'm not your enemy. I came to heal this place!"
The air around her shimmered with heat.
A gust of wind whipped through the village square.
And then — fire.
Blazing, beautiful, unstoppable.
From her back, crimson wings burst forth — feathered in golden flame, arcing high into the sky. Her phoenix form emerged with a roar of sacred light, her hair lifted by unseen winds, her sleeves like flickering fire banners.
Cheonsa instinctively stepped back — the divine flames too intense to approach.
"Yunxi—!" she called out, shielding her eyes. "Stop— you'll burn everything—"
But Yunxi couldn't hear her.
Or maybe she did — and didn't care.
The phoenix within her had awakened.
She stepped forward again, eyes glowing with fierce golden fire. Her veil fluttered around her face like smoke from a sacred offering.
"I am the Phoenix Queen. I've healed villages, saved lives, ended the curse—why can't I touch you?"
She reached toward the flower again.
But the moment her fingers neared it, the same invisible force struck her — harder this time. It didn't throw her far, but it refused her.
The flower trembled but remained whole.
Unplucked. Untouched.
Yunxi knelt before it, wings still blazing behind her, her voice low.
"What are you?" she whispered. "What do you want from me?"
The flower pulsed softly, like it heard — but gave no answer.
Behind her, Cheonsa stood at the edge of the flames, heart pounding. She had never seen Yunxi like this — not just powerful, but alone, as if something inside her had begun to break.
The Trial of Fire – A Question from the Shadows
Yunxi's hands trembled as she knelt before the ancient flower, blood seeping from her palms where the divine barrier had cut into her skin. Crimson drops stained the earth below, hissing softly as they touched the scorched ground.
Her phoenix wings still burned behind her, flickering with gold and crimson flames. She was a vision of beauty and power — but also sorrow and desperation.
Cheonsa stood just beyond the firelight, her cloak caught in the rising wind. Her expression was unreadable, but her voice carried the weight of something deeper.
"Your hands are bleeding."
Yunxi said nothing.
"You knew the flower would reject you again."
Still, silence.
Cheonsa took a step forward, braving the heat. Her voice was low but sharp:
"Are you really willing to sacrifice your life… for Prince Chen?"
Yunxi slowly raised her head. Her veil had slipped just slightly, revealing the curve of her jaw — and the tremble in it.
Her voice, when it came, was soft. Almost fragile.
"This pain…" she whispered, "…is nothing compared to what he carries inside."
Cheonsa's eyes flickered.
"So you would burn for a man who doesn't even know who you are?"
Yunxi looked back at the flower. The flames in her wings pulsed, like her very heart was answering the question.
"Yes."
"Even if he ends up hating me?" "Even if I'm never loved back."
Her hands tightened, nails digging into her bleeding palms.
"Because I remember."
"He may have forgotten… but I remember."
The wind quieted. Even the fire stilled — as if the world had paused to hear the truth.
Cheonsa stood silently, eyes narrowing slightly. Then, with a voice barely above the wind:
"You're not just fighting fate, Yunxi.""You're defying the heavens."
Yunxi rose slowly, her wings folding, the blood drying on her hands.
"Then let the heavens hear me." "If fate won't save him… I will."
The Price of Love – A Drop of Phoenix Blood
The flames around them dimmed to a soft glow as Yunxi stood beneath the flower, her hands still wounded, her heart torn between fate and love.
Cheonsa stepped forward from the shadows, her voice low — and for the first time, vulnerable.
"But you'll die before him."
Yunxi flinched. She had known… but hearing it aloud pierced her resolve like a blade.
"Then let it be," she whispered.
Cheonsa looked at her, pain flickering behind her calm expression.
"You really love him that much?"
Yunxi didn't answer. Instead, she lifted her bleeding hand to her lips, bit her finger, and drew out a single drop of shimmering crimson-gold blood — phoenix blood, radiant with divine fire.
The world stilled.
Even the flower seemed to lean forward.
Cheonsa closed her eyes, voice trembling as she recited the forgotten line from the forbidden book of soul-pacts.
"Then in the pages of fate, to rewrite the lines,a phoenix shall give… a drop of her divine..."
But before she could finish, Yunxi pressed the blood to the flower's centre.
A glow burst from it — light, memory, and sorrow all at once — and in that brilliant glow, Cheonsa gasped.
Yunxi turned to her, smiling faintly, though her face was pale.
"Now say it."
Cheonsa swallowed hard.
"…half life.""You've given him your half-life, Yunxi."
Silence.
The wind picked up, carrying petals through the air like snow. The flower began to bloom, ancient symbols floating from its core.
Cheonsa's voice cracked.
"Your fate is now sealed. You will die… long before him."
Yunxi nodded. Her phoenix wings flared one last time, then folded quietly behind her.
"At least he will live long enough to know who I was."
The flower glowed in Yunxi's bloodstained hands, its petals shimmering with firelight and sorrow. The air was thick with the scent of ancient magic — a rare, haunting fragrance that only bloomed once in a thousand years.
Yunxi turned to Cheonsa, her eyes dimming, but still fierce.
"Take it… to him.""This flower will restore his spirit… protect him from the next curse."
Cheonsa reached out, hesitating.
"But you—"
Yunxi smiled faintly, the corners of her lips trembling. Her wings flickered like a candle's last flame.
"It's alright.""This is what a phoenix does… rise, burn… and give."
Before Cheonsa could stop her, Yunxi placed the flower into her hands — its warmth instantly searing with divine power.
And then—
Her body swayed.
The light around her faltered.Her wings vanished into embers.Her eyes closed.
And Yunxi — the veiled phoenix queen — collapsed to the ground, unconscious, the red of her veil now indistinguishable from the blood on her hands.
Cheonsa dropped to her knees, clutching the glowing flower.
"Yunxi!"
But there was no reply. Only silence.
The sky darkened slightly, as if even the heavens mourned the fall of the phoenix who gave her half-life — not for glory, not for recognition — but for love.
A Gift Unseen
Chen sat cross-legged in his meditation chamber, the sacred flower resting on his palm. Its light pulsed gently — warm, not blinding. Cheonsa had delivered it without a word, only saying:
"This will stabilize your power… Don't ask where it came from. Just protect it."
The moment he merged it into his cultivation core, something shifted.
His chaotic energy — once wild and near-unstable — settled.The fire in his veins turned from a storm… into a calm river.And in that stillness, he heard… a heartbeat that wasn't his own. Just once. Echoing faintly.
Later, Yunxi visited the palace again. She walked slower than usual, her face pale, but veiled under a smile.
Chen noticed right away.
"You're weak," he said, stepping closer."What happened?"
She laughed softly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Just a flu," she said."Will pass in a month."
Chen frowned. For some reason, her smile hurt to look at.
"You shouldn't push yourself to visit."
Yunxi looked away.
"I wanted to see if the flower worked."
"It did.""Perfectly.""But... I keep wondering… why it felt like someone gave up something to help me.""It doesn't feel like a gift. It feels like a sacrifice."
Yunxi's fingers tightened at her sleeve.
"You're imagining things," she whispered.
And then she turned to leave — because if she stayed longer, she might not be able to lie.