Three weeks after the founding of Coalspark, the sparks had already spread beyond the Soul Flame School.
Small sects sent observers.
Rogue cultivators arrived without invitation.
Former Reclaimers knelt beside first-year students to copy their flame patterns.
But not all who watched came to learn.
Some came to judge.
Some came to warn.
In the northern skies, above the Sable Stone Sect, an old master read the flame reports in silence.
His name: Master Guren, once a Heavenly Flamekeeper under Xu Shen during the final siege of the Court.
He'd left before peace began.
Now he read a report that chilled him:
"Technique: Kindling Courage."
"Initiated without flame law."
"No stabilizer core. No oath system. No founder enforcement."
He slammed the scroll down.
"This isn't a flame path."
"It's a wildfire."
In the southern mountains, two other sects began issuing quiet warnings to their disciples:
"Coalspark is untested."
"Do not follow fire with no lineage."
"It burns friendly until it doesn't."
Back at the Soul Flame School…
Wei Lin lit a small teaching flame in the courtyard.
A dozen new students surrounded him.
But one girl—older, clearly trained elsewhere—crossed her arms.
"You're not a Flamekeeper."
Wei nodded. "I'm not."
"So who verifies what you're teaching is even safe?"
Wei smiled.
"No one."
She scowled. "Then what stops me from inventing a technique that kills someone?"
Shen Tai, standing nearby, stepped forward.
"Nothing."
"Except intention."
Silence.
Wei Lin looked at the students and spoke plainly:
"That's what Coalspark is."
"It's not about mastery. It's about motive."
"We don't ask 'what can I burn?'"
"We ask: why am I burning at all?"
That night, a meeting was held in secret by outer sect leaders.
One line echoed through the chamber:
"If this spreads…"
"We won't control flame anymore."
Far away, on a cliff that overlooked no land at all, Xu Shen sat alone, eyes closed.
He felt the ripple of judgment.
He said nothing.
Just smiled faintly.
And whispered:
"Good."