Mist clung to the undergrowth like damp silk, curling around every moss-covered root and fallen branch. The trio moved quietly along a narrow dirt path, half-swallowed by ferns and hanging vines. Dew dripped from serrated leaves, landing with soft plinks onto muddy footprints left behind. Shafts of pale light filtered through the dense emerald canopy, touching the forest floor in trembling ribbons.
Birds stirred high above, their calls faint and cautious—as if the jungle itself knew who passed beneath. Mike walked between Jian Dao and the eagle-bodied Huo Chuntian, whose talons barely disturbed the dead leaves beneath him. His golden feathers shimmered faintly in the gloom, catching the mist like a ghost made of fire and wind.
"So," Huo Chuntian said, his voice rough as cracked stone, "what brings you this deep into the wilderness, old man? Hunting something… or someone?"
Jian Dao's boots brushed through a patch of glowing mushrooms, their pale-blue caps blinking like watchful eyes. He didn't look back. "We're heading to Luminous Veil Lake. There's a flame there—ancient and alive. I want to see if it answers Mike."
"Ah… a flame hunt." Huo's wings shifted slightly, brushing against low-hanging branches. "Good ambition, brat." His golden eyes flicked toward Mike. "But know this—flames like that don't bow easily. They test your marrow. They enter your veins like venom and rewrite who you are. If you lose… you'll burn from within, piece by piece."
Mike ducked under a bent tree limb draped in ghost moss. He tried to sound casual. "No pressure. I'm only walking into a soul-eating firestorm with two emotionally unstable war veterans."
Jian Dao smirked faintly. Somewhere in the distance, a monkey's cry broke the silence, sharp and echoing. "Don't worry. If Huo loses it, I'll clip his wings."
"Funny," Huo growled, his claws cracking a twig underfoot. "You just handle your walking stick, old man. I'll handle the brat."
Mike exhaled, watching the mist swirl around his feet. The path was narrowing—soon they'd be climbing.
Elsewhere…
A throne of bone rose from a floor of blackened glass. Red mist oozed through carved runes on the stone columns, glowing with pulsing sigils that twisted like worms under skin. Flames curled in iron braziers, casting monstrous shadows that danced across walls etched with screaming faces.
The air here was thick—like breathing through blood.
A figure loomed on the throne, his silhouette distorting the air like heatwaves. Power leaked from him in waves that made the stone sweat.
A servant knelt, trembling. "Y-Your Majesty… we lost the trail."
A growl answered him—low, grating. "Let it be. For now."
Another figure stepped from behind the pillar's shade, red-eyed and armor-clad. "Then what of the Glass Mist Forest?"
The figure on the throne leaned forward, and even the flames seemed to flinch. "The old man hides in an eagle's shell. Hunt him. And bring me his spirit."
Back in the Forest…
A drop of water fell from a branch above, landing with a tap on Mike's nose.
"Mike," Huo said, stopping suddenly. "Look at me."
Mike turned—and immediately yelped as two fingers jabbed him square in the forehead.
A jolt of heat surged through his body. He stumbled back as a glowing sigil flared to life on his skin, hovering just above the spot between his eyebrows. It pulsed once—then vanished.
"Ow! What the hell was that?!"
"Relax," Huo said, ruffling his wings. "A spiritual seal. Nothing painful. Just means I can enter your body if—and only if—you allow it. We're linked now. Be grateful."
Mike scowled. "Can't you do anything without theatrics?"
"No," Huo grinned. "I'm dramatic by nature."
Jian Dao knelt nearby, examining a crushed flower—purple, with three tiny thorns at the base. "The air's thinner. We're close."
Minutes later, the dense trees peeled away, revealing a cliffside soaked in golden light. As they stepped onto the open plateau, a gust of wind swept past, carrying with it the distant screech of hawks and the scent of sulfur.
Mike gasped. Clouds sprawled beneath them like a silver ocean. Distant peaks pierced the sky like dragon fangs. And far below, tucked inside a ring of stone and mist, shimmered the glowing mirror of Luminous Veil Lake—its surface flickering with pale-blue fire that moved against the wind.
"There it is," Huo said, voice reverent.
Mike stepped closer to the edge. "We're really above the clouds…"
The wind tugged at his hair as he shouted into the abyss. His voice came back a moment later, distorted and lonely.
"We go straight there?" he asked.
Jian Dao shook his head. "No. There'll be others. If they're not here already, they'll come for it. This isn't just a flame… it's a war waiting to start."
"I'll scout it," Huo offered, talons clicking as he perched on a nearby rock. He shut his eyes. Silence stretched.
Then, they opened—wide with alarm. "Sea Dragon Flame."
Jian Dao's breath caught. "You're sure?"
"It swims below the surface. Still slumbering. But it's real."
Mike's stomach knotted. "That's… a High-Rank one, right?"
"One of the top five," Jian Dao confirmed, watching the lake as wind carried wisps of flame off its surface like dancing spirits. "It can twist your soul and rip open your meridians if you aren't worthy. Even I wouldn't try to tame it unprepared."
Mike looked down at his hands. They trembled slightly, then steadied.
"Then I'll try. If it feels wrong… I walk away."
The wind blew harder, and the lake shimmered brighter.
Jian Dao nodded. "Then let's descend… and see if the flame sees you."