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Chapter 14 - The Prophecy of Flame

The southern sky turned to slate.

Winds howled across the mountains, carrying the scent of ash and blood. On a winding trail that led away from the ruins of Starcloud Pavilion, Luo Yun and the woman walked in silence.

They were no longer just fugitives.

Every step they took now echoed through the shadows — followed, tracked, watched.

Days after the battle against the assassins of the Black Blade Hall, the rumors began to spread.

"The inheritor of the Fallen Star has appeared."

"A mortal boy carrying a Heaven-tier legacy."

"He survived the massacre inside Falling Star Cave."

The whispers moved fast—from roadside tea stalls to inner sect libraries.

Far to the north, within the solemn halls of the Flamecloud Sect, a white-haired elder sat in meditation. His eyes were closed, his aura subdued.

Then—he opened them.

He stared at a glowing jade slip floating before him. On it, two words flickered in faint crimson:

Luo Yun.

"…Impossible," the elder murmured. "It can't be."

A young disciple knelt beside him, voice trembling.

"Elder, they say you once knew the Fallen Star himself…"

The old man didn't reply at first.

He closed his eyes again, lost in a memory that seemed to stretch across a hundred years.

"I once served beneath him," the elder said softly.

"And yet… he soared beyond heaven."

"Then the heavens struck him down."

"If his legacy truly lives, then this realm is not prepared for what follows."

Meanwhile, Luo Yun and his companion had crossed the southern forests and entered the Mistvale Region—a lawless zone between three great sects.

"Why here?" Luo Yun asked.

The woman answered, "Because no one controls it. And because someone here can help you."

They reached a small cavern hidden behind a waterfall. Inside, a one-eyed old cultivator sat by a fire, roasting fish over crackling flames.

When Luo Yun stepped into the cave, the man didn't look up. He simply said:

"I dreamed of fire last night."

"Fire… and someone carrying a choice."

"This is Daoist Liu," the woman explained. "He once held a piece of the Starcloud legacy."

Daoist Liu slowly turned toward Luo Yun.

"You've seen the final memory?" he asked.

Luo Yun nodded. "I chose not to burn everything. I want to find another path."

The old man stared for a long moment.

Then he pulled a shard of broken jade from his robes and handed it to Luo Yun.

"Then your path will be one no one has ever walked."

"But you're not the first who's been chosen."

"In the Fallen Star's prophecy, there were three children of fire and choice."

"Two have already failed."

"You are the third."

That night, Luo Yun sat alone by the fire, studying the first pages of Embers of Will — the technique born from belief, pain, and memory.

He understood something clearly now: he was no longer just carrying a forbidden legacy.

He might be the last chance to prove that fate was not unbreakable.

Far away, in a sealed mountain range, an ancient Nascent Soul cultivator opened his eyes after a century of silence.

He had felt the stirrings of that forbidden technique.

"That fire… it has ignited once more."

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