Episode 12 - Part 2: Rise From the Ashes
The burning wind howled across the valley, sweeping ashes across Faizi Tian's back as he knelt before the charred ground—his fingers brushing over the soil where his parents had once stood. His eyes were closed, but within him… a storm was awakening.
His consciousness drifted into darkness.
And from that abyss, a memory surged forth—one he had buried deep.
***
[FLASHBACK BEGINS]
The night was silent, yet suffocating. A twelve-year-old Faizi Tian sat inside a cracked hut at the edge of Emberbone Village. His frail hands clutched a book—one passed down from his father. Its pages were burnt at the edges, its text smudged by time. But its title burned like a promise:
**"Ember Root: The Path of Fire."**
Faizi's body was too weak to cultivate at the time. He was mocked by others, considered talentless. But deep inside him was a dormant fire—an unawakened bloodline, a divine inheritance his enemies couldn't sense.
That night, under a blood-red moon, he tried again.
He sat cross-legged, drew a shaky breath, and began the cultivation technique described within the book.
The air grew warm. His skin tingled. Suddenly—
**BOOM.**
His consciousness exploded into a vortex of fire and pain. Images of burning mountains, golden phoenixes, and crimson whirlpools filled his mind. His body trembled, sweat pouring down like rain.
And then… silence.
A soft glow emerged from his chest—tiny, like a spark. But it pulsed with power.
The **Ember Root Realm** had awakened.
From that moment on, Faizi Tian was no longer the same.
—The first realm in his journey had three levels:
- **Early Stage**: His senses became sensitive to fire. Even candlelight whispered to him.
- **Middle Stage**: He began absorbing flame energy from torches, bonfires, even the sun's heat.
- **Late Stage**: The flame affinity became part of his soul. He could ignite dry wood by simply touching it.
It took him **three years** to master Ember Root completely. He didn't have a master. No pills. No guidance. Just raw talent and the fuel of revenge.
When the Ember Root Realm reached its peak, his body began to radiate warmth like a living furnace.
From there, he entered the **Flame Vein Realm**.
Veins glowed beneath his skin as flame energy coursed through his body.
- **Early Stage**: The energy flowed in bursts.
- **Middle Stage**: He learned to redirect it through his limbs, enhancing strength.
- **Late Stage**: His entire vascular system became a flame circuit. With every heartbeat, flames pulsed through his blood.
By the time he turned sixteen, his physical strength could crush boulders. His skin could resist blades. But it wasn't enough.
He wanted more.
So he continued.
The **Infernal Pulse Realm** came next. It was painful. With every cultivation session, it felt like his heart was being set on fire.
- **Early Stage**: His heart synced with flame rhythms. He could hear fire breathing in the wind.
- **Middle Stage**: He could control fire without movement—just a thought.
- **Late Stage**: His pulse became a flame beacon. Even wild fire beasts bowed before him.
After that… he spent two more years breaking into the **Blazing Core Realm**.
He had no resources, only broken spiritual stones and discarded relics. Yet his will never broke.
Deep in his dantian, a **core of fire** formed—like a sun compressed into a pearl.
- **Early Stage**: He felt his spirit strengthen.
- **Middle Stage**: His flames grew purer—blue and gold in color.
- **Late Stage**: His spiritual power erupted. He could now release attacks like Blazing Lotus and Flame Spear.
It was around this time he made his first kill.
A bandit who tried to rob a traveling herbalist. Faizi's fire burned the man's sword to ash. The village began whispering about him.
Some called him a monster. Others, a divine child.
But he knew the truth.
He was a survivor.
Then came the **Sacred Flame Body Realm**.
This was the realm that truly transformed him.
- **Early Stage**: Flames no longer harmed him. He could walk through fire.
- **Middle Stage**: His skin began to glow with runes—ancient flame inscriptions.
- **Late Stage**: He fused with fire itself. He could disappear into flames and reappear elsewhere.
By age 21, he had surpassed all other young cultivators in the province.
And now, standing before the place where his parents had died, those memories surged back.
[FLASHBACK ENDS]
***
His eyes snapped open.
The valley was no longer silent. His spiritual fire stirred like a sleeping beast.
"I've mastered five realms," Faizi Tian whispered to himself. "But it's not enough."
The demons who killed his parents… were far stronger. He needed to ascend even higher.
Next was the **Skyfire Soul Realm**, where flame connected to soul.
Then **Heaven's Wrath Realm**, where flames rained from the skies.
Then **Immortal Inferno**, where fire never died.
Then **Divine Flame King**, where one ruled legions of flame spirits.
And finally… the **Void Origin of Flame**, the God-King's path.
He clenched his fists.
"I'll reach the end. No matter what."
Just then, a gust of flame swirled around him. It wasn't natural. It was responding to his vow.
Somewhere, far beyond the mountains, an ancient flame spirit opened its eyes.
The world had taken its first breath of warning.
Faizi Tian… had begun to rise again.
This was no longer a boy seeking revenge.
This was a flame… preparing to consume the heavens.
[To Be Continued…]