At first, no one noticed.
The new path looked like Coalspark.
It used the same forge rituals.
It spoke the same mantras.
Its initiates quoted Xu Shen's teachings by heart.
But beneath their words…
Their flames felt hollow.
Not empty.
Emptying.
It began in the eastern province of Skyedge, where a traveling flameformer named Kasai introduced a "refined" version of Coalspark:
He called it:
Everkindle.
His promise?
"A flame anyone can light.
A path anyone can join.
A truth you never have to question again."
He taught it for free.
He taught it quickly.
And he taught it with one hidden detail:
Every Everkindle flame connected to his.
By the time Coalspark scouts caught wind of it, six provinces had Everkindle cells.
When Wei Lin read the first scroll detailing Kasai's "open path," he went cold.
"It's built like ours… but it loops back."
Shen Tai frowned. "Back where?"
Wei placed the scroll in the forge's light.
The flame projected the hidden line of command:
Everkindle wasn't open.
It was networked.
Every spark ignited under Kasai's design wasn't its own.
It was a reflection of his control.
"Why?" Lao Yun asked quietly.
Wei Lin's voice was firm:
"Because when people see freedom…"
"…someone will always try to sell a cheaper version of it."
Far away, in the Vale of Temples, Kasai lit a demonstration forge before a crowd of three hundred.
He smiled as the flames took shape.
None of them realized their soulfire threads were binding together.
And Kasai whispered:
"Unity looks like choice…"
"Until you try to leave."