The Ironroot Wastes buzzed with life and activity. Spiritual energy drifted through the air like fragrant mist, clinging to leaves, soil, and skin. Once a barren land of cracked stone and dry wind, it had transformed into a flourishing zone of cultivation, thanks to Kael and his team's awakening of the Verdant Heart Array. But peace in this world of strength was always fleeting.
At the edge of the eastern border, where grass still struggled to take root and cliffs marked the end of safe territory, a lone scout crouched behind a spiritual concealment formation. His breath was low. His eyes fixed on the horizon, where shadows stretched unnaturally across the ridgelines.
Then he saw them.
Crimson banners flapping in the wind, each adorned with a single black bone at its center.
Hundreds of figures marched in eerie synchrony, robed in blood-red cloth that shimmered unnaturally. Their footsteps did not disturb the dust beneath them. The ground grew cold in their wake. In the center of the formation rode a man upon a beast made of bone and flame, his skeletal mask glinting with runes.
Lord Valen of the Scorching Bone Sect.
The scout trembled. His instincts screamed at him to flee, but he forced himself to remain long enough to count the numbers.
Over a thousand cultivators.
At least twenty were confirmed Spiritual Generals.
Five gave off terrifying pressure, enough to weigh on the soul.
> And one… one made his knees buckle just by turning in his direction.
"A Spiritual King…" the scout whispered in horror.
He turned and vanished into the concealment array, his movement swift as the wind. He had to get word to Kael—before it was too late.
—
Back at the Black Flame Fortress, a towering stone complex still under construction, Kael stood overlooking a training field. The first squads of the Black Flame Legion were forming formations, moving in sync as Dalia barked out orders.
"Circle formation—Earth Pulse stance! Again!"
Kael nodded in approval. Their speed and discipline had grown rapidly. With just weeks of training under Spiritual King-level instruction, they already moved like seasoned warriors.
Suddenly, a signal flare burst in the sky, its color a deep violet.
> Emergency.
Kael leapt down from the observation platform, his movement leaving behind a gust of wind and scattered dust. Within seconds, he reached the main hall where Dalia, Elder Vann, and several other leaders were already gathered.
The scout knelt, sweat pouring from his body as he panted.
"Crimson Choir… marching from the east… over a thousand… led by Valen himself…"
The room fell silent.
Dalia clenched her jaw. "He's coming already? That demon doesn't wait."
Elder Vann's face was grim. "We're not ready for a direct clash. Not against those numbers. Not yet."
Kael placed a hand on the scout's shoulder. "You did well. Rest."
He turned to the others. "We won't survive a head-on war. Not with our current numbers. We need to use the terrain, use the formations we've laid, and strike them before they reach the heart of the Wastes."
"Ambush?" Vann asked.
Kael nodded. "Yes. I'll lead a strike team. We hit their supply line. Disrupt their advance. Dalia, you hold the fortress. Prepare the defensive arrays. If we fail to delay them, you must buy us time."
Dalia frowned. "If you leave, we risk losing our strongest fighter before the real battle."
"I'm not going to die," Kael said flatly. "I'm going to make sure they bleed before they get here."
He turned to a group of elite cultivators—each wearing the black-and-red armor of the Flame Vanguard, Kael's personal squad.
"Prepare for departure. We move in one hour."
—
Deep in the Scorching Bone Sect's ranks, the air shimmered with dark energy.
Lord Valen rode silently at the front, his skeletal mask hiding all emotion. His beast snarled softly, reacting to the tension in the air.
Beside him marched his four captains: Sura the Flame Devourer, Rikkar the Soul-Eater, Jenna of the Crimson Fog, and Baros the Flesh Shaper. Each one radiated terrifying strength.
"We're being watched," Baros murmured. His eyes glowed faintly, scanning the rocky cliffs.
"They're fools if they think they can delay us," Sura said with a grin, flames licking around his arms. "Let them try."
Valen raised a hand. The army halted.
He pointed toward a narrow canyon ahead. "This is where they'll strike. Prepare."
His voice echoed with spiritual resonance. "Let the trap become the bait."
—
An hour later, Kael and his team of twenty stood above the canyon ridge, each crouched behind rocks and spiritual blind spots.
He held a talisman in his hand—a wind messenger. He activated it with a whisper.
"Target sighted. Begin phase one."
From the distance, a sound like thunder cracked.
Explosive arrays buried deep in the canyon floor erupted. Dust and flame flew into the air, disorienting the front ranks of Valen's army.
Kael moved instantly.
> "Wind Step—Phantom Slash!"
He vanished from sight and appeared behind a Scorching Bone captain, his blade slicing through the man's back in a burst of spiritual energy. The blow severed the man's spine, dropping him in a heap of blood.
The Flame Vanguard surged forward.
Spiritual techniques lit the canyon with blinding flashes:
> "Stone Rain Technique!"
> "Crimson Spear Art!"
> "Lightning Chain!"
Dozens of Scorching Bone Sect members fell before they even drew weapons.
But then, the retaliation came.
> "Soul Drain Howl!"
Rikkar the Soul-Eater appeared like a ghost, his claws slashing through one of Kael's warriors, extracting his soul mid-scream. Another burst of flame engulfed two more from the vanguard—Sura's doing.
Kael turned, eyes burning.
> "Infernal Blade—Second Movement!"
His sword ignited with black flames, the blade extending like a whip as he lashed it toward Sura. The cultivator caught the edge with a wall of fire but staggered from the impact.
> "You think you've mastered fire?" Kael roared. "Let me show you what true flame is."
He pressed forward, each strike faster, more refined. His swordplay blended aggression with controlled rhythm. His understanding of fire, gained from the Heart of Echoes, burned hotter than Sura's techniques.
Within moments, he landed a direct blow.
> "Flame Collapse!"
The impact exploded outward, sending Sura crashing into the canyon wall, unconscious.
The battle raged for minutes that felt like hours.
Kael was bleeding from three wounds. Six of his warriors had fallen. But the canyon floor was littered with the enemy's dead—over a hundred bodies. Still, more came from behind.
Then, Valen himself entered the canyon.
Kael turned, eyes narrowing.
"I'll hold him. Retreat now!" he barked.
His warriors hesitated.
"GO!"
Dalia's voice echoed from the wind messenger: "Reinforcements will meet you at Point Shale. Get out alive!"
Kael raised his blade.
Valen stepped down from his beast, his presence alone enough to dim the light around him.
"You are brave," the masked man said, his voice hollow. "But bravery dies the same as fear."
Kael activated his core.
> "Third Movement—Dusk Bloom!"
Black fire erupted around him, forming petals of energy that floated in the air before launching like arrows toward Valen.
The clash had begun.
Valen raised his skeletal hand calmly, and a wave of spiritual pressure burst from his body. The petals of flame disintegrated before reaching him, vanishing into ash. Kael's eyes widened. That wasn't an ordinary spiritual defence—that was compression field manipulation, a rare technique possessed only by high-level Spiritual Kings.
"Dusk Bloom," Valen murmured. "Impressive. Not many can awaken that path of fire."
Kael didn't respond. He already knew this man was stronger than he could face head-on. But it didn't matter. His goal was to delay.
Valen struck.
With one simple gesture, the air around Kael twisted. Cracks formed in the spiritual fabric of the gorge, distorting light and sound. From the fractures emerged skeletal hands, each glowing red, clawing toward Kael with terrifying speed.
> "Infernal Cloak!"
Flames erupted from Kael's body, forming a vortex around him. The skeletal hands burned on contact, but more replaced them in endless numbers.
Valen appeared behind Kael in a blink.
> "Spiritual Flicker…"
Kael turned just in time to block with his blade, but Valen's hand caught the edge and crushed it with pure force. The blade cracked, sparks flying.
> "Void Lash!"
Kael's palm opened, and from it burst a ribbon of dark spiritual fire. It coiled around Valen's arm, burning through the outer robe and searing his skin. Valen didn't flinch. Instead, he countered with a devastating backhand blow.
> BOOM!
Kael flew back, smashing into a cliff wall, his ribs breaking on impact. Blood sprayed from his mouth.
Still, he stood.
Still, he activated the fourth movement of his technique.
> "Flame Emperor's Rebirth!"
A fiery phoenix burst from his chest, spiraling upward, lighting the gorge with sacred fire. Valen paused briefly—his instincts warning him. He took a step back.
Kael collapsed to one knee.
He smiled, blood dripping down his chin.
"That should slow you down," he whispered.
The phoenix exploded. Not outward, but inward—into Kael himself. The energy was not destructive, but restorative. His wounds began to seal. His shattered bones knit together. His aura rose again, not just returning to full strength, but rising slightly beyond.
Valen's mask tilted. "So you burn your own essence to heal and ascend. A suicidal technique."
Kael stood, his eyes now glowing faintly gold with the power of the phoenix.
"I only need to survive. And I just did."
Behind him, a thunderous roar filled the gorge.
The reinforcements had arrived.
From the upper ridges of the canyon, hundreds of figures in black armor descended, sliding down with ropes or leaping with practiced precision. Spiritual techniques fired from above—bolts of wind, shards of ice, and chains of earth that wrapped around Scorching Bone cultivators below.
Dalia landed beside Kael with a crash, her hammer glowing with blue spiritual light.
"You always steal the spotlight," she muttered.
Kael coughed, then smirked. "You're late."
"You're bleeding."
"Better than dead."
She turned her gaze on Valen. "That's him?"
"Yes."
"I'll handle him. You pull the others out."
Kael hesitated.
"I'm not doing this alone," she added, and then pointed at the cliffs.
From behind came another figure—Elder Vann, flanked by two Transition stage cultivators carrying talismans infused with array-formation energy.
"Formation circle—now!" Vann commanded.
The talismans activated, surrounding Valen in a hexagonal array of glowing runes.
Valen looked around calmly. "So this was the real plan…"
He smiled.
Then the array sealed.
Kael didn't wait to see what happened next. He grabbed the wounded, pulled back his vanguard, and led them out of the canyon. Explosions erupted behind him. Flame met bone. Ice met fire. Array against array.
—
Back at the fortress hours later, Kael lay on a cot while a healer ran spiritual energy through his body.
"You're lucky," the healer muttered. "You ruptured your inner channels. A bit more and you'd never cultivate again."
"I've got work to do," Kael replied.
Rellen entered the room, face grim.
"They've stopped advancing. Whatever Vann and Dalia did worked."
Kael nodded slowly. "Good."
"But this was only a detachment," Rellen added. "Valen was just scouting. They're preparing a full-scale invasion."
Kael stared at the ceiling.
"Then we have to be ready. We need to push our cultivation, expand recruitment, and activate the war projects."
He sat up, wincing. "It's time we stop reacting. It's time we build a kingdom that can't be touched."
Rellen smiled faintly. "Black Flame Dominion?"
Kael looked out the window at the fortress rising in the distance.
"No. It's not a dominion."
He stood.
> "It's an empire."