The sigils erupted in golden light, a shockwave so fierce it hurled the masked man backward, crashing him into a crumbling temple pillar. Yanmei trembled beside Xiulan, veins glowing with radiant qi as her cultivation surged uncontrollably, her body radiating a power that made the air itself hum.

Xiulan landed beside her, coughing blood. “What… did you do?”

“I used the Mirror Chant,” Yanmei whispered, her breath ragged. “It channels my strength into you… but it comes at a cost.”

A sudden surge flooded Xiulan’s body—warmth of fire, but also something deeper: sorrow, love, and sacrifice intertwined. Yanmei’s qi stabilized his flames, tempered his meridians, and even began healing some of his wounds.

“Idiot,” Xiulan said, tears brimming. “You could have died.”

“I couldn’t let him take you,” she replied, voice firm yet soft.

The masked man staggered to his feet, blood trickling from his mouth. “Very touching… but you’re both doomed,” he hissed.

Xiulan’s flames ignited again—but this time, they burned blue.

The man’s eyes widened in disbelief. “No… that’s impossible…”

Blue flames—divine, pure, and fierce—belonged only to cultivators whose spirits were directly linked to the Celestial Plane. Xiulan had crossed a threshold no mortal dared approach.

Yanmei’s eyes blazed as she pointed at him. “I told you not to try me.”

With a surge of will, Xiulan’s flames tore across the sky. The fiery silhouette of a phoenix spread its wings across the heavens, divine and radiant. Trees bent beneath the pressure, wind whipping snow and ash into a spiraling storm. The masked man stumbled, his obsidian blade quivering as if weakened by sheer presence.

“No… you’re not just a fire cultivator,” he whispered. “You’re a… Vessel!”

Xiulan’s voice resonated with power beyond his own. Deep, ancient, unrelenting. “I carry the will of the Flame Ancients.”

The phoenix screamed, its wings unfurling in blazing judgment. Fire rained down like celestial wrath. The masked intruder conjured a shadow barrier, but it cracked instantly under the divine flames. He screamed as the fire pierced him, burning into his soul, unraveling his strength.

With a final, blinding flash, he vanished—leaving behind only molten stone and his obsidian blade twisted into slag.

The flames subsided. The phoenix faded, its roar lingering in the sky like a memory. Xiulan collapsed to one knee, panting, the divine presence within him retreating into silence.

Yanmei knelt beside him, her hands trembling as she brushed embers from his robes. “You… you summoned a divine beast. Xiulan… you are a Vessel.”

“I didn’t choose this,” Xiulan murmured, trembling, eyes still glowing faintly blue. “It chose me.”

Above them, the sky settled, calm once more—but the echoes of the Blue Phoenix’s roar lingered, a warning and a promise. A storm had truly begun—and Xiulan’s destiny was no longer his own to control.