Chapter 124: Depths of the eternal flame

Lin Yuan remained silent for a few seconds. Chen Ming and Lian Nichang continued staring at him beneath the dim lantern light.

Finally, Lin Yuan let out a soft, tired sigh.

"It’s nothing!" He muttered, nodding his head slightly.

"Nothing?" Chen Ming frowned, raising his eyebrow frantically. "You sneak out of a medical hall window at midnight and call it nothing?"

"I just wanted to check on something," Lin Yuan said, flexing his shoulders casually with loud cracks. "And honestly, I’m exhausted."

He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I’ve barely rested since the battle ended. I went back to my quarters this morning and passed out until now," Lin Yuan said casually, smiling lightly.

"Since morning? You slept all damn day?" Chen Ming squinted, letting out a suspicious gaze.

"Yes!" Lin Yuan said with confidence.

"That sounds suspicious, Lin Yuan," Chen Ming raised an eyebrow again.

"You’re overthinking about it as usual," Lin Yuan snickered, nodding his head.

Lian Nichang took a slow bite of his steamed bun and nudged Chen Ming’s arm. "Leave him be. Look at his face, he is probably telling the truth, Chen Ming."

"Fine, fine..." Chen Ming sighed, throwing his hands up.

Before Lin Yuan could take another step, hurried footsteps tapped across the stone walkway.

Two armored sect guards rushed forward around the corner, stopping before Lin Yuan and cupping their fists.

"Lin Yuan..." One of the guards called him while bowing to him.

"What is it?" Lin Yuan asked casually, taking a step forward and bowing to them.

"The sect master requests your presence in the main hall immediately!"

Lin Yuan paused for a second before asking. "The sect master?"

"Yes. He specifically ordered us to bring you straight to his private chamber," the two guards said at once.

"I understand," Lin Yuan let out a steady nod, and he turned toward Chen Ming and Lian Nichang. "I’ll catch up with you later."

"Don’t go vanishing into thin air again," Chen Ming smirked, crossing his arms.

Lin Yuan let out a faint smirk. "No promises..."

He followed the guards into the inner sect, toward the main hall. The guards stopped before a secluded chamber in the main hall.

Lin Yuan pushed the wooden door open. The sharp, elegant aroma of strong medicinal alcohol immediately reached his nose.

Inside, Xue Hongzhao sat cross-legged beside a low sandalwood table. A ceramic bottle of liquor rested beside his elbow.

He calmly poured another cup of red wine.

His posture looked calm and relaxed, almost as if he hadn’t had his heart pulverized three days ago by the demonic cultivator.

Lin Yuan walked inside and bowed respectfully, cupping his fists. "Greetings, Sect Master."

Xue Hongzhao raised his cup slightly and commanded Lin Yuan to sit.

Lin Yuan sat opposite to the sect master. For a few seconds, neither broke the silence.

Xue Hongzhao took a sip of the alcohol, letting the warmth settle in his throat.

Then, he placed the cup down.

"Have you ever heard an old story about a Phoenix?" the sect master asked, his eyes darting across the roof.

"No," Lin Yuan answered immediately, staring at him.

Xue Hongzhao smiled faintly. "Then listen."

He leaned his forearms against the table. "Long ago, an old Phoenix was nearing the end of its lifespan. It has fought many enemies and survived many disasters."

"Yet slowly, its old body could no longer hold and continue. So it flew straight into the mouth of an active volcano. It burned itself," Lin Yuan listened with anxiety. "Everything burnt, the feathers, flesh, and the bones. And when nothing remained..."

He paused, his eyes fixed on the rippling liquor, "a single flame remained."

Lin Yuan nodded slightly, keeping his expression calm.

"The phoenix was reborn," Xue Hongzhao continued, picking up his cup again. "People later named that miracle the Eternal Flame. But here is the strange part."

He stared into the wine glass. "The phoenix itself never understood why it survived."

Lin Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Most people believe a Phoenix is reborn purely through sheer will. Through determination. Through an absolute refusal to die," Xue Hongzhao continued in a low voice. He slowly raised his eyes, locking onto Lin Yuan. "What if that isn’t the whole truth?"

Lin Yuan remained silent, focusing on him. Xue Hongzhao leaned back against the wall.

"My rebirth three days ago shouldn’t have happened," His voice echoed across the private chamber. "The wound you saw in that cave wasn’t something a human simply walks away from. My heart was destroyed and I am dead!"

His fingers slowly reached up, touching the center of his chest. "And still... I woke up."

Lin Yuan’s expression changed.

"The Eternal Flame didn’t awaken only because I wanted to live or my resolve is strong," Xue Hongzhao said, staring down at the cup. "The moment I drew breath, I felt something else. Something inside my aperture."

"What is it, master?" Lin Yuan asked, leaning forward.

"I guess, it’s a mark..." Xue Hongzhao muttered slightly. "I felt it shortly after I returned from the dead. I’ve cultivated for over many years, but I’ve never seen anything like it in years."

He poured another drink, setting the wine cup on the table with a dull thud.

"And I’m telling you this because of what happened right before I killed that demonic cultivator."

Lin Yuan’s breathing tightened, but his face remained like stone. Xue Hongzhao stared at him with a curious gaze.

"Before I killed him... he looked past me and stared right at you. I don’t know why..." Xue Hongzhao nodded his head with confusion, but Lin Yuan didn’t flinch.

"But, he smirked," He continued, his eyes narrowing immediately. "That wasn’t the smile of a man accepting execution. It was the smile of someone who had just discovered something important."

Lin Yuan’s fingers clutched against his knees under the table. ’Noir.’ The word echoed in his mind again.

"I don’t know why," Xue Hongzhao leaned forward, his voice dropping slightly. "But my gut tells me that whatever that bastard saw... is connected to you."

An eerie silence filled the room, thick and suffocating.

Lin Yuan looked into the sect master’s gaze and finally spoke. "Can I inspect your aperture?"

"You are quite confident, brat," Xue Hongzhao muttered, nodding his head.

"I need to know," Lin Yuan said simply, smiling slightly.

The sect master looked at him for a few seconds. Then, he gave a slow nod. "Fine."

He closed his eyes, his golden-red beast essence slowly parted, opening a safe path into his spiritual aperture.

"Look carefully," Lin Yuan closed his eyes and extended a thin thread of spiritual perception outward toward the sect master.

His consciousness crossed into Xue Hongzhao’s aperture.

At first, everything seemed normal. An enormous phoenix shaped silhouette hovered within a roaring, blazing sea of golden-red beast essence, its divine heat emanating outward like a sun.

Lin Yuan guided his perception deeper, moving toward the core foundations.

Then, he saw something strange, buried under the bright glow of the Eternal Flame, there was a patch of pitch-black symbol. It wasn’t large, but it was horrifying.

It was a strange, aura emanating sigil. The curved, bleeding lines wrapping around a distorted, multi-jointed beast claw.

It was almost a duplicate of the black mark Lin Yuan had discovered in the cave. Lin Yuan’s consciousness moved half an inch forward to confirm it.

The instant his spiritual sense grazed its aura, pure agony tore vehemently through Lin Yuan’s sea of consciousness. His spiritual perception was shattered and pushed backward harshly.

Lin Yuan’s eyes snapped open, his body jolted away from the table with a loud gasp.

"ARGHH—!" He yelled, clutching the edge of the wood until his knuckles turned white.

His breathing turned frantic, thick beads of sweat pouring down from his forehead and dripping from his jaw. His eyes were deathly pale.

Xue Hongzhao stood up immediately, the table rattling. "What happened?"

"That aura..." Lin Yuan stared at him, his voice barely rising above a trembling whisper.

"What aura?" Xue Hongzhao frowned, his voice quivering slightly seeing Lin Yuan’s face.

Lin Yuan’s eyes trembled in pure shock and disdain. He had felt it before.

It was the same mark that he saw in the cave, and it was the same aura.

On the strange mark left behind by the dead demonic cultivator.

The exact same oppressive, rancid chill that had made his White Tiger tattoos burn in agony.

Lin Yuan slowly raised his head, looking straight at Xue Hongzhao.

"That mark inside your core..." His voice turned into a cold whisper, "it’s the same sigil carved into the rock in that cave."

The private chamber consumed by dead silence. Xue Hongzhao stared down at him, his expression turning calm and pale.

The sweat soaked the back of Lin Yuan’s tunic as his thoughts stormed into his mind through the darkness.

The demonic cultivator, the strange sigil, his past identity as Noir. And now, the same demonic brand planted inside the revived aperture of the sect master of Red Talon Hall.

They were all connected.

Xue Hongzhao took an angry step forward.

"Lin Yuan," he called out, his voice booming across the area. "What happened when you touched that mark?"

Lin Yuan slowly raised his eyes. His face was filled with fear and shock, and he gritted his teeth tightly once.