The dawn broke red over the Northern Steppes.Frost clung to every blade of grass, but the air itself felt heavy—charged with Qi so dense it made the horizon shimmer. Li Shen walked alone across the wasteland, cloak fluttering in the cold wind.Behind him, the tracks of his journey stretched for miles, already half erased by drifting sand.
He knew he was being followed.
At first, it was only a whisper in the wind, a presence that pulsed with hatred and memory. Then came the voice—low, familiar, and sharp as the edge of an old wound.
"You've grown slower, brother."
Li Shen stopped. The ground before him cracked, and from beneath the ice, a hand rose—scarred, burned, yet unbroken. Yan Rui pulled himself out from the frozen soil, eyes burning crimson, his Qi flaring like wildfire.
He no longer wore the crimson robes of the Flame Sect. His attire was black now, embroidered with the mark of the Infernal Lotus, a cult thought destroyed centuries ago.
"Yan Rui…" Li Shen said softly. "You shouldn't have lived."
"Neither should you," Rui replied, drawing his sword. The blade gleamed red, etched with runes that pulsed like veins. "Yet here we are—two ghosts, fighting for a world that never wanted us."
The wind howled between them. Both stood still, yet the pressure of their Qi made the air ripple, cracking the ice beneath their feet.
The first strike came like thunder.
Yan Rui vanished, leaving behind a swirl of black flame. Li Shen parried instinctively; his sword met nothing but heat—then pain. A cut flared across his shoulder, sizzling. The air smelled of burning metal.
"You've touched the Void too long," Rui sneered, reappearing a few steps away. "It's eating you from the inside."
Li Shen's eyes glowed faintly, the pupils narrowing like a storm collapsing inward. "Better the Void than the flame that consumes everything it loves."
Rui's laughter was hollow. "Then let's see whose emptiness burns brighter."
They clashed again—this time faster than light could catch. Every impact shattered the air like glass. Flame and shadow danced in spirals around them, carving deep scars into the ground.
Li Shen's blade sang with the sound of collapsing stars. Rui's sword roared with molten fury.
"Third Form—Ashen Bloom!" Rui shouted, swinging his sword in a wide arc. A lotus of fire erupted beneath Li Shen's feet, blooming upward in a burst of heat.
Li Shen closed his eyes. "Void Art: Silence of Heaven."
The world fell mute. The flames froze mid-motion, color drained from the scene. Only Li Shen's figure moved, walking calmly through stillness, sword raised.
He struck once.
The moment ended. The lotus shattered. Rui stumbled back, a cut bleeding across his chest. Yet he smiled through the blood.
"You've learned well… but you still hesitate."
Li Shen's grip tightened. "And you've fallen far."
Rui raised his blade again, and for an instant, the runes along its length flared—not red, but black.
Li Shen's eyes widened. "You—bound yourself to the Infernal Codex?"
"Why not?" Rui hissed. "You took the Void. I took the Flame. Together, we'll burn the Heavens and erase the past they wrote for us."
The sky cracked. Flames poured from the clouds like rain. Every drop that touched the ground birthed a spirit of ash, screaming in rage.
Rui's body ignited, his Qi merging with the firestorm. He became something neither man nor spirit—the Embodied Flame.
Li Shen felt the Void within him stir, whispering: Consume. Balance must return.
He stepped forward. "Then let balance decide."
When their blades met this time, the world itself screamed.The northern steppes split apart; mountains shattered in the distance. Fire and shadow collided in waves, each strike erasing miles of land.
Through it all, Li Shen saw fragments of memory—the two of them as disciples under Master Tian, laughing, training, dreaming of peace. Then the betrayal, the fire, the death of their brothers.
He faltered. For a heartbeat, his strike slowed.
Rui saw it—and drove his sword into Li Shen's side.
"Still weak!" Rui shouted, twisting the blade. "Still holding back!"
Li Shen coughed blood, his hand trembling—but his eyes hardened."Not weakness," he whispered. "Mercy."
The Void exploded from within him. Every shadow in the world bent toward his blade. In an instant, the infernal fire was snuffed out—like a candle beneath the tide.
When the dust settled, Rui lay on one knee, his sword broken.
Li Shen stood over him, bleeding but unyielding."This isn't over," Rui rasped. "The Codex… wants both of us."
"I know," Li Shen said. "But only one of us can answer it."
Rui smiled faintly through the pain. "Then hurry, brother. The heavens are already falling."
He collapsed, his body dissolving into flame that scattered into the wind—leaving behind a single black ember pulsing faintly with both flame and void.
Li Shen picked it up. The ember fused into his palm, searing a new mark beside the old one—two opposing sigils intertwined.
He looked up at the crimson sky. "If the world burns," he murmured, "then I'll burn with it… until the Thirteenth Verse is written."