Ling Aotian was stupefied. What had he just witnessed?
His mouth hung slightly open as he stared at the little girl floating before him. She looked no older than six or seven, yet something about her radiated an ancient, untamed energy. Her delicate face was carved with an ethereal charm. Her round cheeks blushed like peach petals in spring, her lips tinted a soft ember-red, as though kissed by the lingering warmth of a fading flame.
But it was her eyes that truly ensnared him, two great, languid pools that shimmered like molten gold, each blink a flicker of firelight dancing across an oil lamp. Her pupils reflected Ling Aotian's face, yet her gaze was innocent, untainted by mortal dust. Her nose was small and upturned, like a flame sprite caught mid-mischief. The most noticable thing about her though were two little protrution atop his head. They were small and barely visible, but they faintly glowed red. Making them quite eye catching.
She hovered silently around Ling Aotian, her bare feet never touching the ground. She didn't flap wings, nor leave trails of spiritual Qi behind her. Instead, she moved like drifting smoke or the last spark of a dying flame — effortless, soundless, almost dreamlike. Her long hair, a cascade of crimson fire, trailed behind her like a comet's tail, swaying as if whispering lullabies to the wind.
It was as if she didn't merely fly but belonged to the air, as if the heavens themselves had penned her into the world's canvas with a brush dipped in flame.
She hovered around Ling Aotian, her spiritual flame attributed Qi entangling into Ling Aotian's whole body. It was as if she was performing a ritual. Ling Aotian did not move, he was curious. Never in all his years had he seem anything like this. Then suddenly his mouth moved, chanting a sutra..
"The flame devours, yet does not hunger. It dances, yet has no form.To walk the Dao of Flame is to walk between extremes..To burn, but not to consume. To shine, yet never blind."
As soon as he finished with the last sylable, everything changed. The atmosphere in the cave changed, the little girl stoped her movements. She looked at Ling Aotian with a stunned gaze, her expression clearly speaking volumes that what Ling Aotian did was unexpected.
In a low voice, she then commented.." Heavenly flame..?"
Immediately, The campfire stopped crackling.Its flames pulled inward, rising straighter and steadier. No longer flickering against the cold draft.They now stood tall, like soldiers in attention.
In the corners of the cave, the tiniest sparks began to appear,converging towards Ling Aotian. It was like the world flames Qi was converging towards him.
From the charred remains of old firewood in the cave, from soot-stained walls, from torches long snuffed, the heat returned. It was not violent nor did they return in a roar. They were just present.The snow outside didn't melt either. But at the mouth of the cave, flakes slowed and melted softly. It was as if the world was reacting softly.
Aotian's robes,which were torn and damp from snowmelt and chilled air, began to smolder, it's threads blackened as the whole cloth curled, then fell to ash behind him.And where it once covered his skin, a pattern now began forming as the little girl continued to hover around him.
Thin lines of ember-red coilled into the form of a dragon. A wingless dragon, Just a serpent-like body in repose, it's head tucked near his shoulder blade,it's tail winding down his spine. Heat pulsed faintly from this pattern enough to fog the air around his skin. The heat did not burn him, but the little girl began to fade, slowly until the only thing was a Silhouette. A shadow of what had once been real.
Ling Aotian took a minute before he reacted. From the moment that mantra came to his mind, he could not control his body. This feeling made him fume in rage. The feeling of not being in control was one that he always feared. Ling Aotian however made an exception and calmed down. That was due to not feeling any malice towards him from the little girl. If anything, he felt great affinity.
He sent his senses into his back, trying to see what was tattooed there. Unfortunately, his senses were obstructed. Dissipated before even seeing anything. " I guess I need to at least have divine sense to see it.."
" But is that is the case.., doesn't that mean I have to at least be in Core formation realm inorder to uncover this secret..? Sigh..! Did it have to ruin my already ruined robes ..?"
Ling Aotian looked at his spacial ring. It was now empty, not even clean robes for him to wear. He sighed again, then saw the sunrise as early first light made its way into the cave. He decided to cultivate.
Spiritual Qi was absorbed from heaven and Earth, a verbal chant heard as Ling Aotian slowly refined his spiritual Qi into Jade Qi.
***
Ling Sun's POV... A few weeks earlier.
Hua Family anscestral hall.
"The chi family have gone too far this time..! Not only do they not give young master Hua Ping any face but they also dare to engage us in a commercial war...! "
" I say we set an example to other families using them ..!"
" I second it ."
"I second it "
The Hua family elders finally came to a decision. However the Patriach was displeased, his face showing an ugly expression that seemed to have something else to say. He then raised his hand, making all present silent. He took out a photographic jade and displayed the contents to all elders.
In the jade slip, the projected image showed a huge tower. The tower was black and had nine floors arranged like an ancient Pagoda. This pagoda had ancient runes markings all over it's outer shell, but some of the runes were dim while others were almost erased.
The Patriach looked at the elders and said..
"The ancient ritual is to done soon. We have only about a month before the sacrificial ritual, yet the ancestral pendant has not chosen this generation's favored son..!! "
The Patriach sighed then threw the ancestral pendant sluggishly as if asking the elders to take it and search for their favoured son. The elders also sighed, none picking up the ancestral pendant. The pendant was circular, with two runes drawn in each side, one clearly written as Ying while the other as Yang.
" If we can't find a favored son, then their is no need to go on with the ritual..!! "
"You just want to exempt your daughter from her responsibility ..!!"
" But it has no use if their is no yang..!!"
The elders began another heated discussion,their passion and tempers flairing every now and then. It was a chaotic scene making the Patriach silently sink back into his seat in dejection. He was tired..so tied that he made a casual remark.." oh heavens, did my Hua families karmic luck run out..? Is it time for our destruction..? Please just show me a sign."
Thud !
A sign fell from the heavenly daos. The Patriach was struck dumb.
Ling Sun fell on top of a table, golden hue still attached into his body as the invisible chain that were binding were still effective. Looking around, he was dumbfounded, then he was confused and finally he was scared.
Old elders seated on oppesite sides of a large table we're looking at him. Strange expressions directed at him as another black hue covered the golden hue. His chains were broken, but his situation became worse as the Patriach rose from his seat with roars of laughter; his eyes stuck on the black hue coming out of a pendant that was beside Ling Sun's left leg.