“What’s going on?”
The gray-browed elder was the first to break the silence.
His voice was low, but on the unnaturally quiet Heavenly Seal Platform, every word could be heard clearly.
“Wasn’t she supposed to possess a Fate Mark?” another elder asked with a frown.
Several pairs of eyes remained fixed on Yu Jin.
Yet the formation beneath her feet was still silent.
There was no spiritual light, no fluctuation, not even the faintest response.
“There isn’t even a trace of spiritual radiance…”
One of the elders slowly shook his head.
“Could the earlier signs have been misread?”
The atmosphere on the platform began to change.
The anticipation in several people’s eyes gradually faded, replaced by doubt and faint disappointment.
Even the disciples standing behind the elders exchanged uncertain glances.
They had been summoned before dawn and crossed the mountain paths to gather at the Heavenly Seal Platform, all because they had heard that a sealed fate was about to awaken.
Yet now, there was nothing.
Yu Jin stood alone at the center of the formation.
The ancient green stone remained silent.
The golden formation disk showed no reaction.
Even the spiritual energy around her seemed completely ordinary.
Ling Feng’s brows slowly furrowed.
He studied Yu Jin for several moments before turning his attention to the formation disk floating behind him.
There was still no response.
His expression darkened slightly.
It seemed that he was preparing to end the trial.
Then, at that exact moment—
BUZZ—!
Yu Jin’s eyes widened.
The mark between her brows suddenly began to tremble.
Violently.
A scorching sensation erupted from the center of her forehead without warning.
Before anyone could react—
WHOOSH!
A beam of golden-red light burst from between Yu Jin’s brows and shot straight into the sky.
The surrounding mist was instantly torn apart.
The light spiraled upward, brilliant and fierce, like a divine bird that had slumbered for a thousand years finally opening its eyes.
It circled once above the Heavenly Seal Platform.
Then—
BOOM!!!
The Heavenly Seal formation disk erupted with light.
Golden radiance swept outward as the entire platform trembled beneath everyone’s feet.
Ancient formation lines that had remained dormant only moments earlier lit up one after another, spreading rapidly across the ground like fire racing through dry grass.
Before anyone could recover from the shock, a phoenix cry pierced the heavens.
SKREEE—!
Clear.
Proud.
Resounding.
The cry tore through the sky like thunder.
It swept across the Heavenly Seal Platform before rolling through the surrounding peaks, carrying an ancient pressure that seemed to penetrate directly into the soul.
Everyone present trembled.
Several disciples instinctively stepped backward, their faces turning pale.
Even the elders could no longer hide the change in their expressions.
Then the spiritual energy in the air began to burn.
Flames gathered above Yu Jin.
At first, there were only a few scattered currents of golden-red fire.
More soon followed, pouring in from every direction.
Countless streams of flame spiraled together above the formation and rapidly began to take shape.
A head.
A body.
A pair of wings.
In the next instant, a golden phoenix rose above Yu Jin.
Its enormous wings unfolded.
WHOOSH—!
Golden radiance flooded the sky.
Every feather burned with living fire.
Flames rolled along its wings in great waves, spreading across the heavens until the brilliant glow nearly obscured the entire sky above the platform.
With every beat of its wings, the surrounding air distorted. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Heat surged outward in wave after wave, evaporating the morning mist beneath its scorching pressure.
The disciples’ robes snapped violently in the rising currents of air.
Several of them staggered and hurried to steady themselves, shielding their faces from the heat and wind.
But the phenomenon had only just begun.
The ancient runes carved into the Heavenly Seal formation awakened.
One after another, they rose from the golden disk and floated into the air.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Golden symbols filled the sky, circling the phoenix like countless fragments of starlight answering a summons.
Then—
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
The runes flew toward the phoenix one after another and merged into its wings.
Each symbol disappeared into the burning feathers, causing the golden flames surrounding the phoenix to grow even brighter.
The elders stared upward.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then one of them suddenly stepped forward, his expression changing completely.
“That is…”
His voice trembled.
“The Manifestation of Fated Flame!”
Another elder’s pupils contracted sharply.
“The Emberwing Fate!”
He stumbled half a step backward in shock.
“Her fate was never crippled!”
His voice rose across the platform.
“It was sealed!”
A third elder stared at Yu Jin as though seeing her for the first time.
“A seal…”
Realization flashed across his face.
“Her true spirit is the Fire Phoenix!”
The moment those words fell, the Heavenly Seal Platform erupted into chaos.
Voices rose from every direction, filled with shock, disbelief, and questions.
The discussions spread like sparks scattered across dry grass.
The spiritual energy surrounding the platform had already been completely disturbed by the phoenix’s appearance.
It surged wildly through the air, rising and falling in violent waves.
Even the elders could no longer maintain their earlier composure.
At the center of it all, Ling Feng abruptly raised his head.
For the first time since the trial began, an unmistakable change appeared in his eyes.
Above him, the golden phoenix hovered high in the sky.
Its enormous wings remained fully spread, golden flames burning across its entire body.
Then it lowered its gaze.
A pair of golden eyes looked down upon everyone below.
There was no emotion in them.
No joy.
No anger.
Only a cold, piercing stillness.
Like judgment.
The phoenix did not feel like an ordinary spirit beast, nor did it resemble a mere illusion created by the formation.
Its presence was too real.
Too ancient.
Too powerful.
It was a true will from the spirit realm—an existence that had manifested only for the one chosen by fate.
Beneath that overwhelming golden radiance, Yu Jin stood at the center of the formation.
She slowly raised her head.
Her eyes met those of the phoenix above.
The initial shock in her expression had already begun to fade.
Golden flames reflected in her pupils, flickering endlessly within their dark depths.
Yet strangely, Yu Jin herself remained calm.
She simply looked at the phoenix.
At its burning wings.
At the golden fire filling the sky.
Somewhere deep within her, in a place that had remained silent for far too long, something seemed to ignite once again.
For a long moment, the golden phoenix remained suspended above the Heavenly Seal Platform, its vast wings stretched across the sky as golden flames flowed along every feather. Get faster updates on novelping(.)com.
Then, slowly, it began to fold its wings.
The overwhelming pressure surrounding the platform seemed to gather with that single movement.
The raging spiritual energy gradually drew inward.
The distorted air began to settle.
From high above, the phoenix released a low cry.
Kreee—
This time, the sound was no longer sharp enough to tear through the heavens.
It was deep, ancient, and almost solemn.
The cry rolled slowly across the mountain peaks, lingering among the clouds before fading into the distance.
Then the phoenix’s body began to dissolve.
Starting from the tips of its wings, countless feathers transformed into golden flames.
One after another, they broke away.
The brilliant form that had nearly covered the entire sky scattered into thousands upon thousands of burning lights.
For a moment, it looked as though the heavens themselves had shattered into golden fire.
Then the flames began to fall.
Like meteors.
Like a rain of burning stars.
Countless streams of golden light descended from above, illuminating the Heavenly Seal Platform and the surrounding sea of clouds.
Everyone instinctively raised their heads.
No one spoke.
The elders stood frozen, while the disciples stared without blinking.
Under countless stunned gazes, every strand of golden fire swept toward the same person.
Yu Jin.
Whoosh—
The first flame entered the mark between her brows.
Then the second.
The third.
After that, all the remaining flames followed.
Thousands of golden lights converged upon her at once, yet none of them burned her.
They flowed into the center of her forehead one after another, disappearing into the mark as though they had finally returned to where they belonged.
Within only a few breaths, the enormous phoenix had completely vanished.
Not a single flame remained in the sky.
A collective gasp swept across the platform.
For a moment, it was the only sound anyone could make.
Yu Jin stood motionless at the center of the formation.
Then she slowly closed her eyes.
The moment darkness covered her vision, she felt the returning flames sinking deeper into her consciousness.
One after another, they flowed into her sea of consciousness like countless golden streams.
The heat between her brows intensified.
This time, Yu Jin did not resist.
She allowed the flames to descend.
Allowed them to gather.
Allowed them to return to the mark that had remained sealed within her for so long.
The golden fire wrapped itself around the ancient rune.
Slowly, the two began to merge.
There was no violent collision and no rejection.
The process felt almost natural, as though they had always been one and the same.
The flames belonged to the mark.
And the mark belonged to her.
The final trace of golden fire disappeared into its depths.
The mark trembled once.
Then it became still.
But this stillness was no longer the silence of something sleeping.
It was no longer suppressed.
No longer sealed.
Deep within Yu Jin’s consciousness, the golden flame burned quietly.
Steady.
Awake.
Waiting.
The seal that had lasted for eighteen years had finally begun to break.
The Fire Phoenix had returned.
The mark had awakened.
And deep within the flames—
Emberwing was awake.