The clearing beside the spring fell quiet again after the Azure Dragon’s departure.

  The wind softened.

  The mist thinned.

  For a while, no one spoke.

  Lin Fan sat near the edge of the water, still clutching his sleeves as if confirming that the ground beneath him was real. His breathing slowly steadied.

  Feng leaned against a smooth rock, arms crossed, occasionally flexing his fingers as faint threads of metallic qi flickered and disappeared along his knuckles.

  Li Wei watched them both.

  Then he looked down at the water.

  The spring had grown calm again, its surface reflecting the moon like a pale silver mirror.

  But the air still felt different.

  Full. Waiting.

  Ru Yan seemed unconcerned. She rested against the warm stone at the edge of the pool, one arm draped lazily over the surface of the water.

  “You’re thinking too hard,” she said without opening her eyes.

  Li Wei glanced at her.

  “I’m observing.”

  “That’s the same thing for you.”

  Feng snorted quietly.

  Lin Fan dipped his fingers into the spring again, still staring at the ripples as if expecting another dragon to leap out.

  For several minutes, nothing happened.

  The mountain grew still.

  Even the insects seemed to fall silent.

  Then—

  The air warmed.

  At first it was subtle.

  A gentle shift in temperature, like the lingering heat of sunlight trapped in stone long after dusk.

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  Li Wei frowned.

  He felt it before he saw anything.

  The warmth gathered slowly within his meridians.

  Not painful.

  Not violent.

  Just – familiar.

  The others noticed immediately.

  Feng raised an eyebrow.

  “Your turn?”

  Li Wei did not answer.

  Above them, the sky began to change again.

  This time the stars brightened in the southern sky.

  One by one they appeared through the drifting clouds, forming a pattern older than any kingdom that now stood upon the continent.

  Seven stars. Then more.

  A blazing constellation spreading across the heavens.

  Lin Fan looked up again.

  “More stars?”

  Feng exhaled slowly.

  “Oh great.”

  Ru Yan finally opened her eyes.

  “The Vermilion Bird,” she said calmly.

  The mist above the spring began to glow.

  Not silver this time.

  Red.

  A deep crimson light spread across the surface of the water.

  The warmth intensified.

  Li Wei felt his heartbeat accelerate.

  The fire within his dantian stirred.

  Not the unstable flare he had struggled with before.

  This was different.

  Steady. Patient. Ancient.

  The mist above the pool rose slowly into the air.

  Then it ignited.

  Flames spiraled upward, forming wings of burning qi.

  The shape grew larger, its form stretching across the clearing like a living bonfire.

  A long neck. A sweeping tail of embers.

  Brilliant wings unfolding across the night sky.

  The Vermilion Bird.

  It was not a creature of flesh.

  It was flame itself, condensed into form.

  Its body burned with brilliant crimson qi, sparks drifting from its wings like falling stars.

  The heat rolled across the clearing.

  Lin Fan scrambled backward.

  “Why is it on fire?!”

  Feng shaded his eyes.

  “Because it’s the fire one, brat.”

  The bird circled once above the spring.

  Its wings beat silently, scattering embers into the night.

  Then its glowing eyes turned.

  Toward Li Wei.

  The fire within Li Wei’s meridians surged instantly.

  He staggered.

  For a moment it felt as if his entire body had become a furnace.

  The Vermilion Bird descended slowly.

  Its wings folded.

  It landed upon the surface of the spring.

  The water did not boil.

  The flames did not spread.

  The elemental qi simply hovered above the water like a reflection made of fire.

  Li Wei felt something inside him respond.

  The flames he had struggled to control for so long suddenly felt… clear.

  Refined.

  The bird lowered its head.

  Its wings folded once more.

  Then—

  It burst into light.

  A wave of crimson qi surged forward.

  Straight into Li Wei.

  The impact drove him to one knee.

  Fire roared through his meridians.

  His damaged channels burned as the elemental qi flooded through them.

  For a terrifying moment the heat was unbearable.

  Then the flames changed.

  They stopped burning.

  Instead they flowed.

  Like molten metal being poured into a mold.

  The energy stabilized.

  The Vermilion Bird’s power settled within his dantian.

  Silence returned.

  The crimson light faded from the clearing.

  The southern stars dimmed.

  Li Wei remained kneeling for several seconds.

  Then he slowly stood.

  A faint heat shimmered around him.

  Feng stared.

  “…You’re glowing.”

  Li Wei looked down at his hand.

  A small flame flickered above his palm.

  It was steady.

  Controlled.

  Not the unstable ember he once struggled with.

  Ru Yan smiled faintly.

  “Well,” she said, stretching her arms above her head, “that one seemed less dramatic than the dragon.”

  Lin Fan blinked.

  “You call that less dramatic?!”

  Feng clapped Li Wei on the shoulder.

  “Congratulations.”

  Li Wei raised an eyebrow.

  “For what?”

  “For not exploding.”

  Another element has answered the mountain’s call.

  And now Li Wei has received the Vermilion Bird.

  What going to happen next to them ?