Upon Wang Lin’s nascent soul, a primal energy, akin to licking flames, swirled and danced. His soul, a slumbering dragon of the ancient thunder, stirred under the unseen threads of a cosmic loom, greedily drawing the fiery essence in. Each stolen breath was a fiery brand upon his spirit, a symphony of agonizing pain echoing through his very being.

With clenched teeth and an iron will, Wang Lin endured, the passage of time fading into a meaningless blur. How long he wrestled with the inferno he could not say, but gradually, the torment began to ebb. The raw, untamed energy, once a tormentor, began to meld with his soul, becoming a part of its very essence, a revitalizing current.

Weary, Wang Lin opened his eyes. The sea of fire that had encircled him, a mere three paces wide, vanished in a swift torrent, drawn inward through his pores, becoming one with him. This time, the fire brought no pain, only a surge of heat as it joined the swirling energy within.

“The power grows, albeit slowly… Though perilous, this path is viable!” Wang Lin rasped, drawing a ragged breath. He closed his eyes once more, and after the space of a slow-burning candle, rose to his feet, weariness clinging to him like a shroud. He stepped from the obsidian tower, back into the inferno. The fiery sea surged towards him as he emerged, the acrid smoke of the blackened sky growing thick with anticipation.

He lingered longer than before, extending a hand into the flames, plucking out a burning sphere, small as a babe’s fist, and retreating back into the tower’s protective shadow.

Ignoring the renewed assault upon his sanctuary, Wang Lin sat in meditation once more, his gaze fixed upon the captured fire. He swallowed it whole. And so, time continued its inexorable march, marked only by Wang Lin’s desperate struggle to replenish his dwindling power, wrestling with agony as he drew shards of the inferno into his being, making them his own.

From mere sparks, to fist-sized globes, and finally, to orbs the size of a man’s head, Wang Lin extracted the flames from the raging sea. Now, he no longer swallowed them; instead, with a single, cavernous breath, he consumed them utterly, leaving not a cinder behind.

Were any who knew Wang Lin to behold him now, they would scarcely recognize him. The demonic taint had already etched lines of gauntness upon his face, and now, ravaged by the constant absorption of the fire’s essence, his skin was a canvas of cracks and fissures, a grotesque mosaic that spoke of unspeakable suffering. His hair was dry and brittle, devoid of all luster, save for the twin embers that burned in his eyes. Should any dare to meet his gaze, they would feel the searing heat of the inferno rising from the depths of their soul, as if they would be burned to ash.

Yet, these were but superficial horrors compared to the true marvel. Upon Wang Lin’s brow, in the space of mere days, an extraordinary transformation had taken place. It was the return of the Vermilion Bird’s Mark. “I had not foreseen… that in consuming these infernal flames, not only would my power return, but a searing heat would awaken within… Though this heat differs from the essence of Qing Lin’s sky-scorching flame…” Wang Lin mused, touching the space between his brows.

“I sought only to replenish my power by consuming the flame, but it seems that the more I absorb, the greater the benefits…” A spark of fierce resolve ignited in Wang Lin’s eyes. He rose and walked towards the tower’s entrance.

As he stepped forth, the fiery sea crashed over him with the force of a tidal wave, but Wang Lin remained unyielding, his face betraying nothing. He allowed the flames to wash over him, engulfing the tower behind him.

He trod upon the sea of fire, calm and resolute, and began to walk forward.

His pace was measured, yet in this place of all-consuming fire, it was a staggering sight. Had Ling Tianhou witnessed this, he would have been struck dumb with disbelief, for even he could not walk unburnt through the heart of this inferno! Wang Lin continued his measured journey, and after a time, he halted. This was the limit of his endurance. Beyond this point, the fire’s intensity would overwhelm him.

He cast his gaze upon the raging sea ahead, then knelt, and stretched out his hands. Two tendrils of flame broke away from the inferno, dancing towards him, weaving together before him into a sphere of fire, as large as a man.

Wang Lin opened his mouth and drew the fire into his lungs. The sphere shrunk rapidly, until it disappeared entirely into the abyss of Wang Lin’s body. A cataclysm of heat erupted from within him, melding with the surrounding inferno, causing it to swell and churn, engulfing Wang Lin in a raging pyre.

Three days passed. The flames around Wang Lin suddenly surged outward. Wang Lin slowly rose to his feet, his skin more cracked and broken than before, his eyes burning with a fierce light. A terrifying power radiated from him, mingling with the sea of fire and pulsing with unimaginable heat.

“Still… not enough…” Wang Lin muttered, touching his brow. After a moment of silence, he lifted his foot and continued forward. Behind him, the obsidian tower grew smaller and smaller, until it vanished in the horizon.

Time flowed on. Wang Lin walked into the heart of the storm, reaching the limit of his endurance, he would kneel and absorb the fiery energy, growing stronger, more resistant to the heat.

Four months passed! Wang Lin had left the tower far behind. All around him there was only a sea of fire as far as he could see, the heat like a wind, searing the life from the land.

The cracks upon Wang Lin’s skin broke open two months before, revealing new flesh underneath. But now, the cracks have returned once again, spreading like a web across his being.

“The heat here… should be enough.”

Wang Lin stopped and took a deep breath. As he inhaled, the fire in front of him surged towards him, rushing into his mouth.

This time, Wang Lin did not absorb the fire into his power, he did not merge it with his soul, he directed it all into his brow! Into the mark that has been slowly revealing itself over the months, a mark of a bird that has been taking shape, it has been transforming with Wang Lin drawing the fire into it, from a mark into a bird! A flame Vermilion Bird taking shape, about to be born! “Not enough!” Wang Lin roared, and stretched out his arms, sweeping them across the sky, the seas of fire before him stirred, and the flames raged around him, piercing into him with every pore.

The never ending flames raged toward his brow, the mark now glowed with an intense red.

Under that glow, Wang Lin ascended into the sky, the fires rising with him. The endless flame of his body rising into the sky. “Not enough!” Wang Lin roared, his eyes strange and wild. He stretched out his hands to the sky, and gathered the fires around him. His energy flowed out, and created a sea of flame in the sky.

The flames above mirrored the fire below, and they drew at the sea of fire on the ground, and it surged toward him.

The fire swept from around the horizon, like Wang Lin was a black hole consuming the inferno.

The endless fires streamed into Wang Lin’s body, to the mark on his brow. The mark there glowed with unimaginable light, a Vermilion Bird emerging into the world! As the Vermilion Bird was born, a cry split the skies, breaking through space, filling the world! It was a phoenix’s cry, a Vermilion Bird’s cry, Wang Lin’s cry! It was the cry of a Vermilion Bird of the holy clan, the cry of the Vermilion Bird awakening! The Vermilion Bird was martial and wise. With that cry, the fire came alive.

The fire came with impossible speeds, flying toward Wang Lin’s Bird! The awakening mark, the spiritual awakening! This was a magnificent, world changing event for the Four Holy Clan! A member of the clan who could awaken a spirit would surely become one of the four great spirits! Wang Lin was now such a man, a legend in the making.

That cry did more than shake the world he was in. All who dwelled in the bottle were shaken. Ling Tianhou sat in the tower, meditating. Suddenly, the cry crashed into his reality.

He opened his eyes with shock! “The Vermilion Cry!”

In Tian Yunzi’s world, he floated through the air, looking up to the sky, calculating with his right hand. He smiled! “So that’s it…”

But before he could complete his thought, the Vermilion Cry shattered the sky.

That cry collapsed his calculation, and tore apart his reality. The world shook as Tian Yunzi turned pale, the air draining from his face. “Impossible!”