Chapter 3: The Marked One

By the time Lin Jin returned to his dwelling, the sky was already brightening.

It was a small courtyard on the edge of the Lin Family estate—worn, damp, and thin in flame energy. Originally meant for servants, it had barely been spared for him simply because his surname was Lin.

He pushed open the door and closed it behind him.

Leaning against the wooden frame, he slowly slid to the ground.

The next moment, a violent wave of nausea hit him.

Bending over, he vomited—not food, but a puddle of blood mixed with black ash.

“…Cough…”

His throat felt as if it had been scorched by fire.

The black flame coursed slowly through his body, carrying a nauseating sense of satisfaction.

“You wasted your chance just now,” it whispered.
“He will go back and report you.”

Lin Jin wiped the blood from his mouth, voice hoarse.

“I know.”

“Then why didn’t you kill him?”

“Because—”
Lin Jin hesitated, “after killing, I would have no excuse to stop.”

The black flame shivered faintly.

“You think stopping—or not—is up to you?”

As the words fell—

Pain shot through his chest, sudden and sharp.

Something seemed to be driven into his body.

His pupils constricted. He looked down sharply.

Beneath the skin over his heart, a dark-red flame pattern slowly formed.

Like some kind of mark.

“This is…” he breathed rapidly.

For the first time, the black flame’s voice grew solemn.

“A mark.
You just devoured the Level Seven Flame Vein’s energy. Even if only for an instant, you touched the edge of the Flame Domain’s rules.
The rules do not allow such things to exist.”

Lin Jin’s heart raced.

“So?” he asked.

“So… you’ve been seen.”

The words barely left its mouth before footsteps sounded outside the courtyard.

Not the scattered rhythm of ordinary patrols.

Trained. Deliberate.

Lin Jin rose immediately, flame energy flaring.

Level Five Flame Initiation.

Too weak.

He knew that clearly.

The black flame murmured:

“You have two choices.
First—run.
Second—”

Its voice dropped low, almost to a whisper.

“Burn a little more life… and fight your way out.”

Lin Jin fell silent for a moment.

The courtyard door was pushed open from outside.

Three figures stood there, clad in black robes with dark flame patterns embroidered on the cuffs.

Not ordinary Lin Family stewards.

The Dark Flame Division.

The Lin Family’s true enforcers of “dirty work.”

The leader’s gaze was icy as it swept across the blood on the ground, then landed on Lin Jin.

“Lin Jin.
Come with us.”

Not a request. A sentence of judgment.

Lin Jin straightened.

“Where?”

“Flame Inspection.”

Two words, but he knew exactly what it meant.

“And if I refuse?”

The man glanced at him as if looking at a corpse already dead.

“Then you die—right now.”

The pressure hit him.

A Flame Soul cultivator’s aura, unleashed without restraint.

Lin Jin’s breath caught.

The difference in cultivation was nearly insurmountable.

The black flame writhed inside him, releasing a low, hungry growl.

“Burn.
You can reach Flame Vein level… or even higher.
The price is—”

“At least a year of your life.”

Scenes from the training ground flashed before his eyes—
the laughter, the broken engagement, the deprivation.

And just now—Lin Yue’s terrified eyes.

He lifted his head.

“Fine.”

Not agreeing to the Dark Flame Division.
Agreeing to the black flame.

In the next instant—

The black flame was fully unleashed.

This time, it hid nothing.

Lin Jin’s eyes were instantly covered in black flame patterns.

Level Five Flame Initiation energy was shredded and reconstructed.

Level Six… Level Seven!

Boom!

The Flame Vein forcibly unlocked.

Flame Vein Realm—achieved!

The ground cracked.

The wooden door turned to ash.

The three Dark Flame Division members’ expressions changed instantly.

“Evil Flame!”

The leader shouted, forming a hand seal.

A flame array erupted.

But it was too late.

Lin Jin moved.

Not a dash.

But a disappearance.

The next moment, he was behind one of them.

Palm pressed down.

Black flame seeped into the body.

The Dark Flame Division member didn’t even scream—his body withered, his flame energy drained, leaving only a gray-white husk.

First life claimed.

Lin Jin’s breath grew heavy.

A boundary inside him had been completely shattered.

“Good.”
The black flame’s voice carried clear delight.
“You’ve learned.”

The other two stepped back simultaneously.

“You dare kill members of the Dark Flame Division?!”

Lin Jin didn’t answer.

He didn’t need to.

The second strike was faster.

Fiercer.

Flame Soul-level attacks landed, only to be devoured directly by the black flame.

Backlash surged through their own flame energy.

One of them bled from all seven orifices, collapsing to his knees.

Lin Jin approached.

Looked down.

Fist struck.

Skull shattered.

Second life claimed.

Only one remained in the courtyard.

The leader of the Dark Flame Division, face drained of color.

“You are no longer of the Lin Family.
You are Disaster Flame.”

Lin Jin stopped three steps away.

The black flame surged, urging the final consumption.

But this time—

Lin Jin suddenly halted.

His vision blurred.

His heart throbbed sharply.

His body was collapsing.

“Enough,” he whispered.

The black flame fell silent.

The remaining Dark Flame Division member seized the moment to retreat, fleeing into the night.

The courtyard returned to deadly stillness.

Lin Jin collapsed to his knees.

The mark on his chest had fully formed.

Dark-red flame veins, like an open, watchful eye.

“You let the witness go,” the black flame whispered.

“I know.”

“He will bring more.”

“I know that too.”

Lin Jin gasped, a nearly weary smile on his face.

“Then let them come.
After all—”

He lifted his head, black flame still in his eyes.

“There is no turning back.”

The black flame burned quietly.

This time, no mockery.

Only a soft voice:

“Welcome.
To the other side of the Flame Domain.”

The sun rose fully.

The Lin Family bell rang.

Not the morning bell.

The Warning Flame Bell.

The entire clan would soon know:

Something… had been released.