Chapter 4: The Flame Hunt Decree

The sound of the Warning Flame Bell echoed over the Lin Family estate.

One strike.
Two strikes.
Three.

Low, urgent, like the heartbeat of some ancient creature.

This bell rang only under a single circumstance—
the Flame Hunt Decree had been activated.

Lin Jin stood in the courtyard, eyes lifted to the sky.

The morning light was faint, but the flame energy trembled violently, as if stirred by an invisible hand. The entire Lin Family was awakening from slumber, transforming into a massive net meant to trap him.

“Finally,” he whispered.

The black flame churned inside him, no fear, only excitement.

“This time… it’s not to clear out trash.
It’s to hunt you.”

Lin Jin stepped slowly out of the courtyard.

The corpses on the ground had yet to be removed; the blood was still fresh. The air carried the scent of burnt flame energy. Any experienced person would immediately sense something wrong.

Sure enough.

In less than ten breaths, the first group arrived.

Not the Dark Flame Division.

The Flame Hunt Team.

The Lin Family’s true killing weapon.

Twelve of them, fanning out in formation. Each one’s flame energy surpassed the Flame Vein Realm, and the frontmost figure radiated an aura like a deep, unyielding abyss—peak Flame Soul.

“Lin Jin.”
The leader’s voice was low. “You have been designated the source of the flame disaster.
Immediate execution.”

No interrogation.
No explanation.

Once the Flame Hunt Decree was issued, there was only one outcome.

Lin Jin nodded.

“I understand.”

He took a step forward.

The Flame Hunt Team visibly faltered.

They had seen people flee, kneel, or go mad.

But never—
step toward them.

“Attack!”
The leader shouted.

Flame energy erupted.

Twelve flame shadows intertwined like chains, instantly forming a deadly formation.

A formation specifically designed to hunt abnormal flame cultivators.

But unfortunately—

They were facing not a flame cultivator, but the negation of flame itself.

The black flame fully unfurled within Lin Jin.

This time, he did not suppress it.

Dark-red flame patterns spread from his chest to his neck, forming a totem of awakening.

He lifted his hand.

Not to cast a technique.

Just to grab.

A flame lock from the formation approached—and silently disintegrated.

Not shattered.
Erased.

“What?!”

For the first time, the Flame Hunt Team wavered.

Lin Jin stepped forward.

One step.

The pressure of a peak Flame Soul bore down—but as soon as it reached the three-foot perimeter around him, it was swallowed by the black flame.

The captain’s pupils constricted.

“You’re not even at the Flame Vein Realm—!”

Before he could finish, Lin Jin was already in front of him.

A punch.

No flame.

Only raw impact.

The chest caved in.

A peak Flame Soul expert, pierced through by sheer force, flew backward, crashing through the courtyard wall.

Third life claimed.

The remaining Flame Hunt Team finally realized—

They were not hunters.
They were prey.

One turned to flee.

Lin Jin did not pursue.

The black flame did.

An invisible trace of black flame slithered through the air, clinging to the person’s back.

Flame energy extracted.

Life withered in an instant.

The man collapsed, gray-white, lifeless.

Fourth life claimed.

Lin Jin’s breath grew heavier.

With each kill, the black flame fed him more power.

At the same time, it consumed more.

He could feel it—
his natural resistance to death weakening.

The Flame Hunt Team began to crumble.

Some roared in anger, charging.
Some knelt, begging for mercy.

Lin Jin ignored them all.

At that moment, he finally understood the black flame’s essence.

It was not evil.
It simply did not care.

Didn’t care about right or wrong.
Didn’t care about good or evil.

It only cared about—
survival and consumption.

The battle ended quickly.

The courtyard was littered with bodies, twisted and broken.

Twelve.
None survived.

Lin Jin stood in the center of the blood pool.

His body trembled.

Not from fear.

But because—
the flame energy was spiraling out of control.

“Enough.”
He gritted his teeth, whispering.

The black flame did not respond immediately.

Then slowly:

“You have been fully confirmed.
The Flame Hunt Decree will upgrade.”

Lin Jin lifted his head.

In the distance, toward the Lin Family main hall, flames shot into the sky.

Several overwhelmingly powerful presences were awakening.

Flame Sovereign level.

“The entire Lin Family… will come to kill you.”

Lin Jin wiped the blood from his face.

Then, suddenly, he smiled.

Tired. Mad. Yet eerily calm.

“Then let them come—
until they dare not issue another order.”

For the first time, the black flame did not object.

It burned quietly within him.

Waiting.

Waiting for a larger stage.

Lin Jin turned, stepping out of the inner courtyard.

From this moment—

He was no longer of the Lin Family.

He was the first publicly hunted being in the Flame Domain—

A Disaster Flame Walker.