Chapter 5: City Lockdown

As Lin Jin stepped out of the Lin Family inner courtyard, the entire Flame City was beginning to “seal.”

From the direction of the city gates, a massive flame array slowly rose, forming a fiery net that stretched across the sky. The usual paths in and out were blocked layer by layer by flame patterns, even the air itself becoming thick and sticky.

City Lockdown Decree.

A level above the Flame Hunt Decree.

It meant—
the entire city was now in wartime status for the sake of a single person.

Lin Jin stood in the middle of the street, watching the flame array solidify in the distance, a sense of absurdity creeping over him.

“Am I really that important?” he whispered.

The black flame churned inside him. No fear. Only excitement.

“This time… it’s not cleaning up trash.
It’s hunting you.”

Lin Jin walked forward, step by step.

The corpses on the ground remained, blood still fresh. The air reeked of burnt flame energy. Anyone with experience could sense the danger immediately.

Sure enough.

In less than ten breaths, the first targets appeared.

Not the Dark Flame Division.

The Flame Guard.

The Lin Family’s true enforcers.

Twelve of them, fanning out, each with Flame Vein-level energy, the one in front radiating an aura like a deep, endless abyss—peak Flame Sovereign.

“Lin Jin,” the leader’s voice was low and cold.
“You have caused flame disaster.
Immediate execution.”

No interrogation.
No negotiation.

The City Lockdown Decree had one outcome: death.

Lin Jin nodded.

“I understand.”

And he stepped forward.

The Flame Guard froze for a fraction.

They had seen the fleeing, the kneeling, the mad—but never someone approach them.

“Attack!” the leader commanded.

Flame energy erupted.

Twelve streams of flame intertwined like chains, instantly forming a death trap.

A formation designed specifically to hunt abnormal flame cultivators.

But they weren’t facing a cultivator.

They were facing the negation of flame itself.

The black flame fully unleashed inside Lin Jin.

This time, he did not hold back.

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

He lifted his hand.

Not to strike.

Just to grab.

A nearby flame lock reached him—and silently collapsed.

Not shattered.
Erased.

“What?!”

For the first time, the Flame Guard faltered.

Lin Jin stepped forward.

One step.

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

The leader’s eyes widened.

“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 pure, raw force.

Chest caved in.

Peak Flame Sovereign strength, pierced through by sheer power, sent flying into the wall, collapsing it.

Thirteenth life claimed.

The remaining Flame Guard finally understood—

They were not hunters.
They were prey.

One turned to flee.

Lin Jin did not pursue.

The black flame did.

An invisible streak of black flame shot forward, wrapping the fleeing person.

Flame energy drawn out.

Life withered instantly.

The man collapsed, gray-white.

Fourteenth life claimed.

Lin Jin’s breath grew heavy.

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 Guard began to collapse.

Screams filled the streets.

People begged.
People fled.
People were devoured by the descending flame streams.

Lin Jin’s fists clenched tightly, nails cutting into his palms.

Blood dripped.

“Stop…”
His voice trembled.

Not to the black flame.
To the city.

No response came.

The black flame whispered:

“Look.
This is their choice.
A city’s lives, exchanged for ‘safety.’”

Lin Jin ran into a narrow alley.

At the end, a decrepit pharmacy.

The door half-open.

Weak coughing could be heard from inside.

He pushed it open.

An old man lay on the bed, his Flame Vein withered, life clearly near its end.

Seeing the blood and flame patterns on Lin Jin, he froze.

“You… are being hunted, aren’t you?”

Lin Jin said nothing.

The old man struggled to sit up.

“Don’t stay here.
The flame array will sweep this street soon.

I can’t go. You must.”

Lin Jin’s throat tightened.

“You’re not afraid of me?”

The old man smiled.

“What good would fear do?
I’ve seen too many flame cultivators in my life.
The truly frightening thing… is not the flame.
It’s what people do with flame.”

Outside, the roar of flame streams grew closer.

The black flame writhed inside him.

“Kill him.
His Flame Vein is depleted, but traces of the rules remain.
Consume him, stabilize your state.”

Lin Jin looked up sharply.

“What did you say?”

“This is a trade,” the black flame whispered.
“He will die to the flame array if left alive.
Die by your hand, and at least there is value.”

The old man seemed to sense something, looking Lin Jin in the eye.

“Child.
What are you talking to?”

The light of the flame streams already seeped through the window.

Lin Jin stood still.

One side—the flame array.
One side—the black flame.
In between—a helpless old man.

He slowly raised his hand.

Not to strike.

But toward the old man.

“I’m sorry.”

The black flame surged.

No pain.

The old man’s body withered, his flame energy drained.

At the moment of death, he only sighed softly.

“So it’s come to this…”

Thirteenth life claimed.

Lin Jin collapsed to his knees.

This time, no excitement.

Only emptiness.

Flame streams crashed down.

The pharmacy collapsed in fire.

Lin Jin was enveloped by the black flame, forcibly breaking through.

Behind him—an entire street of death.

From above, an even more terrifying presence descended.

Flame Sovereign.

“Enough.”

The voice was cold, imposing.

“Disaster Flame Walker Lin Jin.
You have caused city-level casualties.

Now—
In the name of the Flame Domain, you are—
Erased.”

Lin Jin lifted his head.

Face streaked with blood and ash.

He smiled.

Not madness.

A calm that comes from fully understanding.

“So it is true.
I am not becoming black.
The world itself… has always been this dark.”

For the first time, the black flame inside him let out something akin to a sigh.

“Now…
You are finally… like me.”