The courtyard wasn't quiet.
It was hollow.
The kind of silence that follows catastrophe—not peace, but aftermath. It clung to the air like smoke after a funeral pyre.
Around the edges, the elders of Waveweave Temple stood frozen. Their robes fluttered in the heat haze. Their auras flickered—unstable, fractured. None moved. None spoke.
They had just watched their strongest—two Immortal Realm legends—fall.
And the boy who did it was still standing.
Blood streaked his side. His robes were torn. His breath uneven.
But his eyes burned.
The flame around him hadn't faded—it had grown colder.
Jalen turned toward them, unreadable. The fire coiled around his limbs like judgment waiting for a name.
He stepped forward.
The elders flinched. Disciples trembled. Jalen ignored them. He appeared beside Elder Kyle, who was receiving medical attention.
Kyle tried to move. Tried to summon qi. Tried to speak.
He couldn't.
Jalen seized him by the neck.
Kyle gasped, eyes wide with terror.
Jalen didn't speak.
He closed his eyes—and dove into the man's memories.
Fragments passed. Then clarity.
Jaquan Hewitt.
Bound in chains. Beaten. Starved. Humiliated.
Jalen's breath hitched.
But he kept going.
He saw the formation Kyle had designed—a torturous array meant to keep Jaquan alive just long enough for his spirit to rot. Eternal pain. Eternal degradation. A slow death no cultivator should endure.
Jalen's eyes snapped open.
His flame erupted.
Not in a burst.
In a volcano.
The entire Waveweave Temple territory ignited under the force of Nuclear.
Blue flames surged outward, devouring everything. Elders screamed. Those in the Imperial Realm and below didn't even have time to flee. They were reduced to ash mid-motion, disintegrated by Jalen's fury.
Kyle didn't survive.
Jael, safe on Jalen's shoulder, remained untouched.
Then Jalen moved.
Luminous Veil Step activated.
He vanished into light—reappearing at the temple's deepest chamber.
The prison.
Where his father was held.
The air here didn't pulse with qi.
It pulsed with suffering.
Jalen stepped forward.
The walls were etched with twisted glyphs—designed to fracture spirit and bone. The hallway narrowed. Light dimmed. And at the end, suspended in a cage of spiritual steel and soul-thread bindings—
Was Jaquan Hewitt.
Jalen stopped.
His breath caught.
The man before him was barely recognizable—skin torn, bones visible, hair gone, eyes swollen shut. His aura flickered—barely a thread. The formation pulsed with torturous rhythm, keeping him conscious, aware, and in pain.
Jalen stepped forward.
The formation reacted—spikes of qi surged outward.
He raised his hand.
Crown Ember ignited.
One slash.
The formation shattered.
Bindings dissolved.
Jaquan collapsed.
Jalen caught him mid-air.
His father's body was cold. Broken. But alive.
Barely.
"Dad," Jalen whispered.
Jaquan didn't respond.
Jalen pressed his forehead to his father's.
"I'm here."
A flicker of recognition passed through Jaquan's eyes.
Then a tear.
Then silence.
Jalen didn't cry.
He just held him.
And burned.
Then he activated Flare of Recursion, his healing technique. Jaquan's cracked core mended. His body restored. His qi remained low—but with time, he would recover.
Jalen wrapped him in a blanket from his pocket world.
Jaquan passed out from the trauma.
Jael tugged Jalen's sleeve.
"Dad, why are you sad?"
"Your grandfather was hurt because of me," Jalen said softly.
"But you saved him. He's better now. So please don't be sad… or I'll be sad too."
Jalen caressed the boy's face.
Jael chuckled.
Jalen didn't hesitate.
He activated Flash Reversion—and vanished.
__
Within minutes, the destruction of Waveweave Temple rippled across the Reigned Continent like a shockwave. The news spread fast—faster than any messenger could travel. It wasn't just a temple that had fallen. It was a symbol. A pillar. A warning.
The top sects and royal families felt it first. Discomfort. Dread. A shift in the balance of power.
But none felt it more than the Dragon Meridian Sect.
They had played a role in the suffering of Jalen's loved ones. And now, with Waveweave Temple reduced to ash, there was no doubt in anyone's mind—he was coming for them next.
Panic didn't show on their faces, but it echoed in their actions.
Defensive formations were activated. Hidden vaults were sealed. Disciples were relocated to secret sanctuaries. Emergency protocols—ones meant for continent-wide war—were triggered.
Unlike Waveweave Temple, the Dragon Meridian Sect had only one Immortal Realm expert: their patriarch, an early-stage cultivator whose strength was formidable—but not enough.
According to the latest intelligence, Jalen had reached mid-Immortal Realm. And he had defeated two Immortal Realm legends while outnumbered and wounded.
It was too late for regret.
Even if time reversed, the sect would have made the same choice: to crush those who defied them. To destroy those who dared offend their pride.
But now, they faced the consequence.
And the flame that remains… was coming.