The Secret Door — Heaven Ember Realm

The afternoon sun hung low over Azure Spring High School, casting long shadows across the courtyard. Classes had ended, but Lin Tian wasn’t ready to go home—not with the strange heat in his chest still pulsing like a restless heartbeat.

He slipped out of the school through the back gate and followed a narrow path toward the abandoned training field. Hardly anyone came here anymore. The wooden fencing was half-rotten, the ground covered in dry leaves and cracked tiles.

Here… he could breathe.

Here… the Dragon Vein might quiet down.

Or so he hoped.

Lin Tian sat under a giant banyan tree and placed his hand over his chest. The golden marks from the morning shimmered faintly beneath his uniform.

“Okay… think. The dragon said this is my first awakening. So there must be a way to control it.”

He inhaled slowly, trying to repeat the breathing pattern he somehow remembered from the dream—deep, steady, drawing energy into his core and releasing it through his limbs.

At first, nothing happened.

Then—

VROOOOM—

The air around him rippled as a warm current stirred inside his chest, spreading outward.

His skin tingled.

The ground beneath him vibrated.

Leaves rose and swirled around him in a faint circular motion.

Lin Tian’s eyes widened.

“I-I did that?”

He tried the breathing again, refining the rhythm.

This time, the golden lines on his chest brightened, forming symbols he couldn’t understand—ancient, swirling, almost like dragon runes.

Suddenly—

BOOM!

A sharp shockwave burst out from his body, cracking the ground in a circular pattern. Lin Tian gasped and scrambled to stand.

“What was that?!”

But before he could regain control, the golden runes detached from his skin and floated in front of him like glowing sparks. They rotated, forming a small spinning vortex in the air.

The vortex expanded—

Its surface dark, swirling, depthless.

Like a doorway carved from light and shadow.

Lin Tian’s heart pounded.

“Is… is that a portal?!”

The vortex stabilized, glowing red at the edges, as if forged from burning embers.

And then he heard it.

A faint whisper.

Old… aged… echoing like a forgotten god.

“Step forward… chosen of the Dragon Vein.”

Lin Tian’s breath caught in his throat.

This voice wasn’t the dragon’s.

It was someone—something—else.

His instincts screamed at him to run.

But his curiosity… pushed him forward.

He extended his hand toward the portal.

The moment his fingertips touched the surface—

WHOOSH!

The world turned upside down.

Wind roared past him.

Light blurred into darkness.

The ground vanished beneath his feet.

He wasn’t falling—he was being pulled.

Dragged.

Swallowed.

And then—

THUD!

Lin Tian hit solid ground, coughing as a wave of heat washed over him.

When he opened his eyes, his jaw dropped.

---

Heaven Ember Realm

A vast crimson sky stretched endlessly above, swirling with embers and shimmering heat waves. Floating islands hovered like silent guardians, each one glowing faintly from magma streams running across their surfaces.

The ground beneath him was black stone, cracked with fiery orange lines that pulsed with warmth.

A realm of fire.

A realm of dragons.

A realm not meant for mortals.

“This… this can’t be real,” Lin Tian whispered.

Yet the air smelled crisp and ancient, like burning incense mixed with ash.

He took a few shaky steps forward, staring at the horizon.

A massive stone gateway rose ahead.

Engraved across its surface was a single symbol: 龍 — Dragon.

The moment he approached, the symbol glowed, sending a warm pulse through his chest.

The Dragon Vein inside him resonated.

As he placed his palm against the gate—

KRRRRAAAK—

The stone split open, revealing a dim hallway lit by floating flames. They drifted like tiny fire spirits, guiding him forward.

He swallowed hard and entered.

The corridor led to a circular chamber carved into a mountainside. Ancient pillars surrounded the room, each etched with runes similar to the symbols that had appeared on his skin.

At the center lay a stone platform.

A faint silhouette sat atop it.

Lin Tian stepped closer cautiously.

The silhouette took shape—an old man wearing tattered immortal robes. His long white hair flowed down like a waterfall of silver ash. His eyes were closed, but his presence radiated a pressure unlike anything Lin Tian had ever felt.

It wasn’t heavy…

It was vast—like standing before a fallen star.

Suddenly, the old man spoke.

His voice was tired, cracked, yet immeasurably powerful.

“So… the child of the Dragon Vein finally enters my sanctuary.”

Lin Tian nearly tripped backward.

“You—you’re alive?! Who are you?”

The old man slowly opened his eyes.

They glowed like dying suns.

“I am the Heaven Fallen Immortal… once a guardian of the Celestial Flame Emperor.”

Lin Tian’s breath froze.

Immortal?