Chapter 86 — Flame and Distance
Green Street · Maple Villa No. 9
YiChen returned to his parents’ home as promised.
In the backyard, he spent the afternoon practicing Star River Sword Intent with ChengYu—
correcting the angle of his stance, guiding force along the proper meridian paths,
his voice even, his movements precise.
Beneath the low winter sun, silver swordlight flashed with a cold edge,
cutting clean arcs through the quiet dusk.
ChengYu’s eyes gleamed with excitement, cheeks flushed red.
Each strike carried a thrill that set his Spiritlines humming.
Inside the house, golden sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows,
spilling across white porcelain bowls.
Reflections rippled on the surface of the soup—tiny points of light, like scattered stars.
As their mother ladled broth into YiChen’s bowl, she finally spoke.
“Where are you going next?”
YiChen set down his chopsticks.
“To the Spirit Realm forest,” he replied quietly.
“I need to gather materials for the city’s defense network.”
ChengYu’s eyes lit up at once.
The lingering rhythm of sword intent still pulsed faintly at his fingertips.
“Brother! Is it really like the stories?”
“Glowing trees? Leaves like stars?”
YiChen picked up a clean slice of fish and placed it into ChengYu’s bowl.
“It’s more dangerous than the stories.”
The boy froze—then lifted his head, resolve flashing through his eyes.
“Then I want to go too!”
YiChen let out a soft chuckle and reached over, ruffling his hair.
“No.”
“But I’ve already learned the first form!”
“You said if I could protect myself, I could go with you—”
YiChen’s voice remained calm, but the finality in it stilled the room.
“The Fiends in that forest won’t care whether you know one form or ten,” he said.
“Wait until you’re stronger. Then we’ll talk.”
ChengYu opened his mouth to argue again,
but their mother gently took his hand.
No more was said.
Later, YiChen spent a long while coaxing him back into good spirits—
slicing extra fruit, sharing stories from his last patrol.
Only then did the boy finally relent.
From the far end of the table, Mark watched his eldest son in silence.
A faint crease settled between his brows.
The weight this child carried—
was far heavier than they had ever imagined.
?
City Hall Plaza · 3:00 PM
The plaza had been cleaned.
Bloodstains scrubbed from stone.
In their place, hundreds of flowers now blanketed the steps.
Candles flickered beneath a hastily erected shrine—
and at its center hung a massive portrait of YiChen,
his dark silhouette stark against a pale sky.
People knelt.
Some left offerings.
Some left notes.
Some simply bowed their heads and whispered prayers.
“Please… protect my daughter…”
“Please drive the Fiends away from my neighborhood…”
The voices rose and fell in slow waves—
grief, desperation, hope folded together into quiet ritual.
Too much.
YiChen pressed his fingers to his aching temple.
Faith poured relentlessly into his Spirit Meridians,
like molten lava forcing its way through channels never meant to bear it.
Without Elena’s purification,
he might truly have collapsed by now.
And yet—
that warm, blazing Spiritflame,
each time it purified him,
always brushed against the deepest threads of his nerves,
setting bone and blood alight.
A gentle torment.
So overwhelming it left him caught between laughter and tears.
Tonight—
he had to try that method.
———————
City Hall · Operations Conference Room
This visit to City Hall
was to finalize deployment plans for the upcoming entry into Blackpine Forest—
the objective: harvesting high-grade energy crystals.
A total of forty-eight personnel would be dispatched.
The eight-person core team, led by YiChen, included:
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Logan, Han Yue, Xu Wei, Jack, Ryan, David, and Max.
Each core member would command a five-person unit of strength-oriented cadets,
responsible for combat support, transport, and on-site collection.
YiChen himself would lead an additional five medical officers—
tasked with healing, purification, and maintaining operational stability throughout the mission.
Leo had already coordinated with the Academy’s principal
and prepared a preliminary roster of cadets meeting strict criteria:
—high physical endurance,
—stable Spirit Force output,
—and a clean disciplinary record.
The directive was clear:
maximum efficiency, minimum risk.
As for the medical team,
YiChen had made his decision long ago.
Elena must come.
The remaining four positions
he intended to select personally at the Academy the following morning.
?
Outside City Hall · Nightfall
By the time final confirmations were complete,
dusk had settled over the city.
Light from the City Hall lobby spilled across rain-darkened pavement,
stretching into long intersecting ribbons of gold and black.
Logan rolled his shoulders with a weary groan.
“All the restaurants shut down early now,” he muttered.
“Can’t even sit down for a proper meal anymore.
It’s fucking suffocating.”
Ryan gave a short laugh, clapping him on the back.
“Don’t we eat together at camp every day?”
“That doesn’t count,” Logan shot back.
“I want hotpot. I want real beer.”
YiChen said nothing.
His gaze remained lowered, expression unreadable.
It was because of this—
because even something as simple as a hot meal had become a luxury—
that they needed those crystals.
Only once the defensive barrier was completed
could the city finally exhale.
Only then
could ordinary people
sit safely in the dark
and eat dinner without fear.
?
Inside the Car · On the Way Back
Shadowfang’s low chuckle echoed through the Sea of Consciousness,
its molten-gold voice heavy with mockery.
“Taking your little lover into a danger zone,”
it drawled.
“That your idea of romance?”
Shixi drifted quietly through YiChen’s Spirit Meridians, her tone calm and precise.
“Elena’s purification,” she said,
“stabilizes your divine meridians.”
Outside the window, neon lights smeared across rain-wet glass,
bleeding into soft streaks of color that dissolved into one another.
YiChen did not reply.
He simply watched the city slide past.
He thought of her fingertips that morning—
the warmth where they pressed against his chest.
The Spiritflame—
sharp and clean,
sweet as pain wrapped in silk.
Too much.
It had forced him into a compromise.
Remote purification.
If she didn’t touch him—
if there was distance—
he wouldn’t break.
Even if the effect was weaker.
Even if relief came slower.
It was still better
than hurting her.
——————
The car door opened.
Warm amber light spilled from the foyer.
Elena jogged over.
A dark cotton T-shirt and loose lounge pants made her look slender and soft;
the sleeve of her white cashmere knit slipped down, exposing a narrow, pale wrist.
“You’re back!”
She smiled, eyes curving like crescents, her voice light as wind.
YiChen lifted his hand on instinct—
almost reaching to ruffle her hair.
It stopped midair.
He lowered it instead, unfastening the collar of his coat, voice gentle.
“Mmh. Were you happy today?”
“Happy!”
She blinked as she smiled—
then noticed the pallor in his face. The smile faltered.
“Do you want to… purify first?
Before dinner?”
?
Bedroom
Two cushions faced each other on the carpet.
A full foot of space lay between them.
“We’ll try a different method tonight.”
YiChen lowered himself onto the cushion, his voice hoarse.
“Remote purification.”
Elena froze.
Her gaze fell on the measured distance between them.
Her lashes trembled.
So far…
Can the flame even reach the deeper thorns?
A dull ache spread through her chest.
Was it because—
he didn’t want her to touch him?
“…Okay.”
She lowered her head and knelt on the opposite cushion.
Hands folded neatly on her knees.
?
Only when rose-gold Spiritflame lifted from her fingertips
did YiChen finally release a quiet breath.
Warm Spirit Force crossed the empty space and curled around him.
It lacked the bone-deep reach of before—
but it soothed the restless black thorns within.
This works.
This is enough.
Purification—
without losing control.
In the Consciousness Sea, Shadowfang scoffed.
“Pathetic.
For a moment, I thought you’d grown a spine.”
?
Spirit Force surged like a raging flame, pouring forward without pause.
Elena clenched her teeth and released everything she had.
Drawing on past experience, she tried to burn away the accumulated black thorns in one decisive sweep.
But this level of intensity—sustained without respite—placed an immense strain on her mind, far beyond what she could endure.
Thirty seconds passed.
Her fingertips began to tremble.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.
The rose-gold flame flickered, its glow growing uneven—unstable.
Sweat slid down her pallid cheeks,
soaking into the cotton collar of her clothing.
Still, she forced herself onward.
Not enough…
Still not enough!
At the one-minute mark, white sparks burst across Elena’s vision.
Her chest seized—she couldn’t draw a full breath—
and then the Spiritflame reversed.
It surged violently back into her own body.
From her throat to her mouth,
it felt as though countless fine needles were scraping through her from the inside out.
“—Ugh!”
Her entire body convulsed.
Tears blurred her vision in an instant,
A thick, metallic taste flooded her tongue in an instant—
Spirit Force overload, ripping through fragile inner channels like shattered glass.
Inside the Consciousness Sea, Shixi screamed:
“YiChen! Look at her!”
“Idiot!” Shadowfang roared.
“She can’t hold on anymore!”
YiChen’s eyes flew open.
Elena’s face was so pale it was nearly translucent.
Clear tears streamed down without control.
All color had drained from her lips.
Her body swayed, barely managing to remain upright.
That sight overlapped perfectly
with the memory of days ago—
when her Spirit Meridians had been burned completely dry.
“Elena! Stop!”
Dizzy and unfocused, she struggled to open her eyes.
The Spiritflame still flickered weakly at her fingertips.
“Did I… not clean it completely…?”
She never finished the sentence.
Her body tipped backward,
collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut.
YiChen’s thoughts went blank.
His body moved first—
lunging forward to catch her.
?
She was light.
Far too light.
Her body—emptied of Spirit Force—was frighteningly cold.
YiChen’s arms trembled as he pulled her tight against his chest,
burying his face against the side of her neck—
where her familiar, gentle scent lingered,
now tainted by the faint trace of blood.
She had ignored the backlash.
Driven herself all the way to the edge—
just to ease his pain.
Deep within his Spirit Meridians,
Shixi whimpered like a wounded young beast.
“…I’m sorry.”
YiChen’s voice came out hoarse, on the verge of breaking.
His arms tightened further,
as if he could press her into his own bones and blood—
as if that might anchor her warmth inside him.
“It’s my fault,” he whispered.
“I was too stupid.”
This level of output…
was no different from a full combat release.
How could she possibly endure it?
Outside the window,
the first snow began to fall—soundless, weightless.
And in that moment, YiChen finally understood:
Some distances—
the harder you try to maintain them,
the more they scorch both sides.
He lowered his head, drawing her cold body fully into his embrace,
clinging to her faint warmth
like a drowning man grasping driftwood.
“…Elena.”
