In a high-level martial arts game, a wife is given to you at the start.

It wasn't words, nor sound, but a warm, profound power that spread up his arm, merging with the emblem on his palm. He clearly felt that this crystal, the one he carried from Black Wind Valley, the runes on the forbidden stone pillar, and the emblem on his palm all originated from the same source.

They were originally one, but they were separated and scattered throughout the heavens.

The third seal has arrived.

Lin Qiye held the crystal, stood in the gray-white ash layer, and remained silent for a long time.

He didn't linger. He put the crystal into his pocket, turned around, and strode towards the edge of the mountains.

He did not return to Ironwall City, nor did he linger on the way. He traveled day and night, bypassing the outskirts of Drybone Ridge and Blackwind Valley, and on the morning of the third day, the outline of the Holy City came into view.

He easily climbed through the ventilation window of the ancestral hall and followed the secret passage he had already traversed twice, descending downwards. The stone chamber was still the same stone chamber, the skeleton was still the same skeleton, and the nine rune-inscribed stone pillars remained dim.

He walked to the stone platform and took out two crystals—one brought out from Blackwind Valley and the other dug out from the Azure Bone Mountains.

Two crystals lay in his palms, one on each side, their patterns facing each other, like two halves that had finally reunited after countless years. As he approached the stone platform, the emblem in his palm suddenly burned, the fluorescent blue pattern shining brightly, drawing his hand slowly toward the empty space in the skeleton's chest.

A point of fluorescent blue light appeared in the empty space in the skeleton's chest.

The vertical pupils slowly emerged.

This time, it didn't rotate, it didn't scrutinize. It just floated there quietly, watching him carefully place the two crystals, inch by inch, into the empty space.

The moment the crystal entered the tank, all nine stone pillars lit up simultaneously.

Dark gold runes, like veins, lit up and flowed down from the tops of the nine stone pillars, all converging in the center of the stone platform. In the empty space in the skeleton's chest, two crystals slowly merged, their fluorescent blue and dark gold light intertwining, finally solidifying into a complete, fist-sized crystal that fit perfectly into the skeleton's chest.

A fine vertical pupil-like pattern appeared on the surface of the crystal.

Like eyes that have finally closed.

The suspended vertical pupil slowly descended, disappearing into the patterns on the crystal surface. The light in the stone chamber brightened layer by layer, then dimmed layer by layer, finally returning to stillness.

The runes on the nine stone pillars dimmed again, but this time, they were no longer as lifeless as before—deep within the runes, a faint light flowed slowly, like the beating of a sleeping heart.

The lock has been restarted.

Lin Qiye stood in front of the stone platform, looked down at his palm.

The fluorescent blue pattern was fading, little by little, merging into his bloodline, like a key that had completed its mission and could finally rest. The dark gold emblem lit up again, clean and tidy, leaving only the horns and the sun disc.

"The vertical pupil will remain forever." He repeated the words from his ancestor's record in a low voice, then looked up at the skeleton. "The lock has been reset. That vertical pupil will never awaken again."

The skeleton remained silent, offering no response.

But deep within the stone chamber, that aged, sigh-like voice rang out once more.

This time, it was very light and slow, as if something had been put down.

"……good."

He saw the candle in its final moments.

Candle did not die in the siege of the traitors. He suppressed the anomaly, and he also suppressed the eye that could only see the heavens. He used himself as a lock, pressing the vertical pupil to the deepest part of the original universe. But he knew the lock would loosen, knew the bloodline of the traitors would multiply and grow stronger, would steal his name, his authority, and would forget what he had done.

So he divided the mark into three parts and scattered them throughout the heavens.

Bloodline, seal, and preparation.

Only when the three seals are combined can the lock be restarted.

"The flame will never be extinguished."

The aged voice echoed in his mind. Those four words, though few, struck him like a thunderbolt, cleaving through all the fog before him.

The flame will never be extinguished.

He stood there, silent for a long time. The emblem on his palm was slightly warm, as if speaking the last unfinished words on behalf of the skeleton, on behalf of the being at the end of his bloodline.

He suddenly understood the origin of the system. He understood what those children meant. He understood why, every time he was on the verge of death, a force had pulled him back.

It wasn't a gift from heaven.

It is the will of the candle. It is the flame of blood.

He lowered his head, looked at the skeleton that had returned to silence, and slowly bowed in respect.

"The flame will never be extinguished," he said. "I've remembered it."

He turned around and strode out of the restricted area.

That's the end of the matter concerning the forbidden area.

He went to find Gu Chen first.

After the case was handled by the Purification Bureau, Gu Chen remained the same: one-armed, smoking, the smoke filling the entire room with a hazy mist. Seeing Lin Qiye enter, he tapped his pipe: "The matter of the forbidden area, is it settled?"

"It's done," Lin Qiye said. "The lock has been reset, and the vertical pupil won't wake up again. But the person who picked the lock is still alive."

Gu Chen paused for a moment while smoking.

"Elder Shen," Lin Qiye said, "the person who proposed abolishing the Purification Division back then has recently made a comeback. He has dark gold marks on his hands—that kind of stuff only appears on relics that have touched candles. Division Chief, how long have you been investigating him?"

Gu Chen remained silent for a long time, then put down his pipe, pulled a yellowed booklet from under the table, and pushed it in front of him: "Since the establishment of the Purification Division, there have been one hundred and seven people who have served as Division Chief, Steward, and Field Officer. Of those who are still alive, besides me, this cripple, there are three others."

He opened the booklet and pointed to a page: "These three were the most ruthless people investigating the pollution back then. Later, one went blind, one became paralyzed, and one went insane."

"How did they become like this?"

"We found it," Gu Chen said. "They traced it all back to the same point—at the very top of the temple, someone has been feeding the Blood Ravens. They're not feeding them money, but the location of the sealing point, the whereabouts of the Candle's relics."

He paused, looking at Lin Qiye: "I've been investigating for thirty years, and this is all I've found. I can't go any further."

What's above that?

"The High Priest of the Temple," Gu Chen said, "the nominal supreme leader of the Temple. Elder Shen is one of his men."

Lin Qiye's gaze darkened.

High Priest.

A descendant of the Three Attendants, the mastermind behind Blood Raven, the highest authority in the Temple, the one who broke the seal, and the provider of the mutated traits. All clues ultimately point to this person.

He did not immediately attack the high priest.

He made his move against Elder Shen first.

That night, at Elder Shen's residence.

Elder Shen had just seen off a group of guests and was flipping through a scroll of official documents in his study. Halfway through, he suddenly felt a chill on his neck—a short knife was now pressed against his side without him even noticing.

"Don't move," Lin Qiye's voice came from behind. "And don't shout. If you shout, I'll cut off a finger."