Beneath the Ashspire
That night, Kai couldn't sleep.
The Obsidian Vow emissary's words echoed through his mind:
"One among you is false."
The words weren't just a riddle—they were a knife slid beneath armor.
Kai rose before dawn.
While the rest of the sects rested or meditated in their camps, he walked the edge of the summit. The brazier still burned, its embers swirling in the wind. His eyes drifted toward the sealed stone circle at the mountain's heart.
Ashspire's Core.
According to legends, beneath the peak lay an ancient battlefield—sealed after the Immortal War, infused with raw spirit energy and residual oaths.
Only those chosen could enter.
Kai stepped forward.
To his surprise, the fire in the brazier responded—flaring toward him like a gust of wind. The runes on the stone pulsed faintly.
"The flame recognizes itself," a voice said behind him.
It was Elder Ragan of Emberheart.
"The Core has slept for generations. But your presence has stirred something."
"A trial waits beneath the ash. You may not come back the same."
Kai's gaze didn't waver. "What lies below?"
"What was buried… and what was meant to be forgotten."
With Ragan's silent permission, Kai placed his palm on the stone seal.
Flame rushed from his core. The ground trembled. The runes spun in a spiral, and then—crack—the seal broke.
Darkness opened beneath his feet.
Inside the Core
It was not merely a cavern—it was a tomb of power.
Statues of long-dead cultivators lined the walls, many shattered, others weeping black stone. The air shimmered with trapped memories. Spirit pressure was immense.
Kai's steps echoed, yet they didn't sound alone.
The deeper he walked, the more the space warped. Hallways twisted. Shadows whispered. He felt like the past was trying to speak to him—but through pain.
Then he saw it.
A mirror of flame.
Suspended in the air, surrounded by a ring of black chains.
And within it… another version of him.
Eyes wild. Cloak burning. Blade soaked in blood.
"So this is what I become," Kai murmured.
The reflection stepped forward.
"No," it growled. "This is what you deny."
The mirror shattered.
Kai fell to one knee, overwhelmed by visions—not of his past, but of possible futures.
In one, he led armies.
In another, he burned cities.
In a third, he walked alone—unwanted, feared, but unstoppable.
Which one is true?
He clenched his fists and stood.
"I choose."
His flame surged, not as destruction—but as clarity.
The chamber accepted his will.
The mirror shards rose, melted, and reshaped into a single glowing ember that hovered before him. It fused with his chest, searing through bone and soul.
[You have awakened the Ash Core Flame.]
He returned to the surface at dawn.
His eyes burned gold.
And when he looked up at the gathering sects…
They all felt it.
The Flamebearer had evolved.