The Trial of Soulfire
Three days after Kai's duel with Li Ren, the sky over Ashspire turned crimson.
Not with flame.
But with omen.
The wind itself carried whispers, and ancient glyphs appeared etched into the summit stones. Elders from all sects assembled at the Trial Pavilion. Even those who had tried to sabotage Kai stood in silence.
The Final Trial had awakened.
And it was unlike any before.
Elder Ragan of Emberheart stepped into the circle of cultivators, his voice grim.
"This year, the Conclave shall end with the Trial of Soulfire."
Gasps.
Even the elders exchanged wary glances.
"Soulfire?" Linya murmured. "That's a forbidden rite. It hasn't been invoked in a hundred years."
"Because it tests not just strength," Kai said quietly, "but truth."
The Trial of Soulfire was ancient.
Each participant would be cast into a vision-forged realm—built not from stone or spirit, but from their memories… and their fears.
There, they would face reflections of their deepest regrets, doubts, and sins.
If they broke, their cultivation could shatter.
If they triumphed—they would ascend to the ranks of true heirs.
Only one could claim the Emberfire Crest: the flame-shaped sigil that granted access to the inner sanctum of the Immortal Flame Path.
The trial began at dusk.
One by one, the remaining cultivators stepped into the flame circle and vanished—drawn into their own trials.
Kai was the last.
He stepped forward, the Phoenix Doctrine simmering beneath his skin, the Ash Core Flame calm… almost meditative.
He passed through the fire ring—
And fell.
Darkness.
Then light.
Kai stood in a memory—one he hadn't seen in years.
A burned-down village.
His village.
Screams echoed. Shadows of people he once knew ran through the smoke. And in the center of it all…
A child—kneeling, sobbing. His hands covered in ash.
"You could've saved us," a voice whispered.
"But you were too weak."
Kai stepped forward slowly.
He recognized the child. Himself. Before the Emberheart Sect. Before everything.
"You ran," the shadow said again. "You lived. They didn't."
"And now you burn for glory?"
Flames coiled around Kai's arms.
He didn't deny it.
Didn't try to excuse it.
He knelt in front of the younger version of himself.
"Yes. I ran. I was weak. But I've changed."
The child looked up.
"How do you know?"
Kai smiled, gently placing a burning hand over the child's heart.
"Because the fire inside me now… doesn't just destroy."
"It remembers."
The vision shattered.
Ash scattered.
Kai stood alone in a glowing chamber. Floating above him: the Emberfire Crest, pulsing like a second sun.
He reached out—and claimed it.
Outside, the fire circle flared blindingly as Kai emerged.
Silent. Steady. Changed.
The elders stood in reverent silence.
Linya ran forward, but paused when she saw his eyes.
They weren't gold anymore.
They burned white-hot, like a flame that had burned through pain, past anger, and into something pure.
Kai had passed the Trial of Soulfire.
But something had awoken in him—something older than the sects, older than the flame itself.