Chapter 14: Embers of Ascension

A blood-red sun rose over the ancient cultivation site known as the Furnace of the Titans, hidden deep beneath the crust of Mars' northern pole. The air trembled with molten heat, the very rocks glowing faintly from the spiritual fire that had been burning in the underground chamber for ten thousand years.

Rael descended the spiral obsidian stairs carved into the mountain's heart, followed closely by Selene, Kaen, and Master Wren—a reclusive Grade-3 Array Master who had not left his sanctuary in two centuries.

Each step closer to the core made their cultivation resonate with the powerful essence held within the Furnace. It was not just a forge. It was a remnant of Earth's first successful war against the Galactic Council, where the original Flame Lords had created soul-imbued weapons from the bones of slain Council beasts.

"Is it still active?" Rael asked, his hand resting on the hilt of his Spiritblade, the aura around him growing more volatile with every breath.

Master Wren, an old man with a translucent beard and eyes shaped like runes, stopped and pressed his palm to the wall. Blue symbols rippled across the stone.

"It still breathes," Wren said. "But it requires a living soul of fire to reignite its forge."

Rael looked at his hand. The ember gifted by the Forsaken God still pulsed beneath his skin, like a second heart. "Will it be enough?"

Wren turned to him. "Not enough. But it will awaken the core. Once you do that, the rest of the fuel will come from you."

Kaen raised a brow. "That sounds... expensive."

Wren smiled grimly. "Power always is."

They arrived at the core chamber.

A vast underground cavern spread before them. Lava flowed like rivers between floating platforms, and in the centre sat a massive anvil embedded with celestial inscriptions. Above it floated a sphere of fire the size of a small star—dim now, but still alive.

The Titan Flame.

Rael stepped forward.

The ember in his chest reacted immediately, its energy rushing outward through his meridians. The runes across his arms lit up. His Flame Soul stirred, roaring to life.

He took one final breath, placed his hand on the anvil—and released the ember.

BOOOOOM!

A thunderous explosion of fire burst outwards, engulfing the entire chamber. The others shielded their eyes as a vortex of pure flame surged up into the ceiling. The Titan Flame above the anvil flared violently, swallowing the ember like a dying beast devouring a spark of life.

The entire mountain trembled.

Then… silence.

And then, the Furnace awakened.

The rivers of lava surged. Platforms began to rotate. Thousands of dormant arrays activated, glowing with red, gold, and silver light. The Titan Flame roared to full brightness, and the very air shimmered with condensed spiritual energy.

Rael fell to one knee, his breath ragged. His skin glowed as heat radiated from his pores.

Selene rushed to his side. "Rael!"

He raised a hand. "I'm fine. Just... drained."

Master Wren helped steady him. "You've done it. The Furnace is active. From here, we can forge weapons that rival even Council artifacts."

Rael looked up at the blazing Titan Flame. "Then we begin now."

---

Three days later.

Hundreds of blacksmiths, array masters, and alchemists had gathered in the Furnace. It became a sanctuary for the elite craftsmen of humanity, each working in shifts to craft the next generation of battle gear. Spirit-forged blades, flame-bound armour, cultivation rings, teleportation nodes—each piece of equipment infused with the embers of war.

Kaen watched a group of Forgemasters shape a Spirit Halberd with flames from the Titan Furnace. "I never imagined we'd be here, preparing for war on this scale."

Selene nodded. "The Council has no idea what's coming. And they're not the only ones awakening."

Rael entered the chamber, wearing a crimson robe etched with gold—a gift from the Furnace itself, born of fire and bound to his bloodline now. His aura had changed. Where once he burned like a torch, now he radiated like a sun.

"We're moving to the next phase," he said. "The scouts report a hidden cultivation vault in the ruins of Planet Arcadia—sealed by a Spatial Sage over 12,000 years ago."

Selene narrowed her eyes. "Wasn't Arcadia destroyed during the Second Galactic Cleansing?"

"Yes," Rael replied. "But the vault survived. We believe it holds the fragments of a lost technique—Void Ascension—designed to let a cultivator reach Godhood without the use of divine pills."

Kaen whistled. "If we get our hands on that, we can bypass thousands of years of natural bottlenecks."

Rael nodded. "I'll lead the expedition. I'm taking a team of twelve peak-level Spiritual Emperors. You'll all join me. This will not be a retrieval mission—it will be a siege."

"Against what?" Selene asked.

Rael stared into the flames. "The vault is guarded by an ancient beast… a Void Howler. A creature born of silence and vacuum, capable of devouring cultivation energy directly from the meridians."

Kaen swore under his breath.

Rael continued. "But we need that technique. If we want to survive the storm that's coming… if we want to break past Godhood, and reach the unknown—this is the path."

He looked at each of them, his eyes burning with resolve.

"We leave at dawn."

The interstellar cruiser Starflare sliced through the fabric of space, propelled by both technology and high-tier cultivation arrays. It wasn't a mere spacecraft; it was a vessel designed by Grade-3 Array Masters and powered by a core filled with Spirit Crystals and compressed Divine Flames. Onboard, Rael and his elite team of twelve peak Spiritual Emperors sat in meditation circles, preparing their minds and bodies for the battle ahead.

The journey to Arcadia would only take a few hours through the galaxy's leyline network, but within that time, they needed to harmonise their energies. The Vault of Void Ascension was not only physically protected—it was locked behind layers of ancient willpower, and spiritual interference was expected to be intense.

Selene opened her eyes, her spear glowing faintly in her lap. "This silence before the battle… I hate it more than the fight itself."

Rael nodded without opening his eyes. "That's because your soul is sharp. Sharp things ache when idle."

Kaen chuckled. "Can't argue with that. My dagger is practically itching for blood."

At that moment, Vira's voice echoed through the command array.

"Commander Rael, we're entering the Arcadian Debris Field. Gravitational distortions ahead. Shields engaged."

Rael opened his eyes. "Full formation. Prepare for impact."

The cruiser shook as the Starflare pierced the outer rings of Arcadia's remnants—a sea of broken moons, shattered crystal towers, and husks of orbital stations that still shimmered with residual spiritual radiation.

As they neared the planet's core remains, an enormous black fissure came into view—a rift in the crust surrounded by pillars of floating stone.

"That's it," Rael said. "The Vault lies beneath those ruins."

They disembarked onto one of the floating platforms via their spirit-gliders—hovering discs powered by spiritual energy. Each cultivator was clad in newly forged armour from the Furnace, tuned to their cultivation techniques.

Rael drew his Spiritblade. "Fan out. Defensive perimeter. No one touches the rift until I stabilise the spiritual flow."

The team spread across the jagged field of stone, activating formation anchors. Wren, who had accompanied them, began carving suppressive sigils into the stone using a silver-tipped Array Pen.

But just as Rael approached the rift—a screech tore through space.

It wasn't a sound, but a vibration—a distortion in their souls.

Selene spun, eyes wide. "It's here."

The Void Howler emerged.

It was not a creature of flesh, but of shifting darkness, shaped like a massive panther with three tails made of writhing smoke and six crimson eyes. Its body constantly folded in and out of existence, like space didn't agree it should be there.

Kaen leapt backward. "It's phasing!"

Wren shouted, "It's absorbing ambient spiritual energy! If it touches your core, you'll lose cultivation!"

Rael's eyes narrowed. "Then don't let it touch."

The beast struck first.

It blinked forward, breaking the laws of distance, and appeared in front of the closest Spiritual Emperor—Rao. The cultivator brought up his shield technique too late. The Void Howler's claw phased through the barrier and scraped across Rao's chest, draining a portion of his energy directly from his core.

Rao screamed and collapsed.

Rael moved.

"Infernal Form: Third Gate—Solar Nova!"

Flames exploded from his body in layered rings. His Spiritblade danced, trailing golden arcs through the air. He clashed with the beast mid-air, sparks flying as fire met void.

Selene followed behind, her spear coated in a glacial wind technique that distorted time around her strikes.

"Frozen Arc: Ten Thousand Spears!"

Hundreds of ice lances formed from the air and launched at the beast. It dodged effortlessly—but one pierced its shoulder, slowing its phase for a moment.

Kaen appeared at its rear.

"Shadow Edge: Final Whisper!"

His dagger struck true, plunging into the beast's side and releasing a burst of darkness that poisoned the creature's energy cycle.

But the Void Howler wasn't done.

It screamed again, causing every cultivator's aura to flicker. Then, its three tails extended like spears, aiming straight for Rael.

"Flame Soul—Eclipse Burst!"

Rael condensed all the fire within his core into a single pulse and unleashed it. A dome of flame swallowed the battlefield, severing the tails before they could reach him.

The Void Howler reeled back, its body flickering wildly.

Rael didn't wait.

He launched upward, slashing in a full circle.

"Starfire Cut!"

The Spiritblade ignited with concentrated solar energy, and the blade met the beast's core.

A burst of spiritual light erupted.

The beast let out a final cry—then collapsed into itself and vanished into a black mist.

Silence returned.

Rao groaned as Selene helped him to his feet. "I can still feel the emptiness where my energy was…"

"It'll return," Wren assured him. "Not all of it, but you'll recover most over time."

Rael sheathed his blade. "Let's move. We've got one chance to break into that Vault before the planet collapses again."

The team descended into the rift.

They passed shattered crystal statues, runes older than any of Earth's surviving languages, and finally arrived before a door sealed by ten rotating arrays.

Wren studied the markings. "It's a spiritual resonance lock. Only someone with a flame soul and divine potential can open it."

Rael stepped forward.

The ember in his chest pulsed.

The arrays rotated. One by one, the locks disengaged.

The Vault opened.

Inside, a staircase of light descended into a temple bathed in cosmic mist. In the centre hovered a scroll wrapped in chains of starlight.

Rael approached carefully. He reached out—and the chains dissolved.

He grasped the scroll.

And in that moment, the Void Ascension Technique entered his mind.

His eyes glowed white.

He saw visions—cultivators walking across galaxies, forging paths into realms beyond Godhood. He saw techniques that could fold time, weaponise gravity, and even collapse stars into cultivation cores.

When he finally lowered the scroll, his voice was steady.

"This changes everything."