Broken Stones, Burning Will
After the duel, the clan changed.
Not outwardly. Not in words. No elder came to congratulate him. No cousin offered respect.
But Xian Ren could feel it.
Where once they had looked through him like smoke…
Now they looked at him.
Like fire.
Something dangerous.
---
The days that followed were quieter.
He was still an outer disciple. Still given scrap food and no access to manuals. Still left out of training sessions.
But no one raised a hand to him.
No one dared.
---
Xian Ren returned to the ruined barn.
Not out of habit. But because that forgotten place, once filled with rot and hay, had become his forge.
His flames grew best in silence. Away from jealous eyes and whispering mouths.
And he needed to grow fast.
The Ember Vein System pulsed with new goals now:
> [Primary Objective: Awaken 10 Flame Veins.
Progress: 3/10]
[Skill Evolution Available: Crimson Fist → ???]
[Hidden Path Fragment Detected: West of Clan Grounds — coordinates marked.
Flame resonance: 78%. Potential Vein Catalyst.]
A hidden flame fragment?
He studied the coordinates. Deep in the Ashfall Stones, a craggy ridge where failed cultivators dumped their broken weapons and shattered hope.
A place no one visited anymore.
Which made it perfect.
---
That night, he set out.
---
The Ashfall Stones sat under the mountain's shadow, jagged and gray. Mist crept between the shards, and Qi here felt… different. Stale. Empty.
But beneath the stone dust, something called to him.
He followed the pull.
His hands trembled.
His inner flame throbbed.
And then—he found it.
A shattered altar, buried under rubble. Broken flame runes etched on its sides. And in its center, a small, dying ember, floating like a heartbeat in the dark.
> [System Notification: Ancient Flame Residue Detected]
Do you wish to absorb it?
Warning: Force absorption may damage unprepared vessels.
Recommended: Begin internal tempering before full integration.
---
Xian Ren didn't hesitate.
He sat cross-legged. Focused his breath.
And opened his body to the ember.
---
The ember pulsed once.
Then surged.
A searing heat blasted into Xian Ren's chest as the broken flame fragment ripped through his meridians. His body locked. His teeth clenched.
Agony.
It wasn't just physical—it was spiritual. As if his very soul was being reforged in a blacksmith's forge.
---
> [WARNING: Flame Tempest Unleashed]
Body Tempering Engaged. Pain Threshold: Critical.
Survival Will Required: 87%… 91%… 96%…
→ Trait Evolving: Flame Nerves → Scorch Forged Nerves (Passive)
New Vein Forming: Flame Vein #4… 64%... 87%... 100%.
Awakened.
---
He collapsed forward, smoke rising from his back. Steam hissed off his shoulders. His heartbeat slowed to a crawl… then thundered back alive.
A fourth vein.
But more than that—
He felt… different.
As if something ancient had noticed him.
---
A voice—low and crackling like fire through old wood—rumbled in his mind.
> "Who dares temper flame with mortal flesh? Who walks barefoot through embers seeking the sky?"
Xian Ren didn't speak.
He couldn't.
> "Flame that walks without guidance burns itself to ash."
The heat within him focused. Condensed. Then... pressed.
> "If you would wield my legacy… you must bleed for it."
---
Suddenly, visions flooded his mind.
A fist made of molten rock, crashing through a mountain.
A man with ten thousand flame veins, walking through a sea of fire.
A technique—not just a strike, but a divine art:
> Infernal Step.
A movement forged in flame. Teleports the body through heat itself.
Prerequisite: Ember core. 4+ flame veins. Flame-attuned footwork.
---
Xian Ren gasped.
Then smiled through cracked lips.
He hadn't just gained a vein.
He'd found the first step of a forgotten flame path.
---
Back in the clan compound, an elder's eyes snapped open from meditation.
He looked toward the mountain.
And frowned.
"...That fire was not natural."
---
Xian Ren staggered down the ridge as dawn broke over the peaks. His robe was half-burnt, his hands blistered, and his skin flushed from internal flame exposure.
But his eyes were clear.
He had survived the ember trial.
And won.
---
> [Flame Vein: 4 awakened]
Trait evolved: Scorch-Forged Nerves – You feel no pain from internal fire.
New Skill Learned: Infernal Step (Lv. 1)
→ Allows instant movement through short-range heat signatures.
Cooldown: 60 seconds. Max range: 5 meters.
Skill Evolution Available: Crimson Fist → Infernal Fist – requires Catalyst.
System Note: Host has stepped beyond basic flame cultivation. Hidden paths may now manifest.
---
He returned to the barn and dropped to his knees, body aching.
For hours, he didn't move.
Not because he couldn't.
But because he was learning.
He could feel his Qi now—like a second pulse beneath his skin. Every breath stoked the flame. Every movement guided it.
Crimson Fist no longer felt like a borrowed art. It was his.
---
He stepped outside.
And struck.
BOOM.
His fist hit the boulder beside the barn—and split it in half.
No Qi technique. No spell. Just raw flame-packed force.
The stone smoked. The earth beneath it hissed. A mark scorched into the soil where his foot had stood.
---
And then, a notification.
> [Clan Announcement: All Outer Disciples to Report]
Location: North Courtyard.
Purpose: Flame Trial Selection.
Eligible: Cultivators with 3+ active veins.
Flame Trial.
He remembered the name. A rare tradition. A way for outer disciples to earn access to the clan's inner manual hall—if they could survive the test.
No one had mentioned it before.
Not to him.
But now, they couldn't ignore him.
Not with four veins.
Not with power surging through his fists.
---
Xian Ren smiled faintly.
The clan had thrown him away.
Now they would watch him rise, vein by vein.