The trial ground trembled.
Li Tianming stood in the center of the Ashen Ring — a massive arena surrounded by molten rivers, ancient floating stone pillars, and runes etched into the air itself. This was the Fourth Trial of the Sacred Void Path — Trial of the Veins.
A voice boomed from the void, "To transcend, awaken the Fire Vein. Endure its burning truth… or be reduced to ash."
Without warning, fire surged from beneath the stone floor, coiling around Tianming's limbs like dragons made of wrath. His meridians screamed under the pressure. His mortal body, once hardened in countless battles, now felt like it was unraveling.
But he gritted his teeth. He wasn't the same boy who stepped into this realm.
In the flames, a vision appeared — Yue Qianyin, her silhouette rising from a lake of silver moonlight, her hair flowing like threads of starlight. Her eyes — those eyes — once cold as the heavens, now held something more... a question, perhaps. A quiet fear. A truth she couldn't speak.
"Tianming," the illusion whispered, "do not fail. Not here. Not before you learn... who I truly am."
A sudden blast interrupted him.
From the other side of the trial arena, a figure leapt in — cloaked in bone-white robes, wielding a halberd of obsidian light.
Deep Chandni — no, Yue Qianyin.
But this was no illusion.
"Pass this trial, and face me," she said. "Only then will you be worthy of knowing what flows in my bloodline."
Tianming laughed under his breath, despite the flames cracking his skin. "You always knew how to motivate me."
And so began the true trial — not of fire, but of truth, w
ill, and hidden legacies.