Thunder cracked the skies above Skyrend Sect as a hundred disciples gathered before the Trial Arena. Jagged cliffs enclosed the space, and lightning arcs danced between them like celestial whips. This wasn't a battlefield—it was a proving ground for monsters.
Lin Xun stood near the edge of the platform, surrounded by unfamiliar faces.
Some glared at him.
Others smirked.
But all of them felt the weight of the moment.
The Outer Sect Trials only opened once every three years. Survival was rare. Ascension, rarer. And failure?
> "Those who fail are fed to the mountain," someone whispered behind him.
He didn't flinch.
Instead, he watched as Sect Master Yue Tian descended from the sky atop a cloud forged from pure qi, robed in black and silver, eyes colder than frost. His voice boomed without opening his mouth.
> "You have come here not as disciples, but as insects."
> "Today, you'll either ascend into storm… or be crushed beneath it."
One by one, jade stones were handed out. They glowed red with the bearer's spiritual essence.
> "These are your soul markers. Lose it, and you're out. Shatter it, and you're safe. The rest… is survival."
A giant talisman above the arena shimmered—and the earth itself opened.
The Trial had begun.
---
The arena shifted into a labyrinth.
Mountains moved. Rivers flowed backward.
Lin Xun dashed into the heart of the storm.
Instantly, beasts attacked.
Steel-fanged panthers, flame-breathing wolves, and thunder boars roamed the terrain. But Lin Xun, now forged by flame and tempered by frost, moved like wind, struck like lightning.
Frost Palm!
His left hand froze a thunder boar mid-charge.
Crimson Ember Kick!
His right leg shattered the beast's skull, sending flame shockwaves in all directions.
He didn't stop. Every kill sharpened his senses, refined his power. The jade stone on his chest glowed brighter with each victory.
Hours passed.
He entered a narrow gorge—and that's when he sensed it.
Murderous intent.
From the shadows emerged a trio of disciples. Veterans. Cultivators who had entered the trials before but never passed. They didn't want to beat the trial.
They wanted to eliminate the competition.
> "Hey, trash," one sneered. "Heard you think dual elements make you invincible."
> "Let's test that theory," another said, spinning a chain of flame around his wrist.
Lin Xun said nothing. He just reached for the seal ring on his finger.
BURN.
A torrent of flame exploded from beneath his feet, forcing them to scatter. He vanished from sight—then reappeared behind the leader.
Frost Needle Technique!
Tiny shards of ice pierced the man's joints.
Heavenstep Ember Punch!
A single strike cratered the ground and sent the attacker flying into a stone wall.
The others charged in desperation—but they were nothing before the storm he'd become. When it ended, the three were groaning on the floor, defeated.
Lin Xun shattered their jade stones and moved on.
There was no room for weakness.
---
Elsewhere, on a floating mountain, powerful eyes watched the trial unfold. Elders, inner disciples, and the Sect Master himself.
> "That boy… Lin Xun," Elder Qiu murmured. "His control of both elements is improving fast."
> "He's unstable," another argued. "Untrained. His cultivation is still crude."
> "Yet he overwhelms opponents three realms above him," a third said with a chuckle. "Crude power, perhaps… but terrifying."
Wei Qing stood silently behind them, arms folded.
He smirked to himself.
> "Just wait," he whispered. "He hasn't even shown the real flame yet."
---
Near dusk, Lin Xun entered the final zone—a plateau surrounded by stormclouds. At the center stood a giant stone beast: the Trial Guardian.
A golem made from lightning-forged rock, with flames for eyes and frost on its joints.
To pass, one had to defeat it.
> "So I fight a monster to prove I'm a monster," Lin Xun muttered.
He stepped forward.
The guardian roared—an earth-shaking bellow—and charged.
The ground cracked.
Boom!
Lin Xun was sent flying, crashing into a boulder. Blood dripped from his lips. But his eyes gleamed with madness.
> "Let's see how you handle this."
He formed a double-core seal—flame in the right hand, frost in the left. Slowly, he brought them together.
> "Heavenrend Core: First Gate—Frostfire Surge!"
The impact lit up the entire plateau.
A vortex of white and crimson spiraled outward, slamming into the stone guardian and melting through its defenses. The fusion exploded, ripping through the air and shattering the creature's limbs.
But the guardian rose again—half destroyed, but still fighting.
> "Damn thing won't die," Lin Xun growled.
He poured every ounce of qi into his dantian and leapt.
Emberstorm Step.
He zipped above the creature, spinning midair.
Frost Spiral Kick!
He struck the guardian's head with a flash of frost and a final ember explosion.
CRACK.
The beast crumbled to dust.
Silence reigned.
---
A gong rang out across the sect.
The trial had ended.
Lin Xun collapsed to his knees, breathing hard, arms shaking.
But in that moment, he didn't feel tired.
He felt… alive.
Above him, the sect emblem flashed once.
> "Trial complete: Lin Xun—Rank #1."
Gasps rippled through the floating peak.
Wei Qing chuckled. Elder Qiu raised a brow.
And somewhere, atop a cloud higher than the rest, Yun Fei smiled faintly.
> "Interesting…"
---
That night, Lin Xun received a new robe—one marked with silver flame threads and blue frost symbols.
He was no longer a prospective disciple.
He was now part of the Outer Sect.
But that was only the beginning.
Behind his door lay a scroll. No name. No seal.
He opened it. A single sentence was written in celestial script:
> "The Divine Phoenix watches with interest."
His breath caught.
The Divine Phoenix Sect? The very core of Yun Fei's lineage?
What did they want with him?
And why did the words feel… familiar?
He tuck
ed the scroll away.
The path ahead was wide.
Enemies stirred.
And his true lineage was still veiled in mist.
But one thing was certain—
He would rise.
He would conquer.
He would dominate.
And the heavens would remember his flame.