Victor scream tore through the chamber and echoed beyond the furnace walls.
Outside, the elders and disciples looked up.
They heard the sound—and they knew.
"He's reached his limit."
"He'll die in there."
Zhan Kui smirked. "I'll give him a minute before he breaks."
Inside the furnace, Victor slammed against the interior wall as the force of his panic overrode his discipline. The pain had swallowed logic. There was only raw, primal instinct screaming at him to escape.
In the real world, Victor's body was convulsing under his blanket.
Qi surged uncontrolled through his veins.
His skin flushed red—then orange—then burst into flame.
The VR headset vibrated erratically.
His voice cried out, muffled under the blanket.
But he was alone in the room.
A soft, mechanical voice echoed from the room's hidden wall panel.
"Warning: Fire detected."
A compartment slid open from the ceiling, releasing mana-infused suppressant mist. The air filled with shimmering vapor that instantly doused the forming flame.
Victor's real body was instantly drenched in strange liquid and stopped burning.
Inside Ascendant Realms, Victor gasped.
A strange chill ran across his spine.
The agony dulled for a moment.
The flames hadn't lessened—but something... felt different. As if his body had been submerged in contrast—heat and cold simultaneously raged against one another.
He blinked in confusion.
The pain was still there.
But he could breathe again.
Outside the furnace, an elder frowned. "His screams have stopped."
Another elder nodded. "He might've passed out."
One of them activated a spiritual inspection crystal. It floated toward the furnace and hovered beside the sealed hatch.
The elder's eyes widened.
"He's awake. Sitting upright."
"No one at Core Formation could last this long at Flame Level Four."
They couldn't believe their eyes. It was even more confusing because just a second ago, he was screaming in agony.
Before they knew it, time passed it reached the 25 minutes mark.
<[ Phase Five Initiated. Spirit Flame Intensity: Level Five ]>
Victor shuddered. His teeth clenched. Blood ran from his nostrils and ears.
He couldn't take another breath. The heat tore through his lungs like razor glass.
The cold was still seeping in but the heat was much more intense now.
Fortunately, he was able to bear it for a minute and now he knew it was time.
His body had done everything it could.
"Now...!" he growled through his teeth.
He activated his trump card.
[ Technique Activated: Iron Vein Flow ]
[ Duration: 04:00 minutes ]
[ Physical Damage Mitigated: 43% ]
A radiant bronze thickness spread over his skin, rippling with qi.
The flames licked against him, but they no longer shredded his flesh.
He could still feel the fire—but it was no longer as intense.
He straightened his back, sat tall and closed his eyes.
He began to breathe deeply.
Outside, the disciples gasped again.
The inspection crystal flared.
"He activated a body reinforcement technique."
"The boy's bones should've turned to dust."
Elder Mo offered a small smile from the back of the crowd.
Five more minutes passed.
The fire reached its peak.
And yet... Victor didn't move.
<[ Trial Complete. Verdant Spirit Furnace Phase: Passed ]>
[ ...Preparing Rewards... ]
A sudden clang echoed across the field as the massive hatch slid open.
Smoke billowed outward. The scent of burnt cloth and scorched skin spread into the air.
But within the smoke...
He was half-naked and his skin was covered in cracked lines of copper qi as his chest heaved heavily—but he was still very much alive.
The entire field was dead silent.
Even Zhan Kui's smug grin had vanished.
The elders looked at one another.
A few minutes later, Victor was escorted to the next trial stage after changing into a spare outfit.
He was brought to a hall carved from obsidian and jade. At its center stood an ancient, weathered mirror—one with no reflection.
[ The Mirror of Reflection ]
Elder Mo stepped forward.
"This is the second trial," he voiced in a low tone. "The Trial of Insight."
Victor's eyes fixed on the mirror.
"You will be placed in front of this artifact," Elder Mo continued, "and subjected to illusions formed from your subconscious—fears, regrets, suppressed memories."
"Your only goal is to pass through them and reach the other side... without losing your sense of self."
"If you fail—your mind may shatter. And you may never wake again."
Victor's heart pounded because he had faced his fair share of illusions in Ascendant Realms. He could only hope he would be strong enough to endure.
The floor beneath his feet shone with sigils and the mirror... began to glow.
Its surface rippled like water, yet held no reflection. It simply absorbed his presence, pulling him in, challenging his very sense of identity.
The moment his foot crossed the carved circle of runes surrounding it, the world shattered.
The chamber disappeared.
In the next second, he was standing in the ruins of a collapsed mining facility.
Burnt metal. Crushed and blackened earth. Blood.
"No..." Victor whispered with a look of horror.
He already knew what this was.
Screams echoed. Familiar voices.
Victor ran through the smoke with his feet skidding across blackened rock. The scene twisted around him. He turned a corner, and there—
A massive spear of molten fiery rock hurled through the air in slow motion.
His father stood defenseless with his arms around two workers, laughing and smiling.
His body moved as fast as the wind as he leapt forward. Qi exploded from his core as he reached out with the spear just meters away— each second stretched into a lifetime.
He was inches from it.
But his hand passed through it like mist.
And the magma spear plunged into his father's chest from behind.
Blood sprayed across Victor's face.
The scene paused. Then rewound.
Each time, Victor tried something different. He Screamed.
He used throwing techniques.
He slammed his own body into the spear.
Each time, he failed.
Each time, the spear pierced his father.
Each time, his father died.