---
The following morning, Su Yang stood at the base of the Inner Alchemy Flame Hall. Unlike the outer hall, this tower was made of red obsidian and lined with floating formations that glowed with golden flame runes. It was said to have been personally built by one of the Seven Founders—a master of heavenly fire.
Elder Ke, the stoic head of the Alchemy Division, awaited him at the entrance, flanked by two alchemists in flame-embroidered robes.
"So you're the one who requested entry," Elder Ke said, observing Su Yang from head to toe. "You have seven days. Inside, you'll find furnaces made from Scarlet Dragon Ore, shelves of rare herbs, and flame control formations. But nothing comes free—only those who comprehend flame will walk away with true gains."
"I understand," Su Yang said with a bow. Max sat quietly beside him, tail wrapped, while the snake spirit beast rested inside his robe sleeve.
"Good. Then go. And remember—this place doesn't forgive arrogance."
As the doors parted, a wave of scorching yet soothing warmth washed over Su Yang. He stepped into a massive hall divided into three floors, each filled with rows of pill furnaces surrounded by alchemists in quiet meditation or active refinement. The room buzzed softly with elemental energy.
But it wasn't the heat that caught Su Yang's attention.
It was the flames.
Dozens of colored fires danced in the air—blue, green, silver, even violet. Each flame hovered inside its own formation, sealed behind transparent spiritual arrays. These were reference flames, left behind by senior alchemists and sect elders for disciples to study.
> "I can feel it," Su Yang thought. "Each flame… has a will."
He found an open meditation spot on the second floor. Sitting cross-legged, he summoned a thread of his own flame—the red-golden Karma Fire.
As it flickered into life, a few disciples glanced his way, whispering.
"That's the one…"
"Su Yang, right? I heard he purified a corrupted mine with a single batch of pills."
"His flame… I've never seen anything like it."
Ignoring the attention, Su Yang slowly extended his spiritual sense into the air, reaching toward the violet flame at the center of the second floor. It was sealed within a diamond-shaped barrier, its body flickering with pulses that mimicked a heartbeat.
The moment his spiritual sense touched it—
BOOM!
A backlash shot into his mind like a wave of pressure. Su Yang's eyes snapped open as a sharp ringing echoed in his ears.
> "It rejected me?"
He gritted his teeth and refocused. This time, he calmed his breath and let his Karma Fire extend outward like a bridge, not a probe. The red-gold flame reached forward and gently brushed the violet fire's aura.
To his surprise, the violet flame trembled… and then flickered once in response.
A resonance.
Elder Ke, observing from above, narrowed his eyes.
> "Even the Violet Spirit Flame is acknowledging him… and he's still a Yellow-level mid-tier?"
---
Hours passed as Su Yang experimented with flame compression, essence extraction timing, and synchronization between soul force and fire temperature. Every mistake fed into his understanding. Every adjustment made his Karma Fire more responsive.
On the third day, he tried refining a new pill: the Fire-Soul Nourishment Pill, a rare type he'd been given permission to attempt after passing Elder Yao's trial.
The process was grueling. The ingredients included Soul Ash Root and Sun-Drenched Lotus—both volatile when exposed to spiritual flames. Most disciples took ten tries to produce even a flawed pill.
Su Yang succeeded on the second attempt.
A soft hum rang out as the pill solidified inside the furnace, glowing with orange light and releasing a fragrance that was both warm and refreshing. It was a sign of balance—nurturing to the soul and the flame.
"86% purity," Su Yang murmured. "But it feels... deeper."
He didn't know that above, on the third floor, an elder hidden behind a flame barrier had been watching him for the last two days.
The elder smiled to himself.
> "That boy… is not just talented. He's aligned with fire itself. No wonder the trial formation chose him."
---
On the sixth day, Su Yang wasn't refining pills.
He sat still in the center of the Flame Study Formation—a floating platform surrounded by fire runes. Here, disciples tried to comprehend fire laws themselves.
Max curled quietly nearby. Even the snake was awake, flicking its tongue at the fluctuating energies.
Su Yang's body was drenched in sweat, but his eyes were glowing.
> "Fire… is not destruction alone. It tempers. It reveals truth."
> "It is karma itself."
As that final thought passed through his mind, his Karma Fire shifted.
The flame surged, condensing into a petal-shaped rune at the center of his palm. Then another. And another. Sixteen blooming petals. Each petal pulsed with a radiant gold-red light.
Then—SHHHHHHHHH!
The Flame Study Formation flickered.
All the sealed flames around him dimmed for a moment, as if bowing to a deeper will.
Disciples gasped.
Elder Ke appeared instantly, eyes locked on Su Yang's hand.
"You… you made the fire bow?" he said, voice low and reverent.
Su Yang opened his eyes, slowly exhaling.
"I didn't make it bow," he said. "It just… recognized me."
---
On the seventh and final day, Su Yang walked out of the Flame Hall in silence.