It began with a tremor.
Not an earthquake.
A heartbeat.
Jiang Han stood at the altar that night, his palm pressed against the broken slab of stone beneath the Flame Guardian's statue. He had come here to meditate—but something pulsed beneath the surface.
A rhythm.
Steady. Slow.
Alive.
> What is this…?
He knelt and closed his eyes, letting his soul drift into the faint spiritual pressure leaking from below.
> Soulforge Alert:
"Unknown Forge Source Detected – Dormant Spirit Kiln"
Compatibility: 92%
Risk: High
Potential: High
Would you like to initiate trial sequence?
Jiang Han hesitated only a moment.
"Yes."
---
The world around him fractured.
The stone altar split open beneath his feet, swallowing him in a spiral of red and gold.
He landed hard—on smooth black stone, steaming from beneath.
He stood slowly, finding himself in a vast underground hall, shaped like a forge chamber. Bronze furnaces lined the walls, cracked and long dead. Chains hung from the ceiling. Firelight danced along ancient walls carved with symbols of the old world.
And at the center, a massive, smoldering kiln. Twenty feet tall. Cracked—but still alight.
A voice echoed, low and genderless.
> "Child of fire. You who walk with memory and fate. You who forge your own soul."
"Prove you are worthy to inherit the kiln."
Flames erupted from the floor, forming three shadowy figures.
Each pulsed with burning heat—one wielding a great sword, one a chain-spear, and one no weapon at all, only glowing fists.
Jiang Han's heartbeat quickened.
> Soulforge trial.
He stepped forward, flame thread igniting on instinct.
"I accept."
---
Round One – Ember Duelist
The sword-wielding shade charged first, swinging with burning arcs of crimson. Its blade left trails of fire in the air.
Jiang Han ducked the first slash, spun low, and lashed his thread around the shade's leg.
> "EMBER WHIPLASH!"
The detonation rocked the figure—but it only staggered.
> No soul. Just constructed pressure.
The duelist retaliated, blade crashing down.
Jiang Han crossed his wrists, flame thread forming a barrier.
The sword struck—pushing him to one knee.
His skin burned.
He roared and redirected energy into his arms—pushing the thread outward in a burst.
The duelist exploded into cinders.
---
Round Two – Flame Dancer
The chain-spear wielder didn't charge. It circled, graceful, the chain singing as it spun.
Jiang Han mirrored it, waiting for an opening.
Then it lunged—chain snapping like lightning.
He ducked the first strike—but the chain curled mid-air, catching him behind the knee.
He hit the ground hard.
Pain exploded through his leg.
> Don't panic. Let it pull.
He let the force yank him—into the enemy.
Then unleashed a close-range Ember Pulse, point-blank to the shade's chest.
The flame surged.
The dancer shrieked—then vanished in smoke.
---
Round Three – Fist of the Forge
The third figure waited.
Jiang Han approached, but the air changed.
Hotter.
The figure didn't move. It merely opened its eyes.
And punched.
The force didn't touch him.
The flame did.
A wave of heat alone slammed into him like a wall—sending him flying into the kiln base.
> Not strength. Not speed. Just pressure.
Jiang Han coughed smoke, blood on his lip.
Then he smiled.
"This is what a real forge feels like."
He stood slowly. Eyes locked on the figure.
No more tricks.
No more fancy threads.
Just flame.
> "Soulforge: Flame Pulse – Compression Mode."
He drew it inward. All of it.
A spiraling core of heat condensed between his hands. It throbbed like a star.
The shade charged.
Jiang Han stepped forward—
And unleashed everything.
> "FINAL PULSE!"
The blast consumed the figure, the floor, the smoke—the world itself.
Silence.
Then…
> Trial Completed.
Spirit Kiln: Awakened
Soulforge Genesis: 14%
You have unlocked – Ember Core Forging
New Trait: Forged Will – Flame-based resistance +10%
Permanent Bonus: All fire-type skills are 5% more efficient.
---
When Jiang Han opened his eyes, he was still on the shrine floor.
But it was different.
Beneath him, the kiln room now pulsed faintly in his spiritual perception.
The shrine wasn't just a ruin.
It was a hidden forge, built by a forgotten cultivator of the old world.
A forge that was now his.
Lin Yao burst in through the doors.
"You've been missing for hours—I felt your pulse vanish and then—"
He sat up slowly.
"I found it."
"Found what?"
Jiang Han smiled, eyes glowing faint red.
"My first weapon."