The sun did not rise in the Obsidian Deadzone.
A black fog clung to the sky, casting the land below in eerie twilight. Jagged rocks stretched like twisted bones, and patches of scorched earth pulsed with faint red light—as if the ground still remembered the battles that burned it.
Kaien and his group stood at the edge, just beyond a fractured stone gate carved with the names of thousands of fallen cultivators.
Reizo's usual grin faded. "This place reeks of ghosts."
Yuki nodded. "Because they never left."
Akari lit a flame in her palm. "Let's keep moving. The longer we stay still, the more this place… listens."
Baran pulled a massive battle club from his back. "I say let it listen. Let it remember who's walking through it now."
The group moved in formation—Kaien and Yuki at the center, Reizo scouting ahead, Akari covering the rear, and Baran stomping through anything in the way.
The Trial of Remembrance Begins
As they crossed the central ruins, the ground beneath them suddenly shimmered.
A deep gong sounded.
The Keeper's voice echoed again—this time darker, heavier.
"You have entered the final passage before the Gate.This is the Trial of Remembrance.You will each face a spirit from your bloodline's past.To survive… you must understand what you carry.…Or be destroyed by it."
Before any of them could react, the ground cracked, and each of them vanished—pulled into isolated spiritual realms.
Kaien's Trial — The Dragon's Truth
Kaien landed hard on obsidian stone.
He stood in a battlefield of flame and bone. Lava flowed in rivers around him. In the sky, dragons soared—roaring, fighting each other in a storm of fire.
And then he appeared again.
The Dragon King.
But not the calm, spectral image Kaien had seen before. No—this one was burning, his body wrapped in golden flame, his horns longer, his wings tattered and bloody.
"You saw a sliver of my truth," the Dragon King said, stepping forward. "Now see the part they hid."
Kaien shook his head. "I don't want to fight you."
"Then you'll never survive your bloodline."
The ground exploded as the king attacked—no warning, no mercy.
Kaien blocked with his sword, barely holding on. Every strike from the king's claws rattled his bones. His dragon aura flared wildly, reacting to the ancient fire.
"You carry more than my flame," the king growled. "You carry my sin. The rage… the betrayal… the power to burn nations."
"I'm not like you!" Kaien shouted.
"You don't get to choose! Blood remembers!"
Kaien closed his eyes—and listened. Not to the rage. But to the fire deep inside him. The warmth. The memory of his mother's lullaby. His father's laughter. His siblings' smiles. His own dream.
And he focused.
The flame didn't erupt.
It formed.
He opened his eyes, blazing gold.
"Then I'll make my own legend."
"Dragon Soul Form — First Awakening!"
Golden flame spiraled around him. A transparent dragon formed behind his back, wings wide, eyes glowing.
He charged.
Blade met claw. But this time—it was equal.
With one final cry, Kaien drove his aura into the king's chest. Not to kill—but to seal the hatred.
The battlefield shattered.
Yuki's Trial — The Snowbound Crown
Yuki stood in an icy temple, mirrors surrounding her.
Each mirror showed her different futures.
One—where she ruled the Himetsuru Clan coldly, alone.One—where she stood atop the corpses of rivals.One—where Kaien lay frozen beneath her sword.
A soft voice echoed behind her. "Which one is true?"
She turned.
A woman stood there, draped in white robes, hair like snow, eyes as cold as Yuki's own. It was her ancestor—the Ice Queen.
"I see your heart cracking," the Queen said. "You care for him."
Yuki's hands trembled.
"I don't—"
"Lies," the Queen whispered. "The frost inside you was made to protect you. But now you hesitate."
The mirrors shattered.
And a reflection of herself stepped out—cruel, emotionless, powerful.
"You must destroy what makes you weak," it hissed.
Yuki closed her eyes. "No. I will protect what makes me human."
Frost bloomed around her. A new power awakened—not sharp and cold, but calm and pure.
Her frostblade changed—now glowing with crystalline blue light, etched with runes of balance.
Back in the Real World
Kaien shot up, gasping, fire dancing around his body like armor. The others began reappearing one by one—each marked with a new aura.
Yuki stood tall, her eyes softer… but stronger.
Akari returned in a cloak of phoenix fire.Reizo glowed with wind tattoos across his arms.Baran had golden stone spirals wrapped around his shoulders.
They had all changed.
Before they could speak—a scream echoed across the ruins.
A cultivator from another group was being dragged into the darkness by something huge and cloaked in shadow.
Kaien's eyes narrowed. "The Ashborn Cult is here."
Yuki stepped beside him. "Then the final trial begins now… not by test—but by war."