He walked into the trial expecting a choice.
He walked out a storm.
☯ Inside the Dreamspace…
Chen Ming stood at the center of the Dreamspace's triple-crossed bridge, each path heavy with memory, longing, and impossible futures. Threads of fate tugged at his soul like puppeteers, pulling him toward moonlight, toward ice, toward stars.
His chest tightened. His heart—too full to pick just one. He braced to step forward, to choose, to sever.
But fate cracked first.
The bridge beneath him splintered, threads of light unraveling into the void. Energy surged through the Dreamspace like a divine tremor.
[System Override Detected][Trial of Severance – Temporarily Paused][Flame Core Activation: Soul Thread Fusion In Progress…]
Heat erupted through his chest—not pain, not agony.
Transformation.
Then came the fall.
🔥 The Flame Altar – Core Awakening
The new bridge spiraled downward, a helix of crimson and gold twisting deep into the Core of the Dreamspace. Chen dropped, not like a man in freefall, but like a spark returning to the furnace that made it.
He landed on a floating stone platform surrounded by rings of sacred flame.
In the center: an altar older than time, inscribed with divine runes that pulsed with his heartbeat. Floating above it—a lotus made of fire, each burning petal carved with realms and titles too ancient for language.
Until the System lent him its eyes.
[Cultivation Realms Detected:]— Mortal Root— Yang Initiate— Flame Ascendant— Solar Soul— Infernal Emperor— God of Yang (Locked)— ???
He looked down at his hands. Familiar. Mortal.
But not for long.
🧬 System Surge: Cultivation Compatibility Test
[Your Flame Core has reached 100% Emotional Stability][You have bonded with: Ye Yue, Lanmei, and Envoy Pathways][Initiating Cultivation Breakthrough…]
The altar pulsed. The fire-lotus opened its heart.
And Chen Ming burned.
A flood of memory, passion, and pain swept into him—
—Ye Yue, arching beneath him, her divine body trembling in bliss and fear.
—Lanmei, bloodied and breathless, fighting fate with a smile.
—The Envoy, wearing his flame like stolen skin, whispering promises of transcendence.
Love. Betrayal. Ambition. Sacrifice.
All of it… fuel.
[Breakthrough Achieved: Yang Initiate → Flame Ascendant][Health: 986,278 → 1,444,000+][Power: 988,838 → 1,880,000+][Dexterity: 96% → 99%][Determination: 94% → 100%][Wisdom: 97% → 102% (Overlimit!)]
Chen gasped as power surged through him—not like lightning, but like becoming. His skin glowed with golden script. His breath shimmered with flame.
He wasn't just ascending.
He was claiming.
The Mortal Realm couldn't hold him now.
🌌 A Glimpse Beyond – The Realms Above
The lotus shifted. Opened wider.
And through it, Chen saw more.
Pantheons, watching from on high—some cloaked in starlight, others wrapped in robes of war and whispers. Gods with eyes like galaxies. Beings who once walked flames he hadn't even learned to name.
They saw him now.
Not as prey.
But as a problem.
And still—the System hummed.
[Warning: God of Yang Title Locked Behind Trial of Severance Completion][You may now challenge:]— Higher Realms of Duality— Yin Parasites— Flame Suppression Protocols— Or... unlock your own Path.
👁 A Final Choice Appears
The altar glowed one last time, reshaping the Dreamspace into something new.
Not a place of sorrow. Not a place of trials.
A crucible.
One last screen shimmered before his vision. Not forced. Not required. But offered.
[Optional Trial Branch: The Flame Path of One vs. All]Challenge the divine realms that seek to claim you. Burn your name into Heaven's spine.…Or return to the Trial of Severance and claim what your heart desires most.
Chen stood tall.
Not just as a cultivator.
Not just as a man.
But as a storm made flesh.
And for the first time…
The choice was his.