Darkness swallowed everything.
Gu Chen couldn't see his hands.
He couldn't feel the ground beneath his feet.
Even the heat of the Ancient Flame Hall had disappeared.
Only silence remained.
Then—
a tiny flame appeared in the darkness.
Gu Chen stared at it.
The flame was weak.
So weak that it seemed as though it would disappear with the slightest breeze.
He remembered the whisper.
Do not let the fire die.
Gu Chen slowly approached.
The tiny flame flickered.
He extended his hand.
The moment his fingers touched it—
Boom!
A terrifying heat surged into his body.
Gu Chen's consciousness shook violently.
Images flashed before his eyes.
An enormous mountain range.
Endless forests.
A vast land covered by darkness.
Then—
countless flames appeared.
Gu Chen saw figures moving through the flames.
But their appearances were unclear.
The vision lasted only an instant.
Everything disappeared.
Gu Chen opened his eyes.
He was back inside the Ancient Flame Hall.
The sixth pillar was burning.
His breathing was heavy.
"What was that?"
He looked toward the darkness ahead.
There was no answer.
The sixth pillar had tested him.
But Gu Chen didn't understand the test.
He only knew that the tiny flame had seemed incredibly important.
As though it represented something that could not be allowed to disappear.
Gu Chen remained silent for a long time.
Then he stepped forward.
The seventh pillar stood before him.
The thin crack across its surface was still visible.
A faint golden-red light leaked from within.
Gu Chen stopped several meters away.
His heartbeat accelerated again.
The warmth inside his body returned.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The seventh pillar responded.
The crack slowly widened.
Crack!
A wave of golden-red flames erupted.
Gu Chen instinctively raised his arms.
But the flames did not harm him.
They surrounded him.
Slowly rotating.
Then a voice echoed through the hall.
"Blood remembers what time cannot erase."
Gu Chen frowned.
"Who are you?"
Silence.
The golden-red flames continued circling him.
Then the seventh pillar suddenly shook.
A powerful force descended upon Gu Chen.
His knees bent.
He immediately circulated his cultivation technique.
But the pressure continued increasing.
Gu Chen gritted his teeth.
His muscles trembled.
This wasn't a test of cultivation.
The pressure didn't come from World Energy.
It came from somewhere deeper.
It was testing his blood.
Gu Chen didn't understand how.
But he could feel something inside his body responding.
A strange warmth flowed through his veins.
At first, it was almost unnoticeable.
Then it grew stronger.
The golden-red flames moved closer.
They entered his body.
"Argh!"
Gu Chen fell to one knee.
His blood began circulating rapidly.
The pain was unlike anything he had experienced before.
Yet Gu Chen refused to lose consciousness.
He remembered the words from the fourth trial.
If he wanted to walk his own path, he couldn't collapse at the first obstacle.
He clenched his fists.
And endured.
Time passed.
The Ancient Flame Hall remained silent except for Gu Chen's heavy breathing.
Then—
Boom!
The seventh pillar erupted.
A golden-red flame shot toward the endless sky.
Gu Chen suddenly opened his eyes.
The pain had disappeared.
His body felt normal.
No—
not completely normal.
There was a strange warmth deep within him.
Gu Chen looked down.
Nothing could be seen.
He closed his eyes and carefully examined his body.
His cultivation hadn't increased.
His physical strength hadn't suddenly multiplied.
Everything seemed unchanged.
But when he circulated World Energy—
the warmth responded.
A faint golden-red thread appeared within his energy.
Gu Chen immediately stopped.
"What is this?"
Before he could investigate further—
a voice echoed through his mind.
"A trace."
Gu Chen froze.
The voice continued.
"A dying trace of what once flowed through your ancestors."
Gu Chen looked toward the seventh pillar.
"Bloodline?"
There was no response.
The voice had disappeared.
The seventh pillar slowly dimmed.
But unlike before—
it was now burning.
Seven pillars had awakened.
Gu Chen stood silently.
He had gained no powerful technique.
No treasure had appeared.
His cultivation had not soared.
Yet something inside him had changed.
A trace of an ancient inheritance now existed within his blood.
But it was incredibly weak.
So weak that Gu Chen couldn't even understand its purpose.
He slowly clenched his fist.
"I'll find out eventually."
Outside the Ancient Flame Hall.
The Clan Head suddenly opened his eyes.
"The seventh."
The Grand Elder stood beside him.
His gaze was fixed upon the hall.
A faint golden-red light could be seen through the ancient formation surrounding it.
Neither man spoke.
Seven pillars.
They didn't know what it meant.
The surviving records were incomplete.
But both understood one thing.
What was happening inside the Ancient Flame Hall was beyond anything the current Gu Clan had experienced.
The Clan Head looked toward the surrounding elders.
"This matter remains confidential."
An elder frowned.
"Clan Head, many members have already seen the pillars."
"Then ensure they understand the consequences of spreading rumors."
His voice remained calm.
But nobody doubted his meaning.
The elders immediately bowed.
"Understood."
Deep beneath the ancestral grounds.
An old man slowly opened his eyes.
His white hair rested against his shoulders.
He sat within a quiet underground chamber.
Ancient formations covered the walls.
This was the Old Ancestor's secluded cultivation ground.
He had remained here for decades.
The disturbance from the Ancient Flame Hall had reached him again.
"Seven..."
He whispered.
His expression became thoughtful.
During his long life, he had studied many of the surviving records concerning the Gu Clan's ancient history.
But the information about the Nine Pillars was incomplete.
He knew they were connected to an inheritance.
He knew they had remained dormant for five thousand years.
Beyond that—
even he knew little.
The Old Ancestor slowly closed his eyes.
He attempted to sense the Ancient Flame Hall.
But the ancient formations surrounding it blocked most of his perception.
He could only sense a faint warmth.
Then—
something caused his expression to change.
A strange aura.
It was incredibly faint.
But it felt ancient.
The Old Ancestor opened his eyes.
"That feeling..."
He searched through his memories.
Not personal memories.
Records.
Ancient fragments he had studied centuries ago.
But he couldn't find an answer.
After a moment, he shook his head.
"Perhaps I've been distracted for too long."
He closed his eyes.
His attention returned to his cultivation.
The barrier before him was still there.
Rank 4.
The Law Fusion Realm.
A realm that the current Gu Clan had not possessed for generations.
He could not afford to fail.
Inside the Ancient Flame Hall.
Gu Chen looked toward the eighth pillar.
The seventh flame burned quietly behind him.
He had reached a point no one had reached in countless years.
But Gu Chen didn't know that.
He didn't know how extraordinary seven awakened pillars were.
He simply knew that two remained.
The eighth.
And the ninth.
Gu Chen took a deep breath.
Then began walking.
But the moment he passed the seventh pillar—
the eighth pillar suddenly trembled.
Gu Chen stopped.
The entire Ancient Flame Hall became silent.
Then—
all seven flames behind him extinguished.
Darkness descended once more.
Gu Chen's eyes narrowed.
A different voice echoed from the darkness.
It did not question him.
It did not explain anything.
It simply said—
"When everything disappears..."
A long silence followed.
Then the voice continued.
"...what remains?"
Gu Chen stood alone in the darkness.
And for the first time since entering the Ancient Flame Hall—
he had no immediate answe