Darkness surrounded Gu Chen.
He stood alone.
There was no ground.
No sky.
No heat.
Even the faint presence of World Energy had disappeared.
The voice from moments ago continued echoing through the darkness.
"When everything disappears..."
"...what remains?"
Gu Chen remained silent.
At first, he thought the answer was obvious.
His cultivation.
But the moment the thought appeared, he rejected it.
Cultivation could be lost.
An injury.
A broken foundation.
A failed breakthrough.
There were countless ways for a cultivator to lose their strength.
Then—
his body disappeared.
Gu Chen's pupils contracted.
He could no longer feel his limbs.
He could no longer feel his heartbeat.
Only his consciousness remained within the endless darkness.
"So this is the meaning of the trial..."
His voice was barely audible.
The darkness was taking everything away.
His strength.
His body.
His connection to the outside world.
Perhaps, eventually, even his memories would disappear.
Gu Chen fell silent.
What remained when everything disappeared?
Time slowly passed.
He didn't know how long he remained there.
There was no way to measure time in the darkness.
Then memories began surfacing.
His childhood.
The Gu Clan.
The familiar mountains surrounding his home.
The elders who had taught him.
The countless days he had spent cultivating.
Then the memories began fading.
One by one.
Gu Chen's expression changed.
He tried to hold onto them.
But the harder he tried, the faster they disappeared.
Eventually—
only a single thought remained.
I want to continue.
Gu Chen froze.
The thought was simple.
Yet it refused to disappear.
He had lost everything.
His body.
His cultivation.
His memories.
But that thought remained.
He wanted to continue forward.
Even if there was nothing ahead.
Even if he didn't know where the path led.
He would continue.
A tiny light suddenly appeared in the darkness.
Gu Chen looked toward it.
It was a flame.
Weak.
Almost insignificant.
But it continued burning.
Gu Chen slowly approached it.
This time, he did not reach out to take it.
He simply stood beside it.
The flame flickered.
Then gradually became brighter.
The darkness began retreating.
The voice echoed one final time.
"When everything disappears..."
Gu Chen looked at the flame.
His answer was calm.
"Will."
BOOM!
The darkness shattered.
Gu Chen opened his eyes.
He was back inside the Ancient Flame Hall.
The eighth pillar was burning.
A faint warmth flowed through his consciousness.
He stood silently for a long moment.
The eighth trial had not given him power.
It hadn't strengthened his body.
But Gu Chen felt different.
His mind was clearer.
His determination more stable.
He looked toward the final pillar.
The ninth.
Unlike the previous pillars, it remained completely silent.
No flame.
No pressure.
No reaction.
Gu Chen began walking toward it.
One step.
Then another.
The closer he came, the quieter the Ancient Flame Hall became.
When he finally stood before it, he stopped.
The ninth pillar was different.
It was taller than the others.
Its surface was covered in countless ancient patterns.
Most of them were too faded to recognize.
Gu Chen raised his hand.
Before his palm could touch it—
a whisper echoed through the hall.
"Gu Clan descendant..."
Gu Chen froze.
The voice was neither old nor young.
Neither male nor female.
It seemed to come from everywhere.
"Who are you?"
There was no answer.
The ninth pillar slowly began to glow.
A tiny flame appeared before Gu Chen.
It was no larger than a fingertip.
Gu Chen stared at it.
The flame had no fixed color.
At one moment, it was crimson.
Then gold.
Then white.
Then a color he couldn't describe.
For some reason, Gu Chen felt an inexplicable familiarity.
As though the flame had always been waiting for him.
The tiny flame slowly moved toward him.
Gu Chen did not retreat.
It touched his chest.
HUM—
His consciousness trembled.
The Ancient Flame Hall disappeared.
Gu Chen saw mountains.
Endless mountains.
Ancient cities stood between them, their scale far beyond anything he had seen before.
Countless cultivators moved through the skies.
Some traveled upon enormous flying treasures.
Others crossed the heavens with their own strength.
The Gu Clan's current territory seemed insignificant compared to this vast world.
Then—
the scene changed.
Gu Chen saw a sea of fire.
Countless flames rose toward the sky.
At the center of that endless sea stood a single figure.
He could not see the person's face.
The figure stood with his back toward Gu Chen.
Yet an indescribable aura surrounded him.
It wasn't simply powerful.
It felt as though the flames themselves obeyed him.
Gu Chen instinctively understood.
This person was connected to the Gu Clan.
"Ancestor..."
The figure did not respond.
Instead, he slowly raised a hand.
The endless flames gathered.
They condensed into a single tiny flame.
The same flame now floating within Gu Chen's consciousness.
Then—
the sky changed.
Darkness appeared at the edge of the world.
Gu Chen tried to look closer.
But the entire vision became distorted.
He could only see vague silhouettes.
A vast battlefield.
Figures disappearing into the distance.
A sense of overwhelming destruction.
Then everything shattered.
Gu Chen opened his eyes.
He was back inside the Ancient Flame Hall.
The tiny flame had disappeared.
But he could feel it.
Deep within him.
A faint warmth rested somewhere beyond his reach.
He immediately attempted to examine it.
Nothing happened.
It didn't respond to his World Energy.
It didn't increase his cultivation.
It didn't give him a powerful technique.
It simply existed.
Gu Chen slowly frowned.
"Is this the inheritance?"
No answer came.
Then ancient characters appeared upon the ninth pillar.
Gu Chen had never seen the language before.
Yet the moment he looked at them, he understood.
«When the fire disappears, protect the ember.
When the ember becomes a flame, protect its path.
When the flame reaches the heavens, let it burn without fear.»
Gu Chen silently stared at the words.
Then they disappeared.
BOOM!
The ninth pillar ignited.
At the same moment—
the other eight pillars erupted into flames.
All nine pillars burned.
The Ancient Flame Hall shook violently.
Ancient formations appeared beneath Gu Chen's feet.
One after another.
Countless lines connected.
They formed a massive symbol.
A flame.
Gu Chen stood at its center.
The faint warmth inside him responded.
For a brief moment, he felt something.
Not power.
Not a technique.
A connection.
Something ancient.
Something that had survived for five thousand years.
Then—
everything became silent.
The flames disappeared.
The formations dimmed.
The Ancient Flame Hall returned to darkness.
Gu Chen stood alone.
The trial was over.
A moment later, the enormous bronze doors slowly opened.
Light entered the hall.
Gu Chen looked back.
The Nine Pillars stood silently behind him.
As though nothing had happened.
He took one final look at the Ancient Flame Hall.
Then turned and walked toward the exit.
Outside the hall, hundreds of eyes turned toward him.
The Clan Head stood at the front.
Beside him was the Grand Elder.
Neither spoke immediately.
Gu Chen walked out of the Ancient Flame Hall.
For a moment, complete silence covered the ancestral grounds.
Then the Clan Head stepped forward.
"Are you injured?"
Gu Chen shook his head.
"No."
The Clan Head studied him carefully.
There was no dramatic change in Gu Chen's aura.
His cultivation had not suddenly soared.
Apart from appearing somewhat exhausted, he looked almost the same as when he entered.
The Grand Elder frowned.
"What happened inside?"
Gu Chen hesitated.
How could he explain something he barely understood himself?
"There were trials."
The Grand Elder waited.
Gu Chen continued.
"I awakened all nine pillars."
A brief silence followed.
Although everyone had already witnessed the final reaction from outside, hearing Gu Chen confirm it still caused several elders to change expressions.
"And the inheritance?" the Grand Elder asked.
Gu Chen shook his head.
"I don't know."
The Grand Elder frowned.
"You don't know?"
"There was a flame."
Gu Chen touched his chest.
"But I don't know what it is."
The Clan Head and Grand Elder exchanged glances.
Neither pressed him further.
The Clan Head finally spoke.
"This matter will remain within the clan."
The surrounding elders immediately bowed.
"Yes, Clan Head."
Gu Chen looked around.
He knew that keeping such a matter completely secret would be difficult.
Too many people had witnessed the disturbance.
Rumors would eventually spread.
But that was no longer something he could control.
The Clan Head looked toward him.
"You may return and rest."
Gu Chen bowed.
"Yes."
As he walked away, he could feel countless eyes following him.
Curiosity.
Suspicion.
Jealousy.
And perhaps—
expectation.
Gu Chen ignored them.
His mind was still occupied by the tiny flame inside him.
He didn't know what it was.
He didn't know why the Ancient Flame Hall had chosen him.
And he didn't know what the strange vision truly meant.
But he understood one thing.
His life had changed.
Not because he had suddenly gained overwhelming power.
But because, for the first time—
he had found a path that belonged to him.
Deep beneath the Gu Clan's ancestral grounds.
The Old Ancestor slowly opened his eyes.
The disturbance had finally disappeared.
He sat quietly within his secluded chamber.
Ancient formations surrounded him.
For a long time, he remained silent.
He had sensed the awakening.
All Nine Pillars.
Although the records were incomplete, he understood the significance of such an event.
Something that had remained dormant for five thousand years had finally responded.
But what exactly had awakened?
Even he did not know.
The Old Ancestor slowly closed his eyes.
"Gu Chen..."
He quietly remembered the name.
Then he returned his attention to the barrier before him.
His own path had reached a critical point.
Rank 3.
Soul Tempering.
And beyond it—
Rank 4.
Law Fusion.
He had spent decades preparing for that single step.
Whether he succeeded or failed, only time would tell.
But above him, within the Gu Clan he had silently protected for centuries—
a new flame had begun to burn.
And neither the Old Ancestor nor Gu Chen yet understood—
how far that flame would eventually spreadsprea