Rain fell.

  Thin, whispering droplets that turned the Wind-Crystal Valley into a shroud of mist and murmur. Fenrir knelt shirtless atop the Coldstone Pillar, a narrow, jagged spike jutting from the cliffs. His eyes were closed, legs crossed, lips moving silently.

  Below, Joshua stood at the base of the pillar, watching.

  “Three weeks,” he murmured. “Let’s see if you can endure the storm within.”

  ---

  Inside the Flame

  Within Fenrir’s dantian, his spirit core—a fragile mass of circulating qi—spun slowly, coiling like smoke in a bottle. Since the wolf fight, he had trained obsessively, mastering the first five cycles of the Ashfire Breathing Sutra.

  He was now ready for the next step: drawing spiritual qi into his body and condensing it into essence.

  It was a dangerous threshold. One mistake, and the uncontrolled energy could rupture his meridians from within.

  Lightning flashed.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Fenrir exhaled. Now.

  He began the sixth cycle. Qi surged in through his pores like cold wind. It clashed with his internal flame—wild, chaotic, untamed.

  Pain.

  He clenched his teeth. Muscles locked. Veins burned like molten wires.

  “I won’t stop,” he growled.

  ---

  Flashback: The Night Before

  Joshua had spoken few words that night.

  “You will feel like you’re dying,” he’d said. “That’s how you know it’s working.”

  Fenrir had nodded.

  “You’ll see visions—hallucinations. Things that break lesser minds.”

  “I’ll endure.”

  Joshua looked at him quietly, then handed him a black iron ring. “This was mine. During my Qi Condensation. You’ll earn it if you live.”

  ---

  Back to the Breakthrough

  Fenrir’s consciousness wavered.

  He saw fire.

  Stonebranch. His parents. Flames. Screams.

  He saw his old self—weak, crying, alone. That boy stared at him with hollow eyes.

  “You’re nothing,” the boy whispered. “You were never meant to rise.”

  Fenrir didn’t speak. He stepped forward in the vision—and embraced the boy. Fire consumed them both.

  ---

  Outside, lightning struck the peak. The valley trembled.

  Then—silence.

  From the top of the Coldstone Pillar, a pillar of red-gold light burst skyward.

  Joshua raised his head, eyes narrowing. “He did it.”

  ---

  Qi Condensation Achieved

  Fenrir descended the pillar barefoot, clothes soaked, skin marked with faint silver lines where qi had carved new meridians.

  He collapsed to one knee before Joshua, gasping.

  “I… I did it.”

  “You did,” Joshua said.

  “I saw… things. I saw the past.”

  Joshua handed him the black iron ring.

  “Good. That means your flame is real now. You’ve taken the first step into the world of cultivators.”

  Fenrir slipped the ring on. It fit perfectly.

  ---

  That night, Fenrir didn’t train. He sat alone on the cliffs, staring at the stars.

  He was a Qi Condensation cultivator now. Stronger than any man in Stonebranch had ever been. And yet, something told him this was only the beginning.

  The wind stirred.

  Somewhere far from the valley, the first ripples of his breakthrough were felt by spiritual sensors of greater sects.

  The Flowind Sect had just lit its first true flame.

  And others would come to snuff it out.