But Tian Lei did not yield.

The air tore with the force of their arrival—storms of divine heat swirling like cosmic furnaces. Every heartbeat became a battle, every breath a trial. His hammer gleamed white-hot in his grip, veins of molten gold threading through the handle, pulsing in rhythm with his own burning spirit.

The first wave struck—twelve flame beasts, each one carrying the will of a Heaven-ranked fire. They came like a hurricane, their forms shifting between dragons, lions, and serpents of pure plasma.

Tian Lei moved.

He didn't fight to destroy them. He tempered them.

Each swing of his hammer sent shockwaves of qi cascading through the realm, reshaping the flames instead of scattering them. His strikes weren't violence—they were refinement. Sparks flew in radiant arcs, and each contact between his hammer and a spirit's form forged it anew, its essence drawn into his own Heartflame.

One by one, their roars turned into songs. The firestorm changed rhythm—from chaos to symphony. The flames no longer raged against him—they began to follow him, moving in harmony with his heartbeat.

But the realm was far from finished.

The golden sun at the center pulsed once, and the ground split apart. From the cracks emerged a second wave—giant humanoid spirits cloaked in molten armor, their eyes burning with divine will. They carried no weapons; they were the weapons, each strike releasing the power of volcanic eruption.

Tian Lei's skin cracked under the heat, blood vaporizing before it could leave his wounds. Still, he gritted his teeth and pressed forward.

"Endurance, huh? Then watch closely."

He roared, driving his hammer down with everything he had. The impact sent an ocean of flame cascading outward, swallowing the humanoid spirits whole. Instead of dispersing, their power rushed back into him, coalescing into swirling runes that crawled across his body. His flesh began to change—no longer human, but something forged between flame and will.

Hours—or maybe days—passed. Time had lost meaning.

When his knees finally buckled, he found himself at the base of the Primordial Heaven Flame itself. Its body towered over him, radiant, endless—a star confined to a single point in space.

It spoke again, softer this time, yet its voice shook his soul.

"You have endured my children, mortal. You have turned their fury into creation. But endurance alone is not mastery. Will you withstand me?"

The air warped. The Primordial Flame descended.

It didn't strike with force—it pressed down with existence. Tian Lei's skin peeled away, his bones melted, his spirit trembled on the edge of collapse. His consciousness teetered between life and ash.

Still, he lifted his hammer.

"I… didn't come here to burn," he rasped. "I came… to forge."

The moment his hammer rose, his Heartflame burst free. It expanded outward, devouring the inferno that sought to consume him. Two flames collided—one mortal, one divine—and the realm itself seemed to bend in awe.

The sky shattered into rivers of molten light. Mountains liquefied. Time folded. For a brief, blinding instant, everything was fire.

And then—silence.

The flames around Tian Lei bowed. The Primordial Heaven Flame itself dimmed, its form collapsing into a glowing ember that drifted toward him.

"You have not taken flame," it whispered, "you have become flame."

The ember sank into his chest. His aura exploded outward, turning the molten world into glass. His hair, once black, now burned with faint streaks of gold and red. His eyes reflected the cosmos—a smoldering sun in each iris.

The oppressive heat vanished. In its place, warmth—steady, eternal.

Tian Lei opened his eyes. The once-raging realm now knelt before him, rivers of fire flowing in reverence. The mountain winds sang softly, carrying whispers of respect through the air.

His cultivation surged, shattering through the Divine boundary. His spiritual sea roared, reshaping itself into a boundless forge—a sun contained within his soul. The Empyrean Rank answered his call.

He stood, lifting his hammer, and the world itself seemed to bow.

"Empyrean," he murmured, smiling faintly.

"Yes," the Primordial Flame's voice echoed, warm yet thunderous, "you have managed to bond with an Empyrean-ranked child of mine. Take good care of him."

With a casual flick of her hand, the entire realm twisted. Reality folded like molten glass—and before Tian Lei could even react, he was hurled out of the Secret Realm in a storm of fire and light.

—

The world snapped back into focus.

A shockwave of heat burst across the sect's sacred mountain as Tian Lei's body materialized at the center of the grand courtyard. The skies above blazed crimson, and every formation rune in a thousand-mile radius flickered violently, unable to withstand the eruption of Empyrean qi.

Elders staggered back, shielding their faces. Flames of divine intensity spiraled upward, painting the heavens with the mark of ascension.

At the heart of it all, Tian Lei stood—shirt torn, hair streaked with gold and red, eyes reflecting a miniature sun. The ground beneath his feet melted into glowing glass as his aura expanded, then slowly stabilized, turning from wild heat into controlled brilliance.

From within his chest, a low, resonant hum echoed. Then—woosh!—a flame spirit emerged, small yet impossibly radiant. It hovered beside him, its form resembling a childlike wisp of golden fire, eyes pure as dawnlight.

The elders froze. Even the Sect Master, who had been meditating atop the central pavilion, opened his eyes in disbelief.

"An Empyrean Flame Spirit… bonded?!" the elder whispered, voice trembling. "That's—impossible! Those flames obey none but the Primordial Source itself!"

The Sect Master himself looked at Tian Lei in disbelief. He had heard of cultivators who managed to bond with Heaven-Rank flames before—rare, but not impossible. Yet this… this was entirely different.

Tian Lei hadn't bonded with a Heaven-Rank flame. He had formed a pact with an Empyrean-Rank Flame Spirit—a child of the Primordial Flame herself.

A murmur spread through the gathered disciples and elders, their voices trembling with awe and fear alike.

"Impossible…" one elder breathed. "Even the greatest forgemasters in history barely touched the edge of Heaven-Rank flames…"

Another whispered, "A bond with an Empyrean child? That's not once in an era… that's once in a creation!"

The Sect Master's lips parted slightly, his fiery eyes reflecting the blazing aura that still surrounded Tian Lei. "A mortal who walks hand in hand with an Empyrean Flame… the Heaven themselves must have forged this destiny."

The mountain trembled again, as if the heavens were acknowledging his ascension.

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