Calen appeared outside the valley of gold fire where Ria's guidance had led him, but as the mist parted, the world itself shifted. The valley stretched into a horizon of burning skies, and before him unfolded a realm of flame. A thousand suns blazed across the heavens, each radiating heat so intense that even his solar physique trembled beneath their weight.
At the center of it all loomed a golden sun, vast and terrible, its qi so immense it threatened to annihilate him. Yet this time, he was truly alone. The Origin Shard had warned them long ago: eternal‑grade spirit tools were forbidden to intervene in these crucibles. If they did, the trial would collapse, and the wielder would fail.
The instant Calen crossed the threshold, the realm's law took hold. Pressure crushed down on his body, threatening to grind him into ash, and at the same time, Ria was sealed. A formation of overwhelming strength locked her within him, silencing her presence. Even she could not break free without risking his life, and she would not—because his growth was her growth, and the energy he claimed here would strengthen them both. Thus she obeyed the law of the realm, restrained, waiting, and unable to act.
Calen understood. This was his burden to carry. His first true battle without her hand to steady him.
The deeper Calen stepped, the heavier the thousand suns bore down upon him. Their radiance threatened to crush his body into ash, and only the trial's protective formation held him back from instant annihilation—a fragile veil between survival and obliteration. His cultivation was far too low to withstand such force unaided.
Then the golden sun pulsed—and the first trial descended.
Beams of solar energy lanced down from the heavens, targeting him relentlessly. Though Calen's body was attuned to sunlight, these rays were not ordinary. They pierced him beyond endurance, burning through flesh, melting bone, and searing his spirit. He screamed as his body dissolved into pure radiance, activating his Emperor Solar Blaze Physique, yet even then the rays forced him back into humanoid form, humbling him again and again.
He endured torment without end. Every day was agony, every breath a struggle. He collapsed countless times, his body broken, his spirit frayed. Yet the trial itself was mercilessly precise: whenever he reached the brink of death, the suns dimmed and the beams withdrew. A cocoon of silence wrapped around him, granting no more than three days before the blaze returned. In those brief pauses, meditation was his only refuge—knitting flesh, restoring qi, steadying spirit—but the pain never truly ceased.
Thus the cycle repeated without end: torment, collapse, enforced recovery, and torment again. Centuries blurred together in that rhythm until his body hardened and his spirit blazed brighter than steel.
The urge to surrender pressed against him constantly, whispering that no one would know if he yielded, that no one would care. Yet he endured, clinging to the faint hope that beyond this torment lay strength.
At last, after five centuries of suffering, he broke through. His physique hardened, his spirit blazed brighter, and he ascended into the Immortal Realm. The rays still burned, but they no longer broke him. He stood tall beneath the sun, his aura radiant, his will unyielding. Yet his suffering was not over.
The second trial unfolded before him—a vast board of solar checkers, its squares glowing with radiant fire. Each piece shimmered like a miniature sun, every move a test of strategy and spirit.
Failure was not gentle. The moment he miscalculated, the board erupted, lances of solar flame striking him with merciless precision. The burn was absolute, searing flesh and spirit alike, until his vision went white and he collapsed into unconsciousness.
When he awoke, it was always the same: three days later, restored by the realm's law, lying at the foot of the board. His body whole, his qi replenished—but his progress erased. He had to play again, starting from the first square, no matter how far he had advanced before.
He failed countless times, so many that he lost count. Centuries passed in frustration. He cursed, he wept, and he raged, but he never abandoned the board. Each failure carried the sting of death, each enforced pause reminded him of his weakness, yet each return sharpened his mind. Slowly, painfully, he began to see patterns in the radiant fire, threads of logic hidden beneath the cruelty.
Two hundred years passed in this rhythm of defeat and rebirth. At last, his hands moved with certainty, his spirit was steady, and his mind was clear. He mastered the puzzle, winning a single game that allowed him to move forward.
His spirit soared, his cultivation surged, and he stepped into the early Sage Realm. The burns no longer broke him; the board no longer mocked him. He had endured, and he had prevailed.
The third trial was worse than the first two. He was cast into a labyrinth of obstacles, forbidden to use qi. Every challenge had to be met with his body alone. Walls of flame, rivers of molten light, and mountains of burning stone—all had to be overcome with sheer physical strength. His flesh tore, his muscles burned, and his bones cracked. He crawled, he climbed, and he fought, enduring agony beyond measure. For seven hundred years he struggled, sharpening his body against the iron of trial. At last, he emerged, his physique honed like steel, his presence towering. He had reached the Sky Limit Realm, his body a weapon forged in fire.
The golden sun pulsed, and from its radiance a figure stepped forth. Calen froze.
It was himself.
Seventeen in appearance, though centuries of trial weighed on his spirit. Flowing golden hair shimmered like sunlight, eyes burning with calm radiance. His aura blazed with golden qi, faintly tinged with the scars of endless torment. The Solar Entity was identical—same physique, same aura, same techniques. But its gaze was cold, expressionless, a mirror without a soul.
The valley trembled. The duel began.
The Solar Entity surged forward first, trails of golden afterimages streaking behind it—the Radiant Solar Method's first technique, Solar Dance. Calen mirrored their bodies blurring, hundreds of steps in seconds, fists and knees clashing, and shoulders slamming. The ground cracked beneath their speed.
A palm strike erupted from the entity's hand—Solar Beam (#2). Calen answered in kind, the collision detonating in a shockwave that scorched the valley. Calen was hurled back, ribs aching from the blast.
The entity raised technique #4, Solar Arrows, bolts of solar qi piercing forward. Calen hastily summoned Solar Veil (#3), radiant walls shielding him. The Veil was quick and flexible, scattering the first wave—but the mirror's barrage did not relent. Arrow after arrow hammered against the barrier until concentrated strikes burned through. One bolt seared his shoulder as he twisted to evade, driving him back under the relentless assault.
The mirror drew a spirit blade, channeling Solar Rage (#5). Each swing carved arcs of sunfire. Calen met it with his own blade, sparks raining as his guard faltered; a counter-arc slashed across his thigh, blood vaporizing in the heat.
Close‑quarters now—the entity's fist blazed with Solar Punch (#6), detonating against Calen's jawline. Calen mirrored, striking its chest, but the equal force staggered him, teeth rattling as he crashed into the earth.
The entity gave him no chance to recover, summoning Solar Rain (#7)—a storm of miniature suns blazing down from above. Calen mirrored, but the downpour caught him full force, flesh blistering, blood hissing into vapor.
The entity appeared like a ghost behind him, silent and sudden. Before Calen could fully escape, Solar Lance (#9)—a spear of condensed sunlight designed to pierce defenses—drove into his side. He reeled, blood spilling as the wound burned, the radiant weapon dissolving into sparks as the pain seared through him.
Calen invoked Solar Bloom (#10)—radiant vines knitting flesh and bone, mending his wounds. But the entity did not wait for him to heal. Chains erupted from its hands—Solar Shackles (#11)—radiant bindings lashing toward him. Calen twisted aside and even raised his blade to cut them, but a stray solar arrow pierced through, slowing his motion. In that instant the chains coiled around him, locking tight, his spirit sea shuddering as his qi flow was disrupted.
He strained to break free, but it was too late. The entity had already unleashed Solar Nova (#12)—a massive solar explosion detonating outward, engulfing everything nearby. Calen threw up Solar Aegis (#8), a crystalline barricade of condensed solar qi. Unlike the Veil, the Aegis was heavy and fortified, built to withstand catastrophic force. Even so, the barricade only blunted the blast; the explosion ripped through, hurling him back, skin scorched, body battered, and ribs splintering under the impact.