"Stand Before the Storm."
The sky above Thunderclad Basin churned with violet clouds, restless and brooding. Flashes of argent lightning split the gloom in jagged streaks, illuminating the basin's shattered cliffs and broken stones. The air trembled with tension, charged as if the heavens themselves held their breath.
Su Mengtian stood alone at the basin's heart, wind tearing at his robes, thunder rumbling like the growl of a beast yet unseen. The world around him had shifted into something ancient-wild, primeval, unforgiving.
He closed his eyes briefly, letting the wind rush across his skin. In that moment of stillness, he remembered the warmth of his mother's voice, the fire in his grandfather's eyes, the quiet determination in Su Leilong's back when he walked toward war and never looked back.
This wasn't just a trial. This was legacy.
On a high ledge overseeing the basin, a lone figure watched in silence-Commander Fei Wu, draped in silver-black ceremonial armor, hair bound high with a storm-forged clasp. His one good eye gleamed beneath a jagged scar, the other hidden behind an obsidian eyepatch etched with runic lightning.
He had once commanded legions. Now he was the appointed overseer of a singular trial.
Su Mengtian turned toward him, breath steady, posture unshaken.
Fei Wu's voice roared down like a thunderclap.
"You enter alone, Su Mengtian. No armies. No titles. No names to protect you."
"What lies ahead is not a test of victory-"
"-It is a crucible. Of soul, of spirit. Of the spine a leader must wield when all else fails."
Su Mengtian bowed slightly, not in submission, but acknowledgment.
"I am ready."
Fei Wu raised one gauntleted hand and pointed it toward the roiling clouds above. A ripple of energy pulsed from his body, igniting ancient glyphs carved into the stone spires encircling the basin. The storm above shrieked, converging into a cyclonic eye of lightning.
"Then face the First Trial-Strength."
The earth split with a deafening crack. A towering shadow burst forth from beneath the obsidian-etched ground. Claws struck stone, and lightning erupted.
The Tempest Fang Bear had awakened.
It was a monstrous being-taller than three men, wrapped in violet-silver fur that sparked with every breath. Thunder coiled around its shoulders like a living mantle. Its eyes were jagged lines of white fury, and when it roared, the sky answered.
Su Mengtian did not flinch. He stepped forward.
The bear charged, claws tearing up the stone path in its wake. Each step sent seismic pulses through the basin, distorting the magnetic field. Flight was impossible-his qi weighed down like iron in water.
He didn't need to fly.
He planted his feet, letting the storm pass through him. With a twist, he sidestepped the beast's first lunge and brought his palm into its ribs-Wyrmbreaking Flow. The strike resonated through the bear's thick hide, forcing it back a step-but not more.
The bear snarled, baring fangs crackling with static. It reared back and slammed both claws into the earth, sending a shockwave outward. Su Mengtian leapt to the side, rolled, and drew his twin armblades-blades forged from his own thunder-infused essence.
This isn't about killing it, he reminded himself.
It's about enduring it. Mastering it. Withstanding the storm, and answering it with calm.
The next barrage came fast. The Tempest Fang Bear swung with unnatural speed, its thunder-wreathed claws cutting arcs through the air. Su Mengtian parried, blocked, deflected-then took a hit straight to the ribs. Pain cracked through him, but he stood.
Another charge. He was hurled back, skidding across stone, sparks flying from his boots. His blades fell.
Blood trickled from his mouth. But he rose.
Above, Fei Wu's expression didn't change. Yet a flicker of something passed through his eye.
"Good," he whispered. "Stand. As your father once did."
The bear charged again, thunder trailing its massive frame.
Su Mengtian reached inward-not to his bloodline, not to borrowed strength. He reached to the core of his past self, the mercenary commander who had stood on broken ground and held the line when the world fell apart.
He remembered frost-soaked hills. He remembered Yueying's final words before her memory vanished. He remembered holding the bodies of brothers-in-arms. And he remembered a promise-to never bend, no matter the storm.
With a shout, he met the beast head-on.
Steel clashed against claw. Palm met thunder. Flesh tore. But this time, the bear staggered backward.
Su Mengtian stood taller.
He roared-not in anger, but as a declaration. A call of thunder made flesh.
Lightning surged around him-not summoned, but awakened. The ambient storm responded, weaving around his body in recognition.
The bear's eyes flickered. It paused.
Then, slowly, it bowed its head.
Fei Wu raised his hand. The storm ceased. The bear dissipated into mist-its essence having served its purpose.
Commander Fei Wu descended from his perch, landing before Su Mengtian with the weight of thunder.
"You faced the First Trial not as a bloodline heir... but as a man."
"Strength is not domination. It is the spine to rise-again and again-until the storm bows."
He reached into a sealed case beside him and pulled out a pair of gauntlets. They glowed with thunder-glyphs, forged in a forgotten forge beneath the Skyvault Mountains.
"These are the Thunderbearing Armguards. They belonged to your grandfather during his final campaign.
They amplify inner qi using ambient thunder-and shield the soul during soul tribulations.
You've earned them."
Su Mengtian received them with both hands.
But Fei Wu wasn't finished. He turned and walked toward the altar at the far end of the basin.
There, resting inside a stormglass cocoon, pulsed a radiant, beating light.
A beast egg-oval and silver-gold, etched with living thunder veins.
He said "Left by your grandfather, General Su Leilong. Meant only for the one who passes the trial in full."
"The Celestial Thunder Dragon Spirit Beast lies within."
Su Mengtian took a slow step forward, reverence in his every movement. As his hand neared the egg, the storm itself pulsed once-as if blessing the contact.
He murmured Father... Grandfather... I'll carry your will further than either of you ever could.
And thus began the Storm Trial's journey... Eight more trials awaited.
But from this moment on-
The storm no longer tested him.
It recognized him.