The battlefield was a furnace of fury.
Talia and her companions fought against their former kin. Flaming techniques clashed in waves of destruction. Injuries deepened and eventually their were more fatalities
The first to fall was an elder defending the Flare Family. A flame spear pierced his chest, igniting his core before he could cast his final defense. His body erupted in a burst of golden fire, scattering embers across the sky.
Talia tried to assist, but an Early Sage Realm opponent blocked her path. Tomlinson was locked in combat with two Mid Sage Realm elders, their flame qi colliding in waves that melted the very air.
Another Flare-aligned elder was struck by a triple barrage of flame lances. She deflected two—but the third shattered her shoulder and ruptured her meridians. She collapsed, coughing blood, her aura flickering like a dying star.
On Jalen's side, five elders were severely wounded. Two more were dead.
But the enemy paid in blood as well.
One invader was caught in a spatial fold conjured by Tomlinson and incinerated by a flame vortex from Talia. His screams echoed across the battlefield before silence claimed him.
Another was impaled by a flame-forged glaive hurled by Elder Timothy, his body split in two before it hit the ground.
As the battle raged on, Jalen was busy facing off with his own opponent, who proved to be a bit challenging.
The Mid Sage Realm cultivator rose from the crater Jalen had carved into the earth. His robes were scorched, his halberd cracked—but his eyes burned brighter than ever. With flames cloaking his body, he charged at Jalen with his halberd.
They clashed.
Jalen flickers into view with Luminous Veil Step (Light Art technique #3), phasing through a beam of light and appearing behind the cultivator. But the man reacts instantly, casting Flame Displacement, warping his body sideways, and launching a backhanded flame burst.
Jalen dodges mid-air, countering with Winter Rend (Ice Art #9) —three crescent ice blades. The cultivator spins his halberd, casting Solar Arc Slash to melt two blades. The third clips his shoulder, drawing blood.
The cultivator snarls and surges forward, halberd blazing. Jalen activates Flash Reversion (Light Art technique #11), teleporting to a light-touched point above the enemy's head. He descends with Luminal Edge (Light Art technique#13), slashing downward. The cultivator blocks with a flame-forged shield, but the impact cracks its core.
The cultivator casts Spatial Fold Trap, attempting to lock Jalen's movement. Jalen counters with Cryo Lance Spiral (Ice Art technique#6), detonating a rotating ice spear mid-air to disrupt the fold.
He shifts into Light Flicker (Light Art technique #19), moving unpredictably—bishop slide, knight leap, and rook charge. The cultivator casts Solar Cage, a prism of burning gravity, but Jalen flickers diagonally, narrowly escaping entrapment.
Jalen retaliates with Blizzard Coil (Ice Art technique #8) forming a vortex of snow around the cultivator. The man's flame qi flares, but the cold suppresses his casting speed. He tries to break free with Flame Wings, but the vortex slows his ascent.
The cultivator roars and casts Spatial Compression Pulse, collapsing the air around Jalen to crush him. Jalen counters with Glacial Surge (Ice Art technique#4), freezing the compression zone and shattering the pulse mid-cast.
Jalen casts Reflection (Light Art technique #20), bending a flame burst back toward its caster. The cultivator casts Spatial Ripple Shield, absorbing the redirected blast—but his defenses are thinning.
He retaliates with a Flame Spiral Barrage, launching a dozen flame lances in a rotating pattern. Jalen dodges with the Luminous Veil Step, weaving through the gaps, but one lance grazes his side, searing his ribs.
Jalen grits his teeth and activates Radian Spear (Light Art #18).. Of course he didn't unleash it at full capacity to avoid 'friendly' fire. The man tried his very best to dodge, but the spears—guided by Jalen's will—were too fast. Two struck mid-flight, shattering his halberd and disrupting his flame qi.
The cultivator cast Flame Burst, a last-ditch explosion of flame qi to repel Jalen and his spears. Jalen countered with Scorching Blanket (Fire Spirit Art technique #2)—a defensive cloak of raging flame that expanded outward, burning the incoming attacks.
He slashed again with Luminal Edge, cutting across the cultivator's chest as the man faltered. Blood sprayed. Spatial qi flickered.
Jalen didn't ease up; he surged forward, ready to deliver the finishing blow.
But the enemy wasn't finished.
With a roar that cracked the air, the cultivator raised his halberd high. Flame qi surged—not ordinary fire, but Solar Crown Flame, a forbidden technique that compressed his core and temporarily elevated his cultivation to Peak Sage Realm.
The sky trembled.
His aura expanded like a sunburst—radiant, oppressive—flooding the battlefield with heat and pressure. The ground beneath him scorched. The air warped. Even light itself seemed to recoil.
And with that, the tide turned.
Jalen was forced into defense. The enemy's flames were too heavy, his movements too fast. None of Jalen's previous techniques could keep pace. His dodges became desperate. His body, forged to resist fire, still burned.
For several minutes, Jalen endured—barely.
Then he stopped retreating.
He had one option left. A technique that would drain his qi, rupture his channels, and push his body to the brink.
But it would guarantee victory.
Through Thread Fusion (Light Art technique #15), Jalen fused Lightform Ascension (Light Art technique #14) with Ascendant Form (Light Art technique#24). His body ignited—not with flame, but with pure light qi, refined by the trials, tempered by the Luminal Heart, and sharpened by his will.
His realm surged. From Mid Sage to above peak Sage realm cultivation. He was half a step into the Sky Limit realm, to be exact.
The battlefield paused.
Even the flames paused. Even the light bent. The world itself seemed to hold its breath.
The Luminal Heart pulsed once—not in warning, but in recognition. Jalen wasn't casting a technique. He was becoming one.
Everyone present—friend and foe—felt it. Terror bloomed. What kind of technique allows one to surpass the realm itself?
No one knew the answer.
Jalen wasn't aware of what they were thinking, nor does he care; he just moved.
He didn't just strike his opponent—he erased distance. In a blink, he appeared before his opponent, who had attempted to flee out of fear, slashing with Luminal Edge that seemed to now be a part of his body. The halberd shattered. The cultivator spun, casting Solar Cage, but Jalen bent the light around it, bypassing the prism and landing a second blow.
The third strike came from above—Solar Flare, curved and compressed into a spear of heat. It pierced the man's body, and just the mere energy from the qi burned him inside out.
But Jalen didn't stop.
He turned toward the battlefield, towards the remaining Sage Realm cultivator of the enemy team. They were in a panic and decided to flee. But it was too late.
Jalen vanished, and one by one he burned them to dust with light energy.
The three remaining Mid Sage Realm cultivators resisted defeat, prolonging their lives but only for a brief moment.
One blocked Luminal Edge, countered with Flame Spiral Barrage, and survived two exchanges. But the third blow—Solar Flare, curved and focused—burned him out of existence. Another cast Flame Wings and dodged Jalen's first two strikes. But another burst of light energy ended him.
Jalen moved like a storm of light—no wasted motion, no hesitation. Every technique was precise. Every kill, earned.
When the time limit expired—five minutes at Jalen's current realm—the lightform faded.
His battered physical body returned. His qi channels and meridians ruptured. His dantian nearly dry. His bones cracked. His organs strained. His breath shortened.
He landed on scorched earth, knees buckling, robes torn, blood trailing from his lips.
The battlefield was silent.
Talia and the remaining elders stared, stunned. Even Timothy and Lyle, gravely battered, gulped in terror.
They were glad Jalen had given them a chance.
Because if he hadn't?
They would've been the first to die.