Loud voices echoed across the mountainside, a chorus of anguish that rolled like thunder. Some were sharp with panic, others low and guttural with despair. Wails bled into hoarse cries, the sound carrying far enough that even disciples outside the peak cast wary glances at the crimson-lit skies above the Body Refinement Division.On the peak itself, the scene was a vision of torment. The stone courtyard had been transformed into a furnace. Heat shimmered from the ground, distorting the air like waves rising from molten rock. Dozens of new disciples, those who had passed the trial of the steps were scattered across the ground. Some lay unconscious, their bodies twitching with spasms; others knelt trembling, sweat pouring from them in rivulets as they fought to remain upright.The source of this suffering was not hard to find. A massive basin-like formation carved into the peak glowed with furious light. Within, hot stones burned bright orange, veins of magma-like qi running through the

For the next month, the courtyard of the Body Refinement Division became a crucible of extremes.There was no rhythm to their torment. Some days, they were roasted until their skin blistered, drenched in boiling oil, or pressed against stones hot enough to burn flesh from bone. On others, the world froze around them, their lungs clawed by air so cold that every breath felt like swallowing knives. Dawn to dusk, the trials never ceased, and never once could they predict what awaited them when the instructors arrived.The disciples called it hell. Yet even in hell, seeds began to sprout.Their bodies, once frail and mortal, had begun to change. Muscles grew denser, bones heavier, skin tougher. One by one, the fruits of their suffering revealed themselves.It was Tian Yīn who first broke through.The bald-headed youth had always carried himself with unshakable confidence, his once-flowing silver locks long gone to the flames. On the twelfth morning, as the heat bore down upon them, he sud