The sun hadn't yet risen, but the inner courtyard of the Immortal Flame Sect was already blazing with anticipation.
Today marked the start of the Crimson Moon Trials, an elite test for rising disciples. Only five would be chosen for personal tutelage under a Core Elder.
And Mu Yuelin's team? They were the youngest—and the weakest.
That was, until he arrived.
---
Jinhyuk stood beside his squad of fellow disciples, all casting wary glances at him.
The handsome man in the obsidian robes. The one who had defeated them all without raising his cultivation. The outsider.
Mu Yuelin stood before them, arms crossed, sword sheathed at her back.
"The Crimson Moon Trials are not just about strength," she said, voice cutting through the morning mist. "They're about adaptability. Survival. Strategy."
Her eyes landed on Jinhyuk.
"I expect nothing less than victory."
He nodded once. "You'll have it."
---
The trial grounds were located deep within the sect's flame-tempered mountain valleys—an ancient terrain filled with traps, illusions, and beasts bred from fire essence.
Each team had to retrieve three Phoenix Ember Shards and return alive.
> [New Mission: Crimson Moon Trials]
[Sub-objective: Copy 5 Unique Techniques from Competing Disciples]
[Danger Level: High – Fire Beasts, Spirit Puppets, and Sect Saboteurs Detected]
As the gates opened, Jinhyuk and his team raced into the smoke-shrouded wilderness.
---
An hour into the trial, the team found their first shard—guarded by a Volcanic Flame Ape, a beast at Peak Qi Refinement.
"Stay back," one teammate warned, drawing his sword. "Let's go together—"
"No," Jinhyuk interrupted. "I've got this."
The ape roared, fists igniting in magma bursts.
Jinhyuk ducked under the first swing, landed three precise strikes to its joints, then spun into a rising knee strike to the beast's throat.
The ape froze… then collapsed.
> [Skill Copied: Magma Pulse Strike – Beast Combat Style]
[Compatibility: 90% – Stored]
His teammates gaped.
"…What the hell was that?" one whispered.
Mu Yuelin, watching through a spirit mirror from afar, narrowed her eyes.
> He's absorbing styles… like a sponge.
> That's not normal.
---
Later, they encountered a trap field—illusionary terrain that scrambled direction and memory.
The other teams were lost.
Jinhyuk simply shut his eyes.
> [System Skill: Shadow Sense Activated – False Terrain Bypassed]
He led his team through without effort.
They retrieved the second and third shards while others were still fumbling.
On the final stretch back, a rival squad ambushed them—led by Wen Zhiyang, a peak Inner Disciple famous for his flame spear techniques.
"You're not leaving," Wen sneered. "Hand over the shards."
Jinhyuk stepped forward, calmly cracking his neck.
"Try and take them."
Wen charged with a blazing spear thrust—
And Jinhyuk caught it mid-air.
> [Skill Copied: Blazing Crescent Thrust – Spear Technique]
[Counter Technique Initiated – Magma Pulse x Flame Sabre Fusion]
Jinhyuk twisted and shattered the spear's shaft, then sent Wen flying with a single burning palm strike.
The other team fled without a word.
---
By sundown, Mu Yuelin's team returned first—with all three shards and zero injuries.
When the elders announced their victory, the crowd was stunned.
But it was Mu Yuelin who stared longest at Jinhyuk, expression unreadable.
Later, in the quiet of the moonlit halls, she approached him alone.
"You're not just a talented cultivator," she said. "You're a predator."
He turned to her, gaze sharp and calm. "You're not wrong."
She studied his face. "Who are you really?"
"Someone who's been to hell," he replied. "And decided never to crawl again."
For a long moment, she said nothing.
Then she whispered, "I want to know more."
And for the first time, she smiled.