The Astral Flame Sect trembled beneath the weight of the approaching storm. Heaven and Earth itself seemed to hold its breath as Li Fan sat in the heart of the Starforged Ascension Array, a celestial formation built to draw upon the power of the entire sect and push its user toward the pinnacle of the Celestial Realms.

  Around him, Elders and Sect Masters chanted ancient incantations, feeding spirit stones and divine herbs into the formation. Their voices blurred into the humming of the universe, echoing in unison with the pulse of his soul.

  Li Fan’s cultivation had already pierced through the Great Principle Golden Immortal Stage. Now, with the power of the sect and the mysterious Crownless Flame Codex, he sought the final step—Heaven Encompassing Immortal.

  His body floated above the formation, wrapped in layers of golden light and arcs of divine lightning. The world fractured around him. The skies above split open, revealing a spiral galaxy of trials, illusions, and divine tribulation beasts. This was the Celestial Trial of the Limitless Realm—a trial that no mortal had endured since the age of myths.

  Inside the Trial Realm

  Li Fan found himself standing upon a void bridge between galaxies. Around him floated manifestations of his past: shadows of his failures, specters of every life he could’ve led. Yue Xian appeared before him—not the real one, but a test, her eyes cold and accusing.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

  "You sacrificed everything to reach power… Even your humanity."

  Li Fan closed his eyes. The flames within him surged.

  "No," he said quietly. "I sacrificed everything so no one else would have to."

  With that, he drew the Flameblade of the Crownless and struck forward—not against Yue Xian, but through his own reflection, dissolving doubt with resolve.

  Back in the Astral Realm

  The Starforged Ascension Array screamed. The air became molten with divine pressure. Beasts of myth bowed from distant continents as Li Fan's aura erupted through the realms. Planes cracked. Stars flickered. The very Heaven Encompassing Realm bent toward him.

  Then, silence.

  A single figure stood at the center of a crater of stilled time—his robes untarnished, his eyes glowing with galactic wisdom. Li Fan had become a Heaven Encompassing Immortal.

  But something stirred deeper. As his divine sense stretched toward the edge of the cosmos, it touched a veil... and beyond it, something ancient opened its eye.

  "You have come far, Crownless… But the Path Beyond Heaven begins now."

  A voice, not of this universe, whispered through space and soul. Li Fan turned toward the stars—not with fear, but with a calm resolve.

  He was no longer walking the path of mortals or immortals.

  He was stepping into the realm of gods.