The sky burned red with the color of molten steel.
Twelve forge-towers ringed the Ember Core Valley, each blazing with the ancient flame passed down through generations. The air itself shimmered with radiant heat and the thick presence of Starfire Qi — oppressive for mortals, intoxicating for cultivators. Today was the Awakening Ceremony of the Jin Ember Clan, and the valley trembled with anticipation.
Jin Taixuan stood silently at the back of the great assembly, eyes half-lidded, expression calm. At just twelve years old, he looked no different from the others — just another youth of the branch family, dressed in ceremonial black robes with the copper-gold sigil of the Jin Clan stitched across the chest.
But his mind was nothing like the others.
He was a reincarnator — born not in this world of warships and cultivation, but on Earth, where his former life was consumed by late nights, sci-fi novels, military strategy forums, and a crushing desk job. Until one day... darkness, then rebirth. Now, he was Jin Taixuan — child of a forgotten star, reborn into a family with fire in its blood and iron in its bones.
And today, he would awaken. Or not.
The Dao Flame Awakening Ceremony was harsh and uncertain.
Of the 1,200 clan youths gathered here today, only those chosen by the Forge Constellation would ignite their Dao and bind to a warship embryo — an Awakener. The rest? Forever left behind as support roles, bound to logistics, farming, resource gathering, or worse.
But that wasn't what made Taixuan cautious.
He wasn't just hoping to awaken. He knew he would. Ever since birth, something had pulsed in the back of his soul — a thrum, like the engine of a ship quietly waiting in the void.
What worried him was how powerful it might be.
---
"Begin the Rite!"
The clan elder's voice boomed like thunder through the valley. A flame glyph the size of a small shuttle lit up in the sky. The Forge Constellation aligned directly overhead, twelve stars forming a hammer striking an anvil in the heavens.
One by one, the children were called forth.
They would kneel at the Forge Stone, extend their spiritual sense into the starfire-infused slab, and either the Dao Flame would answer... or remain cold.
Taixuan kept his face calm. He watched.
The first ten — all average. Four awakened.
By the hundredth child, the elders were whispering among themselves. Something was happening.
Out of 100, 89 had awakened.
An impossible number.
The Forge Star was abnormally bright today — a Celestial Surge, the elder said. It happened once every few hundred years. A miracle for the clan.
Taixuan's fingers tightened inside his sleeves.
That meant more attention.
He didn't want to stand out. He needed to keep his gift hidden — not just from enemies, but from allies too. No one must know the nature of the thing slumbering in his soul.
As the numbers climbed, the tension in the crowd grew. By the time the last ten were called, the tally was staggering.
1,000 Awakeners out of 1,200.
Then, the final name echoed through the air.
"Jin Taixuan."
The valley went quiet. Everyone turned.
Taixuan stepped forward.
He walked slowly, respectfully, like every other child before him — though every step echoed with precision and calm. He knelt before the Forge Stone and reached forward.
The instant his palm touched the slab, the world vanished.
Inside his soul, the void opened.
He stood in a starless realm of silence and steel. Before him was a massive warship embryo, suspended in the dark. It thrummed with restrained power — more fully formed than it had any right to be.
It had no color. No form he could fully describe. It was not a ship — it was a concept, crystallized.
The Heavenhammer.
He didn't know why he knew the name. He just did.
It felt… ancient. Like it had waited for him.
> "You are the third," a voice echoed inside his mind. "And the last."
Taixuan didn't react.
He simply reached out and touched the hull.
In that moment, a surge of fire rushed into his chest — the Dao Flame igniting at the same instant his soul bound with the ship.
The Heavenhammer's core pulsed once, and then disappeared, embedding itself into the center of his spiritual sea.
From the outside, only the faintest flicker of a glow could be seen.
---
Back in the real world, the Forge Stone dimmed.
A single flame sigil lit up on Taixuan's chest, confirming a successful awakening.
Just like the others.
The elders nodded, content. "Stable-class Awakening," they murmured. "Potential… moderate."
He bowed and walked away.
No one saw the firestorm surging inside him.
---
That night, alone in the quarters assigned to new Awakeners, Taixuan sat cross-legged in silence.
The Heavenhammer hovered in his spiritual sea, its systems slowly coming online.
Its voice echoed again.
> "Body 72% compatible. Dao Core synchronized. Battle data retrieval... complete."
> "Recommendation: conceal capabilities. Forge the path quietly."
Taixuan opened his eyes, calm and sharp.
"I planned to."
He glanced out the window. Beyond the forge towers, the sky glittered with the Shattered Starry Sea — the wreckage of infinite worlds, drifting like shattered glass.
This world wasn't fair. Power invited fear. Talent brought schemes.
But he had no plans to ascend in glory.
He would rise like a forge flame — slow, hot, and inevitable.
One layer of steel at a time.