Title: Fallen Heaven: Rise of Faizi Tian
Previous Episode Recap: In Episode 22, Faizi Tian entered the forbidden Flame Inheritance Grounds to awaken the full power of the Fallen Heaven Flame. There, he encountered the Keeper of the Inheritance, who revealed that he must pass the Three Trials — of Body, Mind, and Soul. Cast into the First Trial, Faizi faced a colossal flame lion whose blue fire could melt the strongest steel. The battle for the first trial began as the Demon Seal far away pulsed with ominous hunger.
Fallen Heaven: Rise of Faizi Tian
Episode 23: Trial of Body — Flames Unleashed
The flame lion's roar tore through the arena, sending shockwaves that split molten rivers in two. Its eyes burned with the cold fury of a thousand battles lost and won.
Faizi Tian stood firm, the golden flames along his arms flaring brighter in answer. The heat was unbearable for most, but within him, the Fallen Heaven Flame surged like a living heartbeat.
The lion struck first — a blur of blue fire and muscle, its claws slicing through the air like burning blades. Faizi met the blow head-on, crossing his forearms to block. The impact sent him skidding backward, molten rock splashing around his boots.
*Fast… and strong.*
This was no mindless beast — it moved with the cunning of a battle-hardened warrior.
Without hesitation, Faizi thrust his palms forward.
"**Fallen Heaven Art — Blazing Sun Palm!**"
A golden shockwave of flame erupted, clashing against the lion's mane of blue fire. The collision birthed a storm of heat so intense that the molten rivers around them boiled over.
The lion roared again, but this time its form shimmered — splitting into three identical copies that encircled Faizi.
The Keeper's voice echoed from above:
**"The Trial of Body is not just strength, but endurance. Survive, and conquer."**
The three lions attacked in unison, each blow heavier and faster than the last. Faizi's muscles screamed, his skin scorched, but his flame refused to falter. Each strike he blocked sent pain rippling through him, yet his eyes only grew sharper.
"Is that all you've got?" Faizi growled.
With a deep breath, he summoned the core of his Fallen Heaven Flame, letting it pour from his body like a tidal wave. The golden fire surged upward, forming the image of a colossal phoenix above him.
The phoenix screeched, diving toward the lions with a trail of burning light. Two copies vanished instantly in a burst of ash, but the true lion remained, pouncing with renewed fury.
Faizi met it mid-air.
Golden flame and blue fire intertwined, spiraling upward until they exploded in a blinding sphere of light. The shockwave ripped through the arena, and when the dust settled, the lion lay on its side — defeated, but not dead.
The Keeper appeared beside the beast, placing a hand upon its head.
"You have conquered the Trial of Body," the masked figure declared. "But this was only the first step. The Second Trial will burn deeper — not your flesh, but your mind."
Faizi wiped the blood from his lip. "Then lead me to it."
The Keeper raised his hand, and the arena dissolved into smoke. Faizi felt himself falling — not through air, but through memory, as voices from his past whispered in his ears.
And far away, in the real world, the Demon Seal's cracks widened. Black light seeped into the earth like poison.
The war between flame and abyss was no longer a distant prophecy — it had already begun.
With Faizi's plunge into the Second Trial, Episode 23 ends, and the path ahead grows darker.