Ashes of the star forge

The injury from the previous match had not fully healed.

Lian knew it the moment he stepped onto the fighting floor again. The binding gel and temporary stabilizers had sealed the worst of the damage, but every movement still sent sharp, deep pain through his ribs and side. Breathing carefully was necessary. Sudden twists or full-power strikes made the pain flare white-hot. Lirien had advised against fighting so soon. He had insisted anyway.

The opponent this time was listed at the same level — Stellar Circuit Star 1.

He was a lean, sharp-eyed human with light augs along his arms and a pair of short energy blades. His stance was balanced and professional. The odds were nearly even. On paper, it should have been a fair match.

It was not.

The signal flared.

The man came in fast and clean. Lian met him with a guarded stance, trying to keep his damaged side protected. The first exchange was manageable. Lian blocked a high slash, countered with a short punch, and forced a half-step of distance. For a moment, it felt possible.

Then the pain caught up.

A sudden twist to avoid a low cut sent a spike of agony through his ribs. His guard dropped for a fraction of a second — just long enough. The opponent’s energy blade slipped past and carved a shallow but burning line across Lian’s shoulder. Blood welled immediately. The crowd noise rose.

Lian tried to reset.

His body refused to cooperate fully. Every defensive movement pulled at the unfinished injuries. His breathing grew shorter. The black liquid stirred inside him, reinforcing tissue and dulling some of the pain, but it could not erase the structural weakness. The opponent noticed. He pressed harder, targeting the damaged side with precise, repeated strikes.

A heavy kick slammed into Lian’s ribs.

Something gave way again with a wet, internal crack. Lian’s vision blurred. He staggered, barely raising his arms in time to block the follow-up slash. The force still drove him backward. His feet slipped on the blood-slicked floor. The opponent did not let up. A rapid combination of cuts and punches battered Lian’s guard, forcing him lower and lower.

Lian’s world narrowed to pain and the next incoming strike.

He tried to call on the black liquid more aggressively, forcing it into a defensive surge. It responded, hardening his skin and muscles for a brief moment, but the effort drained him further. The opponent’s blade slipped through and cut deep across Lian’s thigh. His leg buckled.

He dropped to one knee.

The man stepped in for the finishing sequence — a downward slash aimed at the neck.

The barrier system should have intervened at the threshold of fatal damage. It did not react quickly enough.

Lirien moved.

From the upper walkway, her small hand rose. An invisible force slammed into the opponent mid-strike, throwing him backward several meters. The barriers finally flared, locking the match. Medical drones swarmed the floor. Alarms sounded as the arena staff registered a near-fatal incident.

Lian collapsed fully onto the reinforced floor, blood pooling beneath him. His vision was already fading. The last thing he saw before darkness took him was Elara’s face above the barrier, her eyes wide with fear, and Lirien standing calmly at the edge of the pit.

He woke in the medical bay of the ship.

The familiar soft white light of the healing chamber surrounded him. He was once again suspended in the glass tube, floating in the warm, viscous liquid. Filaments and wires connected to his body, feeding regenerative energy into torn muscle, cracked bones, and damaged meridians. The pain was distant now, dulled by the systems, but the memory of it remained sharp.

Lirien stood outside the tube, monitoring the diagnostics.

Elara sat on a nearby bench, her hands clenched tightly in her lap. When she saw Lian’s eyes open, the tension in her shoulders eased only slightly.

“You almost died,” she said, her voice quiet and tight.

Lian could not speak yet. The tube’s systems were still stabilizing his breathing and vocal cords. He could only meet her gaze.

Lirien spoke without looking away from the holographic display.

“The previous injury compromised your structural integrity. Fighting at full intensity before complete recovery was inefficient. The opponent’s skill level was comparable to yours, but your damaged foundation could not sustain the pressure. The match was stopped before fatal damage occurred. I intervened when the barrier response lagged.”

She finally turned her violet eyes toward him.

“You will remain in the healing chamber until the damage is fully resolved. No further matches until I confirm your foundation can withstand real combat stress again. This is not negotiable.”

If you’re enjoying the novel and want to see more consistent updates or mass releases, your support through stones really helps a lot. The mass release period has now ended, but we can do new mass releases every Monday based on the following:

stones = 3 Chapters

stones = 5 Chapters

stones = 9 Chapters

Every stone counts and motivates me to write more. So if you’re enjoying the story, please consider dropping some stones to help us continue with bigger updates.

Thank you again for reading, for your patience, and for being part of this journey with me. I’ll see you in the next Chapter.

Power Scale / Cultivation Realms (Quick Reminder)

Foundation Realm (Layers 1–9): Body forging, no external Qi.

Circuit Awakening Realm (Early–Peak): First Qi loop, internal bursts.

Core Condensation Realm (Early–Peak): External Qi release, short flight.

Stellar Circuit Realm (1–9 Stars): True flight, Qi armor, energy projection.

Nebula Dominion Realm and higher: Domain control, galaxy-level power, etc

Power Scale Reminder

Lian Yu: Stellar Circuit Star 1.

Elara Voss: Core Condensation Middle

Keep it as reminders

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!