"These are…?" he asked in confusion. "I've seen them before… in the Source Genome…"
He seemed to know what they were called, but the pressure crushing down on him blurred his thoughts.
Struggling, he reached out a trembling hand toward the strands.
The shades made of threads began to move—slowly at first, then all at once, as if magnetized, drawn irresistibly toward his outstretched fingers.
The moment they made contact, radiant lights burst from his body and the shards. The surface of his skin shimmered like a starry sky, casting an otherworldly brilliance.
"Hmm... Something is wrong," Wei Jian muttered, hastening his movements to suppress Wu Yuan and quell the unease stirring in his chest.
Boom!
But before he could act, a sudden force sent him flying, slamming hard into the ground.
Wu Yuan slowly levitated, his hair now darker, flowing behind him like a banner. He felt as though he could suppress the world with just his hands.
"You… What have you done?" Wei Jian snarled, his gaze snapping to the remaining star shards scattered across the ground.
Even broken, they still held value. If he could return them to the Academy, perhaps they could find a way to restore them.
Wu Yuan didn't respond. His eyes closed, face shifting through expressions.
Then, beside him, something began to form.
At first, it was just a ripple in the air.
Then came the strands, those same blueprint-like threads—twitching and knotting together into a rough, grotesque shape.
It became a malformed, sinewy beast of twisted flesh and bone, crawling on too many limbs, a single wing jutting from its back. Elements swirled chaotically around it.
Wu Yuan gasped, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. His knees buckled, body trembling.
He had overexerted himself.
"Wh… What is that?" Wei Jian shouted, voice cracking with hysteria.
The creature was hideous. Just looking at it filled him with dread.
Wei Jian's eyes narrowed as a chill crept up his spine. "Tch. Trying to scare me with this thing? Acting tough over a fluke? I'll show you what real strength looks like!" he roared, aura flaring as he charged forward.
He stretched out his hand again, intent on suppressing the beast with even more power. He still refused to believe it was truly dangerous.
"Gale Burst Palm!" Wei Jian bellowed.
A giant hand formed above Wu Yuan, crashing down to smother him.
"Roar!" the beast howled.
The moment its cry pierced the air, the hand vanished.
"What!" Wei Jian exclaimed. Though the disappearance of his attack startled him, he held firm.
But what truly shook him… was the roar.
It didn't just shake the air, it struck his soul.
In that instant, he felt death creeping close. And the creature hadn't even attacked. Just one roar had nearly shattered him.
But that power came at a price. The beast's body began to fall apart. The elements swirling around it lost cohesion and spiraled into chaos. The entire square turned to disarray.
"I can't let it roar again…!" Wei Jian muttered, his scalp numb with dread. A spear materialized in his grip.
"Mr. Wei, is this really necessary?" the vice principal finally spoke up. "You're a lancer. If you keep fighting here, the children could get hurt. And besides… he's the adoptive son of—"
"Shut up!" Wei Jian barked. "Will you take responsibility for the Star Awakening Orb? Not even the Alliance can afford that."
"This…" The vice principal faltered, unable to respond.
"Only bringing him back to the Alliance—head in hand, might calm things down," Wei Jian said coldly. Armor formed around him, and the wind around him grew violent and erratic.
Now freed from the crushing pressure, the students staggered to their feet.
"Wh… What is that!" someone cried, pointing at the beast.
"Hmph! I don't know where that trash got this thing, but with a Gale Spearman taking action, it doesn't matter," Bao Lin said, cradling his bruised body.
"Wind Thrust!" Wei Jian roared, thrusting his spear forward.
The wind surged around the weapon, amplifying its speed and lethality.
"Go," Wu Yuan said between gasps.
As if obeying the command, the beast charged forward, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
The spear and the beast's claw collided, but there was no thunderous sound.
Only the brittle crack of the wind spear shattering.
The beast's body was deteriorating rapidly, as though it couldn't hold itself together.
But before it collapsed, it landed a blow.
Bang!
The armor on Wei Jian's chest flared, then cracked.
Pfft!
Blood sprayed from his mouth as he was launched backward, crashing hard into the earth.
"You…!" Wei Jian was horrified. One hit, and it had nearly killed him.
The beast could no longer sustain itself. It collapsed into a pool of blood and bone, steam rising from the remains.
Wu Yuan stumbled forward, pale and breathless. As he neared the pool, glowing threads rose from it and drifted into his body.
"Brother…!" Sister Ying ran to his side, catching him as he collapsed.
"Sister Ying… don't forget… the star shards…" Wu Yuan murmured before losing consciousness in her arms.
Ying Yue glanced at Wei Jian, stunned and pale after his crushing defeat.
"Ying Yue?" a voice called from behind.
A woman, one who looked nearly identical to Ying Yue, appeared out of thin air.
"Mom!" Ying Yue exclaimed.
"What happened here?" her mother asked, surveying the wreckage.
"Here's how it happened…" Ying Yue quickly explained.
"I see," her mother said, stepping forward to examine the remains of the beast. "Let me check on your brother."
She touched Wu Yuan's forehead, a wave of energy pulsing through him.
"Don't worry. He's just exhausted. But I don't understand… how could he use such power before awakening?"
She turned to Wei Jian. "What hurt him like that?"
Wei Jian's chest bore deep cracks, each wound overflowing with unstable elemental energy.
"It seemed to be that creature… I think Brother summoned it. After injuring Wei Jian, it just collapsed," Ying Yue explained, voice uncertain.
"If that's true, then the creature must've been an unfinished creation… and yet it still managed to wound someone like Wei Jian?" Her gaze sharpened. "What about the Star Orb?"
"It… shattered," Ying Yue whispered, lowering her head.
"What!" Her mother's voice rang across the square. She clenched her fists. "The Star Awakening Orb is more important than you realize…"
She took a long breath.
"It's the foundation of the Alliance's power… the reason this war has lasted three centuries."
She turned away, gaze distant. "This incident will shake more than just Cloud City. The Alliance won't let it go."
"Let's not speak of it here. If this spreads, it'll be disastrous."
Her eyes swept over the students, still frozen in shock.
"I didn't expect a planet-level awakener this year," she murmured, eyes falling on Mei Li. "And she even awakened an Aspect… she's the second after you."
"This will be critical for the Alliance. Planet-level awakeners are rare. Aspect-awakeners, even rarer. Maybe it'll help calm the storm a little."
She smiled faintly. "She also seems to be the daughter of an old friend."
Her gaze returned to the crowd. "It's best if they remember none of this."
With a wave of her hand, the students and the vice principal collapsed into unconsciousness—everyone except Mei Li.
"You must keep this secret," she said, turning to Mei Li. "Your father will explain the rest when you return."
"I understand," Mei Li nodded.
"Good." She waved again, and in a flash, she, Ying Yue, and Wu Yuan disappeared.
Whoosh!
Three figures appeared in a quiet room.
"Mom, what will they do to Brother if they find out he was the one who broke the Star Orb?" Ying Yue asked, gently placing Wu Yuan on a bed.
"They shouldn't act, yet. With your father and I around, he'll be protected. But Wu Yuan's life will never be peaceful again." She sighed.
"He's always been special. Even I, the Alliance's only Seer, can't see anything when it comes to him."
"You should return to your combat team once he's recovered. Don't draw unnecessary attention."
"I understand," Ying Yue said quietly.
Her mother's eyes narrowed. "Why did you bring back the star shards?"
"Wu Yuan said I should. It's already broken, what use would it be taking it back to the Alliance?"
"Sigh… the Star Awakening Core was the heart of the Alliance. Now, it's just shards. It doesn't matter if we take them back. Let him have them."
She looked at her unconscious son.
"I'd like to see what he plans to do with them."