The sunrise over the Eternal Gate Academy didn't feel like a new beginning. It felt like a warning. The light hitting the white towers was so bright it made Xiao Yan's eyes ache, especially since he hadn't slept more than two hours on the hard dirt outside the gates.
He stood in the massive Outer Court, surrounded by thousands of kids who looked like they'd been dipped in gold.
"Mortal Realm, 12th Stage? Seriously?" A guy in silk robes behind him snickered. He had a fancy sword and smelled like expensive soap. "Hey, peasant, did you get lost on the way to a farm? Even the lowest 'talent' here hit the Divine Realm weeks ago."
Xiao Yan didn't even turn around. He just gripped the strap of his wrapped sword. His 12th Stage Trinity Path was solid, heavy, and weird—but on paper, he was just a Mortal Realm nobody. In a place where everyone was a "prodigy" floating in the Divine Realm, he looked like a joke.
(Divine Realm... everyone is at the 1st or 2nd Stage already,) Xiao Yan thought, his jaw tight. (Michael, tell me I didn't come here just to be a punching bag.)
[Master, their energy is 'clean' because they had pills and soft beds. Yours is 'heavy' because it's covered in dragon spit and trauma. You're at the peak of the Mortal Realm, but your path is unique. It's going to be a rough day.]
"First test!" an Elder shouted from a floating platform. "The Sound of the Void! If you can't stand the pressure, go home!"
A massive bronze bell, the size of a house, hung in the center of the court. An assistant struck it with a wooden beam.
BONG.
The sound wave didn't just hit their ears; it hit their souls. Xiao Yan felt like a giant hand had just slammed into his chest. His knees buckled, and for a second, his vision went black.
Around him, the Divine Realm kids just stood there, using their higher-level energy to shield themselves. They looked bored. But for Xiao Yan, at the Mortal Realm, it felt like his internal organs were being put through a blender.
"Ugh... that... really sucked," Xiao Yan gasped, spitting out a bit of blood. He forced himself to stay upright, his legs shaking.
He had to fight for every inch. While the others walked through the pressure like it was a light breeze, Xiao Yan was drenched in sweat, his red lightning flickering under his skin just to keep his bones from snapping.
Up on the terraces reserved for the Internal Gate families, Tang Shuya watched the sea of applicants. She was sitting with her clan elders, looking perfect in her black and red robes, but her fingers were digging into the wood of her chair.
She spotted him. He looked like a mess. He was hunched over, his face pale, struggling just to stay in the line while others laughed at him.
(Why are you struggling with a bell, you idiot?) Shuya thought, her heart doing that annoying skip again. (You fought a demon lieutenant. You have a dragon. Stand up!)
"That one," her Elder said, pointing toward the "Divine" geniuses. "The son of the Iron Mountain Head. Already 3rd Stage Divine Realm. That's a real talent. Not like that peasant over there who looks like he's about to faint."
Shuya didn't say anything, but she felt a hot flash of anger. They didn't see what she saw. They didn't see the weight he was carrying.
"The bell will ring nine times!" the Elder yelled. "Each time, the pressure doubles!"
BONG. BONG. BONG.
By the sixth ring, half the External applicants were unconscious on the floor. Xiao Yan felt his ears ringing so loud he couldn't hear his own thoughts. His 12th Stage Trinity Path was roaring inside him, trying to push back, but it was like trying to stop a flood with a wooden board.
"I'm... not... falling," Xiao Yan hissed through gritted teeth.
The weight of the sound was crushing his lungs. He felt a rib crack. The pain was sharp and cold. This wasn't supposed to be this hard. He was a 12th Stage Peak! But the Academy's "Standard" was just that high.
"Hey, look, the beggar is still standing," a Divine Realm girl nearby whispered, looking surprised. "He's only Mortal Realm, but he hasn't collapsed yet? How?"
"Pure luck," her friend replied. "He'll break at the eighth ring."
Xiao Yan's vision was blurring. He looked up at the floating towers. He thought about his siblings. He thought about the dragon. He thought about Bingxue, somewhere up there in the clouds, probably not even looking down.
"One more," Xiao Yan muttered, his voice a bloody rasp. "Just one more."
The eighth ring started to swell. The air itself began to vibrate with enough force to turn bone into dust.
Xiao Yan reached for his sword, but he couldn't even lift his arm. This was bad. Really, really bad.
To be continued!!!