n the boundless forests of the Hidden Dimension—larger even than the Blue Sky Kingdom itself—Luke trained alone beneath moonlight.
Every slash of his sword left afterimages.
Every movement carved through the mist like poetry in motion.
But that night… something called to him.
A voice not heard with ears, but with the soul.
He walked.
Deeper.
Past trees he had never seen, past stones that shimmered strangely, past an illusion that must have hidden this path from all eyes.
A river, silver as moonlight, appeared.
Flowing calmly from a tall waterfall.
His instincts screamed.
There's something behind it.
He stepped through the crashing water—
And found it.
A clearing untouched by time. Stone pillars lined the edges, ancient runes glowing faintly.
And at the center, resting silently on a pedestal of black crystal—
A spatial ring.
Luke's breath hitched.
"A ring…? But… these are supposed to be extinct…"
Only the most powerful sects and forgotten emperors possessed such relics in the Central Continent. Everyone else used simple pouches.
With trembling hands, he reached for it.
The moment his fingers brushed the metal—
"Hmm… Finally."
A voice, ancient and deep, echoed in his mind.
"After all these years… after a millennium… after millions of years… I am finally awake."
A surge of spiritual energy rippled through the clearing. The trees swayed. The wind howled. His eyes widened.
"Who… who are you?"
No answer.
Only silence.
But the ring pulsed—warm, alive.
The sword on Luke's back trembled in response.
The fates had begun to move.
And Lucian Valerion… was no longer alone.