The three-thousand-square-meter stretch of land was reduced to dust in the blink of an eye, sliced apart by a storm of spinning blades.
Rowan hovered above the devastation, a satisfied smile forming on his face. "Not bad at all," he murmured to himself. "Now… it's time to comprehend the Celestial Escape Codex."
With his psychic power having reached the stellar level, Rowan was in no rush. He focused, stabilizing his spirit energy at the seventh tier of the stellar stage before beginning his cultivation of the ancient manual. His greatest weapon was the Celestial Shuttle and to unlock its full potential, he had to first master the Codex that controlled it.
While Rowan trained in seclusion, far above the world, a massive gold-and-black meteor over ten meters in diameter burned through the ozone layer and crashed violently into the Siberian Sea.
At the same time, in the command center of the Eastern Alliance, the military's satellites detected the impact. Sensors picked up an unusually high energy reaction emanating from the fallen object.
After several rounds of analysis, the top brass dismissed it as an ordinary meteor, perhaps containing rare minerals. None of them suspected that this "meteor" might be a vessel carrying a lifeform from beyond the stars.
Few on Earth even believed in extraterrestrial life. And in the vast, uncharted seas lurked countless king-class beasts and two known beast emperors. Even if the military had the courage to investigate, provoking those monsters would bring catastrophic consequences.
Thus, the incident was quietly shelved.
"Success!"
Inside his villa at Brightmoon District, Rowan grinned with satisfaction. Before him floated three hundred and sixty-five blades, each one glimmering like molten silver. Under his psychic control, the blades merged into a single spiraling cone sharp, streamlined, and deadly.
It was the Mountain Drill.
The weapon gleamed faintly, humming with restrained power. Rowan admired it like an artist admiring his own masterpiece. Now that his psychic force had undergone a qualitative transformation, his attacks were strong enough to overwhelm even most seventh-tier stellar-level warriors.
Fortunately, his spiritual strength was immense so much so that within half a month, he had fully mastered both the Mountain Drill and its counterpart, the Heavy Mountain Shield. With both offense and defense perfected, Rowan finally had the strength to protect himself even beyond the confines of Earth.
After all, in the vast galactic empire, even the so-called Silver-Blue Dominion was but an insignificant civilization. Stellar-level experts were considered elites. As for cosmic-level beings they were rare beyond imagination.
Just as Rowan was reflecting on his progress, his communicator buzzed urgently.
"Rowan, where are you? There's a beast emperor in Mist Island it's gone berserk! Something's wrong here!"
It was Ryan's voice, filled with tension.
Rowan raised an eyebrow, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes. According to the timeline he knew, the tentacle beast shouldn't have appeared for another six months, and the intelligent system Babata shouldn't have awakened yet.
The butterfly effect, it seemed, had already begun to alter the flow of events.
Which meant… the golden-horned beast might appear earlier too.
That thought made Rowan's eyes narrow.
Moments later, another message arrived this time from Magnus, the leader of Earth's strongest martial hall. He confirmed that while Rowan had been training, he had taken Ryan and the others to Mist Island for field practice. Strange plant energies had been detected there, possibly signs of sentient flora.
But during the expedition, a newly ascended beast emperor had suddenly surfaced the Tentacle Emperor. Even Thunder God couldn't bring it down, and Magnus had barely managed to wound it using his domain power. Now, the creature had returned from the depths of the lake, stronger and angrier than before.
Magnus, currently in seclusion to fuse with the symbiotic entity known as the Magic Cloud Vine, had asked Rowan to join Thunder God in holding the creature off.
Rowan agreed instantly. Even without being asked, he would have gone. The Tentacle Emperor was nothing to him now a flicker of thought would be enough to destroy it.
He donned his silver combat suit, summoned the Celestial Shuttle, and shot through the sky like a streak of golden light toward Mist Island.
Under normal circumstances, even the fastest military aircraft on Earth would take half an hour to make the journey. Rowan crossed the distance in minutes.
Meanwhile, Mist Island had become the center of chaos.
All the major factions had received news of the beast emperor's reappearance, and none could resist the temptation. The island, once stripped of treasures, was now teeming again with sentient plants and rare spiritual herbs something utterly inexplicable.
Every force assumed there must be an even greater secret hidden within.
Armies were dispatched, electromagnetic cannons were deployed, and both the Thunder and Limit Martial Halls cordoned off their territories. Two of Earth's top-ranked fighters Mohanderson, ranked third, and Ister, ranked fourth had also arrived.
None of them, however, realized that Rowan had long surpassed all of them. He had already become Earth's first true stellar-level powerhouse.
As Rowan streaked across the horizon, he spotted two familiar figures aboard an advanced combat aircraft Ryan and Thunder God.
They welcomed him aboard.
"Rowan!" Ryan exclaimed, grinning as he pulled him into a brief embrace.
"You've done well," Rowan said with a proud smile. "You've already reached the planetary level."
Ryan nodded, slightly embarrassed. With Rowan's earlier guidance and the help of a thousand-year-old spiritual herb, he had achieved what few others could in such a short time. Though not yet among the world's top ten, his talent was undeniable.
"Oh, and there's something else," Ryan added, scratching his cheek awkwardly. "After this is over… come to my wedding."
Rowan blinked. "With Vanessa?"
Ryan's face reddened. "Yeah. After everything we went through in the Ninth Ancient Ruin, I realized I couldn't let her go. So I confessed."
Rowan chuckled warmly and patted his friend's shoulder. "Then I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Thunder God, ever the loud and restless one, leaned forward with a grin. "Rowan, rumor has it you've grown a lot stronger. Just how strong are you now?"
Rowan smirked. "That's a secret."
He intended to wait until the golden-horned beast appeared before revealing his true strength. Then and only then would the world see the might of Earth's first stellar-level being.
Thunder God groaned. "Always so mysterious. Fine, whatever. But this time, I'm taking that monster's head. It slipped away last time, and I won't let it happen again."
Rowan's psychic senses expanded, scanning the island. He frowned slightly. "Where's Magnus?"
Thunder God sighed, crossing his arms. "Busy. Ever since he got that Magic Cloud Vine, he's been locked in the base, trying to merge with it. The guy's going to pull so far ahead of me it's ridiculous."
Rowan laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't take it so hard. With your potential, you'll have your own domain soon enough."
Thunder God's grin returned. "You think so? Yeah… maybe. I've been feeling like I'm close, but something's still missing."
By then, their aircraft had reached Mist Island. The Thunder Martial Hall had secured a wide perimeter, while the Limit Hall claimed an equally massive zone. Other factions, less powerful, were forced to crowd the edges.
As Rowan, Ryan, and Thunder God disembarked, countless eyes turned toward them.
"Unbelievable," someone whispered in awe. "How does the Eastern Alliance keep producing such monsters? Two prodigies in just two years Rowan reached the planetary level at seventeen!"
Within Mohanderson's camp, the air froze literally. The man snorted, and the ground beneath his feet crystallized in frost. "Hmph. Just a child boosted by resources. I could crush him with one hand."
Across the field, Ister watched Rowan quietly. Fourteen psychic blades floated behind him, glinting in the sunlight. His lips curved into a smirk. "A prodigy, huh? We'll see about that."
Meanwhile, one of his aides whispered, "Strange, isn't it? Those two from the Limit Hall seem awfully close to Thunder God's faction."
"Yeah," Ister replied, frowning. "Those two halls have always been rivals. Why do they look like best friends today?"
"Because," murmured another voice, "they both come from the same place Jiangnan Base. And when you've got two geniuses like Rowan and Ryan on your side… even rivals find common ground."
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