The Wake-Up Array was the size of a city.
From above, it looked like a massive spiral etched into the plains, its lines glowing with pulsing runes. In the center sat a colossal bronze bell forged from nine immortal beast skulls, surrounded by hundreds of cultivators chanting in shifts to keep the array active.
The Alliance claimed it could wake anyone, anywhere, from any magical slumber.
Jin Ye saw it as a very expensive annoyance.
The First Test
The Heavenly Alliance didn't wait. On the morning of its completion, the bell rang.
The sound was… indescribable.
Part trumpet blast, part avalanche, part grandmother yelling at you to get out of bed.
Even Skyward Leaf Sect's mountain trembled.
Disciples across the sect clutched their ears, shot upright from their naps, and staggered around in confusion.
Even Jin Ye — sitting in his courtyard sipping tea — raised an eyebrow. "Huh. That's new."
[Heavenly System Log]
External Effect Detected: "Wake-Up Resonance"
Status: Nap techniques reduced by 40% efficiency within range.
Additional Effect: Minor headache.
The Council of Nappers
Mu Shun burst in, hair wild, robe half-tied.
"Senior Brother! They're targeting you! You have to—"
"Calm down," Jin Ye said, pouring him tea. "We adapt."
Elder Ping slammed a jade talisman on the table. "We counter-attack tonight!"
Mu Shun stared. "With what?!"
Jin Ye leaned back. "We're going to… turn it off."
Infiltration
That night, Jin Ye, Mu Shun, and Elder Ping approached the Wake-Up Array under the cover of darkness.
The Alliance had fortified it with patrols, barrier wards, and soundproofing talismans that muted the constant low hum of the bell.
Jin Ye walked straight through the barrier.
Mu Shun whispered, "How did you—"
"They keyed it to block demonic Qi," Jin Ye said. "I'm just… lazy Qi."
The Problem With Big Bells
The bell's guardian was Grandmaster Zhao, a man who looked like he'd been carved from a boulder and then yelled at for fifty years straight.
"You!" Zhao barked, spotting them. "The Nap Criminal!"
"Do people actually call me that?" Jin Ye asked.
Zhao charged, swinging a hammer bigger than Mu Shun.
Jin Ye didn't dodge. He just yawned.
The Napocalypse Aura slowed Zhao's movements… but didn't drop him.
[Heavenly System Log]
Enemy Status: Wake-Up Resonance nullifies nap effects by 70% within 50 meters of source.
Suggestion: Remove source or reduce range.
The Countermeasure
Jin Ye smirked. "Fine. Let's do it the hard way."
He pulled a small, ordinary pillow from his storage ring and tossed it at the bell.
The moment it touched the bronze, the pillow expanded — glowing, soft, impossibly fluffy — until it completely swallowed the bell in a cocoon of enchanted fabric.
The sound died instantly.
Zhao stared. "What—what did you do?!"
"Soundproofing," Jin Ye said, and tapped the pillow. "Custom work. Costs extra."
The Collapse
Without the bell's resonance, the Wake-Up Array sputtered, its glowing lines fading into the dirt.
The cultivators maintaining it dropped to the ground, snoring peacefully.
Jin Ye patted Zhao's shoulder. "You'll thank me when you wake up."
Yawn.
The Continent Reacts (Again)
By morning, the headlines read:
"Nap Criminal Defeats Alarm of the Century."
"Heavenly Alliance's Wake-Up Array Becomes Giant Pillow Fort."
Children in the markets started playing "Nap Criminal and the Alliance" as a street game.
The bounty on Jin Ye's head doubled.
[Heavenly System Log]
User: Jin Ye
Cultivation: Qi Condensation – 9th Stage
New Passive: "Sleep Sovereign" – Nap techniques ignore all sound-based countermeasures.
Side Effect: All attempts to wake you up now take 30% longer.
Jin Ye stretched in his courtyard the next morning.
"Mu Shun, I think the Alliance just made my naps even better."
Mu Shun groaned. "Senior Brother… they'll just build something worse next time."
Jin Ye smirked. "Then I'll take a longer nap."