Night fell over Shen Tianshu Academy like a held breath.
Lanterns flickered along suspended bridges, their light trembling against the endless clouds below. From afar, the academy looked peaceful—untouched by the storm coiling at its heart.
Kael sat alone within the Azure Sky inner courtyard, legs crossed, eyes closed.
He was cultivating.
Or trying to.
Astral energy flowed—too easily.
Since the trials ended, his Astral Core no longer resisted him. It answered. The fifth spark burned steadily, no longer flaring out of control, but pulsing like a slow, distant star.
And that terrified him more than the chaos before.
You grow faster than balance allows.
The voice echoed again—low, vast, neither male nor female.
Kael's breath hitched.
"I didn't call you," he whispered inwardly.
You do not need to.
The Astral Realm brushed his senses like a veil. He felt it—watching. Measuring.
The other one has awakened.
Kael's eyes snapped open.
"Taron?"
A pause.
Yes.
Kael's fists tightened. He had felt it during the third trial—that surge, sharp and violent beneath Taron's restraint. But hearing it confirmed sent a chill through him.
"What does that mean?" Kael asked.
It means the path has split.
The presence receded, leaving Kael alone with the night—and a truth he did not want.
Across the academy, in a different courtyard, Taron Blaze stood before a cracked stone pillar.
He had struck it once.
The pillar had not shattered—but it was bending.
Veins of dull crimson light crawled across his forearms, fading slowly as he steadied his breathing. His blood burned, heavy and ancient, as if something immense lay coiled inside it.
He pressed a hand to his chest.
So this is it.
The thing that had stirred during the third trial had not left. It had rooted itself deeper. His qi felt denser, more violent, but also… obedient.
Like a beast that recognized its master.
A memory surfaced—one he had buried since childhood.
A night drenched in fire.
A man kneeling, bleeding, pressing a burning symbol into Taron's chest.
"Live," the man had said. "And one day… awaken it."
Taron exhaled sharply.
"So you weren't lying," he muttered.
His gaze lifted toward the direction of Kael's quarters, though he could not see him.
Kael.
The one everyone whispered about.
The one the stars reacted to.
The one the masters feared.
And yet—
Why does my blood react to yours?
The realization struck him like a blade.
This wasn't rivalry.
It was opposition.
Not chosen.
Not learned.
Ingrained.
The next morning, the academy woke to tension thick enough to taste.
Core Disciples were assigned separate training grounds—an honor meant to elevate them.
At the Elder's Hall
It was Master Ru Ning who spoke quietly to the other sect masters as they observed from afar.
"Did you feel it?"
Master Dugu Shen nodded. "Two disturbances now. One celestial. One… violent."
Master Lian Hu frowned. "They resonate against each other."
Master Shen Rokan said nothing—but his hands were clenched behind his back.
"Then it's confirmed," Ru Ning said softly. "If they continue to grow unchecked…"
She didn't finish.
She didn't need to.
Later that day, Kael crossed paths with Taron on a suspended bridge.
They stopped at the same time.
The wind howled between them.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Taron smiled.
Not mockingly.
Not arrogantly.
Dangerously.
"So," he said, "they're afraid of us now."
Kael met his gaze. "Of what we might become."
Taron stepped closer. "No. Of what happens when one of us stands alone."
Kael felt it then—a pressure pushing back against his Astral Core. Not hostile, not aggressive.
Opposing.
Like two forces refusing to coexist.
"If fate wants a war," Kael said quietly, "I won't run from it."
Taron's eyes gleamed. "Good."
He turned away, cloak snapping in the wind.
"Because neither will I."
As they parted, far above the academy, the stars shifted once more.
This time, not in fear.
But alignment.
Two paths.
Two bloodlines.
One inevitable collision.
And somewhere beyond the mountains—
Something smiled.