I tightened my grip around Sarah's hand, my fingers locking with hers as though the world might try to tear her away at any second.
Stan's gaze bored into mine.
My back shudder, it wasn't because of I was scared, but my instinct and experience told me Stan is going to be a big obstacle and rival. But Stil, I wasn't going to Back down.
I had waited years for this. Now she stood beside me.
My mate.
I would not let this chance slip through my fingers.
Sarah shifted slightly, as if about to speak. Her lips parted.
And then the world split open.
A thunderous crack exploded across the sky.
The entire Qi Continent trembled.
It wasn't ordinary thunder. This was violent. Authoritative. It was as if the heavens themselves had slammed a hammer against the firmament.
The clouds above turned crimson.
Red.
Blood-red.
Every cultivator within a thousand miles felt it.
My heart dropped.
Heavenly phenomenon.
"Heavens…" I whispered.
The pressure descended instantly. Invisible, suffocating weight crushed down on everything.
Trees bent. Mountains seemed to groan. Even the air became heavy, thick, and hard to breathe.
Sarah's fingers tightened around mine. Her power wasn't enough to withstand the pressure.
Stan stepped forward instinctively, eyes narrowed at the sky.
But I was already searching.
With my perception expanded, I pushed my spiritual sense outward, past the forest, past the rivers, beyond the distant mountain chains. My vision pierced through mist and distance.
And then I saw it.
Far beyond the eastern ridge.
A wolf.
White.
No— not simply white.
Radiant.
Its fur as white as snow, its fur like a mane so wild that it dances with the wind. It wasn't standing on the ground.
It was climbing.
Step by step.
Through the air.
As if invisible stairs were laid before it.
Each step caused ripples in the sky itself.
The clouds churned violently above it, swirling like a vortex preparing to devour its challenger.
The white wolf lifted its head.
And howled.
The sound tore through my soul.
It wasn't merely a wolf's cry—it was defiance. It was dominance. It was a declaration.
It was saying—
I am here.
Strike me if you dare.
And The heavens answered.
A bolt of red lightning split the sky.
It wasn't ordinary lightning. This was crimson.
It descended like judgment itself.
The moment it struck, I felt it.
Even from this distance.
The weight of it.
My knees nearly buckled.
Sarah gasped softly. Almost vomiting blood.
Stan staggered half a step. That was no ordinary tribulation. That was Heavenly Lightning.
And Heavenly Lightning appears for only one reason.
Ascension.
Someone had broken through.
Someone had stepped into the Ascension Stage.
My heart began pounding violently.
No…
It couldn't be…
The white wolf did not dodge.
It did not retreat.
It leapt upward instead, directly into the lightning.
The red bolt swallowed it whole.
For a moment, the sky became blinding.
The explosion cracked through the continent like a god's roar.
Shockwaves rippled outward, flattening all the surrounding forests and shattering distant cliffs.
But when the light faded, The wolf was still there.
Its mane burned brighter now, streaks of red lightning crawling across its fur like living veins.
It stood in midair.
Unafraid.
The clouds above roared again, furious at being challenged.
Second bolt.
Stronger this time around. It tore downward with destructive intent.My chest tightened. Heavenly tribulation increases with each strike. The more monstrous the talent, the more brutal the test.
This wasn't normal Ascension Lightning.
This was punishment. Anyone in the Ascension stage weren't allowed to live here. Because it would destroy the balance between the realms. After one ascend to ascension, they must all live at once. But that wolf…was defying the heavens.
And then it hit me.
The aura.
I pushed my senses deeper.
Past the lightning.
Past the violent spiritual fluctuations.
And I felt it.
Familiar.
Royal.
Ancient.
My blood ran cold.
Impossible.
That bloodline…
It could only be one thing. "That…" I said slowly, never taking my eyes off the distant figure challenging the heavens.
"That could only be…"
The third lightning descended.
And the entire sky turned white.