The sky split open.
As a rift that was thinner than a strand of hair, brighter than a dying star. A column of light shone through the heavens above Oolong City. Wind howled across the plaza, drawing terrified cries from soldiers and civilians alike as the air warped and twisted around the catastrophic surge of emerald qi.
Li Wei stood at the center of the storm.
Barely standing. Barely breathing.
Yet the force roaring behind him was anything but fragile.
The Compass of the Verdant Abyss spun in a towering vortex, ancient sigils orbiting him like fragments of a forgotten temple. Each one pulsed with primordial qi that made the jade platform dissolve into dust beneath his boots.
Every breath he took cost him a meridian, yet he held fire. As there was no other path.
