The Vale of Azure Feathers shimmered like a dream carved into the world.
Feather-shaped particles of light drifted lazily downward, dissolving the instant they touched grass or stone.The air hummed softly—too softly.
Qi Shan Wei walked ahead of the group, prismatic eyes reflecting blue luminescence.Drakonix perched lightly on his shoulder, unusually silent.Jin Wei matched his steps, protective runes glowing faintly with every footfall.
Ling Xueya, Feng Qingyue, and Lan Qingyue took formation around them—triangular, instinctive, seamless.Qi Longye followed, cane tapping gently against the stone path.
And yet—
Every one of them felt it.
A wrongness beneath the beauty.
A distortion hidden under the serenity.
The blue curtain of light rippled like a surface touched by a ghostly hand.
Shan Wei inhaled.
"Everyone," he said quietly, "prepare yourselves."
The Gate Awaits
The stone pillars around the gate were ancient—older than any carving style in the Cradle Realm.Each pillar pulsed with spatial qi, threads of light weaving through the runes.
Some threads flowed smoothly.
Others… flickered unnaturally.
Lan Qingyue frowned.
"The flow is unstable. Someone tampered with the anchor lines."
Xueya narrowed her eyes.
"This isn't simple sabotage. It's layered. Hidden."
Qi Longye limped closer, placing a hand over one rune.
His brow darkened.
"This is Calamity-style imprinting."
Qingyue spat a small spark of flame.
"Of COURSE it is."
Jin Wei stepped before Shan Wei, scanning.
"DETECTION:SPATIAL DRIFT 7%.STABILITY: LOW.SAFE TRAVEL… UNLIKELY WITHOUT PROTECTIVE PROTOCOLS."
Shan Wei's jaw tightened.
"We're going anyway."
Xueya hesitated.
"This gate might scatter us."
Lan Qingyue gripped her spear.
"Then we stay close."
Qingyue rolled her eyes and elbowed Xueya lightly.
"If you hold his arm, I swear—"
Xueya's ears turned pink.
"It is strategic contact, not—"
"Uh-huh," Qingyue teased.
Even Lan Qingyue suppressed a smile.
Shan Wei rubbed his temples.
"We can argue about holding arms after we survive the realm jump."
Drakonix let out a determined squeak.
"Fweee!!"
Jin Wei stepped forward, taking position slightly ahead.
"MASTER.PREPARE FOR REALM TRANSFER."
The Gate Opens
Shan Wei placed his palm on the central rune.
The pillars reacted instantly.
Blue light surged upward.A column of luminous mist spiraled around them.
Energy crackled.Space quivered.The ground trembled.
"Everyone close in!" Shan Wei shouted.
Xueya and Qingyue immediately moved, flanking him on both sides.Lan Qingyue positioned her spear backward, lightning ready to carve through any spatial rupture.Drakonix curled his body tightly around Shan Wei's shoulder, scales glowing white-hot.Jin Wei lowered into a defensive stance, both arms shielding Shan Wei's front.
Qi Longye gripped his cane, bracing.
And then—
The light snapped downward—
CHOOOOOM—!
The world fragmented.
Colors inverted.Sound warped.Gravity vanished.
They fell.
No—
They were dragged.
Through a tunnel of writhing starlight.
Through a corridor where reality couldn't decide whether to exist.
Through a storm of broken laws.
The group cried out—
Xueya's frost spiraled uncontrollably, forming shards in the air.Qingyue's flames twisted into spirals, sucked by unstable currents.Lan Qingyue's lightning flared—but immediately split into six conflicting directions.
Qi Longye's cane glowed dark-red—Bloodburn Crystal suppressing his disintegrating meridians.
The spatial current surged again.
Shan Wei reached out blindly.
"Grab on—!!"
Their hands almost touched—
Almost—
But the Gate buckled.
The Fracture
A soundless detonation tore the world.
KRRRRRRAAAASHH—!!
Shan Wei was hurled violently sideways.Xueya vanished from his left.Qingyue was ripped upward.Lan Qingyue spun downward.Qi Longye was flung backwards.Drakonix screamed—
"FWEEEEEEE—!!!"
—and wrapped his wings around Shan Wei, shielding him from a collapsing shard of space.
Jin Wei's voice roared through the chaos:
"MASTER—HOLD—ON—!!DANGER—MAXIMUM—!!"
Shan Wei tried to pull everyone toward him—but space physically blocked him.
Invisible walls.Shifting mirrors.A labyrinth of broken directions.
He slammed into something hard—a spatial choke point.
His vision cracked like glass.
"DRRAKONIXX—!!"
Drakonix's flames exploded in a defensive cocoon.
Jin Wei broke through the collapsing current, grabbing Shan Wei's arm—
Then the tail end of the spatial instability blasted them.
Shan Wei felt his consciousness tear.
He heard Xueya's voice faintly:
"Shan Wei—!!"
Qingyue's frantic scream:
"WEI—!!"
Lan Qingyue's shout:
"MASTER—!"
Drakonix's terrified screech:
"FWRRRAAAAA—!!"
And Jin Wei's final words as the current ripped them apart:
"MASTER—RELOCATION—FAIL—SAFE—ENGAGED—!!"
Light swallowed everything.
Impact
Shan Wei hit ground.
Hard.
The air blasted from his lungs.His vision snapped back—just barely—
And he found himself lying on cold stone.
Above him—
Not Cloudpierce sky.Not the Cradle Realm.Not the Vale.
A sky of swirling violet and silver.Stars too close.Constellations that moved.
He rolled onto his side, coughing.
Drakonix lay beside him, small again—but glowing with strain.Smoke curled from his scales.
"Fwee…fwee…"Barely conscious.
Shan Wei reached out, pulling the dragon to his chest.
"It's okay," he whispered. "You did good."
But when he looked up—
Jin Wei was nowhere.
Xueya—gone.Qingyue—gone.Lan Qingyue—gone.Qi Longye—gone.
His breath froze.
"Jin Wei…?"
Nothing.
"Xueya—? Qingyue—?"
Only silence.
Drakonix whimpered softly.
"Fwee…"
Shan Wei's heart hammered painfully against his ribs.
He stood—unsteady.
His surroundings sharpened as his senses returned.
Grey stone pillars.A cracked floor overgrown with vines of glowing blue.Ruined statues carved of celestial metal.A broken archway pointing toward the horizon.
And far in the distance—
Floating islands.Shattered fragments of cities.A storm of blue fire drifting through an inverted canyon.
Shan Wei's eyes widened.
"This is…"
A whispering wind answered him.
"The outskirts of the Conclave's domain…"
Shan Wei froze.
A figure stepped out from behind a broken celestial statue.
A girl—barefoot, dressed in ragged grey, long hair tied with a strip of cloth.A black mask hid the lower half of her face.Her eyes were moonlit silver.
Not hostile.
Not friendly.
Not human.
Something else.
Something familiar.
She tilted her head.
"You… arrived early."
Shan Wei forced out a breath.
"Who are you?"
The girl's eyes curved in a faint smile.
"Someone who has waited a very long time to meet you."
Shan Wei's body tensed.
"Did you see anyone else land here?"
The girl blinked.
"No."
His stomach dropped.
"So I am alone."
"Not alone," the girl corrected softly."You have him."
Her gaze flicked to Drakonix in Shan Wei's arms.
"And you have me."
Shan Wei's pulse tightened.
"Why would you help me?"
Her silver eyes glowed faintly behind the mask.
"Because, Qi Shan Wei—"
She stepped closer—
The faint scent of moonflower drifting around her—
The shadows reacted to her presence like they recognized her—
"—my Lady has been watching you for a very… very long time."
Before Shan Wei could respond, she whispered:
"Welcome to the Outer Ruins of the Heavenly Auction Conclave.""And welcome… to the game."
The wind howled.Lightning danced across the shattered sky.Drakonix stirred weakly in Shan Wei's arms.
And far away—
A sigil burned across the horizon.
The Calamity Heir's mark.
Watching.
Waiting.
Smiling.
To be Continued
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