The air in Section 4 was thick with the smell of ozone and ancient dust. Thousands of Blood-Sucking Void Bats circled the ceiling, their screeching voices enough to turn a normal cultivator's blood to ice.
"Teacher, there are too many!" Suraj yelled, his fists glowing with a dull brown light.
Gaurav didn't even look up from the "Path of Destiny" screen floating in front of him. "Suraj, if you use your eyes, you're just a blind man looking for a light. Use your feet. The ground is your battery. Drain it."
Suraj took a deep breath. He stopped looking at the swarm. He slammed his foot into the cavern floor.
The ground didn't just shake; it rippled. Using the "Heavy Gravity" logic he learned from the Gourd, Suraj pulled the earth's resonance upward.
"Stone Fist: Continental Cracker!"
BOOM! A shockwave of pure kinetic energy blasted upward. Hundreds of bats were instantly vaporized into red mist.
On the other side, Elara moved like a ghost. Her new Deep-Sapphire Ice didn't just freeze the bats; it froze the very air they flew in. With a single flick of her wrist, a dozen ice needles streaked out, piercing the "Death Lines" Gaurav had pointed out earlier.
"Not bad," Gaurav muttered, standing up. "But we're late for a party."
The Primordial Path Stone
At the very end of the tunnel stood a wall of obsidian. Behind it, Gaurav's Eye of Destiny saw a pulsing, white light.
"Step back," Gaurav commanded.
He didn't use a fist. He didn't use a spell. He walked up to the obsidian wall and pressed a single finger against a tiny, microscopic crack near the base.
"Archive... Fate Disruption."
The wall didn't break; it simply ceased to exist. The molecular bonds holding the stone together were "unwritten" by Gaurav's system. Behind the wall lay a small, glowing pebble—the Primordial Path Stone.
As Gaurav touched it, his system screamed with joy.
[System Evolution Complete!]
New Feature: Instant Domain. (Within 10 meters, you are God. You decide what is possible.)
Arrogance Points: +500,000.
"Alright kids, grab onto my shoulders," Gaurav smirked. "We're taking the express elevator."
The Grand Hall: The Principal's Speech
Back in the Academy's Grand Hall, Principal Mo was wiping a fake tear from his eye.
"It is a tragedy," Mo announced to the gathered students and teachers. "Section 4 has collapsed. Master Gaurav and his brilliant students, Elara and Suraj, have been lost to the void. We shall hold a moment of silence for these heroes..."
Elder Han was struggling to hide a grin in the front row. The "trash" was finally gone.
CRACK.
A tiny sound came from the center of the hall. Then another. CRACK-SHATTER!
Suddenly, the space in the middle of the room tore open like a piece of cheap silk. Three figures stepped out of the rift. Gaurav was leading the way, still holding his half-eaten orange. Elara and Suraj followed, looking more powerful than ever before.
The silence that followed wasn't for the "dead"—it was the silence of absolute terror.
"Hero? Me?" Gaurav asked, tossing the orange peel at Principal Mo's feet. "I prefer the term 'Inconvenience.' Sorry to ruin the funeral, Mo. It looked like a real budget affair anyway."
"Y-You! How did you escape the Void Seal?!" Principal Mo stammered, his face turning ghostly white.
"Seal? You mean that flimsy paper-mache door?" Gaurav walked up to the Principal's high chair. "I didn't escape it. I ate it. And now, I think it's time we talk about your retirement plan."
"Guards! Arrest him! He has been possessed by a demon!" Mo screamed.
Ten elite guards rushed forward. Gaurav didn't even blink. He activated his new Instant Domain.
"Kneel."
One word. That was all it took.
The gravity in the hall suddenly increased by a hundredfold. The guards didn't just stop; they were slammed into the marble floor so hard the stone cracked. Even Principal Mo was forced off his chair, his knees hitting the ground with a sickening thud.
Gaurav sat on the Principal's throne, leaning back comfortably.
"From this moment on, the Azure Sky Academy has a new owner," Gaurav announced, his voice echoing with the power of the Path Stone. "Elder Han, go fetch my tea. Principal Mo... you're fired. Literally."
Gaurav snapped his fingers, and a small, harmless flame appeared on Mo's beard, singeing it just enough to be embarrassing.
"We have a tournament to win in three days," Gaurav looked at the stunned student body. "Anyone who wants to actually learn something instead of listening to these fossils... my class starts in ten minutes."