The main auction began less than half an hour after Nia’s dragon-bone pendant awakened, but the excitement from that small incident followed Jayden’s family all the way into the grand amphitheater.The underground auction hall was far larger than the display galleries outside. Rows of curved seats descended toward a central velvet-covered podium, while private boxes occupied the upper levels behind tinted formation glass. Hundreds of wealthy merchants, noble families, cultivators and representatives from distant provinces had already taken their places, and the air carried the quiet tension of people who had come prepared to spend fortunes without showing how badly they wanted anything.Jayden’s status as City Lord gave him one of the highest private boxes.Nia immediately claimed the seat closest to the glass.She had barely stopped touching the pendant around her neck since Jayden placed it there. Every few minutes, she would tap the ancient dragon bone and watch the faint golden ba

The moment Kael was carried back onto the imperial airship, the atmosphere on board changed.Four imperial enforcers supported the unconscious young man between them while another hurried aheard shouting for the ship physician. Kael’s once-perfect white-and-gold uniform had been cut away around the chest, his breastplate was folded inward like crushed tin, and thick bandages around his ribs were already stained dark with blood. His breathing came in short, painful pulls, and the physician who examined him at the top of the boarding ramp went pale almost immediately.“His ribs are shattered in several places,” the man reported carefully. “There is damage around the lungs, and the impact disturbed the flow around his Neen Core. The Core itself has not broken, but his cultivation will remain unstable until the internal injuries recover.”Valerius stared at him and for several seconds, he seemed unable to speak then his gaze moved slowly toward Kael.The disciple he had brought from the C

Skyreach woke to alarm bells.The first bell rang from the western watchtower before sunrise had fully cleared the horizon, sharp enough to cut through the quiet streets. A second answered from farther north, then a third, and within seconds every emergency bell along the western wall was sounding at once. Windows flew open, market workers abandoned half-raised shutters, and sleeping families rushed outside while City Guards shouted for civilians to move toward the inner districts. Panic spread quickly, but unlike what normally happened during an unexpected emergency, the evacuation roads were already clear.Jayden had returned from the wilderness before dawn and quietly ordered the western residential blocks evacuated, the city gates reinforced, wall rotations doubled, and healers, food carts and emergency supplies moved behind the second defensive line. He had not explained everything to the public because there had been no time to tell an entire city that hundreds of imperial ber

The cheers rolling from the western wall lasted only a few breaths.Mira had wiped out the first section of the Beast Tide so quickly that for one brief moment, the defenders actually believed the worst might already be over. Thousands of beasts lay frozen across the plain or reduced to smoking ash, while frost still covered the ground around Mira’s feet and blue flame curled slowly through the air behind her. Soldiers who had been trembling minutes earlier were shouting her name, pounding spears against stone and leaning over the battlements to watch their City Lord’s fiancée stand alone before the broken vanguard.Then the three Beast Kings moved.The Six-Horned Inferno Lion stepped forward first.Its enormous paws crushed frozen beasts beneath them without slowing, and molten-red cracks along its dark hide brightened as rage rolled from its body. The ground around each paw began to split under the weight of its pressure, while sparks leaked from between its fangs with every breath.

The bridge of the imperial flagship fell into chaos the moment Jayden stepped out of the void.Officers stumbled backward from the dark rift while warning formations flashed across the walls, and the elite guards stationed around the command deck reacted on instinct. Six men raised long energy rifles powered by condensed Neen cells, while another group drew curved sabers etched with imperial runes. None of them had expected the man they were fleeing from to simply tear open space and appear in front of them, but training overpowered shock quickly enough.“Protect the Envoy!”The first rifle fired.A concentrated beam of blue Neen tore across the bridge.Jayden tilted his head slightly and let it pass beside his ear.The second shot came from his left, followed by three more, forcing officers to dive away as energy scorched the golden walls and shattered one of the navigation panels. Valerius scrambled behind the command table while his guards closed around Jayden, desperate now that e