Free Web NovelChapter 194: Awakening completed
The golden radiance left behind by Jiang Chengyu’s awakening still lingered throughout the plaza like an invisible tide.
It bathed the enormous square in waves of brilliant light, turning every reflective surface into a mirror of gold.
The atmosphere was thick with excitement, pride, and disbelief.
Reporters rushed from one position to another while broadcasting live to billions across the globe.
Camera drones filled the air like a swarm of metallic insects, their lenses focused entirely on the young woman who had just shattered every expectation.
Members of the Jiang Clan stood together in the VIP section, their faces flushed with triumph as champagne glasses clinked in celebration.
To the rest of the world, they had just witnessed the birth of a future ruler.
To Alex, they had simply watched a machine scan a slightly better barcode.
The excitement continued to spread through the crowd until the exhausted voice of the chief proctor echoed from the plaza speakers.
"Next group. Registration numbers 4012 through 4019, step forward."
His tone carried little enthusiasm.
After witnessing an SSS-Rank awakening, everything else felt insignificant.
No matter who stepped onto the stage now, they would merely become a footnote in today’s history.
Ren glanced toward the towering crystal pillar standing at the center of the platform.
The sacred artifact rose nearly thirty feet into the air, its translucent surface glowing faintly from the energy it had recently processed.
He then turned toward Alex.
Years of hardship had left marks upon his body.
His hands were rough from labor, and his skin carried the traces of countless days spent working in the coal districts of the Soul World’s outer rings.
Despite that, his expression remained calm.
Deep within his body, the microscopic drop of Alex’s blood continued to pulse.
The sensation was difficult to describe.
Every heartbeat carried a strange warmth that flowed through his veins and reached every corner of his existence.
Alex met his gaze.
"Go," he said quietly.
His voice remained calm despite the overwhelming noise surrounding them.
"Show them what happens when the parameters are rewritten." freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Ren nodded.
Together with the other seven youths, he stepped forward and entered the open plaza.
A wave of silence immediately swept through the audience.
The crowd had spent the entire day watching wealthy heirs, noble descendants, and elite academy students display their talents.
The contrast before them now was almost absurd.
The eight newcomers wore simple clothes that appeared completely out of place among the luxury and prestige surrounding the awakening ceremony.
Several reporters exchanged confused looks.
"Who are those people?"
Another lowered his camera drone and frowned.
"They look like laborers. Did they accidentally enter the wrong event?"
Nearby officials struggled to suppress their amusement.
One executive laughed openly.
"After an SSS-Rank genius, they are sending street beggars onto the stage."
High above the plaza, inside the luxurious glass observation chamber, Jiang Chengyu stood beside her father.
She barely glanced toward the approaching youths.
Her attention remained fixed upon her own hands.
Power surged beneath her skin.
She could feel the vast potential of her newly awakened SSS-Rank Fire Magus talent.
According to the preliminary projections, her physical body would continue evolving over the next month until it reached a level capable of rivaling the world’s strongest Supremes.
The future belonged to her.
The eight commoners below were irrelevant.
Ren stepped onto the platform.
The proctor barely looked up from his tablet.
"Place your hand on the crystal."
Ren inhaled slowly.
Memories surfaced one after another.
He remembered the hunger.
He remembered the cold nights.
He remembered watching arrogant soul masters ride through the streets atop their spiritual beasts while ordinary people scattered like insects to avoid being trampled.
For his entire life, power had determined worth.
The strong ruled.
The weak obeyed.
A fierce light appeared within his eyes.
Teacher, he thought silently. I am no longer dust.
He extended his arm and placed his palm against the smooth crystal surface.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
The proctor sighed.
His fingers moved toward the tablet.
"No reaction. Next candidat..."
The words never finished.
A shockwave erupted at that moment.
It was not sound.
It was not energy.
It was something deeper.
Every living being within miles felt an indescribable impact strike directly against their consciousness.
The awakening crystal did not follow its normal sequence.
Red never appeared.
Orange never appeared.
Neither Yellow nor Green emerged.
The crystal ignored every rank recognized by humanity.
Instead, the entire pillar transformed into absolute darkness.
A blackness so profound that it seemed capable of devouring light itself spread throughout the crystal.
The plaza froze.
Thousands stared in horror.
The darkness lasted only an instant.
Then reality cracked.
Brilliant platinum-silver light exploded from the center of the crystal like a newborn star.
The eruption was so violent that the reinforced dome covering the plaza shattered with a deafening roar.
Cracks spread across the structure in every direction as overwhelming pressure descended upon the surroundings.
People screamed.
Several hunters lost their footing.
The proctor was thrown backward and crashed into the stage floor.
"What is happening?" His terrified voice barely escaped his throat.
Around him, holographic screens flickered wildly.
Lines of code collapsed into meaningless static.
The automated awakening system suddenly began broadcasting emergency warnings.
Its normally calm voice had become distorted.
[Critical Error. Detecting biological energy beyond measurable limits. Parameters exceeded. Global system limits exceeded. Awakening Rank: G... Error. Error. Error.]
The crystal began to melt.
The artifact that humanity considered indestructible was dissolving under the weight of Ren’s existence.
More accurately, it was dissolving beneath the infinitesimal trace of Alex’s blood hidden within him.
The world’s system had attempted to analyze it.
The world’s system had failed.
Before anyone could recover, a calm voice spoke nearby.
"Ren, step back."
The speaker was Mei.
Her eyes had already begun glowing with the same platinum-silver brilliance.
She stepped forward without hesitation.
Then she touched the crystal.
A thunderous crack echoed across the city.
Another pillar of light erupted upward.
The beam pierced through the fractured dome, tore through the clouds, and vanished into the heavens.
The third youth stepped forward.
Then the fourth.
The fifth.
The sixth.
The seventh.
The eighth.
Each contact unleashed another pillar of transcendent light.
Soon, eight colossal beams stood around the plaza in a perfect circle.
The atmosphere itself trembled beneath their presence.
Cloud formations across hundreds of miles were torn apart.
Weather systems shifted. Planetary energy currents became chaotic.
Then the city’s power grid collapsed. Every light disappeared. Every screen shut down.
Darkness swept across the metropolis.
Yet the city did not remain dark. The eight pillars illuminated everything.
Their silver radiance transformed night into day.
From orbit, the phenomenon was clearly visible.
Inside the VIP chamber, Jiang Chengyu’s expression shattered.
Her knees struck the floor.
She grabbed the railing as panic surged through her body.
The bloodline she had once considered supreme was trembling.
No. It was kneeling.
Warnings exploded across the system interface within her mind.
[Warning! Higher existence detected. Rank authority suppressed. Current status: Submissive.]
Her breathing became uneven.
"This is impossible."
Nearby, her father was faring even worse.
The powerful hunter had collapsed completely.
His face had turned pale.
Every instinct within him screamed danger.
"Not X-Rank," he whispered. His voice trembled. "This cannot be X-Rank."
His eyes remained fixed upon the eight figures below.
"This is something beyond that."
Far away, hidden across the planet, ten ancient beings opened their eyes simultaneously.
The rulers of the Ten Supreme Factions had remained at the peak of the world for millennias.
Each of them stood as a pillar supporting humanity against external threats.
Each of them possessed power capable of reshaping the world.
At that moment, every one of them felt the planetary ley lines convulse.
An ancient man sitting within a subterranean tomb rose to his feet.
Fear appeared in his eyes for the first time in centuries.
"Eight new god-level entities?" His voice echoed throughout the chamber. "At the same moment?"
Elsewhere, atop the highest tower of the World Government, a golden-haired man stared toward the distant horizon.
The eight pillars remained visible even from thousands of miles away.
His expression darkened.
"Find them." The command carried overwhelming authority. "No matter what resources are required."
His gaze sharpened. "I want every piece of information."
Back in the ruined plaza, chaos had consumed everything.
Emergency alarms blared continuously.
Destroyed drones littered the ground.
Elite hunters struggled to remain conscious beneath the pressure filling the air.
At the center of it all stood the eight former commoners.
Their appearances had not changed.
Their clothing remained simple.
Yet something fundamental had shifted.
The fear and caution that once defined them had vanished completely.
In its place existed only calm certainty.
The certainty of beings who stood above stars and kingdoms alike.
Finally, the awakening crystal reached its limit.
The sacred artifact shattered into countless sparkling fragments.
The fragments drifted downward like silver snow.
Silence followed.
Thousands of spectators stared without speaking.
Many had forgotten how to breathe.
High above them, Jiang Chengyu remained frozen.
Everything she believed about talent, status, and destiny had collapsed within a single minute.
Among the countless kneeling figures throughout the plaza, only one person remained standing.
Alex.
His hands rested casually inside his pockets as though nothing unusual had happened.
He observed the eight pillars.
Then he looked toward his students.
A faint smile appeared on his face. freewebnøvel.coɱ
"A little excessive," he murmured.
The panic, the alarms, and the terrified screams around him meant nothing.
He simply turned around and began walking toward the exit.
"But the lesson has been delivered."
