Without warning, all five Rank Four powerhouses vanished from his vicinity, reappearing at a considerable distance away in the open air.
Before Michael could question their movent, a voice reached him from afar.
It was one of the elders.
"If we stand too close, the universe will punish us for interfering, and even we cannot afford that." A brief pause followed. "Anyway, good luck, lad. This is not sothing you can run from. I am sure you have already noticed that your movent is locked in place. I hope you survive."
Before Michael could respond, Director Arven's voice cut through. "It's starting. Prepare yourself."
The disturbance caused by the heavens was anything but small.
Though Michael and the elders stood far from any major civilization, the phenonon unfolding above them was impossible to completely conceal.
The dark clouds stretched far across the sky, spreading like a massive wound across the heavens. Lightning tore through the darkness again and again, illuminating everything below with violent flashes. Each rumble of thunder carried for dozens of kiloters in every direction.
The temperature across the surrounding regions began to drop noticeably.
A cold wind swept through forests and plains alike.
Even those who knew nothing about cultivation could sense that sothing unnatural was happening.
Far away, on a highway cutting through the wilderness, a convoy of transport vehicles slowed to a stop as drivers looked upward in
confusion.
One man stepped out of his car and stared at the sky.
"What the hell is that?"
A driver nearby raised his phone and began recording imdiately.
"This is insane. Look at those clouds!"
The storm continued expanding slowly, its dark mass swallowing the stars one by one.
Several people pointed upward.
"Is that a storm?"
"No way. The forecast said clear skies tonight."
A group of teenagers standing outside a convenience shop had already pulled out their phones. One of them zood in on the swirling mass above.
"Bro, look at that lightning!"
Another laughed nervously.
"Upload it. This is going viral for sure."
In a residential district several kiloters away, a woman stepped out onto her balcony holding a steaming cup of tea. The mont she saw the sky her expression froze.
Her household assistant robot rolled beside her and automatically activated its cara.
Elsewhere, a man walking his chanical pet dog stopped mid-step. The small robotic animal tilted its head upward and projected a holographic display from its collar.
"Analyzing environntal changes," the device announced calmly. The man frowned.
"Since when does weather feel like this?"
Even people who had not been paying attention to the sky began noticing the chill creeping through the air. Children pointed upward from playgrounds. Across several districts, thousands of people began capturing the event through phones, holographic displays, personal assistants, and household robots. So posted clips online imdiately. Others simply stared in stunned silence.
No one understood what they were witnessing.
Yet instinctively, many of them felt the sa quiet unease pressing down from the sky above, as though the heavens themselves were preparing for sothing imnse.
If ordinary people could sense such unease, the reaction among the supernatural community was far more intense.
Across the surrounding regions, several powerful figures imdiately detected the disturbance. Streaks of light tore across the sky as supernaturals rushed toward the source, each one cutting through the air with astonishing speed.
But none of them traveled far before their movents abruptly
halted.
Because they had all sensed sothing else.
Five terrifying auras hovering in the open sky.
The mont that pressure reached them, their expressions changed.
"Five Rank Four presences?"
"Damn."
One by one the approaching figures slowed. So cursed under their
breath. Others simply turned around without hesitation. No one wanted to provoke five Rank Four powerhouses standing together in open air, and even if opportunity lay hidden within that heavenly
phenonon, their lives were worth considerably more.
Within monts, most of the approaching supernaturals had retreated.
But not all of them turned back.
A few streaks of light continued forward without slowing. Their
presence was equally powerful.
Rank Four.
The five elders sensed them imdiately yet none of them reacted. After all, those approaching were not weaker beings.
Soon, several figures appeared in the distant sky and ca to a stop at a safe distance from the storm. They hovered calmly in the air, observing the scene below. The mont their eyes landed on the five elders already present, their reactions were imdiate.
"Damn it."
One of the newly arrived Rank Four figures rubbed his forehead in
frustration.
"I knew sothing big was happening, and you bastards got here
first."
Another elder snorted.
"You old vultures never miss anything, do you?"
A third figure laughed openly.
Several of them exchanged irritated glances before shaking their
heads.
"Unbelievable."
"To think sothing like this would happen in my lifeti."
One of them sighed loudly.
"Why are you bastards always so lucky? You get all the good ones."
Another elder clicked his tongue.
"Don't talk nonsense. You're only jealous because your academy hasn't produced anyone interesting in years."
The newly arrived group fell quiet for a mont, their gazes drifting
downward toward the lone figure standing beneath the storm.
Michael Norman.
None of them had seen him in person before. Yet the mont their eyes landed on him, recognition surfaced almost instantly. Michael's Awakener Academy was not the only major institution in the region. Within the surrounding area stood another large Awakener
Academy of comparable reputation, and alongside it two powerful cultivation academies, each specializing in traditional cultivation rather than the awakening system. All four institutions constantly competed for influence, talent, and resources.
And in the past few weeks, one na had been circulating everywhere throughout Aurora. Michael Norman.
"Interesting. Very interesting."
One of the elders crossed his arms.
"I heard you people had found a monster worth fighting the Federation over, but I assud it was exaggeration. What kind of youth triggers a heavenly tribulation at this stage?" He paused. "This would be a first in Aurora, would it not?"
Before anyone could respond, a trendous bolt of lightning split the sky and ca screaming downward.
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