The Silver Dragon cut across the night sky, engines humming with power. Below, Stone Fang Town shrank into darkness, its people still kneeling where Krish had left them. Yet already, whispers had begun to spread like wildfire.
By dawn, travelers carried the tale to nearby villages: a stranger had shattered the Iron Fang Sect in a single night. By noon, merchants repeated it in markets miles away, voices trembling with awe. By evening, even wandering cultivators in the mountains muttered the name with disbelief.
"Krish."
A name unknown yesterday. Now spoken with both fear and reverence.
---
Inside the Silver Dragon, Krish sat cross-legged in the cockpit, eyes closed. Spirit energy flowed faintly through his veins, refined by the shard within his arm and strengthened by the ship's core. The battle had been effortless—but it had also been loud.
RC's voice broke the silence. "Transmission reports intercepted. News of your confrontation has reached at least five sects within a two-hundred-kilometer radius. Reactions vary: fear, curiosity, hostility."
Krish opened his eyes. "Expected."
"Correction," RC added. "The speed of spread is alarming. Local cultivators rely heavily on oral rumor networks. By tomorrow, every sect in this province will know your name."
Krish leaned back in his chair, lips curving into a faint smile. "Good. Let them know."
---
Rumors in the Valley
In distant sect halls, disciples whispered.
"He defeated the Iron Fang leader barehanded."
"No, they say he controls a flying weapon—a dragon made of silver light."
"A foreign cultivator… or a demon?"
Sect masters and elders debated furiously. Some wanted him hunted as a threat to order. Others wanted him courted, bought, or bound. All agreed on one thing—Krish had broken the balance.
---
In the Shadows
A hooded figure listened in a tavern corner, sipping bitter wine. His eyes glowed faintly, a mark of cultivation far above the common rabble. He smirked as he heard Krish's name.
"So… another star falls into this world," he murmured. "Let's see if you shine, or if you burn."
---
Krish's Resolve
The Silver Dragon soared toward distant mountains, its invisible cloak re-engaged. Krish stood before the central console, hands clasped behind his back.
"RC, show me everything about this world—sects, kingdoms, history. I want to know who thinks they rule."
Holographic displays shimmered to life, revealing maps etched with ancient lines.
"This world," RC began, "fractured long ago. Once, a single empire spanned continents. It collapsed during the Spirit Wars, when sects turned on each other for resources. Now power lies scattered—sects, clans, and wandering masters."
Krish studied the map, eyes narrowing at the clusters of red. "And spirit stones are the fuel for it all."
"Correct," RC replied. "And the core you now possess makes you a beacon. Every cultivator with ambition will hunt you."
Krish chuckled quietly, his words soft but sharp enough to cut through the silence.
"I don't cultivate martial arts. I don't practice your techniques. And yet…" He turned, his eyes blazing like twin suns. "…I am still stronger than every cultivator this world has to offer."
RC's systems pulsed, recording every word. Outside, the stars glittered coldly, as if bearing witness.
The Silver Dragon trembled, engines flaring with silver light in answer to his declaration. For the first time, Krish felt not like a visitor to this world—but its storm, the force destined to bend it to his will.
The stars stretched endlessly ahead. Behind him, his name spread like fire. Ahead of him, greater enemies stirred.
Krish's journey was no longer about survival. It was about domination.
---