Cold wind greeted Kai as he stepped through the portal.
The scent of pine replaced the fading fragrance of silver rain.
When the light disappeared, he found himself standing on the edge of a cliff.
Below stretched a world unlike any he had seen.
Nine colossal mountains rose into the clouds, each linked to the others by enormous stone bridges suspended over an endless abyss.
Rivers flowed upward instead of down.
Floating islands drifted lazily through the sky.
Gigantic beasts soared between the peaks, their shadows sweeping across forests that shimmered with spiritual light.
At the center of it all stood a city built of white stone and black jade.
It wasn't merely an academy.
It was a kingdom of cultivators.
Lyra stepped out behind him, her eyes widening.
"...This place..."
She struggled to find the words.
"It feels... alive."
Ashren nodded.
"It is."
"The Nine Peaks were planted before the First Era."
"They feed on the spiritual veins beneath reality itself."
The old wanderer chuckled.
"Which is why students are forbidden from trying to steal the mountains."
Kai blinked.
"...Students have tried?"
Ashren sighed.
"You'll be surprised what geniuses consider a reasonable idea."
A deep bell echoed through the valley.
BOOM...
The sound rolled across all nine peaks.
Thousands of cultivators stopped what they were doing.
High in the sky, enormous spirit birds changed direction.
The rivers of spiritual energy briefly reversed.
Kai frowned.
"What was that?"
Ashren looked toward the tallest peak.
"Our arrival."
At the summit of the central mountain, an elderly man sat beneath a flowering tree.
He wore plain blue robes.
In front of him rested a bamboo fishing rod.
Despite sitting on a mountain, his line disappeared into empty air.
As the bell rang, a fish made entirely of starlight leaped from the sky.
He caught it without looking.
Then he smiled.
"So..."
"The Coreless one has arrived."
His eyes opened.
Across the entire academy, countless formations activated.
One by one, ancient arrays awakened.
Students looked upward in confusion.
"What happened?"
"Why are the Guardian Formations active?"
"Is the academy under attack?"
"No..."
A young woman standing on the Fifth Peak narrowed her crimson eyes.
"They're welcoming someone."
Back at the entrance bridge, a dozen instructors appeared in flashes of light.
Each wore robes embroidered with the emblem of the Nine Peaks—a silver mountain surrounded by nine stars.
Their leader bowed slightly to Ashren.
"Senior."
"We've been expecting you."
Ashren smiled.
"I was hoping for a quieter entrance."
The instructor glanced at Kai.
"That became impossible the moment he crossed the portal."
Kai noticed something strange.
Every instructor stared at the bracelet on his wrist.
Not at him.
The bracelet.
One of them whispered,
"So it truly exists..."
Another looked away immediately, as though afraid to meet Kai's gaze.
The lead instructor introduced himself.
"My name is Master Caelum, Keeper of the First Peak."
"I welcome you to the Academy of Nine Peaks."
His eyes rested on Kai.
"Though I suspect your stay here will not be peaceful."
Kai gave a small smile.
"It never is."
A few instructors exchanged amused glances.
Ashren laughed.
"He's learning."
As they crossed the first bridge, Kai felt countless eyes watching him.
Students lined balconies, rooftops, and training grounds.
Some looked curious.
Some looked dismissive.
Others...
Hostile.
A broad-shouldered young man carrying a massive sword folded his arms.
"So that's the outsider?"
"He doesn't look impressive."
His companion snorted.
"Give him a week."
"Everyone breaks here eventually."
On the Seventh Peak, a silver-haired girl paused in the middle of her sword practice.
The instant she saw Kai...
Her sword slipped from her hand.
Impossible.
She had never dropped her sword.
Not once in ten years.
She stared silently as Kai disappeared into the academy below.
Then she whispered to herself,
"...Why does he feel familiar?"
Master Caelum led the group into a vast circular hall.
In its center floated a crystal sphere taller than three men.
Clouds swirled inside it.
Occasionally, flashes of distant battlefields appeared within the crystal.
"The Heart Mirror," Caelum explained.
"It does not measure cultivation."
"It measures potential."
The old wanderer raised an eyebrow.
"You're testing him already?"
Caelum nodded gravely.
"We must."
"The academy needs to know..."
"...whether history has sent us a savior."
His expression darkened.
"...or another catastrophe."
Kai stepped toward the crystal.
The moment his fingers touched its surface—
Nothing happened.
The sphere remained completely transparent.
Caelum frowned.
"Impossible..."
Every person in the hall stared.
The Heart Mirror had never failed to respond.
Not in ten thousand years.
Then—
A single crack appeared across its surface.
Another followed.
And another.
The crystal began to tremble violently.
Ashren's face changed.
"Kai!"
"Step back!"
But it was already too late.
The Heart Mirror exploded into a storm of silver shards.
Instead of falling...
The fragments froze in the air.
Together, they formed four glowing words.
"HE HAS RETURNED."
The entire academy fell into stunned silence.
Far beneath the Ninth Peak...
In a chamber sealed since before the First Era...
Something ancient smiled.