The sky above Heaven Defying Academy, usually calm and layered in sacred mist, was now showing cracks of black lightning, flickering through the clouds like angry veins. These were no mere natural phenomena. They were Rift Fractures—signs of an Interdimensional Rift opening.
The disciples training in the outer yards stopped mid-cultivation. Elders who were lecturing paused, their faces turning pale. Even beasts in the Spirit Mountain roared uneasily.
Only Dev Yadav, still in his unassuming form as the academy's lazy caretaker, understood what it truly meant.
"So soon...?" he whispered, standing atop the Lotus Tower.
The seal between dimensions, weakened after 10,000 years, was beginning to rupture. But what surprised him was why it was triggered now.
Lin Feng.
The boy had accepted the ancient scroll—The Will of the True Ancestor. That single decision had resonated through the fabric of space, alerting beings who had once warred with Dev Yadav in forgotten epochs.
From the tear in the sky, a single eye appeared. Gigantic, red as blood, ancient as time itself.
"HEAVEN DEFYING... HE RETURNS?"
A voice rumbled across the heavens, causing weaker cultivators to cough blood. Some fainted instantly. The protective formation around the academy flared, but even it trembled under the weight of that gaze.
Inside the Hidden Library, Lin Feng had collapsed. Golden runes were spinning around him uncontrollably. His spiritual sea was growing unstable. If left unchecked, his foundation could shatter.
In a blur of movement, Dev appeared behind Lin Feng and pressed his palm gently on the boy's back.
"Steady now, child. You've awakened a deeper current. But I won't let you drown."
Energy from Dev's body—not Qi, but something purer, older, almost divine—entered Lin Feng. Instantly, the chaos in his body calmed. The floating scrolls retracted, and the Hidden Library closed on its own.
Dev carried Lin Feng out just as a bolt of interdimensional lightning struck the protective barrier of the academy, shaking mountains.
The Elders gathered near the main courtyard, weapons drawn and defensive formations activated.
"Headmaster, should we engage?!"
But Dev waved his hand lazily. "No need."
Raising his other hand toward the sky, he whispered:
"This is my domain. Begone."
A single flick.
The red eye in the sky blinked—and shattered. The crack in the sky sealed like it had never been there. The air returned to stillness.
Gasps echoed through the academy.
"W-What just happened?"
"Who—no, what—just flicked the sky shut?"
Dev turned, carrying Lin Feng like a sleeping child. His smile was serene, yet eyes cold.
"There will be many eyes watching now," he said quietly, not to anyone in particular. "Let them come. The Heaven Defying Academy will not fall—not while I watch."
Far away, in another realm, a council of Eternal Entities stirred.
"He has moved," whispered one cloaked being."Prepare the Void Hunters. The Dao Ancestor has interfered once more."