The Central Plaza of the Radiant Dawn Academy was an ocean of white marble and fluttering silk.
More than ten thousand disciples gathered around the raised stone terrace. Flags from all seven spires snapped in the mountain breeze, and the air hummed with the excited chatter of the annual assessment.
In the center of the terrace stood the Measuring Stele of Nine Dragons.
The monument rose fifty feet into the azure skybox, carved from a single slab of abyssal star-jade. Nine serpentine dragons were sculpted along its polished purple surface, their jade claws coiled around ancient runic grooves.
According to academy lore, the Founding Patriarch hauled the pillar from the Abyssal Mists ten thousand years ago. It had endured lightning strikes, dragon breath, and sovereign-tier war spells without taking a scratch.
Whenever a disciple touched the base, the dragons would awaken, blazing with spiritual fire to measure dantian density, aura purity, and core potential.
Standing at the edge of the terrace, Felix Vance took a sip from his chipped ceramic mug.
"That's a lot of people," Felix muttered, adjusting his oversized coat. "And that purple pillar looks like an arcade punch-machine. Do you win a stuffed bear if you hit the top score?"
Beside him, Lyra Ashford set down the wooden folding stool and offered him the warm brass kettle.
"Senior Brother," Lyra said softly, her voice filled with respect. "The Measuring Stele is an ancient relic of the First Era. It probes the depths of one's spiritual ocean. The common disciples spend months fasting simply to endure its feedback."
"Sounds exhausting," Felix said, waving away the kettle. "I'm just here for the daily quest check-in. As soon as the system stamps my attendance, I'm heading back to my hammock."
Up on the terrace, a senior proctor in crimson robes struck a brass gong.
*BONG!*
"Next candidate!" the proctor called out, his voice amplified by wind formations across the plaza. "Julian of the Golden Griffin Clan! Disciple of the Second Spire!"
A roar went up from the Blade Spire section.
Young Lord Julian stepped forward, his white-and-silver robes billowing with dramatic flair. He tossed his scented hair back, offering a dazzling smile to the cheering crowd.
Before mounting the steps, Julian paused, turning his head to glare at Felix.
"Watch closely, squatter!" Julian sneered, loud enough for twenty nearby disciples to hear. "You may hide behind cheap illusions on the gondola, but the star-jade reveals all truth! Today, the heavens will show the difference between a true dragon and a gutter rat!"
Felix didn't look up from his obsidian slate.
"Good luck, buddy," Felix said mildly. "Don't pull a hamstring."
Julian’s jaw tightened. With a furious scoff, he leaped onto the terrace, landing in front of the Measuring Stele.
Julian took a wide combat stance. He inhaled sharply, drawing upon his dantian with practiced precision.
*Fwoosh!*
A brilliant corona of golden heat erupted from Julian's torso. The marble flagstones beneath his boots hissed with rising steam as his Tier-Four True Yang mana poured into both hands.
With a theatrical shout, Julian slammed his glowing palms flat against the star-jade base.
*Hummmmmmm.*
The purple pillar resonated with a deep, musical vibration.
At the base of the stele, the first jade dragon opened its eyes, blazing with golden fire.
Then the second dragon roared to life. Then the third, fourth, and fifth.
The crowd held its breath as golden light surged up the monolith.
With a resonant crack of thunder, the sixth dragon ignited in roaring solar flames, sending a wave of radiant heat washing across the first five rows of spectators!
"Six dragons!" the proctor shouted in disbelief. "Tier-Six True Yang Aura! Exceptional core potential! An extraordinary talent for the Golden Griffin Clan!"
The plaza erupted into thunderous applause.
Julian pulled his hands back, breathing heavily, his chest puffed out like a proud rooster. He raised his arms to bathe in the adoration of his peers, basking in the glory of his achievement.
He turned toward the edge of the terrace, sneering down at Felix with utter contempt.
"Top that if you can, beggar!" Julian shouted.
The proctor struck the brass gong once more, unfurling a wrinkled vellum scroll.
*BONG!*
"Next candidate!" the proctor announced, squinting at the ledger with visible confusion. "Solitude Spire! Disciple... Felix Vance!"
Silence fell over the plaza.
Disciples looked around in confusion, whispering among themselves.
"Solitude Spire? Did he say the Seventh Spire?"
"Isn't that the abandoned junk heap where Master Vivienne's squatter lives?"
"Look at him! He's wearing frayed straw slippers and holding an old clay mug!"
"Is this a joke? He doesn't even have a sword!"
Mocking chuckles rippled through the crowd as Felix sighed, tucked his chipped mug under his arm, and began trudging up the marble steps.
His straw slippers scuffed softly against the polished white stone.
On the screen of the cracked obsidian slate in his left hand, the AetherDeck had already updated with a flashing prompt:
Felix stopped in front of the towering purple star-jade pillar.
Up close, the Measuring Stele was covered in fine, polished carvings. A translucent tooltip popped up over the stone:
【Target: Measuring Stele of Nine Dragons】 【Grade: Ancient Calibration Landmark】 【Material: Abyssal Star-Jade】 【Inspector Note: A glorified public server milestone. Interacting with this object logs your daily login stamp. Possesses zero offensive capability, but the finish is smooth enough to rest your drink on.】
Felix wasn't interested in the nine dragons.
His eyes were glued to the glowing green button on his slate: `[TAP TO CLAIM ALL REWARDS]`.
Unfortunately, the touch screen on his cracked obsidian device had been acting up all morning. A smudge of tea grease near the bottom corner was causing input lag, making his taps register half an inch to the left.
Felix frowned, trying to tap the icon.
*Click.* Nothing happened.
"Stupid input lag," Felix grumbled under his breath. "The screen calibration on this device is terrible."
To steady his hands, Felix took half a step forward.
He leaned his left elbow casually against the side of the ten-thousand-year-old Measuring Stele of Nine Dragons, resting his forearm flat against the star-jade to get a better angle on the touch screen.
Down on the plaza, the disciples stared in stunned disbelief.
"Did... did he just lean on the holy stele?"
"He didn't channel mana! He didn't assume a stance!"
"He's resting his elbow on the Founding Patriarch's ancestral jade like he's leaning on a bar counter!"
Julian laughed mockingly from the edge of the terrace.
"Pathetic!" Julian scoffed. "He doesn't even know how to channel his spiritual ocean! The stele will reject his filthy touch and fling him off the mountain!"
Beside the stage, Lyra Ashford watched with narrowed eyes, her hand resting on the hilt of her rapier.
*Senior Brother is not leaning,* Lyra thought, her pulse accelerating as she sensed the subtle shift in the air. *He is aligning his cosmic axis! He refuses to offer a vulgar display of power! A single point of contact is all he deigns to grant this ancient stone!*
Up on the terrace, Felix shifted his body weight onto his left elbow to press down on the stubborn touchscreen button.
He shifted his weight by about two inches.
Deep inside Felix's chest, resting in the center of his dantian, the 1.0-Earth-Mass terrestrial core tilted.
A mass of 5.97 × 10²⁴ kilograms of super-compressed silicate mantle and molten iron shifted its center of gravity by a fraction of a millimeter.
The internal gravitational baffles held ninety-nine point nine-nine-nine-nine percent of the weight.
A microscopic balance leak escaped.
That tiny fraction of terrestrial density traveled down Felix’s collarbone, passed through his upper arm, and exited through the three square inches of his left elbow resting against the star-jade.
The Measuring Stele of Nine Dragons did not light up.
No dragons ignited in flame.
Instead, a horrifying, sickening sound echoed across the silent plaza.
*GROOOOOOOOOOOOAN.*
It was the sound of a mountain being crushed under tectonic plate collision.
The ten-thousand-year-old abyssal star-jade beneath Felix's elbow let out a high-pitched, metallic shriek.
The nine carved dragons did not roar in triumph. Their carved jaws warped. Their jade scales buckled, pulverized into white powder under pressure that exceeded the core of a dying planet.
*Crack.*
A black fissure split the smooth purple jade right at the tip of Felix's elbow.
Before the proctor could shout, the crack exploded downward.
*CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!*
Thousands of jagged, spiderweb fractures tore through the fifty-foot monolith at supersonic speed. The ancient runic formations inscribed within the stone flashed violently, short-circuited with a shower of blue sparks, and died forever.
*BOOM-CRUNCH!*
The legendary, indestructible Measuring Stele of Nine Dragons imploded.
It did not break into large chunks. It did not topple onto the terrace.
Under the localized planetary gravity leak, the fifty-foot star-jade pillar was pulverized into a neat, smoking mound of fine purple gravel and glittering dust.
A cloud of purple grit puffed into the air, settling softly over the marble flagstones.
Where the holy monument of the academy had stood for ten thousand years, there was now only a five-foot-tall pile of shiny purple sand.
Felix stood in the center of the terrace.
Because the pillar had suddenly vanished from beneath his elbow, his left arm slipped into empty air.
Felix caught his balance with a small stumble, blinking at the pile of gravel beside his slippers.
A few specks of purple dust clung to the frayed sleeve of his coat.
Felix brushed his elbow with his palm, blowing a puff of chalky dust off his knuckles.
"Man," Felix sighed, his voice deadpan and thoroughly annoyed. "Talk about cheap props. You can't even lean against the scenery without it collapsing into cat litter. The physics engine in this game has zero structural integrity."
He looked down at his obsidian slate.
With his elbow free, his thumb finally landed on the center of the screen.
*Ding-ding-dong!*
A bright chime rang in his ears as the green button registered his input:
Felix smiled, satisfied that his login streak was safe for another day.
"Nice," Felix murmured, tucking the slate back into his pocket. "Twelve thousand EXP. That was worth the trip."
He picked up his chipped tea mug from the stone railing, blew the purple dust off the ceramic rim, and turned around to look for the exit.
Across the vast Central Plaza, absolute, suffocating silence reigned.
Ten thousand disciples stood frozen in place, their mouths hanging wide open, their eyes bulging with pure horror.
Julian had fallen to his knees on the marble stairs. His face was drained of all color, his hands shaking so violently his solar rapier slipped from his fingers and clattered against the stone.
The proctor dropped his brass gong. The heavy metal disc rolled across the terrace with a dull, hollow clatter that sounded like a death knell.
Nobody breathed.
Nobody moved.
Only the mountain wind whispered across the white stones, carrying a thin trail of purple dust from the grave of the Nine Dragon Stele.