WHOOOOOOOOOOSH—!!
Plummeting headfirst at terminal velocity through the purple spatial clouds of Pocket-Worlds #1 through #50, Dugu Ao. Moreover, The other 499 white-robed Academy Chosen Ones kept their eyes tightly shut and their arms spread wide like swan-diving peacocks.
Because all five hundred of them had intentionally sealed their defensive Qi to earn the “Maximum Faith in Destiny Bonus,” the wind whistled past their oiled hair at three hundred miles per hour.
“Ah, can you smell it, brothers?”
Falling through the cloud layer of Pocket-World #1, twenty-year-old Dugu Ao inhaled deeply with his eyes closed, a beatific, smug smile plastered across his face for the live-stream camera drones plummeting beside him.
“Wait... why doesn’t the air smell like fragrant Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit-Lotus and rich spirit-stone mist today? Why does it smell vaguely like... warm peppermint candy, ginger degreasing broth, and freshly mopped granite floor?”
Beside him in mid-air, Chosen One #2—still keeping his eyes squeezed shut in accordance with the Protagonist Cliff-Diving Manual—chuckled dismissively:
“Don’t overthink it, Senior Brother Dugu! Deputy Proctor Han said the maintenance array did a midnight dusting! Keep your eyes closed and relax your spine!
