The next morning Yun woke up feeling like someone stuffed lightning under his skin again. His whole body felt tingly and weird, like he drank ten bowls of cold tea too fast. He rolled out of bed and almost face-planted because his legs felt too light, almost like he didn't weigh enough.

"Ahh—why am I floating?!" Yun yelped.

He wasn't floating.

But his feet definitely were not listening properly.

He staggered out of the house half sideways, bumping into the doorframe, then into a bucket, then into the dog (the dog barked at him like Yun insulted its ancestors).

Shen Yu was already waiting outside, leaning on a broom like someone who hadn't slept at all again. "You look… different," he said slowly.

Yun puffed out his chest. "Stronger?"

Shen Yu narrowed his eyes. "More like unstable. Like a firecracker someone lit but forgot to throw."

"That still counts as power," Yun grumbled.

Shen Yu ignored that and beckoned him toward the clearing behind the hill. "Today we continue the First Star Step… assuming you don't explode."

"I'm not gonna explode!" Yun said confidently.

Then he tripped on air again. Not on a rock. Literally on air. He just tripped on nothing.

Shen Yu sighed so hard it made birds fly away.

Training… or Something Close Enough

The clearing behind the hill was quiet, except for a few butterflies that seemed to run away whenever Yun came too close (probably sensing danger).

Shen Yu drew a circle in the dirt. "Step into this. Focus. The First Star Step is about guiding energy through your limbs. A gentle draw, not a violent pull. Understand?"

"Yes!" Yun said proudly. "Gentle! Like petting a kitten!"

"Exactly—wait, no, not exactly—Yun, don't—"

Too late.

Yun inhaled sharply and tried channeling the energy. A faint silver glow wrapped around his feet.

"See? I can control it—"

BOOM.

The circle exploded.

Not a deadly explosion. More like a frustrated puff of glittering dust that sprayed straight into Shen Yu's face.

Shen Yu blinked. Slowly. Very slowly.

Yun coughed on the sparkles. "I—I think I over-did it a little…"

"A little," Shen Yu repeated flatly, brushing silver dust off his eyebrows. "Yun, your 'gentle' is the opposite of gentle."

But Yun wasn't discouraged.

Actually he felt even more hyped.

Because the calling in his blood was louder now. Stronger.

It throbbed like a heartbeat deep inside the stars.

Cosmic Scene – The Universe Stops Breathing for a Second

Far away in the Celestial Domain, the Astral Lotus Palace shook violently. Alarms—bright golden sigils—flashed through the corridors.

Yun's mother, Empress Yueran, gripped the railing of the observation tower. Her pupils jolted—silver ripples spreading across her eyes. "Did you feel that?! His power surged again!"

His father, Emperor Lianxing, looked genuinely alarmed now. "That was not normal awakening. That was a resonance pulse. Something triggered him."

"He must be training again," Yueran said, half worried, half proud. "He has your stubbornness."

"And your recklessness," Lianxing muttered under his breath.

Before Yueran could argue, space cracked. A massive black fissure tore across the cosmos, stretching from one star system to another.

Out of it came a sound—deep, ancient, hungry.

"They're coming…" Lianxing whispered.

"The Star-Devourers are sniffing him out."

Yueran's hands trembled. "We don't have time… If he awakens too fast, the entire galaxy will sense him."

But they still couldn't leave.

Not without starting a war.

Back to Yun Destroying Everything

After the explosion, Yun insisted on trying again.

"I feel like the energy wants to move," he said, stamping the dirt. "Like it's… calling me. And sometimes it even feels impatient."

"That's because it IS impatient," Shen Yu said, arms crossed. "Your bloodline has its own temper. If you keep treating it like a wild horse, it'll kick you."

Yun nodded seriously. "Then I gotta ride it before it rides me!"

"That's not how metaphors—never mind." Shen Yu gave up.

He repositioned Yun. "Again. Slowly."

Yun inhaled. The glow formed again.

This time smoother.

Gentler.

Controlled.

Yun grinned. "See? I told you I c—"

He blinked.

He was suddenly twenty steps ahead.

He didn't even feel himself move.

"Wha—did—did I teleport?! Did I just walk super fast?! Did I—did I—WHAAA—"

He tripped after the 21st step and rolled straight into a bush, taking the entire bush with him. Leaves rained everywhere.

Shen Yu dropped his face into his hands. "Yun… that was the Star Step. But you used it like a drunken goat."

Yun popped out of the bush with twigs in his hair. "But I did it!!"

Shen Yu sighed again… but there was a tiny smile. Just a tiny one.

"You did. Barely. Very barely."

Yun puffed out his chest again. "See? I'm getting stronger! I told you!"

But then he stopped.

His chest throbbed—warm.

Then hot.

Then scalding.

Yun grabbed the front of his shirt, panting. "It's calling again…"

"Your bloodline?" Shen Yu asked quickly.

"No… something else. Something far. Really far."

Yun pointed to the sky.

"Something… out there."

Shen Yu stiffened. "Yun. Listen carefully. Do NOT respond to that call. Not yet. Your body isn't ready."

Yun swallowed hard.

But the calling grew louder…

And for the first time, it felt like a voice.

A whisper.

A familiar one.

Almost like…

someone calling him "son."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.