Yun woke up with dirt in his hair AGAIN and honestly he didn't even remember when he fell asleep. Training? Fainting? Rolling down a hill? All possible options. His whole body felt like it buzzed with small lightning bolts trying to wiggle out of his bones. It wasn't painful exactly, more like annoying itch behind his ribs.

When he sat up, the ground beneath him made a small crack sound… and then a wider one… and then a bigger one.

"Oh no don't you dare" Yun jumped aside right before the earth split open in a thin line where he had been sitting. "Seriously… why everything around me breaking lately?"

Behind him, Shen Yu pinched the bridge of his nose so hard he might have crushed it. "Because, Yun, you're not supposed to sleep ON the formation circle. I literally told you that. Three times."

Yun blinked innocently. "I was tired."

"You passed out like a dying fish."

"No, I passed out heroically."

"It wasn't heroic. You snored."

"Snoring can be heroic."

"It cannot."

Their argument was interrupted when Yun's stomach growled so loudly a flock of birds burst out the nearby tree screaming in terror.

"…Maybe I should eat first," Yun mumbled.

"YES," Shen Yu said, throwing his hands in the air. "PLEASE eat before the heavens collapse again."

Yun rubbed his glowing wrist. "I'm not glowing that much today."

"You are glowing enough that the goat won't come near you." Shen Yu pointed.

Indeed, the village goat—always bullying Yun—was hiding behind a barrel, peeking around with pure fear, like Yun was a walking lightning storm.

Yun puffed his chest. "Ha! Respect me."

"You sneezed yesterday and blew half its hay away," Shen Yu reminded.

"…Fair point."

Training – First Star Step… or Something Like It

After breakfast (in which Yun accidentally heated the soup with his hands just by touching the bowl), Shen Yu dragged him to the clearing for the real training.

"Today we're trying the First Star Step again," Shen Yu said. "Only ONE. Not two. Not five. ONE. If you try to skip forward, you will explode."

Yun scratched his cheek. "A small explosion or a big explosion?"

"A YOU-shaped explosion."

"…Oh."

Shen Yu continued, "Now listen. Let the energy gather in your soles. Don't force it. Let it drip down. Flow. Like water."

"Water? But my energy feels more like angry bees."

"No bees. Flow."

"Okay, okay." Yun closed his eyes, focused, breathed slow.

The energy moved. Down his spine. Down his legs. Tingling in his feet. Then—

BOOM!!!

A crater formed under him. Dirt shot 10 feet in the air. A rooster screamed. Yun flew backward like a kicked cabbage.

Shen Yu sighed so deeply his soul almost left his body.

"That," he said, "is NOT flowing like water."

Yun groaned from inside the bush he landed in. "I'm… improving?"

"You are destroying things FASTER. That is not the same."

But Yun stood again, determination burning behind his eyes. "I wanna try again. Again and again. Until it works. I don't care how many bushes I eat."

"You mean 'fall into.'"

"No. I eat them now. I'm basically part plant."

Shen Yu stared. "…I worry about your brain sometimes."

But Yun didn't stop. He tried again. And again. And again. Every time he landed wrong, created another crack, tripped over a root, or flew like a rock catapult.

But with each mistake—his energy got smoother. Clearer. Stronger.

The fourth awakening pulse hit him midday. Soft. Warm. Like a tiny star flickering in his chest. His pupils briefly flashed silver-gold.

Shen Yu froze. "Your bloodline… it's opening too quickly. This isn't normal. Not even for—"

"For who?" Yun asked.

Shen Yu shut his mouth immediately.

"…No one. Forget it."

Meanwhile – In the Vast Cosmos

Far above worlds, beyond the skin of space, three massive celestial fortresses drifted through burning nebula.

Inside the central one, Yun's father, Emperor Lianxing, stood gripping a shattered throne armrest with fury.

"They accelerated his awakening," he growled. "The Hunters are pushing probes closer to his world. They want to force his blood out before he matures."

His wife, Empress Yueran, touched her temples. "And the Heavenly Court blocked three more star routes. They know we're trying to reach him quietly."

Celestial guards knelt, trembling. "My Emperor, another anomaly appeared near the child's world. A rift tear."

Lianxing's eyes blazed. "How many?"

"Three… no… four now."

Yueran paled. "Then they found him. They're triangulating. Lianxing, if they pinpoint his exact position—"

"I KNOW," Lianxing thundered. "But if we move openly now, war will swallow galaxies again."

He slammed his fist. Star fragments cracked around his wrist like breaking glass.

"We must trust he can handle the first waves," Yueran whispered, though hatred thickened her voice. "Our enemies think he's weak. Let them learn otherwise."

Back to Yun – The Calling Again

Yun's heartbeat sped up suddenly.

He staggered, clutching his chest. The world blurred. The sky twisted. A deep hum echoed inside his bones, like a song from the stars themselves calling his name.

Warm. Familiar. Sad.

He gasped, "Who… who's calling me…?"

Shen Yu snapped to him. "Yun?! Focus! Block it out!"

"I—I can't—someone's… someone's crying? In my head? Or not in my head? It feels far. Too far."

Shen Yu cursed under his breath. "The cosmos is reacting again… they're pushing through."

Yun squeezed his eyes shut, sweat dripping. "I see… a palace. Big. Shining. And… and someone looking for me."

His voice cracked. "Why am I seeing this…?"

Shen Yu grabbed Yun's shoulder. "Because you are not what you think you are."

Yun's breath stuttered. "Then what am I?"

Shen Yu hesitated—face hard, eyes filled with something like fear and something like awe.

Finally, he whispered:

"You are the child the heavens fear most."

The wind howled suddenly. Clouds twisted into unnatural shapes.

And far above the sky—something massive shifted.

A cosmic horn shook the world again.

And Yun's blood answered.

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