The stars were silent, cold witnesses in the void of space. But tonight, they blinked not with light—but with fire.
A jagged tear opened across the dark sky above Earth's upper atmosphere. It shimmered with blue lightning, expanding outward like a bleeding wound in the fabric of space. Through it came the massive shadow of a warship—no, a fortress. Then another. And another. Hundreds. Thousands. An entire fleet.
Each ship glowed with runes and technology unseen by ordinary civilizations. Their hulls absorbed starlight, forged from celestial metals mined from the hearts of dying stars. And at the center of it all floated a dreadnought, the size of a continent, bearing the mark feared by every intelligent species in the Milky Way.
The Galactic Council had returned.
Inside the command bridge of the lead dreadnought, Supreme Commander Vorgan stood with his six eyes scanning the holographic readouts. His exoskeletal body pulsed with silver-blue energy, and his voice rumbled like thunder.
"Planet 031-E. Class 4 cultivation potential. 1,500 years overdue. We proceed with the reset protocol."
The officers around him—representatives of multiple alien races—bowed. One of them, a four-armed intelligence officer from the Syrix Confederacy, tilted his head.
"Commander," he began, "we expected the primitive humans to still be in the early Spiritual Warrior stage. Our records show they should have had no more than two or three Saint-level anomalies. If they followed the cycle…"
Vorgan raised a clawed hand. "Then we will erase them as we always have. There is no force in this galaxy that survives the purge. Begin atmospheric entry. Prepare to burn their strongest cities to ash."
The dreadnought turned, directing its barrel-shaped cannons at Earth's surface. Blue energy gathered in the weapon's core, swirling like a captured star. The fleet's engines ignited.
And then the sky broke.
From Earth's stratosphere, a ripple surged upward like a soundless roar. The space around the fleet twisted. It wasn't caused by technology.
It was spiritual pressure.
The void cracked with golden light as a lone figure rose from the atmosphere, standing in the vacuum of space as easily as if he were on solid ground. He wore no armor. No machine. Only flowing black robes, streaked with gold and silver. His long dark hair floated behind him, and his eyes glowed like twin suns.
A circle of light formed at his feet in midair, etched with countless glowing runes. Space warped around him.
Commander Vorgan narrowed his eyes. "What… is that?"
The Syrix officer backed away. "Commander… that's… that's not technology. That's a cultivator."
Suddenly, alarms shrieked across the bridge.
"Unknown power signature detected!" another officer screamed. "It's… it's reading as Level Ninety! Spiritual Sage confirmed!"
A third officer stumbled backward. "That's impossible! Humans don't reach Sage level! Their energy density… it can't support it!"
The man in space raised a single hand.
Around him, the stars dimmed.
He whispered one word:
"Collapse."
A golden sword made of pure spiritual energy formed in his hand. He vanished.
And reappeared in front of the dreadnought's main cannon.
With one swing, the blade tore through the air. The fabric of space split like paper. The entire front of the dreadnought crumpled inward, folding like soft metal. A shockwave erupted across the fleet, shaking ships kilometers away.
Explosions bloomed from within the flagship as its core reactors collapsed under the weight of a spiritual domain.
In the wreckage, the Supreme Commander floated, gravely wounded. Black blood leaked from his wounds as he stared at the figure now standing on the ruined hull.
"You… What are you?" Vorgan gasped.
The man's voice was calm but cold. "I am Lucian Dao. Emperor of Earth. Guardian of Humanity. And I remember the last purge."
The Supreme Commander coughed blood. "You… you should have been weak… untrained…"
Lucian stepped forward, golden energy radiating from his skin like sunlight.
"You came 1,500 years too late."
And with that, his sword fell again.
A flash of golden light swallowed the dreadnought whole. When it faded, nothing remained but drifting debris and silence.
Far below, the people of Earth stood on mountaintops, rooftops, oceans, and desert plains. They watched the sky burn. They watched the enemy fall.
And for the first time in recorded galactic history, humans had struck back.
---
On the Earth's surface, within the capital city of Novaterra, a vast fortress-city covered in glowing runes and floating platforms, the central war council gathered inside the Tower of Ascendance.
A massive table shimmered with spiritual energy. Seated around it were the Terra Sovereigns—twelve of the most powerful human cultivators alive. Each represented a different path: sword, flame, ice, beast-taming, array-crafting, alchemy, and more.
One of them, a silver-haired woman with eyes like sapphires, leaned forward.
"So. The purge fleet is gone?"
Lucian Dao entered the room, calm and quiet.
"Gone," he confirmed. "But more will come."
Another Sovereign—Kairo Emberforge, his crimson robes scorched from working divine-forged metals—clenched his fist. "Let them. We are no longer the prey."
Lucian looked around the table. "They underestimated us because they don't understand cultivation. They believe power comes only from machines, numbers, and weapons. They forgot the will of a cultivator."
He raised his hand, projecting a glowing map of the Milky Way.
"And now, we take the fight to them."
---
Elsewhere in the galaxy, panic spread.
In the High Chamber of the Galactic Council, ancient alien leaders shouted across golden halls. Words like "invasion," "mutation," "violation of balance" echoed in a dozen tongues. A race they thought controlled, extinguished for millennia, had risen above their predictions.
One elder, shaped of gas and shadow, hissed, "Humans were supposed to stagnate. Our calculations were flawless."
A pale-skinned psychic from the Y'taari species whispered, "They were flawed. We never accounted for… willpower."
A heavy silence followed.
Then the Chancellor of the Council—a being older than many stars—stood.
"Activate the Emergency Ascension Protocol. Prepare the Eternal Seals. Send word to the Orion Arm. Humanity has become… a threat."
And so, it began.
---
Back on Earth, young cultivators watched the battle from afar.
In the Southern Flame Academy, a boy with bronze eyes whispered to his master, "What was that light in the sky?"
The elder smiled grimly. "That, child… was a man who reached the Spiritual Sage Realm."
"What does that mean?"
The old man turned toward the horizon, eyes filled with memories.
"It means… he can walk through the stars and shatter mountains with a thought. And now, you must walk that same path, if you wish to stand beside him."
"But I haven't even reached Body Foundation!" the boy said, his voice unsure.
The master chuckled. "Then you'd better begin."
The sun rose behind him, casting long shadows across the training grounds.
The age of hiding was over.
The age of war had begun.
Within the training courtyard of Southern Flame Academy, the air trembled with pressure. Young disciples gathered in silence, their faces tilted toward the sky. Even those who were still in the Body Foundation stage, the very first realm of cultivation, could feel the energy lingering in the heavens. The pressure that fell when Emperor Lucian unleashed his technique had been so great that it seeped into the earth itself.
Instructors walked among them, correcting postures, calming breathing, but no one could ignore what had just occurred. For hundreds of years, humanity had trained in secret, spread across mountain ranges, underwater sanctuaries, and floating isles. Their cultivation had progressed, but they had never revealed their true strength to the stars.
Until now.
"Focus your spiritual sense inward," said Master Han, an elder in his Spiritual General stage, standing with a long staff etched with fire patterns. "Breathe in slowly. Feel the energy of heaven and earth. That pressure you felt—remember it. That was the spiritual domain of a Spiritual Sage. That was the presence of a man at Level 90."
One student raised his hand, a small girl with bright green eyes. "Master… What comes after Body Foundation?"
Master Han turned toward the crowd. This question had been asked thousands of times, but today, his answer felt heavier, more urgent.
"There are eleven major stages in cultivation," he said. "Each broken into ten levels. The road is long, but every step brings you closer to transcending your limits."
He drew in the air with his staff, and glowing symbols appeared for all to see.
"First, Body Foundation. Level 1 to 9. It strengthens the body. You become faster, tougher, able to absorb spiritual energy."
"Second, Transition Realm. Level 10 to 19. Your spiritual channels open. You begin to manipulate basic energy outside the body."
"Then comes the Spiritual Beginner Realm. Levels 20 to 29. At this point, you start performing spiritual techniques."
The crowd of disciples listened, enraptured.
"After that, Spiritual Warrior. Then Spiritual General, which I currently walk. At that point, you can destroy stone mountains with your fist."
He paused, letting the words settle.
"Next is Spiritual King, then Spiritual Emperor. When you become an Emperor, you can fly freely through the sky. Spiritual energy moves around you like wind through a forest. After that—Spiritual Saint. Even if your body is destroyed, your soul can live on, guiding your allies or possessing a new vessel."
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
"And higher still—Spiritual Sage, like Emperor Lucian himself. They move through space without ships. They create domains in the void. They can split planets."
"Then, the Spiritual Demigod, Levels 90 to 99. Rare and revered. There may only be a dozen of them in our entire history. They can warp entire star systems with a wave of their hand."
"And finally," he said with quiet reverence, "Level 100. The Realm of the Gods. Only one man in history reached it—Henricus Longus, who created the first Spatial Kingdom, a dimension outside of reality. A place where time flows differently and cultivation can be accelerated."
The courtyard fell into silence.
Then the small girl raised her hand again. "What about talent, Master? Do we all have the same chance?"
Han sighed. "No. Talent matters. It determines how far you can go without bottlenecks. There are five ranks: White, Blue, Black, Silver, and Golden. Golden is the highest—those people can reach Demigod level without ever facing bottlenecks."
"And what about people like Emperor Lucian?"
Han smiled.
"He surpassed Golden. We don't even have a name for his rank."
---
Inside the Tower of Ascendance, Lucian Dao stood before a map of the Milky Way. Glowing markers flickered across the galaxy—some red, some green, some pulsing with golden light.
"Status report," he said.
A woman in silver robes stepped forward. Her name was Sovereign Iria, Grand Array Master of Earth.
"The alien fleet came from the Altari Gate," she said. "Their energy signatures suggest at least four alien civilizations involved. The Galactic Council has unified forces for this operation."
Another cultivator, Sovereign Rask, a beast tamer with wild grey hair and deep red eyes, snarled.
"Good. Then we don't have to hunt them one by one."
Lucian nodded. "How many of our people have reached Spiritual King or higher?"
"Two million," Iria replied. "And over 30,000 Spiritual Emperors."
Lucian's eyes narrowed. "Prepare the fleets. We're done waiting. They think humanity's threat lies on Earth."
He clenched his fist, and golden veins of energy wrapped around his arm like lightning.
"Let's show them… it's spread across the stars."
---
In a quiet valley far to the east, in a hidden sect called Silent Ash, a boy awoke with tears in his eyes.
His name was Kai, a fifteen-year-old with no known physique, no background, and no cultivation level. For years, he had failed to awaken even his first spiritual channel.
But tonight, something changed.
A voice echoed in his mind.
"Do you wish to stand among the stars?"
He opened his eyes, gasping, his hands glowing faintly with flickers of golden mist.
His master stumbled backward in shock.
"This… this boy…" the elder whispered. "That's not just any energy. That's… that's Divine-grade Physique potential!"
As Kai stood, the wind swirled around him unnaturally. Dust lifted from the ground, drawn toward his body. Birds perched nearby flew into the air. Even the grass beneath his feet shimmered with color.
The other disciples backed away, unsure of what they were seeing.
Kai clenched his fists and whispered to himself, "I'll rise too. No matter what it takes."
---
Meanwhile, in deep space, far beyond Earth's solar system, a hidden moon trembled.
Inside its core, sealed beneath layers of ancient spiritual formations, something began to stir.
An eye opened.
And then another.
A voice older than stars echoed through the void.
"The bloodline awakens. The seal of balance has been broken. The cycle… has failed."
The moon cracked.
Chains of light shattered.
And from its heart, a creature began to crawl forth—one not seen in this galaxy for fifty thousand years.
---
Back on Earth, in the capital of Novaterra, Emperor Lucian Dao stood at the edge of the Tower of Ascendance, staring into the sky.
He could feel it.
The ripple in the stars. The broken chain.
Something ancient had been loosed.
But he did not waver.
He turned to his disciples and said, "Prepare the gate array. We're leaving this system. Our true war begins now."
And across the world, cultivators lifted their heads to the sky.
The Age of Waiting was over.
The Age of Ascendance had begun.