Chapter 196: Leaving the awakening hall
The countless spectators watching the scene found themselves reevaluating everything they thought they knew.
Who exactly was this man?
Eight awakeners whose existence had already surpassed the known limits of the world were kneeling before him without the slightest hesitation. These were beings who stood above X-rank, individuals capable of shaking nations with a single word.
Yet before Alex, they behaved like respectful disciples standing before their master.
What unsettled the crowd even more was Alex’s reaction.
He showed no excitement.
No pride.
No sense of accomplishment.
The sight of eight transcendent beings kneeling before him appeared completely ordinary in his eyes. His calm expression never changed as he casually issued commands to individuals who could overturn the existing world order.
It was as though everything remained firmly within his expectations.
"As you wish, Teacher," Ren said respectfully.
After a brief pause, he continued, "Can you tell us whether the ancient dragon race still exists on this planet?"
Every ear in the plaza instantly focused on Alex.
The atmosphere became tense.
Even the legendary leaders of the Supreme Factions held their breath.
Alex remained silent for a moment before answering.
"You will have to discover that yourselves," he said calmly. "However, I can tell you one thing. There are ancient dragons living on this planet, and some of them possess strength that exceeds X-rank."
Silence followed.
A complete and absolute silence.
For a brief moment, nobody reacted.
Then the implications of those words finally registered.
Boom!
The entire plaza shook violently.
It was not caused by spiritual pressure or an attack.
The tremor came from the countless powerful auras that had lost control simultaneously.
Faces turned pale.
Eyes widened in disbelief.
The revelation struck harder than anything that had happened during the awakening ceremony.
Ancient dragons truly existed.
Not only had they survived until the present era, but some of them were currently living among humanity.
Most terrifying of all was the fact that certain members of that race possessed power beyond the X-rank realm.
Humanity’s strongest experts suddenly felt a chill run through their bodies.
For thousands of years, they had believed themselves to be standing at the peak of existence.
Now they had learned that unknown monsters, powerful enough to surpass their understanding, had been watching from the shadows the entire time.
An ancient dragon race. Beings possessing power far beyond the mythical X-rank. Living quietly among humanity, hidden in plain sight, completely undetected by the World Government or the Ten Supreme Factions.
And this man, standing with his hands casually in his pockets, spoke of them not with fear or reverence, but as a standard assignment for his students.
Silence fell again, heavier this time. It was a suffocating, paralyzing weight. Across every continent, billions of people staring at flickering screens felt a collective chill run down their spines. The live broadcast drones, hovering unsteadily on damaged anti-gravity engines, zoomed in on Alex’s face.
Who was this person?
The question pulsed invisibly through the atmosphere. He possessed no visible mana aura. The broken sensory equipment, before exploding, had registered absolutely nothing from his direction. Yet he stood perfectly unbothered, surrounded by eight entities that outranked the world’s ceiling, issuing orders as if commanding children to clean their rooms. His absolute composure was terrifying. It was not the bravery of a fool; it was the casual indifference of an entity existing on a plane so high that the legends around him were nothing but dust.
At the center of the plaza, the X-rank legends were experiencing an internal crisis.
Emperor Shen Fengxi remained frozen in his slight bow. His mind, refined by eight thousands of political dominance and absolute power, raced to find a precedent for this scenario. There was none. To the system, X-rank was the absolute ceiling of human evolution. To be an X-rank was to be a god walking among mortals.
Yet, looking at Alex, Emperor Shen felt an emotion he had forgotten existed: absolute vulnerability. If these eight newly awakened youths were beyond X-rank, and they bowed to this man, what did that make Alex?
Mother Twilight’s spectral form flickered rapidly, her shadows lashing out like dark flames before she forcefully suppressed them. Her ancient heart, dormant for millennia, thudded painfully against her ribs. She had guarded humanity’s borders for sixty-seven centuries. She had fought horrors in the dark rifts that would drive ordinary hunters insane. She thought she knew every secret this planet held.
She was wrong. She knew nothing.
Jiang Feng, the Ancestor of the Jiang Clan, was the first to break the paralysis. He understood better than anyone the precarious position his family was in. His descendants had insulted this man. His clan had occupied the VIP seats while the teacher of gods stood in the dust.
Ignoring his ancient joints, Jiang Feng forced himself up from the ground. He took three measured, incredibly respectful steps forward. He did not dare look Alex directly in the eyes. He kept his gaze lowered, his hands clasped tightly before him.
"Senior," Jiang Feng’s voice was raspy, stripped of all ancestral majesty, carrying only raw, trembling humility. "If... if the ancient dragon race possesses entities beyond the X-rank, humanity’s current defensive perimeters and satellite arrays are completely blind to them. The search will require immense resources, territory, and a global intelligence network."
He paused, swallowing hard, before bowing deeper.
"The Jiang Clan offers everything we possess. Our vaults, our shadow networks, our territories, and our lives. We place them unconditionally at your disposal, and at the disposal of your disciples."
It was a desperate, transparent attempt to buy his clan’s survival, but it was a masterstroke of survival instinct. The other legends immediately snapped out of their shock, realizing they were about to be left behind in the new world order.
"The First Royal Dynasty offers our imperial archives!" Emperor Shen intervened loudly, stepping forward and casting aside his traditional royal decorum. "Our libraries contain secret texts dating back to the very first descent of the system, five thousand years ago. If there are hidden traces or geographic anomalies left by ancient dragons, they are recorded in our forbidden vaults. We open them to you today."
"The Ancient Faction has monitored the deep spatial rifts since before recorded history," Mother Twilight’s voice echoed across multiple frequencies, her tone urgent. "We know the exact coordinates where the planet’s ley lines warp without explanation. We will turn over all our maps and cosmic coordinate data to the Unbound."
One by one, the apex authorities of the human race, individuals who could alter the geopolitics of the entire globe with a single word, began to beg. They were offering up centuries of heritage, effectively volunteering to become the subordinate branches of a faction that had been conceived less than two minutes ago.
Alex listened to the frantic offers of the legendary figures. His expression did not change. He did not look pleased by their submission, nor did he look annoyed by their desperation. To him, the sudden frantic begging of the world’s most powerful people was entirely inconsequential.
He looked at Ren.
"Coordinate with them," Alex said simply. His voice was quiet, yet it cut through the desperate clamor of the Supreme Factions instantly. "Use what is useful. Ignore what is not."
"Yes, Teacher," Ren replied.
Ren turned around to face the gathering of legends. As he did, the calm, steady hum of platinum-silver light around his body flared slightly. The pressure returned, settling over the plaza like a physical ceiling. The message was clear: they were speaking to the disciples now, and any disrespect toward the teacher would result in immediate erasure.
"We will accept your data and your networks," Ren announced, his youthful face carrying an eerie, absolute authority. "The Unbound will establish our headquarters at the center of this plaza. Within three days, every Supreme Faction will deliver their archives and planetary maps to this location. Any delay will be treated as an act of hostility against the Unbound."
"The First Royal Dynasty will comply within twenty-four hours," Emperor Shen said immediately, placing his hand over his heart in a gesture of absolute submission.
"The Ancient Faction will deliver our maps by midnight," Mother Twilight murmured, her spectral form bowing low before fading into the shadows, eager to return to her domain to prepare the offering.
Jiang Feng nodded fervently. "The Jiang Clan will begin transferring our intelligence networks immediately. My descendants will remain here to assist in clearing the area and constructing the temporary pavilion."
Alex watched his students handle the situation with perfect efficiency. They required no further guidance on how to manage the mortals of this world.
He turned away from the center of the shattered plaza, walking casually toward the outer edge where the ordinary spectators and commoners were still huddled in terror and awe. The crowd did not run. They fell to their knees automatically, creating a wide, perfectly silent, reverent path for him.
The eight students fell into step exactly three paces behind him, their posture straight, their auras serving as an impenetrable shield between their teacher and the rest of the universe.
