Chapter 13: The Crossroads of Destiny
At that very moment, when every gaze was fixed in the same direction—
A faint sound echoed.
But it didn't come from the ground.
It came from above.
"Tap."
A footstep.
Echoing in midair.
Everyone looked up.
High above the academy's main gate, a lone figure was calmly walking through the sky.
There was no swirling energy, no thunderous aura — just steps, each one so impossibly quiet, yet heavy enough to press down on the entire battlefield.
He wore a long cloak in ash gray, trimmed with silver that shimmered faintly under the moonlight. His hair was neatly combed back, silver with age. Behind thin, wire-rimmed glasses, his eyes were sharp — calm, yet piercing.
"The Headmaster… Te Hoanh Thien…!"
One of the Supervisors muttered, disbelief written all over his face.
The man they revered — the one known as the Unshakable Pillar of Tinh Van Academy — had not appeared in any battle for years.
And now, here he was…
Walking through the sky.
Te Hoanh Thien came to a stop, suspended above the main plaza.
His gaze swept over the chaotic battlefield — emotionless, steady.
He said nothing.
Just one glance—
"BOOM!"
A wave spread outward — not loud, not flashy — but heavy.
As if the entire sky had just dropped its weight upon the world.
An overwhelming presence.
The attackers faltered.
Some collapsed instantly, blood pouring from their noses and ears.
Even the stronger ones staggered back, visibly trembling.
Still, he remained silent.
Then, softly — like a whisper cutting through silence —
"Who gave you permission… to step into this place?"
His voice was quiet.
But it rang in every mind like thunder cracking the sky.
And in that moment—
The enemy formation shattered.
Some fled.
Some dropped where they stood.
Some broke completely, as if their very will had been crushed.
Just one man. One glance. One sentence.
The entire battlefield bowed.
Just when it seemed the battlefield had completely fallen under control—
A sharp, dry sound suddenly rang out in the sky:
"Crack—"
Not from the ground.
But from… directly above Te Hoanh Thien.
Space fractured.
A hairline crack spread across the night sky, widening like something inside was forcing its way out, tearing through the air itself.
"BOOM!"
A torrent of gray-black energy poured down like a silent cyclone, slamming into the Headmaster's aura.
The immense pressure that Te Hoanh Thien had unleashed — powerful enough to subdue the entire enemy force — was now being ripped apart.
The attackers who had just been pinned to the ground now looked up, expressions shifting from terror… to something even worse: pure dread.
No one could believe what they were seeing.
Someone had just broken through the Headmaster's suppression.
The sky began to spiral — clouds twisting and being sucked toward a single point. Then—
A figure stepped out.
The air around him grew thick, heavy — cold as midwinter, despite the summer night.
He didn't emanate aura.
He was the aura.
He wore a long, black cloak, arms relaxed at his sides, walking slowly in midair.
Every step he took seemed to trigger an invisible shockwave — stretching the nerves of every witness tighter and tighter.
His hair fell to his shoulders, eyes sharp like blades — not filled with anger, nor arrogance — but with a calm that was more terrifying than fury.
"Te Hoanh Thien."
His voice was low, steady, but carried across the silent sky with ease.
"You're still strong, I see… but is that really all there is to you?"
Te Hoanh Thien remained still.
The wind tugged gently at his robes as his eyes quietly observed the man before him — not with surprise, but with a knowing familiarity.
Like someone he had once known… and always expected to return.
The battlefield was dead silent.
An equal to the Headmaster… had arrived.
Te Hoanh Thien slowly withdrew his hand from within his sleeve, and the calm in his eyes shifted—into cold, measured resolve.
"It's been a long time, Lac Vo Ngon."
His voice carried no hatred—only the weight of memory.
The man opposite him raised an eyebrow ever so slightly.
"I thought you might not recognize me anymore."
The wind stirred once more.
Neither said another word.
"BOOM!!"
In a flash, the two figures clashed in midair.
There were no flashy techniques, no displays of exaggerated power — just a collision of will, a confrontation of pure, absolute force.
The sky cracked open.
And the ground below split in response.
Every impact echoed like a heaven-shaking explosion, forcing hundreds of students and supervisors to activate barriers just to stay standing.
But that was only the beginning—
"Whoosh!!"
The two figures shot upward, piercing through the atmosphere, leaving behind a blinding pillar of light that stretched far beyond the clouds.
And as they entered space, the true battle began.
In the planet's low orbit, where thousands of small asteroids floated silently — a single punch from Lac Vo Ngon sent shockwaves through the field, obliterating dozens of meteorites, turning them into a storm of fire that rained across the planetary ring.
Te Hoanh Thien struck back.
With a sweeping palm, he distorted the gravitational flow, bending space itself. The stars warped and twisted around them, as though seen through a mirror torn in half.
"You haven't improved much, Vo Ngon."
"And you… still pretending to be humble, just like a thousand years ago."
BOOM—!!!
A distant dwarf planet caught the edge of their clash—
shattered clean in two, like an egg crushed by a titan's grip.
No one on the planet below could hear this battle.
There was no sound—
Only light, shock, and space itself unraveling under the force of two beings who had long since transcended human limits.
The clash between two supreme titans…
had begun.
The two figures clashed again in the silence of space, their strikes powerful enough to bend planetary orbits. But even after countless exchanges, neither had gained the upper hand.
Lac Vo Ngon stepped back, cloak rippling in the distorted vacuum.
He lifted his gaze, a mixture of disdain and faint regret flickering in his eyes.
"Still the same. Stubborn… and foolish."
Te Hoanh Thien said nothing.
He stood still in the weightless void, his expression as solemn and distant as a lone star.
Lac Vo Ngon let out a low chuckle.
"Do you really think you can protect it?"
He tilted his head slightly, his voice darkening—like he was stating an undeniable truth:
"The Spirit Seal of the Ancient Realm."
The moment the name left his lips, the very air around them trembled.
"That thing… once it's exposed, the entire universe will go mad. Every power—righteous or wicked, divine or mortal—anyone who knows about it… will come for it."
He paused, narrowing his eyes at Te Hoanh Thien.
"Can you really protect it… for the sake of one student… against all of them?"
Silence.
The endless sky remained still, the only movement coming from the fading embers of shattered asteroids drifting between stars.
"Or in the end…"
"…will you choose to let go, just like you did all those years ago?"
The air trembled again.
"BOOM!!!"
Te Hoanh Thien and Lac Vo Ngon clashed once more, this time with a sharper killing intent.
This was no longer a test of strength—
It was war.
Each blow struck with the will of two forces that refused to yield.
Every impact shattered space around them, as though the universe itself was straining under the pressure of two irreconcilable powers.
But then—
"That's enough."
A voice rang out.
It wasn't loud.
It wasn't angry.
Yet everything stopped instantly.
No one could see where it came from.
There was no figure.
No burst of spiritual pressure.
Only… a voice.
And the sheer authority it carried was enough to make both men—Te Hoanh Thien and Lac Vo Ngon—halt in mid-motion.
Time itself seemed to freeze.
"The Spirit Seal of the Ancient Realm… will now be handled by the Celestial Alliance."
The voice was calm, even, but every word struck like a divine decree, reverberating through the stars.
"Neither of you has the right to claim it anymore."
It was not a negotiation.
It was not a warning.
It was a command.
Te Hoanh Thien furrowed his brow, but did not speak.
Lac Vo Ngon narrowed his eyes, the force around him slowly fading as he reined in his aura.
Neither said another word.
Because some powers… even they dared not defy.
Hao Thien had returned to the academy.
No more silent forests.
No more cold, oppressive darkness.
Before him now was a scene of destruction and devastation, as if an earthquake had ripped through the grounds.
The once-proud buildings of the academy now stood tilted, cracked, some completely collapsed into rubble.
The ground was torn apart by long fractures, and the air still hung heavy with dust and the acrid smell of smoke.
Crying.
Voices calling out in panic.
The gasping, terrified breaths of students who had barely made it out alive.
Many were wounded, their uniforms torn, faces smeared with ash and blood.
Some sat on the ground in shock, eyes red, still struggling to understand what had just happened.
Amid the chaos, instructors, supervisors, and academy staff moved swiftly to restore order:
"Stay calm! All students, move to the eastern assembly area!"
"Has anyone checked the dorms for stragglers? Go now!"
"Get the seriously injured to the emergency treatment ward!"
Their voices rang out—urgent, commanding—trying to hold back the rising tide of fear.
Hao Thien stood silently among them, staring at the devastation.
He clenched his fists.
His heart was heavy.
Something inside him had changed forever—since the moment his third eye opened,
and the skies became the battlefield of two forces beyond human comprehension.
While Hao Thien stood in the middle of the devastated square, a sudden gust of wind swept across the academy grounds. For a brief moment, all sound seemed to vanish.
Te Hoanh Thien appeared.
No one saw where he came from.
He was simply… there, standing tall before Hao Thien, his eyes deep and unreadable.
"Come with me," he said—his voice low and calm, yet impossible to refuse.
Hao Thien froze, instinctively wanting to ask something. But the moment his eyes met the Headmaster's, he said nothing.
He simply nodded.
No one stopped them. No one questioned it.
Te Hoanh Thien raised his hand and traced a sigil into the air.
Fwoosh—
A streak of light split space itself, opening a portal.
He stepped through first. Hao Thien followed, and the gateway closed instantly behind them—without a trace.
…
The space on the other side was completely different—quiet, vast, and sealed off from the outside world.
A hidden sanctuary tucked within a separate dimension, where the light shone softly, like the glow of some ancient sun.
Stone pillars surrounded them, carved with strange, arcane symbols.
Only two people were there.
No students. No staff.
No witnesses.
"Hao Thien,"
Te Hoanh Thien turned to face him again, his gaze now deeper, heavier than ever.
"I need you to tell me… the truth."