The sky split open.
Not metaphorically.
Not dramatically.
Literally.
A gaping rift tore across the heavens like someone had taken a celestial can-opener to the firmament. Light bled out in violent streams — gold, white, and the sickly gray of divine wrath.
Lin Yue clutched Xuan Mo's sleeve."Is that… normal?"
"No."
"So it's a 'we're all going to die' situation?"
"Yes."
He said it calmly. As if discussing tea preferences.
Celestial beasts poured through the rift — massive creatures with bodies made of cloud, lightning, and pure heavenly qi. Dragons. Phoenix constructs. Beast-shaped manifestations of divine law.
They descended toward the realm, roaring.
Lin Yue whispered, "That seems excessive."
Xuan Mo stepped forward, moonlight exploding around him in a shockwave.
The beasts froze mid-air.
Not because of fear.
Because every law of nature bowed to him.
His eyes darkened to pitch black, ringed with violent silver.
He lifted one finger.
Every beast crashed downward like puppets with cut strings.
The ground shook.
Mountains trembled.
The sky screeched.
Lin Yue stared."You're not even trying."
"I am annoyed," he said flatly. "When annoyed, I do not try. I end."
A fresh celestial beast burst forth — a colossal serpent of heaven-fire — and lunged straight at Lin Yue.
Before she could react—
Xuan Mo appeared behind it.
The serpent froze.
Xuan Mo's hand was pressed gently against its skull.
"You are too close to her," he said.
The serpent shattered into stardust.
Lin Yue wheezed. "You obliterated it for being in my personal space?"
"Yes."
"That's not how boundaries work—!"
"Correct," he said. "I ignore boundaries."
She pinched her nose. "I KNOW."