The Man From the Dream Who Shook the Heavens
The clouds parted.
They did not drift away slowly, nor were they torn apart by force. Instead, they moved aside as if obeying an unseen will, revealing a figure suspended calmly in the heavens.
He stood there.
Dressed in a blue robe that fluttered gently despite the violent winds raging around him. Thunder rolled endlessly in the distance, lightning tore through the dark sky, yet none of it touched him. The storm bent around his presence, as though even the heavens themselves dared not challenge him.
He was calm.
Gentle.
Untouched.
The moment my eyes fell upon him, my blood ran cold.
It was him.
The man from my dream.
The realization struck deeper than fear—it was recognition. My heart slammed violently against my chest, my breath hitching as memories I could not fully understand surged forward. I had seen him before, standing just like this, watching, waiting. Yet seeing him now, with my own eyes, made the dream feel terrifyingly real.
An overwhelming aura rolled outward from his body.
It was vast. Crushing. Ancient.
The pressure pressed down on everyone below, so heavy that even seasoned disciples staggered back, their faces drained of color. Some fell to one knee. Others trembled uncontrollably, unable to steady their breathing. The air itself felt thick, resistant, as if the world were bowing under his presence.
Several disciples shouted and attacked.
Spiritual techniques erupted into the sky—blades of energy, flares of light, desperate attempts to resist the terror overwhelming them. But the man did not even look their way.
With a casual swipe of his hand, their attacks vanished.
The disciples themselves were flung aside like dust, their bodies sent spinning helplessly through the air, crashing into the distance without resistance or mercy. It was effortless. As if he were brushing away something insignificant.
Nem moved.
Without hesitation, he rushed forward, his aura surging as he charged toward the man in blue. I opened my mouth to shout his name, but no sound came out.
The man smiled.
It was not cruel. Not mocking.
It was calm.
With a simple flick of his wrist, Nem was struck by an invisible force and sent flying backward, his body vanishing into the void beyond the clouds as if he had never been there at all.
Mi-An recoiled in fear.
I saw it clearly—the sharp intake of her breath, the instinctive step backward, the tension in her body as she braced herself. Her eyes never left the figure in the sky.
And something inside me broke.
I did not understand what it was—fear, anger, despair—but it shattered the moment I saw her reaction. Without thinking, without reason, I stepped forward.
The moment our eyes met, the world fell silent.
Thunder faded. Wind ceased. Even my heartbeat seemed distant.
It was him.
The man from my dream.
Before I could speak, before I could take another step, Saint Lu Qi appeared between us, his presence firm and resolute despite the crushing pressure in the air.
"Ansha," he said coldly. "Why have you come?"
The man's gaze shifted, moving past Saint Lu Qi as though he were not there.
"Where is he?"
His voice was calm, yet it carried a terrifying weight.
"Who?" Saint Lu Qi replied.
Thunder roared violently, shaking the sky.
"Where is he?" the Ansha asked again.
Saint Lu Qi's aura flared, rising in defiance. "Ansha! You dare disrupt the peace of the martial world? The Seven Saints will stand against you!"
The Ansha laughed.
It was a soft sound.
And it chilled my soul.
"Lu Qi," he said gently, "when I return again… if I do not find him—none of you will be spared."
A violent wind exploded outward.
The pressure vanished in an instant.
And he was gone.
—
We descended.
The storm slowly dissipated, but my mind remained ablaze with unanswered questions. Images of the man in blue replayed endlessly in my thoughts. His eyes. His voice. The way he had looked past everyone—as though searching for something only he could see.
I turned toward my master, my heart pounding violently in my chest.
"Master," I asked hoarsely.
My voice barely sounded like my own.
"Who is the Ansha… and why do I see him in my dreams?"