The sky screamed.
High above the Ember Fist Sect, the broken heavens had split wider than ever before. A massive fragment — glowing like molten crystal — tore free from the fractured sky.
It fell slowly at first.
Then faster.
And faster.
Like a star collapsing toward the mountain.
The air trembled under its weight.
The entire battlefield froze.
Even the fighting stopped.
Every cultivator, disciple, and elder stared upward in disbelief.
"That's… a heaven fragment," one Pavilion cultivator whispered.
"No," another said with horror. "That's a piece of the upper sky itself!"
The massive shard burned brighter as it descended.
Its size alone could crush the entire mountain.
The Ember Fist Sect would be erased.
Panic
Disciples began shouting across the courtyard.
"We need to evacuate!"
"It's going to hit the sect!"
Some ran toward the outer gates.
Others stood frozen, staring upward in terror.
Master Rhyzen looked up at the falling fragment, flames flickering weakly around his fists.
Even he looked uncertain.
Seraphine's calm composure had finally cracked.
She turned sharply toward her subordinates.
"All Pavilion cultivators retreat to the sky vessels!"
"But the fragment bearer—"
"Now!"
Golden runes ignited beneath their feet as they prepared to escape.
Kael watched them.
"They're leaving?" he muttered.
Seraphine met his eyes briefly.
"If that fragment strikes this mountain," she said coldly, "nothing here will survive."
Her body lifted slowly into the air as she prepared to return to the vessel.
"You should run as well."
Then she rose toward the sky ships.
Kael looked around the courtyard.
The Ember Fist disciples were scattering now.
The elders were shouting orders.
But the truth was obvious.
They couldn't stop something like that.
The fragment was already descending through the clouds.
Too fast.
Too massive.
Too powerful.
Kael clenched his fists.
The Broken Heaven Energy inside him reacted violently.
Not in fear.
In excitement.
The voice inside him spoke again.
Stronger now.
Closer.
"A gift from the sky."
Kael gritted his teeth.
"That thing will kill everyone here!"
The voice laughed softly.
"Only if you let it."
Kael looked up again.
The fragment burned like a falling sun now.
Its energy washed over the mountain like a tidal wave.
The Broken Heaven Energy in his chest throbbed painfully.
Hungry.
Calling to the fragment above.
Rhyzen limped toward him.
"Kael," he said breathlessly.
Kael turned.
Rhyzen's face was grim.
"You're thinking about absorbing it, aren't you?"
Kael didn't answer.
Rhyzen shook his head.
"That fragment is enormous. If you try to take that energy into your body—"
"I'll probably explode," Kael finished.
Rhyzen exhaled slowly.
"Yes."
The fragment roared through the clouds now.
Seconds away.
Kael looked at the fleeing disciples.
At the shattered courtyard.
At the mountain that had given him a chance when the world rejected him.
Then he sighed.
"Well…"
He cracked his neck.
"…guess I'll take the risk."
Rhyzen's eyes widened.
"Kael—"
But Kael had already stepped forward.
THE ATTEMPT
The sky darkened as the fragment descended.
Winds howled violently across the mountain.
Kael planted his feet in the center of the cracked courtyard.
Broken Heaven Energy surged through his body.
The cracks along his skin spread across both arms.
He raised his hands toward the sky.
"Alright," he muttered.
"Let's see if this works."
The fragment entered the lower atmosphere.
Its energy pressure alone began shattering stone across the mountain.
Kael focused.
The Sky Drinker realm awakened fully inside him.
Instead of resisting the fragment's energy…
He reached for it.
The heavens responded instantly.
A stream of violent celestial energy slammed into Kael's body.
BOOOOOOM.
The ground beneath him collapsed.
Kael screamed as the energy tore through his meridians.
Too much.
Way too much.
The fragment kept falling.
The energy pouring into him multiplied.
Rhyzen shouted from behind him.
"Stop! Your body can't handle it!"
Kael's vision blurred.
The Broken Heaven Energy fought desperately to contain the incoming power.
Inside his mind—
The chained presence watched silently.
Then spoke again.
"Not like that."
Kael gasped.
"Then how?!"
The voice answered.
"Do not absorb heaven."
The chains rattled.
"Break it."
Kael's eyes widened.
Break it?
He looked up at the descending fragment.
It was seconds from impact now.
His fist tightened.
Energy surged violently into his arm.
The air warped around it.
"Alright," he muttered weakly.
"Let's try that instead."
He stepped forward.
And punched the sky.
"Shattered Horizon."
The air cracked.
"…Third Break."
BOOOOOOOOOOM.
The heavens split.
A massive black fracture tore across the falling fragment itself.
For a single moment—
The enormous shard froze in the sky.
Then—
It shattered.
Thousands of smaller fragments exploded outward across the sky like meteor rain.
The shockwave blasted across the entire mountain.
Clouds vanished.
The sky vessels trembled violently.
Kael collapsed to one knee as the energy storm raged around him.
But the giant fragment was gone.
Instead…
Hundreds of smaller heaven fragments now rained across the distant lands.
The battlefield fell silent.
Even the Pavilion ships had stopped retreating.
Seraphine stared down at the scene in disbelief.
"…He broke a heaven fragment."
On the mountain below, Rhyzen stared at Kael.
"You insane idiot," he muttered.
Kael laughed weakly.
Then collapsed onto his back.
Above him, the cracked sky seemed wider than ever before.
And somewhere beyond those fractures…
Another ancient chain snapped.