The Initial State

In a place no one noticed, little hands began appearing one by one on the walls surrounding Chu Nuan City.

Like weeds growing on the city walls, they swayed in the wind, eerie and bewitching, as if all of Chu Nuan City were surrounded by little hands.

Suddenly, hundreds of little hands gathered on the walls. Like trees taking root and sprouting, they grew vigorously, forming a human shape—one that looked exactly like Fang Yue now. The long fingers sprouting from its head like antennae quickly joined end to end, forming a white ring.

The Sticky Cotton Anomaly, now gathered into a form, blinked its lively eyes. From such a great distance, it gazed down from the wall, curiously watching the crowd below.

Suddenly, as if it had spotted something, its expression brightened with delight.

Its body seemed to melt, turning into a mass of little hands that seeped into the city wall and disappeared.

On the street beneath the city wall, a group of seven- and eight-year-old children cheered as they ran out of a large courtyard.

"Haha! Dad finally let us go out and play!"

"Jun Shao, you're the slowest! If we hadn't waited for you, we'd already be at the Martial Competition plaza watching the excitement!"

"At this hour, the Martial Competition must have started already. We're going to miss the best part!"

"I heard the Heavenly Alliance leader will show up at this Martial Competition! I've never seen him before, even though I'm this old. He must be amazing!"

The child king, known as Jun Shao, ran along proudly. "Of course! If the Heavenly Alliance leader isn't amazing, who is? He's the most powerful person in Chu Nuan City! My dad says that back when our ancestors were prosperous, they even visited the Heavenly Alliance