Red Moon Falls

The afternoon sun of the next day shone through the gaps in the curtains, falling onto the table.

Yun Jingheng sat before the table, blueprints spread out, the pen twirling in his hand again and again.

After returning from Tang Wulin's place yesterday, he had revised the blueprints once more.

The transmission rod would be made of Moon Silver Sand, the connecting pieces of Cold Iron, and the surface plated with Iridium Gold.

The material problem was solved, but there was still one issue he hadn't figured out—the functional relationship between the stability of the gravitational field and soul power output.

Although he had studied gravity in his previous life, the soul power in this world was unlike any energy he had understood before.

It had its own rules, its own temper.

He picked up his pen and wrote a formula in the blank space.

After writing it, he looked it over, crossed it out, and rewrote it.

He looked at it again, his brow furrowing.

No, the parameters were wrong.

The door was pushed open.

But with such force that the door slammed against the wall and bounced back.

Ye Xinglan stood at the doorway, her golden ponytail disheveled, sweat beading on her forehead, her chest heaving as she gasped for air.

Her face was pale, and her eyes held something Yun Jingheng rarely saw—urgency.

"Something happened at the arena."

Her voice was a little hoarse, "Someone from Zero Class was severely injured."

Yun Jingheng's pen paused.

Zero Class—Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan.

He put down his pen. "What happened?"

Ye Xinglan took a breath.

"There's a pair of twins from Hailu Academy whose Martial Soul Fusion Skill went out of control. Tang Wulin, Xie Xie, and Gu Yue were all severely injured."

"Wu Zhangkong attacked in a rage, but Teacher Shen and the Mecha Brigade stopped him."

Yun Jingheng listened, then stood up, folded the blueprints, and put the Blue Pregnancy Copper into his Storage Soul Tool.

"I don't think I can play a crucial role, can I? With my strength, I won't be able to help if I go."

He paused. "I'll go see them later."

Ye Xinglan froze.

She watched Yun Jingheng pack up the items on the table one by one, his movements unhurried, just like always.

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but swallowed it back.

"What about your mother? She's at the arena, she told you to go find her."

Yun Jingheng nodded. "I know. Let's go then."

The two walked out of the room and headed towards the elevator.

The corridor was quiet.

The hotel had been full of competing students for the past few days, and people had been walking in the corridor from morning till night, but now there was no one.

Not even a staff member.

Yun Jingheng's footsteps slowed.

Ye Xinglan pressed the elevator button, but there was no response.

She pressed it again, still no response.

"Is the elevator broken?" Ye Xinglan frowned.

Yun Jingheng didn't answer.

His heart suddenly began to beat rapidly, not with nervousness, but as if his body was reacting on its own, as if something was warning him.

He turned his head towards the end of the corridor, where there was a corner, very dark, where the light didn't reach.

Something in the corner was flashing, a red light, very faint, very thin, like a thread.

You wouldn't see it if you weren't paying attention.

But he saw it.

The red light flashed rhythmically, like a heartbeat.

Then he heard a sound, very faint, fainter than a mosquito.

"Beep... beep... beep..."

Had he seen something like this in a lab in his previous life?

No, not in a lab, but on the news!

He grabbed Ye Xinglan's wrist and pulled her towards the other end of the corridor.

Ye Xinglan stumbled as he yanked her, "What are you doing--?"

"Run!"

He didn't explain, pulling her towards the window at the end of the corridor.

The window was huge, the entire wall made of glass, and outside was the street of Skysea City, three stories below.

The red light grew brighter, and the beeping sound sped up.

He didn't have time to think, pulling Ye Xinglan and lunging towards the window.

The glass shattered, fragments glinting in the sunlight.

He hugged Ye Xinglan, shielding her in his arms, and the two of them plummeted from the third floor.

In that moment in the air, he heard a deafening roar from behind them.

Not a "bang," but a "boom"--the entire building shook. A wave of heat chased them from behind, pushing them forward.

He held Ye Xinglan tightly, flipping halfway in the air, his back to the hotel.

He saw it--the entire floor they were staying on had its windows blown out, flames erupting from within, black smoke billowing upwards.

Fragments rained down like water.

He held Ye Xinglan tighter, reaching for his Storage Soul Tool with his other hand and pulling out a Flight Soul Tool.

Soul power surged into it, and silver-white wings unfurled from his back. They were unstable, lopsided, but he steadied himself.

Ye Xinglan was in his arms, silent.

Her hands clutched his clothes tightly.

Yun Jingheng changed direction, flying towards the competition venue.

Soul power poured into the Flight Soul Tool, the light on the wings growing brighter, his speed increasing.

The wind whistled past his ears, fragments still falling, the hotel behind him still smoking.

He didn't look back.

"Yun Jingheng! Behi--behind you!"

In the arena, Ya Li was kneeling in front of Tang Wulin, her palm pressed to his chest, her soul power mending his broken ribs.

Her expression was calm, her movements steady.

Wu Zhangkong stood beside them, his face expressionless.

Shen Yi stood on the other side, speaking with members of the Mecha Brigade.

Then she heard the explosion.

"Boom--"

It was distant, but she heard it clearly.

She stood up abruptly, turning her head to look in that direction.

Smoke was rising from over there, a black pillar shooting into the sky, thick and dense.

It looked like the direction of the hotel?

Her son's hotel...?

Her son was in the hotel!

"Jingheng!!!"

Her Four-Word Battle Armor instantly covered her entire body, light exploding outwards, and she shot out like a beam of light.

Shen Yi heard it too, saw it too, and she rushed out after her.

Wu Zhangkong staggered in place, looking in that direction, his hands clenched.

Yun Jingheng grew closer to the competition venue, able to see the stands, the crowds, the people running out.

The light of the Flight Soul Tool dimmed, his soul power almost depleted.

He gritted his teeth, continuing to pour power into it.

Something was approaching from behind him, fast.

He hadn't dared to look back when Ye Xinglan shouted, and he still didn't dare now, afraid that a moment of fear would make his soul power unstable and cause him to fall.

It was coming for him.

He looked down at Ye Xinglan in his arms. She looked up, the Star God Sword in her hand, as if intending to intercept the attack.

He looked up and saw his mother soaring into the sky.

Then, with all his might, he flung Ye Xinglan forward.

She flew out, heading toward the competition arena, heading toward Ya Li.

Ye Xinglan looked back at him in mid-air, "Yun Jingheng—"

He did not hear her.

The attack caught up, landing squarely on his back.

The wings of his Flight Soul Tool shattered, silver-white fragments scattering like stars.

He began to plummet.

He saw Ya Li rushing out from the arena, saw her Four-Word Battle Armor gleaming under the sunlight, saw her reach out to catch Ye Xinglan, and then look up at him.

Yun Jingheng was falling.

The wind whistled past his ears, and the wound on his back felt as if it had been seared by fire; every breath he took was agony.

He wanted to scream "Mom," but a surge of metallic sweetness welled up in his throat, stifling the cry.

He was still two stories above the ground.

You bastard... do you have a grudge against me?

Are you that desperate to kill me?!

The Moonlight Sword coalesced in his hand.

The silver-white blade began to turn red from the tip, spreading bit by bit like a drop of blood diffusing into water.

The red stained the blade, the crossguard, and his fingers.

It shone like a Red Moon, blindingly brilliant under the sunlight.

Behind him, a phantom slowly emerged.

It was his shadow, but the shadow was twisting, laughing.

His eyes changed as well; the black faded away, replaced by a sea of scarlet.