Awakening Day

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The deep, resounding toll of an ancient bell spread throughout River City, signaling that the annual Awakening Day was about to begin.

This was a grand celebration, even livelier than the New Year.

At this moment, River City was decorated everywhere with lanterns and streamers. Bright red lanterns, engraved with all kinds of demon spirit patterns, hung throughout every street and alley.

The light screens atop every skyscraper, without exception, played thrilling scenes from past Awakening Days. The shocking images, paired with explosive music, made people's blood boil.

The streets teemed with people, all heading in the same direction.

Even though they had deliberately risen early, when people arrived at the city's central plaza, they were still stunned by the surging sea of people.

On the ancient bronze-cast altar, built in a retro style and covering more than a hundred acres, all manner of birds and beasts had been carved. Around the altar, over a thousand police officers stood ramrod straight, their expressions stern and cold as they maintained order.

Above the plaza floated the Blue Moon Divine Artifact, forged over thirty-seven years through the strength of an entire nation. The 138-meter-tall Blue Moon was crescent-shaped, gleaming white from end to end and brimming with a futuristic air.

At its peak, the energy barrier it radiated reflected a faint blue glow beneath the sun. Hanging above the city center, it looked down upon the earth.

This extraordinary Blue Moon was the pride of River City's people, as well as the symbol of River City as one of China's twelve base cities.

Directly beneath the Blue Moon Divine Artifact, the area around the railings had already been swallowed by a dense black mass of people. More than three hundred thousand had gathered there, discussing things excitedly.

"A year has passed. I wonder what kind of genius will appear this time?"

"Last year, someone fused with a ninth-rank Purple-Eyed Savage Bull and an Azure Burrow Dragon. That scene was too shocking."

"What's so impressive about that? Seven years ago, Bai Lin, the genius of the Bai Clan, fused with the Six-Winged Sky Demon ranked 217th on the Earth List. He was directly admitted by Great Wall University and even received a full scholarship."

"Great Wall University! That's one of the three great Hero Academies. I heard that once you graduate from there, you can directly obtain an honorary title. If you join the military, you'll at least start with the rank of major."

"Demon spirits on the Earth List—among River City's five great lineages, not even they necessarily have them."

"Who said they don't? They have a few, more or less. It's just that those vampires can't bear to bring them out. There are some within Blue Moon, though. Those were left behind from the Battle of Dawn. Only heaven's favored prodigies have any chance of successfully refining them. Those are things that appear only once in five years, if that."

Amid the lively atmosphere, a middle-aged man stepped onto the altar.

Behind him followed over a hundred men and women. They were gorgeously dressed and carried themselves with extraordinary bearing. Crystal-clear round bottles hung all over their bodies, and within the bottles, fist-sized clouds could vaguely be seen.

These clouds seemed to possess life. Some drifted and wandered, while more crashed against the round bottles, yet without exception, none could break free.

The enormous plaza had fallen utterly silent, as though everyone feared disturbing them.

No native of River City could possibly be unfamiliar with that middle-aged man. He was River City's guardian, the Martial King, Jiang Chu.

Those qualified to appear on the altar behind him were all from River City's great lineages and major corporations. The colored masses within the round bottles were demon spirits extracted after hunting demon beasts.

On Awakening Day, any boy or girl in River City who had reached the age of sixteen and attained the Body Cultivation Fifth Stage had the chance to come here, refine a demon spirit into their Soul Sea, and become a Demon Spirit Master.

However, the odds were not high. Out of ten people, at most one could successfully refine a demon spirit. Thus, every Demon Spirit Master was exceedingly precious.

Directly below the altar sat more than a hundred thousand boys and girls. Their eyes were filled with longing, and some were so excited that their entire bodies trembled.

Only one person sat with his head lowered, completely motionless.

If not for the faint sound of snoring, no one would have imagined that he had actually fallen asleep.

"Who is that? He's got some nerve, falling asleep on Awakening Day!"

"That kid is called Lin Feng, from Class Seven of the third year. He has the strength of the Body Cultivation Seventh Stage, but his fighting techniques are formidable and his attacks ruthless, so he's always been arrogant."

"The principal specifically told us today to display the unique spirit of Jiangxin Middle School. A heartless, shameless person like him shouldn't have come to participate in Demon Spirit Awakening Day at all."

"Keep your voice down. That guy is a vicious character."

The youths discussed animatedly. Today was the most important day of their lives. Even if some had suffered insomnia last night, they were still brimming with excitement now. How could they possibly feel sleepy?

Yet while they found it amusing, they also admired him somewhat.

On Awakening Day, some people became so nervous that they lost control of themselves, while others grew so excited that they suffered heart attacks and fainted on the spot. But no one had ever heard of someone becoming so excited that he fell asleep. Lin Feng was likely the first in history.

"What's that sound?"

The murmuring beside his ears made Lin Feng frown slightly. He listened carefully, yet could not make out anything.

However, he did not pay it any mind. His gaze remained fixed on that demonic-looking young man not far away, his eyes revealing hatred carved into his bones and etched into his heart.

Just three days earlier, this demonic-looking young man in white robes had led seven King-level demon beasts and over a hundred thousand vicious demon beasts in an attack on River City. The flourishing metropolis had now become a field of ruins, and corpses and mangled remains everywhere proclaimed the arrival of a living hell.

Now, the seven King-level demon beasts were dead, and the hundred thousand demon beasts had been almost entirely killed or wounded. Only this mysterious young man remained completely unharmed.

Lin Feng was less than a hundred meters from the young man. Amid deafening explosive roars, countless aerial missiles swept toward the same target before his eyes.

Yet no matter how the bombs exploded or the earth collapsed, that spotless white robe remained untouched by dust, so white it was almost dazzling.

After that, experts continuously charged toward the man in white. Yet regardless of the attack—physical attacks, mental attacks, even mysterious cursed powers—all were useless against this demonic-looking man. Instead, they were easily hunted down.

The city had been destroyed. Over a hundred million residents had been slaughtered. Of River City's thirteen guardians, ten had been killed, one had self-detonated, and two had fled. Yet the chief culprit remained unscathed. They did not even know what his ability was. How could that not drive people to despair?

The earth had been dyed red with blood, and the pungent stench of blood spread through the entire city. Facing that invincible demonic-looking young man, the survivors had already begun to retreat. They had been frightened numb by the killing. Only Lin Feng still brandished the longsword in his hand.

Lin Feng did not know how many demon beasts he had killed. He only knew that he was exhausted.

Truly exhausted.

He wanted so badly to sleep.

The clothes on his body had already been soaked red with blood, clinging uncomfortably to his skin. Yet he still walked toward that mysterious figure without hesitation.

Even though he knew that, with his strength, he did not even have a chance of harming a single hair on the other party's head, so what? His family was dead, his friends had all been killed. What meaning was there in him alone living on in ignoble existence?

Lin Feng walked slowly. The demonic-looking young man turned his head and watched Lin Feng approach. Those pitch-black pupils were like an ancient well, still and rippleless yet cold to the extreme. The young man's gaze carried a trace of threat and killing intent, but unexpectedly, he did not attack.

Even when Lin Feng arrived before him and, trembling, thrust the longsword in his hand into his throat, he still remained utterly motionless.

"Out of strength?"

Lin Feng looked at the longsword in his hand in astonishment. Why was there no blood flowing out? As he pulled out his sword, boundless light enveloped Lin Feng, like a miniature sun.