That evening, the boundless sky above Heavenly Origin City and more than half of Eternal Main Star darkened without warning.
It was dusk. A moment earlier, the setting sun had still hung at the horizon, bathing the entire city in a warm golden glow.
Pedestrians filled the streets, and hovercars darted between the buildings. Everything was no different from usual.
But in the next instant, without any warning—
Rumble!
A dull peal of thunder seemed to come from the end of the heavens.
The thunder was heavy, unlike ordinary lightning. It was more like something had exploded high above the sky, making the air throughout the city tremble faintly.
Then—
A violent wind suddenly rose!
Dark clouds surged in from the west at astonishing speed, as though an invisible hand were pushing them.
Within mere minutes, the originally clear sky was completely blanketed by thick, lead-gray clouds.
The sky rapidly darkened, as if dusk had abruptly become midnight.
Whoosh!
Torrential rain poured down.
It came too suddenly, leaving no time for anyone to prepare.
Raindrops the size of beans smashed against the ground, sending up sheets of spray with a dense clatter, like the charge of a thousand troops and ten thousand horses.
Inside Dawn Ancient Welfare Institute,
it was around the time when afternoon classes were ending.
Some students had just stepped out of the teaching building when the sudden downpour drenched them on the spot.
"Damn! Why did it suddenly start raining this hard?!"
"Didn't the weather forecast say it would be sunny today?!"
"There's something wrong with this rain... I can sense a strange fluctuation, like faint Dao resonance diluted and filling it..."
As the rain poured down, the students complained one after another. Some turned and ran back into the teaching building to take shelter.
Others