Chapter 106: BLACKOUT

Chapter 106 — WHEN THE SKY TURNS OFF

The arena was still vibrating from celebration when the announcer returned to center stage.

The fractured battlefield had been sealed with temporary formation overlays, golden lines running like veins across repaired stone. Spirit confetti drifted lazily through the air, dissolving before touching ground. The energy in the stadium had not faded—it had only shifted from tension into triumph.

Bai Qianlan stood at the central platform, now restored and glowing softly beneath her feet. Behind her, Azure Dragon’s emblem shimmered in light projection above the arena floor.

The announcer raised both arms.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN—!”

The crowd roared again.

“THE GRAND PRIX FRESHMAN CHAMPIONSHIP HAS REACHED ITS CONCLUSION!”

He paused, letting anticipation thicken.

“And now… the official academy rankings based on Stage Three Part Two and cumulative performance across all stages!”

Floating sigils ignited above the battlefield. Five glowing banners materialized in descending formation.

“In fifth place…”

A brief flicker.

“FROSTCLOUD ACADEMY!”

Polite applause followed, dignified and respectful. The Frostcloud instructor nodded calmly, already discussing improvement strategies with his students.

Murong Yuer acted calm but was actually jumping with excitement inside.

“In fourth place…”

The glow shifted.

“DRAGON TURTLE ACADEMY!”

A beat of stunned silence—then scattered claps.

On the elevated viewing stage, the Dragon Turtle dean froze mid-pose. His massive arms slowly dropped from their flexed position.

“…Fourth?” he repeated, offended on a personal level.

Behind him, several Dragon Turtle instructors tried not to make eye contact.

The Vermilion dean covered her smile with elegant restraint.

The announcer continued quickly.

“In third place… SILVERMOON ARROW ACADEMY!”

A burst of cheers from the Silvermoon section erupted, particularly from the line of girls still waving banners with Han Duwei’s name across them.

Han Duwei blinked in confusion. “I wasn’t even in the final bracket.”

“Also, They realize that I am part of AZURE DRAGON, RIGHT?”

It did not matter.

So, he just gave a flying kiss.

They screamed louder.

“In second place…”

The golden sigil flared crimson.

“VERMILION PHOENIX ACADEMY!”

The stadium lit up in red. Rong Yueran stood with a hand on her hip, offering a satisfied grin to the audience. The Vermilion dean nodded once, accepting the result with grace.

“And in FIRST PLACE…”

The final banner descended, shining in radiant azure.

“AZURE DRAGON ACADEMY!”

The stadium shook.

Chen Wulian nearly tackled Qin Shuo from excitement. Jin Ruolan jumped up and down wildly. Ouyang Xue’er closed her eyes briefly, exhaling in relief.

On the stage, Bai stepped back as the rest of her team joined her.

Ling Yifan approached her calmly.

“You did well,” he said.

“You did too,” Bai replied softly.

The Dragon Turtle dean folded his arms dramatically.

“Fourth,” he muttered darkly. “Ridiculous.”

Mei Ying leaned casually against a railing behind him.

“I believe,” she said , “someone bet king-tier resources on finishing first.”

The Dragon Turtle dean’s head snapped toward her.

“That was strategic enthusiasm!”

Mei Ying smiled.

“You owe me.”

He groaned.

Behind them, one of the Dragon Turtle instructors quietly slid a sealed jade case toward Mei Ying with visible reluctance.

“…It was a friendly wager,” the instructor said stiffly.

“Of course,” Mei Ying replied, taking it without breaking eye contact.

The prize distribution ceremony began.

Golden light cascaded from above, forming crystalline emblems that hovered before each academy representative. Resource chests materialized in shimmering arrays—spirit stones, rare cultivation herbs, sealed technique scrolls.

Bai accepted the champion’s crest.

It pulsed faintly in her hand.

The announcer began listing honors and rewards.

Everything felt normal.

Celebratory.

Complete.

That was when it happened.

Inside Long Hao’s chest—

The Eclipse System pulsed.

Violent.

Longyu’s voice erupted in his mind.

[Warning—warning—external interference detected!]

[Warning—warning—external interference detected!]

[Warning—warning—external interference detected!]

Long Hao’s breath stilled.

“What kind of interference?” he asked inwardly.

“Signal breach—dimensional irregularity—this is not tournament-related—this is—”

Her voice cracked.

“…This is not allowed.”

Long Hao’s eyes flicked upward instinctively.

The sky above the arena looked normal.

Blue.

Bright.

Filled with celebratory projection lights.

But something about the light felt… thinner.

Longyu’s tone shifted from analysis to panic.

“Long Hao, this is not academy. This is external—this is beyond the stabilizers—”

“Just do anything,” he said calmly.

“What?!”

“Emergency protocol. Now.”

The Eclipse System flared.

Red warning sigils filled his vision.

[UNAUTHORIZED SIGNAL LOCK DETECTED]

[REALITY ANCHOR COMPROMISED]

[MANUAL OVERRIDE REQUIRED]

The sound around him began to stretch.

The cheering slowed.

Not faded.

Slowed.

As if the world had been dropped into syrup.

Long Hao blinked.

The stage.

The deans.

Bai turning slightly.

Ling speaking.

Everything lagged half a second.

Then a second.

Then two.

“Long Hao,” Longyu whispered, terrified now, “I cannot block this fully—this is coming from below and above simultaneously—”

The arena lights flickered.

No one else seemed to notice.

A black line tore silently across his vision.

Like a crack in glass.

“Emergency response initiating!” Longyu shouted.

The Eclipse System surged outward, violet-black energy flashing invisibly across Long Hao’s body.

The sky above the arena glitched.

Just for him.

The blue flickered.

Heat.

Blinding, suffocating heat.

Long Hao’s eyes snapped open to a sky that was not the sky he remembered.

It was vast. Endless. A blue so sharp it hurt to look at. No floating projections. No academy lights. No cheering crowds. Just a merciless sun hanging directly overhead, burning without restraint.

He pushed himself upright slowly.

Sand shifted beneath his palms.

Loose. Dry. Real.

There was no arena beneath him. No fractured platform. No stabilizing formations humming in the air. No distant voices.

Only wind.

Hot wind that scraped across the dunes and carried nothing with it.

He rose to his feet.

The horizon stretched infinitely in all directions—rolling waves of gold and white, dunes curving like frozen oceans. No buildings. No trees. No shadows beyond his own.

“Longyu,” he said quietly.

Silence answered.

He tried again, this time reaching inward for the familiar pulse of the Eclipse System.

“LONGYU? SYSTEM?”

Nothing.

No interface.

No warning sigils.

The connection was gone.

For the first time since his rebirth, there was no secondary presence in his mind.

Just him.

The heat intensified as the wind shifted direction. Sand swirled lightly around his boots, stinging against exposed skin.

Long Hao narrowed his eyes and scanned the horizon.

Something was wrong.

Not the desert itself.

The distance.

It felt distorted.

The air shimmered unnaturally far out, not from heat alone, but as if space itself rippled under pressure.

A faint movement caught his attention.

Far away.

At the edge of visibility.

Not large.

Not loud.

Just… misplaced.

A distortion in the wind pattern. A silhouette that did not align with the curve of the dunes.

Long Hao stood still, breathing evenly despite the oppressive heat.

There were no landmarks.

No sun angle shift.

No sound beyond the wind.

And yet the sensation in his chest—the absence of the Eclipse System—felt heavier than the desert itself.

He was not transported within the arena.

He was not teleported within the academy.

This was somewhere else.

Entirely.

The wind picked up again.

The distant distortion flickered once.

Then vanished.

Long Hao remained standing alone beneath the burning sky, surrounded by endless dunes, with no system, no ally, and no explanation.

And for the first time since awakening in this life—

He did not know where he was.

Then, he went blank again.

[Chapter ENDS]

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