Chapter 30: The Phenomenon That Shook the City

The sky above the Thousand Mountain Forest began to buckle beneath an unnatural, violent pressure.

It started with a subtle yet sickening drop in the ambient spiritual density. Within just two dozen heartbeats, the rich natural essence that had nourished this ancient wilderness for centuries was violently ripped from the soil.

Rivers of pale green, crystalline, and azure mist seeped from ancient spirit-wood trees and erupted from underground mineral veins. They spiraled upward like iridescent geysers, vanishing into the churning heavens.

High above the jagged northern ridges, the clouds didn’t merely gather.

They were whipped into a titanic, roaring atmospheric funnel.

A vortex nearly twenty kilometers wide tore a spiraling hollow through the vast cloud blanket. Streaks of incandescent aurora—violet, blood-crimson, and abyssal silver—twisted through the rotating storm wall.

The sky looked as though some gigantic celestial eye had been torn open, staring down at the barren heart of the deep mountains through a cosmic magnifying glass.

Even from thirty kilometers away, the night sky above Silverwood City was bathed in a surreal, pulsating chromatic glow.

Citizens stepped onto balconies and streets, staring toward the churning northern horizon in bewildered awe. Commuter vehicles slowed to a crawl along the elevated expressways, their headlights nearly washed out by the unnatural, spectral dawn spreading across the dark mountain range.

Then the alarms began to howl.

WUUUUU—WUUUUU—WUUUUU!

Piercing air-defense sirens echoed from the municipal watchtowers stationed along the city walls.

Inside the central control hub of the Silverwood City Emergency Command Center, dozens of red warning beacons flashed in frantic succession.

Massive holographic monitors mounted along the command wall flickered wildly as automated environmental scanning arrays began reporting catastrophic readings.

"Chief! Sector North-Four environmental monitors have redlined!"

A technician’s fingers flew desperately across the holographic console.

"Spiritual density in the Thousand Mountain Forest has dropped forty percent... no, sixty percent!"

His voice rose in panic.

"It’s still falling—and it’s dropping at free-fall speed!"

The sky above the Thousand Mountain Forest began to buckle beneath an unnatural, violent pressure.

It started with a subtle yet sickening drop in ambient spiritual density. Within two dozen heartbeats, the rich natural essence that had nourished this ancient wilderness for centuries was violently ripped from the soil.

Rivers of pale green, crystalline, and azure mist seeped from ancient spirit-wood trees and erupted from underground mineral veins, spiraling upward like iridescent geysers into the churning sky.

High above the jagged northern ridges, the clouds didn’t merely gather.

They were whipped into a titanic, roaring atmospheric funnel.

A vortex nearly twenty kilometers wide tore a spiraling hollow through the cloud cover. Streaks of incandescent aurora—violet, blood-crimson, and abyssal silver—twisted through the spinning storm wall.

The sky looked as though a gigantic celestial eye had been torn open, gazing down through a cosmic magnifying glass at the barren heart of the deep mountains.

"A precursor to a beast tide... or an ancient array failure?" one of the guild leaders murmured, rubbing his chin. Nervous ambition gleamed in his eyes. "Or could it be... the birth of an Innate Heaven-Earth Treasure?"

The words hung in the air like a spark dropped into dry timber.

An Innate Heaven-Earth Treasure.

Throughout the history of the Earth’s Federation, whenever an unmapped ancient ruin surfaced or a primordial spirit relic condensed its core, it was often accompanied by an atmospheric upheaval that drained the surrounding spiritual energy.

Anyone fortunate enough to claim such an unrefined treasure could transform their martial foundation overnight.

Some could even secure their clan’s legacy for generations to come.

"Order the garrison to lock down the northern gates," Mayor Vance commanded coldly, slamming his palm against the central command terminal. "No one enters the Thousand Mountain Forest without military authorization!"

His gaze hardened.

"If this is a subterranean spatial rupture or an ancient weapon unsealing, civilians charging in will only trigger a bloodbath!"

"Understood, Mayor!"

But even as the command echoed through the military channels, the news had already leaked through backchannel scanner networks and private surveillance satellites operated by the city’s major factions.

In the southern villa district, inside the opulent compound of the Thorne Family—Eric’s clan—the patriarch slammed his wine glass onto an obsidian desk.

"An innate phenomenon in Black Crow Ridge?!"

The older man’s eyes flashed with raw, unchecked greed.

"Mobilize the family’s first Shadow Squad! Take the Tier-3 armored skiffs and depart through the western auxiliary gate before the city guard seals the perimeter!"

He leaned forward, his voice turning cold.

"If an innate treasure has emerged from those ancient ruins, our Thorne Family must be the first to lay hands on it. Do not let the Sterling Family or the municipal office beat us to it!"

"Yes, Patriarch!"

Similar scenes erupted throughout the shadows of Silverwood City.

Rogue cultivators whose names were carved on provincial bounty boards, high-tier mercenary corps that had spent years hunting in the northern wilderness, and greedy elders from minor noble clans all abandoned their beds.

They strapped on heavy battle armor, grabbed their customized alloy weapons, and roared out of underground garages on high-powered tactical motorcycles.

Within minutes, a dozen separate convoys surged through the outer perimeter, tearing across the rough desert scrub toward the blazing mountain horizon like ravenous hyenas catching the scent of fresh blood.

Meanwhile, three miles beyond the city perimeter, an abandoned sewage processing facility lay buried beneath layers of rusted iron and stagnant mire.

A figure in a stained executioner’s coat stood atop the roof.

The hideous porcelain face of his pig mask reflected the fluctuating violet glow spilling from the distant mountains.

"Envoy."

A cloaked cultist knelt on the wet concrete behind him.

"The disturbance in the north... its energy resonance matches the ancient script recorded in the Apocrypha of the Outer Void. Could it be... a divine descent?"

The Pig-Mask Envoy slowly tilted his head.

The two empty eye slits of the mask glowed with a faint, twisted crimson light.

"The cosmic alignment is incomplete," the Envoy rasped, his voice like dry stones grinding against one another. "The Outer Gods do not descend through such erratic, chaotic suction."

His fingers tightened around the edge of his cloak.

"This is a key... or an ancient seal breaking beneath the earth. But whatever it is, it carries a thread of foreign, otherworldly authority."

He reached beneath his cloak and drew a curved dagger forged from jagged black bone.

"Forget the Sterling girl for tonight. An S-Rank seed can be hunted whenever we please."

His crimson gaze turned toward the distant mountains.

"But a relic capable of moving the heavens cannot be ignored."

"Mobilize every infiltrator in the sector. Divert all squads to the center of the vortex. If it’s an ancient artifact, seize it for the Great Divine. If it belongs to an unaligned heretic, butcher them where they stand!"

"The Divine will prevail!"

Dozens of dark, cloaked figures slipped over the facility walls and disappeared into the midnight brush.

Like a swarm of venomous locusts, they advanced toward the mountains.

---