Cosmic Awakening: The Path of the Omnigen Sovereign

The next day.

Wu Yuan still sat cross-legged on the bed, studying the imprint. His face twitching between expressions.

It didn't tale long for his eyes to open.

"Why does something that looks so simple feel this profound…? I've barely scratched eight percent!"He let out a breath, realizing how far he still had to go.

"This imprint… it feels like a Wind Mage's path. But even after studying it, I can barely control the wind," Wu Yuanmuttered.

A common enough path,. Solid, dependable. Nothing special.

Yet something felt… off. The structure was too intricate. The flow, too layered.

It was like finding a thousand gears beneath a windmill.

"The school will depart soon… I can't waste any more time. I just hope I can study the imprint a bit more before the competition begins." Letting out a quiet sigh, he rose to his feet and began preparing to set off.

Cloud City, Cloud City High School.

Flying cars were arriving one after another at the entrance of Cloud City High School, each guided by automated sky beacons to its assigned auto-docking pads.

In Cloud City High School, teachers and students alike each had their own assigned docking pads.

At pad 58-B, a sleek sky mobile descended with a soft hum as it hovered just inches above the pad. The door slid open with a quiet hiss, and Wu Yuanstepped out.

"Announcement! Announcement!" an automatic voice echoed throughout the entire parking pad.

"All students are expected to gather at the Awakening Square within the next 30 minutes. Transport to the competition grounds will depart shortly after."

The message repeated twice before fading, replaced by the low hum of descending sky mobiles.

"Good thing I didn't keep studying that imprint any longer," Wu Yuansaid, rushing towards the square

Upon arriving, Wu Yuansaw that many newly awakened students had already gathered, bright smiles lighting up their faces.

The square where his battle with Wei Jian had taken place had already been repaired, smooth and spotless, as if nothing had ever happened.

On the podium was the vice principal, standing respectfully beside another man.

"Not bad. The students who awakened this year are better than last year," the man commented, stroking his chin with a nod.

"That's right, Principal. Especially student Mei Li. With her around, we are sure to get a good ranking among the other schools, like two years ago," the vice principal also nodded, a wide smile across his face.

"And the other student who awakened as an Earth Knight is also promising. With him added to Mei Li, we could surely secure first place."

"It may not be that simple," the principal shook his head slowly in disagreement.

"Huh? Do you mean…" The vice principal's eyes widened in shock. He knew the principal never said anything without reason.

The principal slowly nodded, indicating that what the vice principal thought of was true.

Seeing the principal's nod, the vice principal took a deep breath, steadying himself.

"I didn't expect two to appear twice this year. It's really a blessing for us humans. But it will make the competition more fierce," he sighed.

Wu Chen, at the other side, stood among the students.

He scanned the crowd in search of familiar faces, and there, just twelve feet away, stood Mei Li. No one could get within ten feet of her. She was quiet and cold as ice, not paying any attention to the other students.

But that didn't stop the students from looking at her with reverence.

Liu Kai slowly walked toward her, one hand behind his back. He was barefoot as he moved across the stone floor, stopping just two feet in front of her.

"Mei Li, why don't we work together once the competition ends? With us combined, no one would be able to stand against us." he proposed, a warm smile wide across his face.

Mei Li turned her head, glancing at him emotionlessly.

"You're not worthy!" Her words hit, piercing straight through him like arrows.

The smile on Liu Kai's face faltered, clearly shaken by her words, before he forced it to return.

"Of course not. But even if you awakened an Aspect and have a planet-level path, there's no way you've mastered it already… could you?"

Mei Li didn't reply, which only made Liu Kai more confident in his assumption.

"As I thought. If we work together, you'll definitely be ranked first, and I'll be second. What do you think?"

"Get lost!" Mei Li snapped.

The air around her dropped several degrees, frost spreading across the stone floor beneath her feet.

"Humph!" Liu Kai snorted.

His skin shifted in color, and the ground beneath his bare feet turned brown as he drew power from the earth, canceling the cold with his own elemental energy.

One side of the square was filled with ice, the other pulsing with earth energy, each force trying to overpower the other.

"Hmm?"

The principal and vice principal snapped their heads toward the source of the clash.

"I didn't expect those two to confront each other," the principal said, stroking his chin.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" the vice principal asked.

"No." The principal shook his head. "A normal Ice Mage follows a Tier Nine path, but hers is a planet-level path, and she also awakened with a rare Aspect. I want to see just how powerful it truly is."

"That's true," the vice principal agreed with a nod.

"Snort!" Mei Li's scoff was followed by another drop in temperature. Her long white hair lifted slightly, as if stirred by an unseen icy wind. The frost on the ground continued to spread over 30 feet.

Most of the students who were affected by their 'duel' quickly stepped back, not wanting to be affected in any way. Only a few who awakened powerful paths could stand their ground.

The earth energy surrounding Liu Kai shrank back as the frost spread rapidly, creeping across the floor and closing in on him, until only a small circle of earth remained beneath his feet.

Only the area where Wu Yuanstood remained untouched by the elemental clash. The frost slithering along the ground couldn't even approach him, as if an invisible barrier surrounded his space.

Liu Kai noticed this and his frown deepened. 'How could a trash that didn't even awaken have such power?' he thought, trying to fight back the ice that was shrinking his area.

Mei Li's eyes narrowed. The frost she sent forward had slowed unnaturally as it neared Wu Chen, as if the very air around him refused to yield.

She was not surprised by this because unlike everybody here, she was the only one who remembers what happened that day.

"It's him!" The thought flashed through her mind, just remembering that beast caused a flicker of emotion breaking past her ice-cold expression.

"Hmm, that's strange. Didn't you say that Wu Yuan didn't awaken?" the principal asked in shock.

"That's correct. He didn't awaken the day of the awakening. Although I found it strange that he didn't, I chose not to dig into it given his background," the vice principal answered, trying to recall what happened.

"Or maybe he is a late awakener?"

"That would make sense. But I can't feel which path he awakened, which should be impossible given my cultivation."

"What!" the vice principal exclaimed. He couldn't believe what the principal had just said. His eyes turned to Wu Chen, trying to determine if it was really true.

"Or maybe he's wearing a path masker?" Not discovering anything like the principal said, the vice principal commented.

"It should be so. It wouldn't be hard for him to get such a device," the principal commented, agreeing to the suggestion.

The showdown between Mei Li and Liu Kai was still ongoing.

"Humph! Let's see how you plan to win the competition," Liu Kai snorted, reluctantly admitting defeat. He could already feel the cold seeping into his bones.

He gave Wu Yuana deep look before leaving.

"A fair loss," the principal commented calmly. "Even though an Earth Knight can share damage with the land itself, that's nothing compared to an Ice Mage who's awakened an Aspect like Mei Li."

"Good thing wind can slow the frost mist down." Wu Yuansaid, steadying his breath while nobody was paying attention.

"It seems like the imprint doesn't belong to an ordinary Wind Mage…" Wu Yuanrealized, as the clash between Mei Li and Liu Kai confirmed his suspicions.

A normal Wind Mage couldn't have resisted that level of frost.

After the clash of force between Mei Li and Liu Kai, everything returned to calm.

"Now that you're all here, let me begin by congratulating you on your successful awakenings."

The principal's voice rang out across the square, strong and clear despite the absence of a microphone.

"With your awakenings complete, each of you will now move on to a higher tier of training, such as the Five Great Academies. While many other academies exist, none can match the prestige and combat excellence of those five.

"Every year, a competition is held for the sole purpose of being selected by the higher institutes. As long as you perform well, you will be accepted no matter what your Path tier is."

"However, acceptance into one of the Five Great Academies requires more. Those who pass the initial selection must still undergo the Trial of the Five, a challenge designed to test whether you are truly worthy to join their ranks."

At the mention of the Five Academies, the students' eyes lit up, their faces filled with confidence and determination.

"You should prepare yourselves. The sky shuttle will arrive soon. Be ready when the time comes."

The students started murmuring among themselves.

It didn't take long for a low hum to echo from the horizon. Students turned toward the sky as a sleek black sky shuttle descended, its body gleaming like obsidian. The Cloud City emblem flickered on its side as it hovered into position above the auto-docking pad.