After a thousand years of cultivation, he returns at the pinnacle!

"Mom, why is it snowing?!"

A little girl, about seven or eight years old, stood on the balcony, tilting her head back and reaching out her chubby little hands to catch the black ice flowers falling from the sky. Her eyes were full of curiosity, and a naive smile played on her lips. In her short life, she had never seen such a sight—black snow in summer.

The mother rushed out of the kitchen, her face pale, grabbed her daughter and hugged her tightly before turning and rushing into the house.

"Don't look! Let's go inside right now!!!"

Her voice was shrill, almost cracking, and her hands and legs were trembling. But the strength with which she held her daughter was astonishing, as if she wanted to meld that tiny body into her very bones and never let go.

The little girl was startled by her mother's reaction. She huddled in her arms and whispered, "Mommy, what's wrong? Those snowflakes are so pretty..."

"Those aren't snowflakes!" Mother slammed the door shut, locked it, and ran to close the window. Her hands were trembling so badly that it took her several tries to get the latch in. "Those aren't snowflakes, those are... those are..."

She couldn't continue.

Because she knew what it was.

Black ice flowers, a sign of the destruction of human civilization three hundred years ago. She had heard her grandfather talk about them when she was a child, learned about them in textbooks, and seen them in documentaries. But she never imagined that one day she would see them with her own eyes.

Outside the window, black ice flowers drifted more and more, becoming denser and denser, as if a hole had been torn in the sky, and something was pouring out of that hole.

A scream came from the building next door, followed by the sound of shattering glass, and then the dull thud of something hitting the ground.

The mother covered her daughter's ears, pressed her against the wall, and used her own body to shield her.

"Don't look, don't look, it's okay, Mom's here, it's okay..."

Her voice trembled, and tears streamed down her face silently, but she didn't cry out loud.

Because her daughter was watching her.

On the street, a young man stood in the middle of the road, looking up at the sky. His expression changed from confusion to shock, and from shock to fear.

"What's going on? Black ice flowers?! This...this isn't an apostle descending?!"

His voice echoed through the empty street, but no one answered him. People around him were running, shouting, and crying. A taxi veered off the road onto the sidewalk, knocked over a trash can, and the driver scrambled out of the car and ran towards the underpass.

"Three hundred years have passed. Is the nightmare from three hundred years ago about to return?!"

An old man stood by his window, gazing at the scene outside, his cloudy eyes filled with sorrow. He had lived for over seventy years, experiencing war, famine, and countless brushes with death. But at this moment, when he saw those black ice flowers, his hands still trembled.

Because he knew it wasn't a nightmare.

That's something more terrifying than a nightmare.

That's reality.

Three hundred years ago, the Apostles descended, nearly destroying human civilization. Those who survived spent three hundred years rebuilding everything we have today. And now, is it all going to start all over again?

He turned around and looked at the family photo in the living room. In the photo, his son, daughter-in-law, grandson, and granddaughter were all smiling. It was taken last year during the Spring Festival, with the family gathered around a table laden with steaming dumplings.

"Dad, stop looking! Come down here! The basement!" His son's voice came from downstairs, anxious and urgent.

The old man took one last look at the black ice flowers outside the window, then turned and walked downstairs.

After walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and looked back at the family photo.

"Children," he said softly. "Grandpa won't let anything happen to you."

Then he quickened his pace.

A terrifying pressure permeated the dark clouds.

Inside the Awakener Management Bureau in the Imperial Capital, all the Awakeners have been mobilized, and they are also constantly contacting cities outside the Imperial Capital to obtain assistance!

The capital city, the General Administration of Awakened Affairs.

The entire building was shaking.

It wasn't an earthquake, but a sense of oppression from the sky. That oppression was intangible and weightless, yet as heavy as a mountain pressing down on everyone's heart. The glass curtain wall hummed, the lights on the ceiling flickered, and in the water glass on the table, the surface of the water rippled even without wind.

Because this situation would never normally occur in the capital, the strongest Awakened Ones of the Dragon Kingdom are not here.

However, the command of the Imperial Capital Bureau of Abnormal Affairs has been handed over to the deputy director, Chu Tianxiong, a Thunder-type S-level Awakener.

Chu Tianxiong stood in the center of the command hall, facing a huge holographic projection screen. The screen displayed the situation above the capital in real time—black clouds covered the entire city, with ice crystals constantly emerging and falling from the clouds. In the very center of the clouds was a huge vortex, and at the center of the vortex was a crack. What shone through the crack was not light, but a deeper darkness.

"Report!" A technician's voice boomed in the command center, "All thirty-seven monitoring stations in the city have triggered alarms! The area covered by the black ice flowers is still expanding! It has now covered more than 60% of the urban area!"

"What about the casualties?"

"Casualties among the general public are still being tallied, but at least a thousand people have already been corroded by the frosting! The numbers are still rising!"

Chu Tianxiong clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms, drawing blood.

"Where are the Awakened Ones? Are they all in place?"

"The first echelon has arrived in the wasteland north of the city! The second echelon is deploying in the south of the city! The third echelon remains at headquarters, awaiting orders!"

Chu Tianxiong took a deep breath and turned to face all the Awakened Ones in the command hall.

Hundreds of people stood in the hall, the lowest rank being B. They wore identical combat uniforms, with insignia of swords and gavels embroidered on their chests. Their expressions varied—some were tense, some fearful, some excited, and some calm. But not one of them flinched.

"Everyone!" Chu Tianxiong's voice echoed in the command hall, deep and powerful.

"Confront the Apostles! No retreat allowed! The capital must not fall!"

This is the highest order from the Awakened Ones Administration.

It is also an ultimatum from human civilization.

"yes!!!"

A hundred people responded in unison, the sound so loud it made the glass curtain wall vibrate.

Chu Tianxiong nodded and turned to look at the holographic projection screen. On the screen, the crack was widening, black clouds were churning, and something was being squeezed out of the crack.

...

Meanwhile, Jiang Chen, far away in Jiangzhou, was sleeping. He wasn't interested in the lessons, while Wang Kai next to him was happily playing on his phone. He had been in a really good mood these past few days, since his cultivation progress had been quite good.

But at that moment, he seemed to have seen some news, his brows furrowed, and he immediately nudged Jiang Chen beside him.

"Brother Chen, something terrible has happened! Wake up!"

Although he wasn't grumpy when he woke up, Jiang Chen still couldn't help but click his tongue when he was woken up.

"Brother Chen, stop clicking your tongue!! Black ice flowers have descended upon the world; what happened three hundred years ago is happening again!"

He placed the news on his phone in front of Jiang Chen.