Chapter 3: The Hierarchy of the Heavens
Thirteen Years Later.
Earth (Low-Tier World: Blue Star).
Azure Dragon City – Elite Academy, Class 3-A.
The Universe was not a flat plane. It was a pyramid. A cruel, infinite ladder where the strong stood on the corpses of the weak to climb higher.
"Pay attention, because what I am about to write on the board is the truth of our existence."
Mr. Zhang, the senior instructor for Mana Theory, slammed his hand against the holographic projection. The image shifted to show a vast, swirling diagram of galaxies stacked atop one another.
"Three hundred years ago, the Dungeons descended. We thought it was an invasion. We were wrong. It was an Integration."
Mr. Zhang circled the bottom layer of the pyramid.
"We are here. Earth. Currently classified as a Low-Tier World. In a Low-Tier world, the laws of physics are rigid, mana density is thin, and the maximum power ceiling is capped at S-Rank. If an entity stronger than S-Rank tries to enter our world fully, the planet will crack like an egg."
He pointed upward, his voice filled with a mix of awe and terror.
"Above us are the Middle-Tier Worlds. Gravity there is ten times stronger. The infants there are born with the strength of C-Rank Hunters. Above them are the High-Tier Worlds, home to Holy Empires and Interstellar Fleets."
The class held its breath. This was knowledge usually reserved for the universities, but with the Awakening Ceremony tomorrow, the curriculum had been accelerated.
"Then," Mr. Zhang's voice dropped to a whisper, "come the Supreme Worlds. The Celestial Realms. And finally, at the apex of reality, the Eternal Realms."
He wrote the words Eternal on the board in red light.
"Entities from the Eternal Realms are concepts given form. They are immortal. They are the Old Gods. The Black-Rank Dungeons that plague our world? They are merely microscopic cracks leaking energy from the Celestial or Eternal layers. Just the leak is enough to wipe us out."
The room buzzed with fear.
"That is why you must awaken!" Mr. Zhang shouted, breaking the tension. "Humanity is trying to ascend! If we produce enough high-ranking Hunters, the Universal System will promote Earth to a Middle-Tier World. But if we fail... if we remain weak... we will be colonized and enslaved by a stronger realm."
He scanned the room, his eyes landing on the back row by the window.
"And that is why we cannot afford dead weight."
The entire class turned to look.
Ye Han sat there, chin resting on his palm, staring out the window at the clouds. He seemed completely detached from the lecture, his eyes half-lidded, a picture of laziness.
At eighteen, Ye Han was undeniably the most handsome student in the academy. His features were sharp and aristocratic, his skin possessing a translucent, jade-like quality. But his eyes—once rumored to be the color of the deep abyss—were now a cloudy, dull blue.
He was known as the "Sleeping Prince." Or, behind his back, the "S-Rank Waste."
"Ye Han," Mr. Zhang barked. "Did you hear a word I said?"
Ye Han slowly turned his head. He didn't stand up. He didn't look flustered.
"You were discussing the Multiversal Ladder," Ye Han said, his voice carrying a strange, hollow resonance. "Low, Middle, High, Supreme, Celestial, Eternal. You said Earth is a bug in a jar trying to grow wings."
Mr. Zhang choked on his anger. "A crude summary, but accurate. Since you understand our position, perhaps you understand yours? Tomorrow is the Awakening. If you fail to manifest mana, you will be stripped of your nobility status. The Ye Family does not keep parasites."
Ye Han looked at the teacher. For a split second, a flicker of amusement crossed his face.
'Parasites?'
Ye Han thought about the dream he had every night. The massive, moon-sized palace. The woman with the diamond horns who radiated power that could crush a Celestial Realm merely by breathing.
If Earth was a Low-Tier world, then the entity sealed inside his gut was something that shouldn't even exist in this dimension.
"I understand," Ye Han said simply, turning back to the window.
"Arrogant," a student whispered.
"He's in denial. Tomorrow he'll be crying when he gets an F-Rank Farmer class."
Ye Han ignored them. He was tired.
For thirteen years, the Nine-Layered Frost Lock had kept him alive, but the cost was terrible. The seal suppressed his vitality to keep his body from exploding. It felt like walking underwater wearing a suit of lead. Every step was an effort. Every breath was shallow.
But today... the lead felt lighter.
Thump.
A heartbeat echoed in his ears.
Thump.
It was getting louder.
The School Gates.
Afternoon.
The Azure Dragon Academy was a fortress of privilege. Luxury hover-cars lined the streets, waiting for the scions of the great families.
Ye Han walked slowly, his bag slung over one shoulder.
"Hold it."
A wall of heat blocked his path.
Three students stood in his way. Leading them was a young man with dyed red hair and a sneering face. Ye Long.
Ye Long was the rising star of the Ye Branch Family. While not yet awakened, his mana channels were already naturally expelling Fire Mana. He was volatile, ambitious, and hated Ye Han with a passion.
"The main house's car isn't coming for you today, Cousin," Ye Long grinned, showing teeth that looked sharp. "Uncle Tian is busy preparing for the ceremony. He told me to give you a ride. In the trunk, maybe?"
His lackeys laughed.
"Move," Ye Han said quietly.
"Or what?" Ye Long stepped closer, his body temperature rising rapidly. "You think because Auntie Lin is an S-Rank, you're untouchable? She's stuck clearing a Grade-A Dungeon in the Antarctic. She can't save you."
Ye Long placed a hand on Ye Han's shoulder.
"Let me check your temperature, Ice Prince. You look a little cold."
Sizzle.
Ye Long activated a martial art: Scorching Palm. It was a low-tier technique, but enough to melt synthetic fabric and cause third-degree burns. Smoke began to rise from Ye Han's uniform.
"Does it hurt?" Ye Long whispered, leaning in. "Beg me, and I'll let go."
Ye Han looked at the hand on his shoulder.
He felt the heat. It was annoying. Like a gnat biting a sleeping lion.
But deep inside his Soul Space, something woke up.
The Sovereign of Ice did not tolerate disrespect.
The Nine-Layered Frost Lock sensed the hostile Fire Mana—a primitive, Low-Tier energy trying to invade the vessel of the Sovereign.
Crack.
Inside Ye Han's body, the first chain of the seal didn't break, but it loosened.
A microscopic leakage of Eternal Ice Essence slipped through.
It was less than a nanogram of power. But in a Low-Tier World, a nanogram of Eternal power was a calamity.
Ye Han's eyes suddenly shifted. The cloudiness vanished, replaced by a flash of terrifying, crystalline blue.
"You possess the Fire Element?" Ye Han asked. His voice changed. It wasn't the voice of a teenager. It sounded like two glaciers grinding together.
"Yeah, I—" Ye Long started to boast, but his words died in his throat.
"Your fire," Ye Han said, tilting his head, "is lukewarm."
Flash.
No spell was cast. No chant was spoken.
Ye Han simply existed.
The heat from Ye Long's hand vanished instantly.
"Huh?" Ye Long looked down.
"ARGHHH!"
A scream tore through the school gates.
Ye Long yanked his hand back. His palm was no longer flesh-colored. It was black. Not charred black, but necrotic black.
From his fingertips to his wrist, his hand had been flash-frozen. The moisture in his cells had expanded and shattered the cell walls instantly.
"My hand! I can't feel my hand!" Ye Long fell to his knees, wailing. He tried to grab his frozen wrist with his other hand, but the moment he touched it, a finger snapped off.
Clink.
Ye Long's index finger hit the pavement with the sound of an ice cube hitting a glass floor. It didn't bleed. The wound was cauterized by cold.
Silence.
Absolute, horrified silence.
The students watching from the cars gasped. The lackeys turned pale, backing away as if Ye Han was a monster.
"You... you broke his finger!" one shouted. "You used a forbidden artifact! You're unawakened! You can't do that!"
Ye Han looked at the frozen finger on the ground. He looked at his own shoulder. The burnt fabric of his uniform was repairing itself, frost weaving the threads back together.
"I didn't do anything," Ye Han said. The terrifying blue in his eyes faded back to cloudy grey. The heaviness returned to his limbs. "He shouldn't play with temperature if he can't handle the cold."
Ye Han stepped over the screaming Ye Long and the severed finger.
"Tell Uncle Tian I'll walk home."
As he walked away, the frost on the ground followed his footsteps, leaving a trail of white footprints that refused to melt even under the afternoon sun.
The Ye Family Estate.
Midnight.
The mansion was silent. Ye Tian, the Patriarch, was in his study, likely brooding over reports. The servants were asleep.
Ye Han lay in his bed.
The pain was excruciating.
It felt like his bones were being removed and replaced with diamonds. It felt like his blood was being drained and replaced with liquid nitrogen.
Thump. Thump. THUMP.
The heartbeat was no longer a sound. It was a physical impact, shaking the bedframe.
[Condition Met: Maturity Age Reached (18).]
[Condition Met: External Stimulation (Fire Essence).]
[The First Seal of the Dragon Queen is shattering.]
"Haa... haa..." Ye Han gasped, clutching his chest.
The room began to freeze. The water in the glass on his nightstand froze. The window pane cracked. The blankets turned stiff with rime.
Suddenly, his consciousness was yanked out of his body.
Inner Soul World.
Ye Han opened his eyes.
He stood on the surface of a frozen ocean. Above him, the sky was a swirling vortex of Celestial energy, colored indigo and violent violet.
In the center of this world, nine colossal chains, each the size of a mountain range, bound a single figure.
Tonight, one of those chains was glowing red hot.
SNAP!
The sound was like a planet cracking in half. The first chain exploded into particles of light.
"Finally."
A voice rolled across the frozen ocean. It was a female voice, but it carried the weight of history.
Two golden eyes, each the size of a house, opened in the darkness.
"Thirteen years, Ye Han. You kept me waiting."
The figure shifted. A massive dragon head, covered in scales that looked like blue diamonds, lowered itself until it was face-to-face with Ye Han. Then, in a swirl of mist, the dragon shrank, morphing into a humanoid form.
The Ice Dragon Queen.
She looked exactly as he remembered from his childhood dream, only clearer. She wore a regal gown woven from starlight. Her silver hair dragged on the floor like a cape. Her diamond horns sparkled with Eternal light.
She walked up to him. She was tall, imperious, and terrifyingly beautiful.
"Do you know why you felt heavy?" she asked, circling him. "Do you know why you were weak?"
Ye Han looked at his hands in this spiritual form. They were glowing. "Because you were sealing me."
"Because you were a bucket," she corrected, poking him in the chest. "And I am an ocean. If I poured the ocean into the bucket, the bucket would break. So, I had to reinforce the bucket."
She smiled, a sharp, predatory grin.
"For thirteen years, my essence has been slowly seeping into your bone marrow. Replacing your mortal structure. You are no longer human, Ye Han. You are a hybrid. A vessel fit for a Sovereign."
She gestured to the sky.
"Tomorrow is the Awakening. The laws of this Low-Tier World will try to scan you. They will try to assign you a Class. Mage? Warrior? Archer?"
She laughed, a sound of pure mockery.
"Those classes are for mortals. You will not accept them."
She placed a hand on his forehead.
"Tonight, the transformation completes. Your body will shed its mortal coil. When you wake up... try not to scare them too much."
"Now, WAKE UP."
She shoved him.
The Morning of the Awakening.
06:00 AM.
Ye Han gasped, sitting bolt upright in bed.
The pain was gone.
The heaviness? Gone.
He felt... light. Incredibly, impossibly light. He felt like he could jump and touch the stratosphere. The air in the room tasted sweet, rich with mana that his body was now greedily absorbing like a black hole.
He swung his legs out of bed.
Crunch.
The floorboards froze instantly where his bare feet touched them.
"Control," Ye Han muttered. His voice was deeper, smoother.
He walked to the bathroom. He felt taller. His line of sight was higher than yesterday.
He reached for the light switch, but he didn't need it. His own body was emitting a faint, ethereal glow.
He looked in the mirror.
Ye Han froze.
The boy who went to sleep last night—the black-haired, pale-skinned "Ice Vase"—was gone.
The person in the mirror was a god.
His height had increased to 188cm. His shoulders were broader, his muscles lean but defined, looking like carved marble. His skin was no longer just pale; it was pearlescent, shimmering slightly under the light.
But the most shocking change was his hair.
His raven-black hair had vanished.
In its place was a flowing mane of Silver-Diamond.
It wasn't grey, and it wasn't white. It looked like strands of spun silver mixed with crushed diamonds. It refracted the light, shimmering with hues of pale blue and violet. It was the hair of the Ice Dragon Queen, a sign of the Eternal Ice Constitution.
And his eyes.
The pupils had turned into vertical slits. The irises were a heterochromatic masterpiece—the left eye was the deep blue of the ocean abyss, and the right eye was the glowing gold of a dragon.
"This..." Ye Han touched his hair. It felt cold, like silk made of snow.
"How am I supposed to explain this?"
He looked like he had walked out of a high-fantasy CGI movie. In a world where people dyed their hair, this texture was impossible to fake. It radiated nobility and danger.
He tried to suppress the power. He willed the dragon eyes to fade.
Slowly, the vertical slits rounded out, and the golden right eye faded back to blue. But the hair... the hair refused to change back. The Silver-Diamond color was permanent. It was his new genetic reality.
Knock. Knock.
"Young Master?" It was the maid. "The Patriarch is waiting. The car for the Awakening Ceremony leaves in twenty minutes. Are you awake?"
Ye Han looked at the mirror one last time. A small smile played on his lips.
For thirteen years, they called him trash.
For thirteen years, they looked down on him.
Today, he would walk into that stadium, and he wouldn't just awaken a talent.
He would descend upon them.
"I'
m awake," Ye Han replied.
The air in the hallway outside his door suddenly dropped twenty degrees, causing the maid to shiver violently.
"I'll be right down."
Chapter 3 End.