CHAPTER 176 — FRACTURE THEORY
Six.
The number did not blink.
It did not pulse.
It simply existed above the world like a silent judge.
And the world was not handling it well.
By morning, every major city had split into factions.
In some places, people gathered in prayer beneath the golden lattice.
In others, riots broke out against academy offices and government buildings, demanding "stability measures."
Some blamed Heaven.
Some blamed Long Hao.
Some blamed each other.
Fear was louder than logic.
And fear—
Had weight.
Long Hao felt it.
Not as sound.
Not as energy.
But as pressure.
He stood alone inside the inner chamber beneath Azure Dragon Academy, where ancient sigils dampened external interference. The Vice Dean had sealed the room personally.
Still—
The golden mark burned.
Not violently.
Irritably.
Like something reacting to static.
Long Hao pressed his palm against his chest.
It pulsed in uneven rhythm.
The fragment inside him was calm.
But the mark—
