"Let's begin!" Jiang Yan looked toward Ba Yao.
Ba Yao nodded. Gazing at the star-filled sky, it raised its blue hands toward the heavens and intoned, "Spirits of the Stars, heed my call—appear!"
Jiang Yan watched Ba Yao shout that single line and then do nothing more, merely holding its hands toward the sky.
"The incantation's that simple? You can only summon one?" He glanced at Ba Yao, puzzled.
Ba Yao's expression didn't change. "Master, it's only a slogan; summoning relies on mental power. Unless the Star Body is destroyed, I can maintain just one, lasting until it is annihilated."
"So you like showing off too." Black Gold eyed Ba Yao in surprise; the being looked elegant on the surface, yet secretly indulged in meaningless catchphrases.
Ignoring the black sausage of a dragon, Ba Yao kept channeling its power skyward.
Black Gold curled its lip at the sight and likewise turned its gaze upward.
Minutes later a single starlight glimmered where before there had been none, indistinguishable from the rest.
The only difference: it grew brighter, larger.
Jiang Yan and Black Gold, who had been watching the sky, noticed the change immediately.
The starlight ballooned at tremendous speed. Ba Yao turned to Jiang Yan: "Master, how large shall I make it? Should I hide it among the others?"
Jiang Yan shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Humanity records every celestial body—just enlarge it to roughly the size of the moon."
Hidden inside a pocket of special space, it didn't matter if Awakened Ones on the ground saw it.
Should an Awakened One capable of entering that space destroy the Star Body, Jiang Yan could simply deal with him and summon another.
'Works as bait too—let's see if any hidden powerhouses bite.' Jiang Yan smiled faintly at the idea.
Under Ba Yao's control, a gray sphere of rock and soil ten thousand metres across raced toward Blue Planet.
The moment the celestial body appeared and approached, space-observatories worldwide erupted in chaos.
Nanwu Country—spread across a flat plain bristling with precision instruments that monitored the heavens twenty-four hours a day.
Inside a five-storey, all-white building on the ground floor…
…observers lounged at their posts, some watching dramas, others gossiping.
A laid-back, retirement-home vibe; automated systems and a few interns handled monitoring, while the staff only skimmed the logs before clocking out.
Up front, five white-uniformed officers stared fixedly at their screens, fingers tapping keyboards.
Suddenly the young man on the left froze, staring at his monitor in disbelief.
"Equipment malfunction?" He saw a growing Star Body heading straight for Blue Planet.
His first thought: equipment failure. He glanced at the adjacent screen—an orbital satellite feed.
It showed the same expanding body drawing nearer.
"Holy—!" His pupils dilated, face paling as he leapt up and yelled.
The shout startled everyone in the hushed observation room.
Someone stood. "Xiao Li, what's wrong? What happened?"
All eyes turned to the youth—he monitored near-Blue Planet bodies.
"Y-you guys look… unknown Star Body heading for Blue Planet," Xiao Li stammered, terror in his voice.
"Equipment glitch? If a body were approaching, other satellites would've spotted it earlier."
Staff crowded around, assuming a malfunction—until both screens showed the same object. Faces turned ashen.
A balding supervisor paled as the sphere's outline became visible.
"Judging by satellite distance, that thing's five or six kilometres across. If it hits, humanity's finished!" He sprinted toward a red desk phone.
A massive circular Star Body.
The hotline connected directly to the Emperor and Director Bai of the Xuanjian Division for major incidents.
He dialled; the call connected at once.
"Hello, Director Wang, what's happened?" a commanding voice asked.
"Wang boy, what's worth a midnight call?" That flippant tone belonged to Bai Wenliang.
Ignoring protocol, Director Wang blurted, "We've spotted a five-kilometre-plus body approaching Blue Planet. Impact would be catastrophic."
The line went silent; neither had expected Armageddon to drop in unannounced.
The Emperor snapped, "Director Bai, can you destroy it?"
"Tricky, but I'll try—gotta get back to my game." Bai Wenliang hung up.
Director Wang added, "Your Majesty, before Director Bai acts we can launch nukes in near-Earth orbit to chip off fragments and ease his burden."
"I'll liaise with the military." The Emperor rang off and headed for the hardened underground shelter.
At Town City's missile base Bai Wenliang appeared atop a hill.
Several amateur astronomers stared skyward in despair.
"Is humanity ending, just like that?" a bespectacled youth muttered.
With current warheads, whether they could even fragment the body was uncertain.
"Damn it, so sudden!" a chubby youth blanched—then grinned. "If we're dying, I'm going out feeling good."
He dropped his pants and began a slow one-handed dance.
No one cared about the pervert; they were all about to die.
Across Nanwu Country—and the world—governments, factions, even individuals spotted the approaching Star Body.
No one had imagined doomsday would arrive so abruptly.
High above, Jiang Yan kept his gaze on the sphere, already guessing the planet's reaction.
Under Ba Yao's control the body slowed, stopping 1,300 kilometres above Blue Planet's surface.
A new moon appeared in the sky, slightly left of the original.
The twin orbs cast cold light; the ambient brightness rose a notch.