Earth, New Moon City, The Year 2125.
The bell rang for the last time.
Ren Zian didn't move. He sat near the back of Class 3-F, arms crossed behind his head, eyes half-lidded as sunlight leaked through the classroom windows. The final lecture of the semester had ended, and with it, the last day of high school. Students were already rising from their seats, chatting, laughing, stretching.
He just listened.
In a world where strength ruled everything, high school still mattered, but not for the reasons it used to. Diplomas didn't mean much anymore. What mattered was whether you'd Awakened, and more importantly, how high you could climb in the Astral God Space.
He hadn't Awakened. Not yet.
"Ren, you're not even packed?" a voice asked.
He turned slightly. Juno Lai, his childhood friend, was sliding her bag over her shoulder. Top of the class, already Awakened last month, and had apparently touched the second layer in the Astral God Space. Everyone talked about it like she was already halfway to a dojo contract.
"I'm enjoying the silence," Zian said, standing up slowly. "Not like we'll get much of that once we're out there."
She gave him a half-smile, the kind that said You're pretending not to care again. But she didn't press. Everyone knew Ren came from a decent background, both his parents were decent cultivators, not famous, not weak. He was expected to pass the Awakening. Expected to form a basic Astral Vein.
Expected to be… ordinary.
Outside, New Moon City buzzed beneath a silver sky. Skyscrapers laced with cultivation towers pierced the clouds, their tops gleaming with astral shielding. Below, hover-trams glided past spiritual vendors and training arenas. You could see everything from the third-floor balcony of the school.
It looked peaceful. But the city was built like a fortress, bordered by layered defense walls, and beyond them, the wildlands. Where the beasts waited.
A hundred years ago, the Awakening changed everything.
No one knew exactly what caused it. Some said it was a cosmic event. Others believed the Earth had always been sleeping, and something simply woke it up.
Astral Energy flooded the planet, mutating life itself. Humans, animals, even the land changed. What followed was chaos. The fall of old governments. The rise of new powers. Cultivators emerged—people who could absorb Astral Energy and grow stronger, faster, deadlier.
And when they broke through certain thresholds, they could access a place no beast could enter: the Astral God Space, a dimensional realm layered like a celestial tower.
Each major breakthrough granted one chance to enter it.
And inside, one could bond with an Astral Vein, a mystical conduit tied to their spirit and future power.
Most people only reached the first layer on their first try. That meant trash-tier Veins: Candle Flame Vein, Iron Thread Vein, things barely better than nothing.
If you reached the second, you were talented.
The third? A monster in the making.
Anything higher... was legend.
Zian stood at the school gates, looking up at the holographic banner that read: Graduation – May You Touch the Stars
He scoffed. He hadn't even Awakened yet.
"Hey," Juno said, catching up beside him. "Big test's next week. Awakening Ceremony. You ready?"
Zian shrugged. "As ready as I'll ever be. Maybe I'll bond with a Fork Vein or something."
Juno laughed, but it was the nervous kind. "Don't joke. You're probably stronger than you think. Your dad's still a Peak Astral Core stage, right? That's gotta count for something."
He nodded, but inside, he wasn't sure. His parents had been strong to him once.
And he didn't want to live under someone else's ceiling.
Once, humanity ruled the Earth with machines and silicon. Now, it clings to survival with steel and spirit.
The rise of Astral Energy shattered everything humans thought they knew. After the Awakening, technology didn't vanish, it evolved. Cities now run on hybrid systems, half digital, half spiritual. Weapons powered by cores of fallen beasts. Medical scanners tuned to measure soul pressure. Even transport grids reinforced with astral wards to resist wild beast attacks.
But despite the advancements, it's still not enough.
Beyond the fortified cities lie the wildlands, vast, untamed zones claimed by beasts. These aren't just mutated animals. They are apex predators, warped by bloodline awakenings and centuries of survival. Some possess intelligence equal to humans.
The frontlines stretch around every major city like a noose.
And the only thing standing between extinction and existence… are cultivators.
The cultivation path is structured, yet brutally steep. Astral Energy must be refined, circulated, and harmonized with body and spirit. Only then can one step onto the true path. Obviously, awakening comes first. When someone awakens, they gain access to the Astral God Space for the first time, binding with their first astral vein. Once this is accomplished, they can start to absorb astral energy, and advance.
Astral Foundation Layer
The entry point. Training body and mind to hold Astral Energy. Minor physical boosts—strength, speed, reflexes. Most students and base soldiers sit here. You're awakened, but not much more than that.
Astral Core Layer
Where most adults plateau. You forge a stable Astral Core and gain access to real techniques. City guards, martial instructors—this is their ceiling.
Astral Ascendant Layer
The start of true power. Those who make it here break past natural limits. Speed that blurs. Strength that bends steel. One in a thousand reach it.
Astral Grandmaster
Legends in the flesh. Their presence alone warps the air. Movements carry shockwaves. Grandmasters command armies, guard cities, or vanish into the wilderness. Only a handful exist on Earth.
Astral Saint
Apex of humanity. Only a few names are whispered with this title. The rest of the world calls them myths.
Each of these stages has three minor phases, and each major advancement allows a cultivator to enter the Astral God Space once more, one shot, one chance to claim another vein.
The various Celestial Layers of the Astral God Space are both intricate and largely unexplored. Each layer contains nearly infinite astral veins, of many different attributes. Typically, the stronger the astral energy of a human, the higher they can climb in the Astral God Space. Higher Level Astral Veins allow for faster absorption of Astral Energy, higher level abilities, and stronger physical enhancements. Each Celestial Layer contains a different amount of spiritual pressure, becoming higher as one climbs.
The First Celestial Layer - Where the majority of humans bind with their first astral vein. These astral veins are largely weak and considered useless. Most who awaken at this stage tend not to become warriors, but find other ways to make use of their astral vein to assist humanity.
The Second Celestial Layer - Considered relatively talented if someone awakens an astral vein from this layer on their first attempt. Astral veins on this stage typically provide higher level abilities, whether combat oriented or not.
The Third Celestial Layer - Considered a monstrous genius of humanity if someone can access this layer on their first attempt. Provides massive enhancements on Astral Energy Absorption, especially at the earlier stages. Also provides higher level abilities and enhancements. One is considered to nearly be guaranteed to become an Astral Grandmaster if they can achieve this layer at their first awakening.
The Fourth Celestial Layer - A massive watershed. No known human has ever reached this level on their first attempt. The difference between the Third and Fourth Layers was like the difference between the First and Third Layer, a massive chasm. it contains extremely high level Astral Veins, with a qualitative change in all enhancements.
The Fifth Celestial Layer - A layer of legend, supposedly only Grandmasters and above have touched this layer. Knowledge on the Sixth Celestial Layer and beyond is currently unavailable.
The war with the beasts isn't new. It's ongoing.
Humans have structure, weapons, and cultivation.
Beasts have numbers, primal instincts, and bloodlines that evolve unpredictably.
"It's not about whether we win or lose," a teacher once said. "It's about whether we hold the line long enough to evolve past them."
Dojo sects, universities, and private families all train cultivators to fight in this war. Some for glory. Some for survival. Some just to protect what little peace remains.
Right now, Zian was none of that. Just a student in New Moon City, with no Astral Vein, no special bloodline, and no expectations.
But soon, he'd take his first step.
That night, he didn't sleep.
He stood on the rooftop of his apartment complex, staring out toward the Outer Zone—where the wilderness touched the city's edge. He liked it here. Fewer lights. Fewer eyes. And he could feel something here, something humming under the surface.
Lately, that hum had grown stronger. Like something was calling.