The Decree of Expulsion

Eric Weiss, an S-class hunter formerly affiliated with a renowned German guild, sat in his quarters scanning major news reports and shifting public opinion on his smartphone and tablet PC.

The world had always changed at breakneck speed, yet it had never felt quite this rapid or turbulent. Nor had it ever seemed so strangely singular.

Stories about Han Yujin refused to cool. If anything, their heat only intensified with each passing day.

Whenever he acted, he seized the eyes of the entire world in a single stroke.

When he constructed the academy, for instance, countless individuals with earth-type abilities threw themselves into perfecting the art of raising buildings from bare ground. They filmed the process and uploaded the footage, sparking a worldwide craze.

Once that frenzy began to subside, everyone turned their attention to the training methods Han Yujin was distributing through the Korean government. Experts and hunters alike flooded every channel with debates, interviews, and experiments, analyzing how revolutionary the methods were compared to traditional ones, what the actual sensations of training felt like, and how much real progress practitioners could expect. Content never ran dry.

Then, not long ago, the world flipped upside down once more when the Awakening Incense finally went on public sale.

Who wouldn’t want to become an Awakened? And who could have predicted that such a miraculous substance would appear?

So many people from every corner of the globe were scrambling to enter Korea that transportation networks collapsed and the country’s hospitality industry teetered on the brink of chaos.

It existed, but those who shared such views were few. Rumors claimed that any post or video touching on the subject was quickly deleted, making it difficult to tell whether the usual fabrications were at work or whether genuine censorship was occurring.

Eric suspected the censorship was at least partially real. Anyone running a major video platform or community site would hardly risk offending an absolute being under the banner of “freedom.” Those with the most to lose would censor themselves.

After all, who was Han Yujin? He had endured missile barrages and a nuclear detonation, forced the United States, China, and Japan to surrender single-handedly, and triggered a civil war in Russia that ended with a new government issuing what amounted to a formal letter of capitulation disguised as an official apology.

The expert who had called him “humanity’s singularity” had not been exaggerating. Caution was only natural.

And now Eric Weiss himself was receiving direct instruction at the academy founded by that very being.

What he had learned already felt extraordinary, but even deeper content awaited. Most crucially, an examination would be held in two weeks to select the first inner disciples.

Every student currently training at the academy was formidable in their own right. They all understood, bone-deep, how much this test mattered.

This was an era of upheaval in human history, and standing beside the singularity of that upheaval meant attaining a position of true eminence—global fame, immense power, perhaps even ascension into the highest stratum of rulers.

The more he considered it, the harder his heart pounded with excitement. At the same time, anxiety over performing poorly on the test gnawed at him. Forgetting rest entirely, he shot to his feet and strode outside.

He intended to visit the training grounds and fire the Fire Bullet Technique at least once more, then drill the Jade Skin Technique and Wind Cloud Technique until his body screamed.

Han Yujin examined the pill. It was the size of a walnut, blood-red with a faint purple luster—the Qi Accumulation Pill.

The time required to research and perfect it had not been long. Yet behind that brevity lay centuries of accumulated knowledge and experience. The assistance of hard-won spiritual formulas and treasures such as the Three Origin Ninefold Extreme Mystic Flower Pill Furnace had also been indispensable.

In other words, although this was merely a beginner’s pill for the Initiation Stage, it represented a significant harvest from his path of guidance.

He returned the pill to a transparent case emitting a soft blue glow. The case had been crafted from common low-grade spiritual ice crystal reinforced with Indestructible Ice. Nothing preserved its contents more perfectly than these containers.

Forty such cases now held the completed pills. After giving one each to Park Heewon and Lee Won-hee, the remainder was more than enough to bestow upon the new inner disciples.

It would be best to choose S-class hunters as inner disciples.

From his observations, awakening ability and spiritual root talent tended to correlate. Awakening itself was a form of divine power—an exceptional talent and strength by default.

Of course, he had no intention of accepting every S-class hunter. Among A-class and B-class hunters there would surely be diamonds whose potential shone even brighter.

He stored the cases inside the Mountain Sea Pearl and made his way to the depths of the central pavilion. In what could be called the equipment room, the Sect Gate Bloodline Connection Stone he had crafted in his spare time and only recently completed rested quietly.

It was both a dharma treasure and the core operating axis, synchronized with the new identity and access cards that would soon be distributed as well as with the protective formations of the entire site. Using only the finest materials had produced results that exceeded his expectations. He was deeply satisfied.

“Jj ik!”

“Yes, let’s go now.”

He stroked Mu-yong in response to her urging. What she anticipated so eagerly was the Rift Gate that would connect to the African continent.

Using his own mystical knowledge and the dimensional wandering secret art obtained from the Aheti race, he had invested various spiritual materials to create a gate-type transmission formation. It would serve as the transportation method for this examination.

It can be used stably exactly three times. Each opening can be maintained for roughly twenty minutes.

Beyond that he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could not guarantee safety, but it was more than sufficient for the test. He would also be able to observe the activation firsthand and identify areas for future improvement.

After completing his final checks, Han Yujin left the central pavilion at a leisurely pace.

At the same moment, inside the grand auditorium, Park Seryong was conducting a briefing on the African continent—the stage for the upcoming test—with the assistance of several pre-selected students.

Since it was regarded as the most dangerous location on Earth, the audience listened with palpable tension and focus. At the same time, the exam’s immense importance left them visibly struggling to contain their excitement.

In that charged atmosphere, Ethan Cross watched Park Seryong deliver the briefing and felt emotions too complex to name.

He had once sat on the Sovereign Council of Neo Dominion alongside Park Seryong. He had also met Han Yujin directly, received teachings, and been granted treasures. Yet here he was, merely another student.

Park Seryong, by contrast, appeared to have secured a position equivalent to the absolute being’s right hand. Ethan had never imagined he would feel such sharp envy, restlessness, greed, hope, and worry all at once.

Even as he tried to concentrate on the briefing, his mind drifted back to that awe-inspiring scene: the villa dismantled piece by piece, swirling violently, then completely melted within a storm of flames.

His hand moved of its own accord to caress the orb he always carried. The sphere seemed to hold the very flicker and hue of crimson flames. With it, his awakening ability had allowed him to comprehend the knowledge contained in the Returning Origin Art and the Origin Power Martial Arts.

It was a treasure he had not let out of his sight for even a moment since that day.

A short while later, Park Seryong finished the briefing and began distributing items while issuing instructions. Each student received three talismans: the Fire Spirit Command Talisman, the Purple Gold Radiance Talisman, and the Earth Concealment Talisman.

Next came canteens filled with spiritual liquid—enough to sustain them for nearly a month if used sparingly. Finally, they received objects resembling their current identity jade tokens. These were emergency signals; shattering one in a life-threatening situation would count as forfeiting the test and summon Han Yujin to their rescue.

At that moment, Han Yujin appeared on the platform as if he had been there all along. The hall, which had grown slightly noisy while items were distributed, fell instantly silent.

Han Yujin gave a brief nod as Park Seryong bowed and withdrew, then spoke.

The students tensed at once, attention sharpening.

The gravity of the topic thickened the tension; noise died away until even breathing seemed loud.

“Logan Grace, Edmund Bain, Lucien More, Greta Vogel, Mizuki Yuna, Li Wei, Mei Lien, Dante Rosetti, Chico Mendes…”

He began calling names without explanation. Those summoned flinched violently. Their faces drained of color; their hearts seemed to plummet.

The roll call continued at length. Nearly ninety names were spoken.

When it ended, a silence like death settled over the auditorium.

The words fell like a great bell ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tolling inside their minds, sweeping away all resistance.

Immediately afterward, the sound of identity jade tokens shattering on their own rang out across the hall.

Those affected trembled as though shot. People nearby recoiled instinctively.

“Hic…!”

Somewhere a female hunter desperately covered her mouth to stifle a sob. It was Mizuki Yuna, the world-renowned A-class hunter who could momentarily wield S-class power. Young and beautiful, she was known to almost everyone.

Another person turned deathly pale, then flushed crimson, clearly about to offer excuses. The instant Han Yujin’s gaze shifted toward him, however, strength fled the man’s body as if his soul had departed.

Since the information was little more than common sense and basic knowledge, he had simply observed without intervening from the beginning. The teachings had always been intended for eventual global distribution; their spread had merely been accelerated.

As for royalties, he would watch to see whether any faction or nation dared to feign ignorance after such a public expulsion. The act also served to establish ironclad discipline.

With the long-awaited test imminent, the miserable fate of the expelled would be etched even more deeply into everyone’s minds.

A few individuals rushed forward to beg forgiveness, only to freeze the moment Han Yujin’s gaze fell on them, trapped in an indescribable terror that robbed them of speech and movement.

Everyone felt their hearts turn cold. They held their breath, unable to tell whether the sensation crawling across their skin was a shiver or gooseflesh.

Soon the overwhelming presence of the Origin Spirit True Person filled the auditorium. Crushed beneath it, the expelled hunters staggered out, reeling like broken puppets.

They had been swollen with dreams of a radiant future only to be cast into the abyss in a single moment. Men and women, young and old—none maintained composure. Most wept silently, faces twisted with crushing regret.

No one dared voice anger or continue clinging to him. They were already suppressed by his presence, and even without it, no one would have presumed to challenge an existence like Han Yujin.

After the last expelled hunter had left, the silence stretched a moment longer before Han Yujin spoke again.

He produced the transmission formation slab he had prepared inside the Mountain Sea Pearl.

A faint resonant hum filled the air as the slab materialized, already radiating mysterious colored light that coalesced into a glowing sphere at its center.

With a sound like crumpling steel and shattering stone, the surrounding space began to swirl and distort around the sphere. The vortex accelerated, emitting blinding radiance, until a sound like a colossal drum being struck rang out. Light exploded outward and a rift tore open.

The students, still reeling from the expulsion, received a second shock.

A human being had artificially created a rift.

Moreover, according to the earlier briefing, this was a special transport-type rift linked to one already placed in Africa. Its pure, bright white color and smooth edges made it feel supremely stable—utterly unlike ordinary rifts.

Han Yujin stepped forward and crossed the rift. The students rose as one, exchanged glances, and began filing through in orderly fashion behind him.