A deep sound emerged from nowhere.

It was not an ordinary sound. It was something that vibrated within the chest, the bones, the very blood, a frequency so low that it felt more like a physical sensation than an audible noise.

A low, ancient roar echoed through every inhabitant of the Sky Caravan as though the earth itself were awakening from a slumber that had lasted millennia.

It was the sound of something that had existed before empires, before sects, before human memory itself, an echo from ages that few could truly comprehend.

Thousands of people stopped at the same moment, placing their hands over their chests or looking down in alarm. Some fell to their knees, others grabbed onto nearby structures, while others simply froze, unable to process what they were feeling.

Children cried as they clung tightly to their parents. Elders clenched their fists in reverence, their eyes shining with admiration.

Kyrian felt the sound pass through his entire body. His three dantians vibrated in response, especially the third one, which pulsed with greater intensity.

It was as if something colossal, dormant for centuries, had let out a long, weary sigh, a sigh that echoed through time and space.

"It’s happening..." someone nearby murmured, their voice trembling with emotion.

"The guardian beast... it’s going to land!"

The ground trembled. At first, it was a faint vibration, almost imperceptible, as though the earth were merely stretching. Then it grew stronger, rhythmic, like the heartbeat of a colossal being pumping magma instead of blood.

The sound of scales scraping against stone echoed like an endless earthquake. The Sky Caravan, which had been floating motionless in the air near the Mountains of the End, slowly began to descend.

Kyrian left the plaza along with the crowd, which moved in waves like water pulled by an invisible tide.

Everyone rushed toward the edges of the city, searching for the best vantage points. Some climbed onto rooftops, others onto elevated structures, while others simply crowded along the edges of the outer platforms, their faces illuminated by anticipation.

He followed the flow, making his way to one of the elevated platforms near the Caravan’s outer edge.

From above, the view was breathtaking.

The colossal beast was finally revealing its true scale. Its body was so vast that it resembled a living mountain range, a chain of mountains that breathed and moved, its peaks rising and falling with each breath.

Dark scales, nearly black, covered its body, reflecting the sunlight in iridescent shades of purple and deep blue, like a frozen night sky given solid form.

Each scale was the size of a house, and every gap between them could have hidden an entire village.

Its enormous wings, folded against its body, looked like mountains draped in ancient membranes, their veins glowing faintly beneath the sunlight, pulsing with an energy Kyrian could feel even from afar.

Its head, partially concealed within the lower clouds, was worthy of legend, eyes like slumbering suns, jaws capable of swallowing entire cities, horns rising like natural towers.

With a slow and majestic movement, the beast began to land.

The impact was controlled, yet still devastating. The earth shook violently as the colossal body touched the ground.

Ancient trees were crushed like twigs, their trunks snapping with sharp cracks that echoed for miles. Boulders shattered into fragments that flew in every direction, some as large as wagons.

A wave of dust and wild Qi rose around the beast, forming a cloud that climbed hundreds of meters into the sky and darkened it for a brief moment, creating an artificial eclipse.

It continued descending, sinking into the earth with deliberate slowness, as though settling into a nest prepared over countless millennia.

The ground trembled with every inch it descended, a rhythmic earthquake that echoed for miles, making the surrounding mountains vibrate in resonance.

Within minutes, nearly the beast’s entire body had disappeared beneath the earth. Only a vast portion of its back remained visible, an elevated, dark, slightly uneven plane upon which the entire city of the Sky Caravan rested.

The floating metropolis was now anchored firmly upon the back of the ancient beast.

The silence that followed was brief, a moment of collective reverence, as though the entire world had stopped breathing.

Then came the explosion of joy.

"The Celestial Descent! The Descent has truly begun!"

"The guardian beast has come to rest! What an honor to witness this moment!"

People laughed, shouted, and embraced one another. Many residents of the Caravan, who had spent their entire lives flying through the skies, had tears welling in their eyes as they finally saw solid ground beneath them.

Some knelt and touched the earth with their hands, as though they were touching something sacred, something they had never experienced before.

Many had been born aboard the Sky Caravan over the past few years and had never had the chance to leave it. Now, for the first time, they could feel the earth beneath their feet.

Kyrian watched everything calmly, but his violet eyes shone with interest. The energy surrounding them had changed. The world’s Qi felt denser, wilder, influenced by the presence of the slumbering beast.

He could feel the vibrations of Azhura’k’s body through the ground, a deep, steady pulse echoing through his meridians.

The plaza quickly began to empty. Most people headed toward the city’s exits, eager to explore the new land. As Kyrian walked with the flow of the crowd, he overheard several conversations.

"The auctions don’t start until tomorrow. Today is for exploring the area and getting everything ready."

"I can finally stand on solid ground! Let’s go see the Mountains of the End up close!"

"They say the region around here is dangerous because of the eternal storms at the mountain peaks. Besides that, there are plenty of beasts around..."

Kyrian decided to follow the crowd. He was in no hurry to return to the courtyard. He wanted to see with his own eyes how the city changed whenever the Caravan descended.

As soon as he passed through one of the city’s great gates, the scene before him left him astonished.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of cultivators were already working feverishly around and beyond the vast expanse of Azhura’k’s back.