Urban Plundering: I Corrupted The System!-Chapter 527: The Awakening Ritual

The ornate doors swept open with the gravity of cosmic inevitability. Zhang Ruoyun glided through first, her very presence making reality hold its breath in anticipation. Behind her came Annabelle, Bella, and Whisper—each radiating the casual authority of beings who’d learned to navigate the delicate politics of universal power.

The assembled families were trembling with barely contained excitement.

Robert, Tessa, and Helena were already positioned strategically around the chamber, watching the family representatives who sat on the edge of their seats, faces flushed with the desperate hunger that came from glimpsing power beyond mortal comprehension.

Tessa found herself remembering that chaotic day when everything changed. The memory brought both nostalgia and a twist of embarrassment she’d never admit out loud.

The day she’d awakened alongside Naomi and Elena, when cosmic energy had first responded to her will and time itself had bent to her desires. Those early days of discovery felt like a lifetime ago, though the memory still brought a bittersweet ache.

Her powers had come directly from Parker’s awakening, though not exactly... intentionally.

She’d been in the right place at the right time when cosmic energy had exploded outward from his transformation. Pure accident, really, though she’d die before admitting that to anyone—especially Maya, who’d probably use it as ammunition in their ongoing empress competition. A beautiful accident, really—though she’d rather die than admit that to anyone, especially Maya.

Her powers had come from Parker’s awakening, but not exactly intentionally.

It was her secret with Naomi and Elena.

The only witness to her accidental awakening was that blabbermouthed cat.

Unfaithful feline!

As if she knew she was being bad-mouthed, Ere turned in Annabelle’s arms and looked at Tessa with questioning golden eyes that seemed to see straight through her thoughts.

"Weird," Tessa wondered aloud. "Do her dimensional powers also aid in hearing thoughts?"

[I would assume so,] the voice said in her mind with characteristic amusement. [Erebus’s powers aren’t well known by everyone except the Prince himself,] came the familiar voice in her head. [You could say though, her abilities are... sneaky. But she’s got her own problems to worry about—identity crisis and all that.]

At least someone understood her concerns.

"Think Parker could convince her to keep certain secrets?"

[The old Ere from past lives? Absolutely. This version? She’s got this annoying habit where ’no’ doesn’t actually mean no, and asking her not to do something is practically an invitation. But honestly, you’re worrying over nothing. Ere doesn’t spill secrets unless someone asks directly, and who’s going to ask about your awakening story?]

That made Tessa groan in frustration. Her pride was on the line here.

"Perfect," Tessa sighed. "My entire reputation depends on whether a dimensional cat decides to—"

[I think you’re worrying for no reason,] the voice interrupted with gentle exasperation. [First off, Ere is occupied with her own problems. Second, no one would ask such a question, and she usually doesn’t spill secrets without being prompted. Although I admit she has a weak lock on confidential information, but don’t worry...]

While Tessa was figuring out the most irrelevant worry in the room, the real show was about to begin.

Zhang Ruoyun reached the middle of the chamber next to Parker and raised her hand with the kind of graceful authority that made reality itself pause to watch.

The Phoenix of Balance had taken the stage.

She waved her hand in a complex pattern, and a low phoenix cry echoed through the hall.

The sound hit the families like a physical force.

It wasn’t quite song—it was the sound of cosmic harmony given voice, a low phoenix cry that resonated in the very foundations of existence.

The effect was immediate and absolute.

Every family member in the room crashed to their knees as if the universe itself had commanded their reverence. The pressure wasn’t painful—it was overwhelming, the sensation of something vast and ancient demanding acknowledgment from every atom of their being.

They couldn’t look up, couldn’t move, could barely breathe.

Zhang Ruoyun began to rise from the floor, defying gravity with the casual authority of someone for whom physical laws were merely suggestions. Her hands moved in patterns that blurred reality itself—weaving through dimensions, pulling threads of existence into new configurations.

Apart from Parker and Maya, everyone else watched in mesmerized terror.

The speed of her movements defied comprehension. Her hands became streaks of controlled lightning, manipulating forces that predated the birth of stars. Omni Energy responded to her call like eager servants, streaming toward her from every corner of reality.

She began to glow.

Her hands were so fast they became blurs of motion, weaving patterns in the air that seemed to grab reality itself and reshape it according to her will. Apart from Parker and Maya, who understood what they were witnessing, everyone else stared in awe at the masterful display of cosmic manipulation.

Omni Energy began gathering around her like attracted moths to divine flame.

White and dark energies spiraled around her form in perfect harmony, each one balancing the other in an eternal dance of cosmic equilibrium. Her modern clothes dissolved like morning mist, replaced by robes that seemed cut from the fabric of space itself—ancient Chinese designs that whispered of power older than written history.

She was manipulating Balance itself.

The very concept of equilibrium bent to her will as she worked, reality reshaping around her like clay in the hands of a master sculptor.

Then something began to materialize between her hands.

The cauldron emerged from nothingness with the weight of eons, its surface carved with symbols that predated language itself. It pulsed with a heartbeat that echoed in everyone’s chest—each beat sending waves of living Omni Energy through the chamber, turning the very air into something aware and watching.

This artifact had witnessed the birth of universes.

The domain of energy it created was alive in ways that defied description. Each pulse made reality itself seem more real, more present, as if existence had been holding its breath and finally exhaled.

The very concept of existence seemed to bend around this artifact like space-time around a black hole.

This was something that had witnessed the birth of realities.

Zhang Ruoyun descended like a goddess granting audience her feet touching the ground with the gentleness of someone who could have shattered continents with a careless step. , and she pricked her finger with a movement too quick to follow. Her blood floated upward like liquid starlight, streaming toward the ancient cauldron with purpose that made the air hum with anticipation.

Her blood floated there in the air like liquid starlight before entering the cauldron.

The ancient vessel drank her essence eagerly.

She turned to Parker and bowed with cosmic reverence.

He nodded once, and the real ritual began.

"Beast, Life, Magic, Soul and Fate, Time, Space, Concept, Death, Light, Void!" Zhang Ruoyun’s voice carried across dimensions as she called upon the fundamental forces.

Each name resonated with power that made reality tremble.

One by one, they stepped forward.