A sense of weightlessness never experienced before.

Falling.

Silently and soundlessly falling.

Aimless, endless...as if an eternal cycle of falling in the dark.

The boy's time and thoughts seem to have silently solidified in this dark domain.

He spent a very, very long time and finally turned the first thought.

——Who am I?

At the moment this thought turned, some incredible chaotic sounds seemed to ring next to his ears, unlike any language he was familiar with, yet surprisingly understandable, as if trying to disrupt his thoughts.

But...the boy's thoughts are different now.

Having initially condensed his [Intention], he wasn't so easily interfered with.

He quickly came to a conclusion.

——I am Lin Guang.

The moment he confirmed his self-awareness.

The second and third thoughts erupted smoothly as if a certain shackle had been unlocked.

——Where...am I?

——What happened?

It was as if his awakening brought a signal to this dark space.

The sensation of falling quietly vanished.

The signal of solid ground suddenly arrived, and Lin Guang suddenly felt he was standing on something.

And at this moment, the darkness seemed to seamlessly shift, plunging everything around into Lin Guang's thoughts.

He finally realized where he was.

This is an indescribable, extremely grand yet lonely scene.

Under a dark sky, he stood alone on a vast, boundless golden ocean, appearing extremely small.

The sea was as still as if completely halted, without any sound of waves; maybe it would be better described as a mirror if not for the ripples spreading like water from beneath Lin Guang's feet...

At the horizon, a thing resembling both a tree and a tower stood imposing, almost like a background.

It was colorless, near the golden ocean it was reflected golden, yet the closer to the dark sky, the darker the tower turned, forming a gradient from gold to darkness.

He lowered his head, attempting to confirm his image in the golden ocean.

"..."

It was still the familiar boy's face, but the attire was strangely yet familiarly unfamiliar.

A coat similar to the black trench coat he usually liked to wear, but with a large hood behind.

And above his head hovered a still somewhat vague but barely recognizable diamond-shaped fragmented...crown.

For some reason, an extremely familiar code suddenly rang in his heart.

[DWDB-221E]

Or rather...

[Civilization's Continuation].

Lin Guang subconsciously raised his head, looking at the dark sky.

There was nothing there.

Yet...it seemed like something was there, staring at him.

.........…

It's the days around New Year, almost no one at Zhen Sheng City Experimental School.

Thus, on New Year's Eve, the changes occurring in the Experimental School went unnoticed.

A large batch of low-tier spiritual materials were consumed as supplies, brought from various places, with faint sounds of tremors vibrating from underground, occasionally accompanied by a few terrifying meteors descending from the sky, then rising from the ground.

And the source of this anomaly was underground of the research building.

Experimental School, Integrated Research Center, underground first floor.

At present, it was nearly unrecognizable.

Dr. Kaiwen's orderly, well-lit underground research facility was almost entirely dismantled, then expanded again.

Because Kaiwen had unfolded her Domain.

In a few brief minutes, the original silver-white walls and corridors were all opened up, centering on the room originally containing the meditation pod, transforming into an entire circular black empty region.

This region underwent special treatment, with the floors, walls, and even the ceiling covered with an array of Spirit Patterns, resembling circuits and breathing intermittently bright and dim.

The Ether incessantly transmitted upward from the newly built ether reactor deep underground, entirely supplying this Spirit Rune Array.

And at the center of the Spirit Rune Array, there was only one item.

It was a rectangular pod, lying horizontally, resembling a sarcophagus.

A young boy, with eyes tightly closed, was immersed in the Meditation Pod filled with orange liquid.

Yet compared to the past, the liquid seemed to have gained a tinge of bright red and pitch black.

To maintain the stability of the ethereal field in this area, almost no one was allowed inside, forced to observe from afar beyond the specially made transparent screen wall.

A silver-haired girl with her arms crossed leaned against the wall, usually filled with vigor and mischievousness, her face now expressionless, two crimson tendrils on her forehead flipped occasionally, while her right index finger continuously tapped her upper arm, her eyes visibly anxious.

A fox-eared girl sat on a folding chair with hands placed neatly on her knees, gripping the hem of her skirt tightly, her lips slightly pursed, and her ears drooping.

A wolf-eared maid stood straight outside the glass screen, hands folded in front of her belly, appearing the calmest among the trio, yet her tail behind hung limp, not a single sway, as if it lost its strength.

They kept watching the situation inside.

Beside the Meditation Pod stood a male and a female, seemingly perceiving something, occasionally engaging in brief exchanges.

The man wore traditional Great Xia attire popular a century ago, looking like a matured young man, none other than Kong Guofeng.

The female, however, was Doctor Kaiwen, wearing a white coat.

In fact, today Kong Guofeng wasn't the only one who came to observe Lin Guang's condition.

Pu Xiang True Man from Celestial Star Sect, Vice Commander Tianmu of the Eleventh Army, and several unfamiliar True Men who seemed summoned temporarily all visited here earlier.

Only Kaiwen remained standing there without leaving.

She, as if the core of this array, took no rest, consistently regulating Ether, changing the solution in the Meditation Pod, while observing and discussing Lin Guang's condition with those True Men.

Not long after, Kong Guofeng nodded, seemingly promising something, his figure abruptly vanishing from the spot.

At this moment, the emergency treatment finally came to an end, and Doctor Kaiwen in a white coat finally turned around, walking step by step towards the glass screen wall.

The three girls immediately perked up, their eyes locked onto her figure.

Each of her steps seemed to tread on their chests.

The sealed door opened, and on Kaiwen's expressionless face, those emerald-green eyes shone, causing the three girls to tremble within.

At this moment.

On that flawless, cold face of hers, was something the three had never seen before, filled with a certain indescribable bewilderment...

Dimness, and fragility.

A vast pressure that made them unable to speak enveloped their hearts.

Suddenly, their hearts sank.

It was only after several seconds that Vishdair spoke first, urgently asking, "How is he?"

"..."

"Old... Kaiwen, speak quickly!"

"..."

"What on earth happened to him!"

"Wasn't that Feathered Beast supposed to have healed him? Wasn't his body reshaped? What exactly is wrong with him? Is it Ore Disease?"

"..."

"Why aren't you speaking!!" Vishdair urged anxiously, her voice somewhat distorted, "If you can't handle it, seek help from others! I refuse to believe this place will just watch him—"

Vishdair's successive inquiries finally made Kaiwen speak, her voice unprecedentedly hoarse.

"...Kong Guofeng has already applied for a Seven-Star or higher-level Miracle Master for treatment, they can arrive within a month at most."

In an instant, the three girls showed expressions filled with hope.

The strength of Great Xia far surpassed any other nation they had seen on the Terra Continent.

Simply put, Fenghai Province's sheer physical size already exceeded that land by unknown multiples, and the powerhouses, Spirit Beasts, and various Divine Objects within it defied their understanding.

Perhaps a random Six-Star True Man carrying a Beast King there could achieve invincibility, shattering those nations known to them beyond repair.

Even without considering worldview alteration or the rise in destructive power, an individual's strength capable of rivaling or surpassing natural disasters, coupled with terrifying mobility and stealth, represents nothing short of dimensional suppression in group warfare.

And such beings seemed abundant in Great Xia, with no fewer than seventeen hundred Six-Star entities alone, not to mention those even higher, existing several dimensions superior.

Seen in this light, Ore Disease, this fatal affliction on the Terra Continent, suddenly didn't seem quite as fearsome.

Yet, Kaiwen's demeanor didn't change a bit.

She merely spoke softly.

"Do you know... [Otherworldly Catastrophe], or rather... [Ore Disease], Source Stone, and his Talent, what they truly are?"

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