The miasma of death still clung to the Qinling Mountains like a shroud, but within the Kunlun Base's Life Support Center, the air was colder than a glacier's heart. Suspended in the faintly pink nutrient solution within the regeneration pod, Chu Xuan resembled a half-carved statue. Petrified flesh, a vile grey-white, had consumed his entire left chest, crawled up the left side of his neck, and now gnawed hungrily at the edge of his jawline, inching towards his brain. The monitor above displayed his life-signs – a heartbeat line so faint and erratic it seemed drawn by a dying hand, each weak pulse a hammer blow to the nerves of those watching.
Elder Qin's gnarled hand pressed against the pod's cold observation window, his rheumy eyes locked on that fragile line. Every faltering thump squeezed his ancient heart. The medical team moved with silent, desperate efficiency, like wraiths tending a fading ember. Neural repair agents, concentrated life-energy solutions, and specialized inhibitors battling the petrification curse flowed through the forest of tubes into Chu Xuan's ravaged body. He was a fortress under siege, crumbling stone by stone.
"Brainwave activity critically low... deep coma... autonomous consciousness suppressed..." the Chief Medical Officer's voice was a rasping whisper, heavy with exhaustion that bordered on despair. "The petrification's advance is slowed by the inhibitors, but... the root remains. Every heartbeat burns his last reserves. We race against time... and time wears the enemy's colors."
Elder Qin didn't respond. His gaze shifted to an adjacent screen – a global map bleeding crimson. The 3D model of spatial stability screamed catastrophe, deep red like an infected wound spreading across the blue sphere of Earth. Countless scarlet pinpricks pulsed like malevolent stars, marking new spatial ruptures.
"Report! Qinling Corpse Cave region, miasma density continues to rise! Coverage expanded to ten kilometers perimeter! High-altitude drone scans confirm residual high-energy life signatures within the cave, activity significantly reduced! Likely severely wounded and dormant!"
"Report! Antarctic Deep Blue Zone, Ancient Frostbound Warrior revival progress: 17%! Its cryogenic energy field accelerates ice melt, spatial beacon activity climbing!"
"Report! Yellowstone 'Heart of Magma' subsurface heat signature stabilized at suppression threshold edge, no further escalation!"
"Report! Siberian 'Silent Ice Valley' methane anomaly ceased, subsurface movement signal vanished!"
"Report! Amazon 'Lost City' gravitational distortion peaked and subsided, space curvature normalized, major temporary instance probability downgraded!"
Data streamed into the command hub. Zhao Qiming stood before the massive ring-screen, brow furrowed like storm-carved rock. The 'good' news: aside from the already ignited powder kegs of Qinling and Antarctica, the other global anomalies hadn't exploded into immediate catastrophe. They lurked, like predators waiting for the ship to sink lower. The bad news was absolute: spatial integrity was collapsing, the ancient seals weakening faster than ever. Calm waters hid drowning depths.
"Temporary... respite... no new Qinlings or Antarcticas..." Zhao Qiming's voice was hoarse, strained. He glanced towards the regeneration pod. "Perhaps the only sliver of light. Buying Chu Xuan... precious moments."
Just then, the comms crackled with Lei Zhan's voice, ragged with exhaustion but razor-sharp:
"Report! Dragon Tooth squad... successfully evacuated the Corpse Cave zone! Target artifact... secured! Repeat, target artifact secured! Requesting... immediate medical evac! Critical casualties!"
A complex wave of relief and grief washed through the command center – survivors' triumph stained by the blood of the fallen. "Dispatch the fastest medevac birds!" Zhao Qiming barked. "Green light all corridors! Lei Zhan personally safeguards the artifact, direct delivery to Celestial Forge Research Sector! Elder Qin, I need you there!"
Elder Qin snapped back to focus, a spark igniting in his eyes. "Understood! Preparations underway!" That rusted fragment Chu Xuan had nearly died for… perhaps it was the key.
Kunlun Base, Celestial Forge Research Sector (Maximum Security).
Heavy alloy doors hissed open, revealing a sterile chamber bathed in the unforgiving glare of surgical lamps. The air hummed with filtration systems, smelling of cold metal and sterilant. Elder Qin, encased in a top-tier biosuit, peered through magnifying optics, his expression a mask of intense focus. On the central isolation platform lay the prize – the Ascension Token fragment, plucked from the heart of the Corpse Cave.
The fragment was palm-sized, jagged and irregular, as if torn from something greater by colossal force. Thick, verdigris-encrusted grime obscured its form. Only under extreme microscopic scrutiny could glimpses of its true nature be seen – a deep, blood-star metal beneath the corrosion, its surface scarred by countless impacts and gouges, yet radiating an unyielding, ancient resilience. On one relatively flat face, several fragmented, profoundly archaic symbols were inscribed, not carved, but seemingly grown into the metal itself. They pulsed with a silent, terrifying authority that made the observer feel infinitesimal.
"Commence primary scans," Elder Qin ordered through the internal comm.
High-energy lasers, particle streams, magnetic probes – the arsenal of human science probed the rusted surface.
[Material Analysis: Unknown metallic alloy... molecular structure hyper-stable... density exceeds known elements... corrosion resistance (excluding surface patina) extraordinary... Preliminary Verdict: Non-terrestrial.]
[Energy Signature: Negligible... virtually inert... no detectable radiation or anomalous energy emission.]
[Surface Patina Composition: Primarily basic copper carbonate (verdigris), iron oxide (rust)... trace unknown organic compounds (99.7% match to Qinling Cave samples)... and...]
Elder Qin froze, adjusting his optics, staring at the magnified image of the patina.
"Report! Trace amounts of... biological pheromones detected within patina! Structure... hyper-complex... no match in any terrestrial database!"
Biological markers? Alien scent? Elder Qin's heart sank. This was more than an artifact; it was a message, or a lure.
"Attempt controlled patina removal. Proceed to deep structural scan," he commanded.
A specialized ultrasonic probe, emitting faint cleansing energy, cautiously approached the fragment. The moment the ultrasonic energy touched the grime—
Huummm!
A low, resonant vibration emanated from within the fragment!
Then, the impossible happened. The thick, stubborn layers of verdigris and filth softened, dissolved, and sublimated into nothingness before their eyes! Within seconds, millennia of grime vanished, revealing the fragment's true glory.
The deep crimson metal gleamed under the lights, its surface a testament to cosmic violence, yet fundamentally indomitable. The archaic symbols now blazed with silent power. Merely looking at them invoked primal awe and crushing insignificance.
[WARNING! Ultra-high density informational structure detected!]
[Target: Unknown Dao Patterns (Severely Damaged)... Information Density: 99.99% beyond current analytical capacity...]
[WARNING! Dao pattern structure contains trace spatial law perturbations!]
[Correlation: 0.001% structural similarity detected with Antarctic Beacon (X-097) surface remnants... Confidence: Low!]
"Star-Sea Celestial Domain... Void-Forged Stariron... Spatial Dao Traces..." Elder Qin murmured, voice trembling with awe and dawning horror. Chu Xuan's dying words collided violently with this artifact that defied comprehension. The Antarctic pyramid, this Qinling fragment... from the same place? That realm called the "Star-Sea Celestial Domain"? "Priority Alpha!" His voice cracked with urgency. "Decipher these symbols! Divert all computational power! Establish isolated physical network! Multi-layered encrypted backups! Now!"
The Celestial Forge erupted into controlled chaos, the fragment's revelation a lightning bolt of terrifying potential.
Linhai City, Linhai University, Dorm 309.
The familiar cacophony of a weekend evening filled the cramped dorm – the furious clatter of mechanical keyboards, the tinny blare of game SFX, and the synchronized shouts of teammates. The air hung thick with the aroma of instant noodles, stale sweat, and overheating electronics.
"Shit! Mid missing! Bot lane careful!"
"Jungle! Jungle Daddy! Get here! He's diving!"
"Push tower! Ignore the low health! Hit the damn tower!"
Chen Mo's glasses reflected the chaotic dance of pixels on his screen. His long fingers flew across the keyboard, a blur of motion. As the ace mid-laner of the university esports team, his "Shadowblade Assassin" danced on the enemy high ground, a symphony of calculated death. He flashed sideways, dodging a game-ending stun, his poisoned dagger a microsecond from the enemy carry's throat—
SCREEEEEEEEEECH—!
A sound like tearing metal, hideous and deafening, erupted from his speakers! Simultaneously, a tiny, usually inert LED embedded deep within the left lens of his thick black-framed glasses flared a searing, violent RED!
WHUMPH!
A torrent of raw, chaotic data – not sound, not image, but pure, unfiltered, corrosive information – slammed into Chen Mo's mind! It was a billion corrupted files, shattered visuals, shrieking noise, alien symbols – a billion white-hot needles skewering his consciousness!
"GAAAAAAHHHH—!!!"
A sound not human tore from Chen Mo's throat. His body convulsed as if electrocuted, hurling him from his chair to crash onto the floor. He writhed, spine arching unnaturally, muscles locked in agonizing spasms. His hands clawed at his scalp, drawing blood that streaked down his temples. His glasses skittered away, lenses shattered.
"Mo-ge!!"
"Chen Mo! What's wrong?!"
His three gaming buddies froze, controllers forgotten, then scrambled towards him.
"Hurts... head... exploding... code... all wrong... kill... purge..." Chen Mo foamed at the mouth, words slurred, unintelligible. His skin burned like a furnace. Veins bulged grotesquely at his temples.
"Call 120! NOW!!"
"Hold him! Don't let him hurt himself!"
Chaos engulfed the dorm. One pinned Chen Mo's thrashing limbs. Another fumbled with a phone, voice shrill with panic. A third stared in horror at Chen Mo's smoking PC – the screen a mess of static snow, the case reeking of burnt plastic and ozone. No one noticed Chen Mo's wildly flailing right hand brush against a can of ice-cold cola on the desk, bought moments ago and unopened.
Hiss—CRACKLE!
His fingertip barely grazed the chilled metal.
Instantly, the sweating can and its dark liquid contents froze solid. Thick, unnatural rime, radiating a bone-deep chill, encased it completely. In one second, it transformed from a cold drink into a block of deadly ice, frost spider-webbing across the desk surface beneath it.
An arctic wave washed over the room. The student holding Chen Mo gasped, a primal chill shooting up his spine as he stared at the frozen can, then back at the convulsing boy whose exposed left eye now flickered with cold, metallic light. Terror, raw and absolute, seized him.
Kunlun Base, Celestial Forge.
The initial analysis of the Ascension Token fragment felt like ice water dousing fragile hope.
"Indecipherable..." Elder Qin removed his optics, rubbing his temples, voice hoarse with defeat. "The Dao patterns hold information layers beyond our mathematics, beyond our physics. Forced simulation yields only gibberish and system crashes. The spatial perturbations... untraceable, unreproducible. It's... an inert anchor. Only its faintest 'presence' registers." He stared at the crimson fragment on the platform, its ancient symbols seeming to mock human frailty. "We confirm its material matches Antarctic X-097 – Star-Sea Celestial Domain origin. And... it possesses an innate, extremely weak 'Ward Against Evil,' passively repelling Yin-death energy like the Qinling miasma. Likely how it survived the cave."
"Ward Against Evil?" Zhao Qiming's voice cut through the isolation glass comms. "Could it help Chu Xuan's curse?"
"A drop in the ocean," Elder Qin shook his head bitterly. "That curse... operates on a higher plane. This fragment's ward couldn't dispel the Qinling's core miasma, let alone something... rule-touching. It's a key... but the lock remains hidden." Despair thickened the air.
Suddenly, piercing RED alarm lights bathed the corridor outside in a hellish glow! A strident electronic wail split the silence!
"Priority Alert!" A voice thick with urgency and fear burst over the emergency channel. "Linhai City! Linhai University! Emergency! Target: Chen Mo! University esports team member, Chu Xuan's high school classmate! Symptoms: Sudden acute mental breakdown with unknown energy discharge! Onsite... paranormal freezing event! Linhai PD requests base intervention! Photos and preliminary report transmitting!"
WHUMPH!
Images and text flooded the screen outside the isolation glass.
Image 1: Chaos in a dorm. A lanky youth convulsing on the floor, shattered glasses, smoking PC.
Image 2: A soda can encased in thick, unnatural blue ice, frost creeping beneath it.
Image 3: Close-up of the youth's left eye as he's loaded onto a stretcher – the sclera etched with intricate silver circuit-like patterns, pupils flickering with cold data-light!
Report Summary: ...Target sudden severe cephalalgia, delirium, repeating phrases "Primordial," "Purge," "Protocol," "Error," "Conflict"... personnel near target PC report transient disorientation & device malfunction... instantaneous cryogenic event (non-chemical)... target hyperthermic... left eye exhibiting unknown physiological mutation... High correlation suspected with global anomalies & "Ability Manifestation"... Request MAXIMUM medical quarantine & investigation...
"Chen Mo..." Zhao Qiming's pupils contracted. The name screamed from Chu Xuan's "Memorandum" – marked "Mechanical Tyrant (Early Key Asset, High Potential, Guide Carefully, Risk of Rampancy)!"
"It's him! The one Chu Xuan warned about!" Zhao Qiming snapped his gaze from the pod to the screen, to the report keywords. "Primordial... Purge Protocol... Error... Freezing..." A terrifying connection ignited. Qinling's Corpse King. Antarctica's Frostbound Warrior. Now this boy manifesting terrifying power, spouting "Primordial" and "Purge." All threads leading back to the same colossal, icy entity – the Overseer named in Chu Xuan's death-defying fragment?
"Execute Protocol 'Candle Dragon'!" Zhao Qiming's voice was iron. "Nearest Dragon Tooth team to Linhai! Priority Zero: Preserve Target Chen Mo! Maximum containment! Establish temporary research site! All personnel: Absolute Secrecy Oath! Real-time data stream to base! Move!"
The order was thunder. Kunlun Base became a war machine shifting into overdrive.
Linhai City, University Affiliated Hospital.
The ER observation room was cleared, sealed behind blast doors guarded by stone-faced SWAT. Inside, Chen Mo was strapped to a reinforced alloy bed, wired to monitors. Unconscious, but his fever raged near 40°C. His forehead wound was bandaged, but the horror was his exposed left eye. The silver circuitry on the sclera had intensified, glowing with faint metallic light. Deep within the pupil, cold data-light flickered like dying stars.
Medical specialists in full biohazard suits moved with extreme caution, drawing blood, swabbing skin, scanning his head with non-contact sensors, focusing on the mutated eye.
"EEG shows extreme hyperactivity... classic 'data overload' pattern... specific regions spiking 100x normal!"
"Left eye temperature anomalous... +3°C above core... detecting faint high-frequency EM emissions... source... intraocular?"
"Blood analysis... trace unknown metallic nanoparticles... structure... unprecedented..."
Data streamed to a makeshift terminal. The Dragon Tooth field commander, codename "Bedrock," a man whose face seemed carved from granite, watched the screens and Chen Mo's unnatural eye, a knot of dread tightening in his gut.
"Report! Target personal effects!" A tech handed over a tablet. "PC core melted. Data recovery salvaged a fragmented data-stream cache from the HDD... filtered core repeats: Primordial... Purge Protocol... Command Conflict... Error... Target Lock Failure... Self-Diagnostic... Reboot..."
"Purge Protocol..." Bedrock muttered the icy phrase, a chill creeping up his spine. Chu Xuan's "Mechanical Tyrant," awakening screaming "Primordial," fighting a "Purge Protocol"? What cosmic war had they stumbled into?
Suddenly!
WOOOOOOOO—! WOOOOOOOO—!
The city-shattering wail of air raid sirens ripped through Linhai's night sky! Urgent, panicked, screaming of impending doom!
"Situation?!" Bedrock roared, lunging to the room's only reinforced window.
On the skyline, the city's iconic Pearl Tower – a needle piercing the heavens – was the epicenter. Its massive spherical observation deck pulsed with a deep, sickening CRIMSON light, like the heartbeat of a dying leviathan. Each pulse warped the air around it, visible waves of distortion radiating outward. An invisible field of electronic jamming and psychic static washed over the city like a suffocating tide.
[WARNING! HIGH-INTENSITY SPATIAL DISTORTION DETECTED!]
[COORDINATES: PEARL TOWER, LINHAI CITY!]
[ENERGY SIGNATURE: EXTREME CHAOS... HYBRID ELECTRONIC PULSE/PSYCHIC POLLUTION/SPATIAL WARPING...]
[PROJECTION: MAJOR COMPOSITE TEMPORARY INSTANCE FORMING! FORMATION SPEED: ANOMALOUS! EST. COMPLETION: < 30 MINUTES!]
[THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME! CORE ENERGY SURPASSING SUPPRESSION THRESHOLD! INTERNAL RULES: UNKNOWN! HIGH MORTALITY RISK!]
Zhao Qiming's voice crackled over the secure channel, sharp with urgency: "Bedrock! Pearl Tower Instance! Immediate threat assessment! Does it endanger the Target?!"
Bedrock's gaze snapped between the distant, pulsing crimson eye consuming the Pearl Tower and the boy strapped to the bed, his left eye flickering with cold, alien light. The university hospital was less than five kilometers from ground zero. The shadow was immense, suffocating.
"Report! Instance field edge impacting hospital perimeter! Electronics failing! Target status... Target status destabilizing!" a medic yelled.
On the bed, Chen Mo's body jerked violently! The silver-etched left eye snapped open! Gone was the pain-filled haze. In its place burned two points of cold, calculating, machine-core BLUE light! A wave of pure, directive will – an "EXECUTE" command made psychic energy – exploded from him, slamming into everyone in the room!
"PURGE... PROTOCOL... INITIATED... LOCKING... INTERFERENCE SOURCE..." The voice wasn't Chen Mo's. It was a flat, synthetic rasp, echoing inside their skulls.
Simultaneously, every electronic device connected to Chen Mo – heart monitors, EEG machines, even the ceiling lights – screens flooded with violent, scrolling crimson ERROR text and symbols! Overload alarms shrieked in unison!
"He's hijacking the systems! Breaching firewalls!" the tech screamed.
ZZZAAAPPP! BANG!
Sparks flew from instrument panels. Smoke curled. Lights stuttered wildly.
"Contain him! PHYSICAL ISOLATION! NOW!" Bedrock roared. Reinforced soldiers lunged, ripping wires and sensors from Chen Mo's body with insulated tools.
The instant the connections severed, the blue light in Chen Mo's eye flickered erratically, like a dying bulb, then winked out as his eye closed. The psychic command field dissipated. The lights stabilized. The alarms died, leaving only the stench of ozone and burnt plastic, and the heavy silence of shock.
Everyone stood frozen, drenched in cold sweat. For a moment, they hadn't faced a student, but a coldly booting machine intent on wiping the slate clean.
"Interference source... Pearl Tower..." Bedrock panted, staring out the window where the crimson pulses grew stronger, the distortion waves now visibly rippling past the hospital walls. "The instance... it's triggering him!" Evacuation was no longer an option; it was survival.
"Candle Dragon Team!" Bedrock's voice was steel wrapped in urgency. "Extract Target! Code Black protocols! Destination: Abandoned West District Bunker – Temporary Safe Site Alpha! MOVE!"
Kunlun Base, Life Support Center.
Within the pod, Chu Xuan's consciousness remained adrift in a dark sea, numb beneath the creeping stone. The world outside was muffled by layers of medical tech, only the faint heartbeat a testament to stubborn life.
Yet, in the deepest abyss of his suppressed mind, anchored by the last vestiges of the system's power and potent drugs, a sliver of awareness, not his own, stirred. Not thought, but... resonance. Cold. Impossibly heavy, like planetary core-pressure. Yet beneath it, a current of profound sorrow, desperate guardianship, and ancient rage.
"...Embers... fading..."
"...Seals... cracking..."
"...Primordial... sin..."
"...Overseer... accelerating..."
Broken words. Fragmented images. A dirge from the planet's heart, etched directly onto Chu Xuan's fraying soul. No logic, only crushing emotion – the despair of a dying flame, the fury of an eternal prisoner, the chilling awareness of an accelerating doom under an icy gaze.
The dirge was a pebble dropped into stagnant water. A ripple, infinitesimal but undeniable, stirred in Chu Xuan's stagnant consciousness. The index finger of his right hand – encased in petrified grey stone, lying inert in the nutrient fluid – twitched.
Just once. A tremor so faint no sensor registered it.
But deep within the base, among the nine bronze spirit lamps formed from the vanished Vermilion Bird phantom, the steady flame of one lamp flickered violently. Its light stretched like a frantic serpent, pointing unerringly... towards the Earth's molten heart.