The outside air, thick with common, impure Mortal Qi, felt like a suffocating blanket after the hyper-charged environment of the Silent Star Crevice. The four companions burst from the fissure and collapsed onto the stable earth of the Sunderwind Wastes.
Lin Feng dropped the massive chunk of Astral Jade, which thudded heavily, radiating a faint, pure silver light. He gently lowered Siku, who was finally stirring, and immediately started channeling the restorative energy of his Void-Wood/Water Loop into his own core. The sheer strain of maintaining the Void Sovereign Nexus during the Shadow Stream Escape had left his spiritual sea utterly barren.
Xia Qingwu was breathing heavily, her hands burned raw from the continuous deployment of the Phoenix Smoke Runes. She immediately began gulping down a concentrated recovery tonic she had prepared, watching the Crevice entrance collapse behind them.
"The dimensional laws of the Crevice are sealing themselves off," she observed, her voice raspy. "Yin Xiu's exit and your Annihilation Blast caused too much chaos. That site is sealed for decades."
Yin Xiu, having poured every ounce of her Origin Qi into the final chain of Shadow Veil Displacements, was the most exhausted. She reverted instantly to her tiny, nine-tailed silver fox form, curling up on Lin Feng's shoulder, a trembling ball of fur, needing immediate rest to prevent her human form from destabilizing.
Wanying, however, maintained a semblance of serene strength, her Primordial Ice Law acting as a buffer against exhaustion. She gently touched the massive chunk of Astral Jade, sensing its purity. The effort was immense, but successful.
"The Jade is whole, Feng. And it is pure," Wanying confirmed, her silver eyes glowing with satisfaction. "With this, I can stabilize the Ice Empress Core against the Mortal Qi for years. This is our foundation."
Lin Feng nodded, managing a weak, arrogant grin despite his fatigue. "We are now the richest fugitives in the Mortal Star Field. But first, rest. We return to the Silent Cloud Shrine."
The return journey was slow and agonizing, covered in a veil of exhaustion and stealth. Lin Feng spent the entire time channeling gentle restorative Qi into Yin Xiu and Siku, while Xia Qingwu and Wanying took turns carrying the massive Astral Jade.
Once safely back within the ancient, illusionary barrier of the Shrine, Lin Feng immediately prepared the chamber for the crucial step: processing the Astral Jade. He knew that simply cultivating next to the Jade was insufficient; it had to be prepared into a purified, usable essence.
The Jade was laid out on a runic altar. Wanying and Xia Qingwu, despite their exhaustion, were already strategizing the refining process.
"The Jade is too hard for my Phoenix Seal: Precision Blade to cut without fracturing it," Xia Qingwu explained, gesturing to the massive stone. "And Wanying's Ice Empress: Absolute Stillness is required to keep it frozen for the cut, but the cold alone won't work."
Lin Feng looked down at the Infant Chronos Dragon, who was finally awake, his galactic eyes curious and alert. Siku was perfectly stable now, resting within the permanent, gentle field of the Void Sovereign Nexus Lin Feng maintained.
"Siku is the key," Lin Feng realized. "He controls Space and Time. We don't need to cut it with force; we need to cut it with Dimensional Manipulation."
He knelt beside Siku and communicated through a unique psychic link forged by the Void Sovereign Nexus. Siku, the rock is hard. We need it to be soft for a moment. Can you push the space?
Siku tilted his head, purred softly, and a tiny, shimmering ripple erupted from his fur—not a chaotic burst, but a controlled, localized effect. The creature was utilizing its intrinsic Law of Space.
The ripple washed over a small section of the Astral Jade. For a terrifying, beautiful microsecond, that section of the Jade seemed to expand, becoming less dense, more porous—the space between its molecules stretched.
"He just softened the Jade by momentarily distorting the space within its structure!" Xia Qingwu gasped, her eyes wide with scientific shock. "The density has decreased by eighty percent!"
Lin Feng immediately seized the opportunity. "Qingwu, now! Phoenix Seal: Precision Blade!"
Xia Qingwu, leveraging Siku's spatial distortion, fired a narrow stream of superheated Phoenix Fire Qi at the softened section. The Phoenix Fire was the perfect medium: precise, hot, and controlled. It sliced through the softened Jade like butter, cleanly separating a massive, perfect crystalline shard.
The processing had begun. They had secured their future, refined their skills, and gained an ally of impossible lineage.
As the day waned, Wanying, holding the first purified shard of Astral Jade, sat beside Lin Feng. Yin Xiu, still in her fox form, rested on his shoulder, and Siku was curled up in his lap.
Wanying looked at the sleeping Infant Chronos Dragon, then at Lin Feng. "He is an ancient wonder, Feng. We saved him, but he has the power to change our reality."
Lin Feng ran a finger over Siku's starlight fur. "I faced a glimpse of the timeline because of him. He is the ultimate power, Wanying, and he needs the ultimate stability. We will use his chaos to forge our order."
He looked toward the north, the direction of the Dynasty Capital. The pace of stabilization was complete. The time for internal mastery was now intertwined with the time for external expansion.