58: Chapter 58 The Return Journey

Early in the morning, Shen Ye stood on the outpost wall, taking one last look at the Sea of Thousand Realms Mist.

The mist was thinner than when he had arrived. Pale golden rays of law light leaked through the gaps in the clouds, dyeing the entire Sea of Thousand Realms Mist into a flowing twilight.

The outline of the light curtain defense line in the distance flickered in and out of view within the mist, resembling a sleeping dragon.

The military airship was docked at the outpost's spaceport. Its engines had already warmed up, and a low humming sound spread through the mist.

Qin Shu stood beside the gangway, holding a data pad and checking the list of personnel returning.

Gu Changfeng and Qin Sese had already boarded. Shen Ye, carrying his backpack, was the last to walk up the gangway.

He paused at the cabin door and looked back toward the outpost cafeteria.

The cafeteria chimney wasn't smoking yet—Second Lieutenant Meng Yan probably didn't have to work the early shift today.

His backpack was heavy, filled with several items: the Ash King's bone blade fragments, wrapped in spiritual silk and secured in the backpack's inner layer; metal fragments engraved with Twilight characters, sealed in a sample bag to be brought back for Jiang Yue; and the law resonator chip given by Second Lieutenant Meng Yan, inserted into the detector's card slot, with the line "Ash King · Afterimage" still blinking on the screen.

Most importantly, there was that kraft paper envelope.

The map Gu Yan had sketched hastily with charcoal, folded into a square, was tucked securely into his chest pocket.

The location marked with a star perfectly matched the direction from which he had sensed that trace of primordial twilight lingering at the edge of the ruins.

"Board the ship." Qin Shu's voice came from inside the cabin.

Shen Ye walked into the cabin and sat down by the window.

The airship took off, and the Sea of Thousand Realms Mist gradually shrank in the porthole until it was finally swallowed by the clouds.

It was already afternoon when the airship landed at the provincial capital's spaceport.

Shen Ye walked out of the cabin, and the familiar hustle and bustle of the provincial capital rushed to meet him—spirit-powered public airships lined up in long queues on the floating lanes, and Kingdom Projection advertisements flickered on the exterior walls of high-rise buildings.

He first went to the Provincial Association to submit his frontier observation mission report. While queuing at the counter, he ran into Gu Changfeng and Qin Sese.

Gu Changfeng's right wrist now sported a very thin silver bracelet, a spiritual artifact specifically used to nourish old wrist injuries after high-intensity combat.

He said his sister had forced it on him—Gu Qinghan had seen Shen Ye remind him in the Sea of Thousand Realms Mist to "use the Twilight Spirit Spring to nourish your right hand" from the audience seats, and that very night, she had contacted the best spiritual artifact forging workshop in the provincial capital to rush-order this bracelet.

Qin Sese stood nearby, carrying her stone spear. The spear tip still held fragments of the bone blade that had shattered in the Sea of Thousand Realms Mist. She said these fragments were harder than the defense of any opponent in the Provincial Tournament, and she wanted to study them properly when she got back.

The three agreed to meet again at the National Competition. Qin Sese said she owed Shen Ye a jug of good wine—not beer, but the wild, potent liquor her father had brought back from the front lines. It used to be contraband, but because she had won runner-up in the Provincial Tournament, her father had made an exception and opened a seal.

Shen Ye pushed open the association doors, and the afternoon sun poured down completely. The sky over the provincial capital was free of mist, clean as if it had been washed.

It was already evening when he returned to Nanjiang. Shen Ye hadn't notified anyone in advance and walked out of the Nanjiang spaceport alone.

Outside the spaceport, spirit-powered airships lined up on the familiar floating lanes, and the grey towers of Nanjiang No. 7 High School in the distance glowed with warmth in the setting sun.

He stood in front of the vending machine at the school gate for a while, bought a can of energy drink, pulled the tab, and drank it slowly, sip by sip. Then, he walked into the school gate.

The hallway was very quiet; during the summer break, only a few students remained at school for self-study. His footsteps echoed between the walls, exactly the same as when he had walked through this hallway on the day of his awakening.

Arriving at the door of the principal's office, he raised his hand and knocked. "Come in." Principal Zhou Wenyin's voice came from behind the door.

Shen Ye pushed open the door. Principal Zhou was sitting in her usual spot by the window, with a thick ancient text spread out before her.

Her analysis attribute allowed her to decompose the structure of any power. At this moment, she was injecting a wisp of extremely fine spiritual energy into the text, and under the stimulation of the spiritual energy, the ancient characters on the pages slowly emerged with a pale golden glow.

She looked up and saw Shen Ye. She wasn't surprised, just closed the book. "You've returned." "I've returned."

Shen Ye sat down opposite the desk. He placed his backpack by his feet, took the kraft paper envelope from his chest pocket, unfolded Gu Yan's charcoal map, and placed it on the table.

Then, he laid out the items from his backpack one by one—the Ash King's bone blade fragments, the metal fragments engraved with Twilight characters, the law resonator chip from Second Lieutenant Meng Yan, and Gu Yan's broken sword.

Principal Zhou Wenyin's gaze swept over these items one by one, finally resting on Gu Yan's broken sword, and she remained silent for a long time.

"Second Lieutenant Meng Yan is still in the Sea of Thousand Realms Mist. He gave me both the resonator and the bone blade."

Shen Ye recounted his discovery of the abnormal coordinates in the Sea of Thousand Realms Mist, then unpacked Jiang Yue's recent Twilight character deciphering data and pushed the latest conclusion toward her—the four keys to the Twilight Shelter were very likely kept separately by the four top universities.

He paused, then said the sentence he had repeatedly rehearsed deep in his heart during the Provincial Tournament: "I want to collect all four keys and open the Twilight Shelter. But with my current personal authorization, even accessing the deep databases of these universities is difficult. So—"

"So you want me to help you pave the way," Principal Zhou Wenyin continued. "I can help you with Wanxiang University. But the other three—Cangqiong, Yongheng—their deep databases won't be open to outsiders. Unless," she held up three fingers, "first, you place in the top ranks of the National Competition, letting all four universities see your value. Second, you establish direct cooperation with core students within the three universities. Third, Gu Qinghan, Su Wanqing, Jiang Yue—these three people each correspond to an intelligence gap in one of the universities."

Her fingers tapped lightly on the table, one after another, each tap corresponding to a future challenge node.

Shen Ye realized that the principal was already helping him build the framework—not by walking for him, but by laying out the map before he could even see the whole picture.

Principal Zhou Wenyin gently picked up Gu Yan's broken sword and drew it an inch from its scabbard. The crack extending from the hilt to the tip glowed with a very faint dark golden light in the setting sun.

"Go. Keep Gu Yan's sword with you."

Shen Ye retrieved all the items on the table one by one. The broken sword was wrapped in spiritual silk, the bone blade was resealed, the metal fragment sample bag had its label confirmed, and the resonator chip continued to store the law fluctuations of the Ash King's afterimage within the detector—everything was in its proper place.

He zipped up his backpack, bowed to Principal Zhou Wenyin, and pushed open the door.

In the hallway, the setting sun shone in through the windows, casting patches of orange-red light onto the floor. He walked through the hallway, down the stairs, and out of the teaching building.

The playground was empty, and a few prematurely yellowed ginkgo leaves had fallen onto the track. The dormitory building still had lights on, and Liu Yang's snoring could be vaguely heard from upstairs. Everything was exactly the same as when he had first awakened two months ago.

Shen Ye stood under the ginkgo tree, looking up for a while at the shattered golden sunlight leaking through the treetops. Then he pushed open the door and entered the dormitory building.

In the two months that had passed, nearly a hundred years had gone by in the Kingdom. Jin Lin had comprehended Twilight Sword Qi, Mu Sheng's guiding vines had blossomed five times, Daoist Quan had advanced from a single spiral to a triple parallel spiral, Tie Chui had refined the first batch of dark gold prismatic spiral foundation establishment pills, and the spiral mineral crystals from Yan Shan and his son were already being steadily supplied to Su Wanqing's chamber of commerce channels. Yan Shan's Rock Pattern had extended from his elbow to his shoulder, and the crack on his chest that had been shattered by the bone blade had long since been covered by newly grown Rock Pattern.

The number of angels and succubi had increased from five hundred each at the time of awakening to several thousand each, and the Twilight Spirit Spring cluster was approaching the rare low-grade from the superior refined grade.

Everything was growing quietly, like the golden rim on the edges of the ginkgo leaves, unhurried and calm; when the season arrived, it would naturally shine.

There was less than a month left until the National Competition. Shen Ye pushed open the dormitory door, placed his backpack at the foot of the bed, and took out Liu Yang's crooked amulet from his pocket.

The stitches were still as ugly as ever, and the corner sewn inside out was still reversed. He pressed the amulet against his chest and closed his eyes. The Long Night was not yet over, but the path had already been paved.