321: Chapter 319 The Implanted Existence

Shen Nian stood in front of the dark crystal core for a long time.

The directions in which those lights dissipated surfaced repeatedly in his consciousness, like an outline that had been slowly traced multiple times, with each review revealing details that had not been noticed before.

That last remaining light, before merging into the Chaos, did indeed linger for about another breath, like a letter being pressed down once more by the sender after sealing, to confirm that the wax seal was firmly attached.

He put the recording talisman back into his robe and looked at the dark crystal core again: "Senior, before leaving, did the Creator leave behind any records regarding 'implantation'?"

The light of The Artisan flickered slightly: "Implantation?"

"Disciple sensed a most thorough void within the depression of the hollow center.

It was not moved away, nor was it dismantled; rather, it was as if something had been taken away, and its very Foundation had been cleared out along with it.

The shape of that void was extremely complete, with edges exceedingly uniform, as if someone had precisely cut out a piece and then carefully smoothed out the cross-section."

He paused and added: "It is like a seed being buried in the soil, uprooted after sprouting, while the surrounding soil is tamped down anew, making it impossible to tell that a tree had ever existed there."

The Artisan was silent for a moment: "In the early archives of the Tiangong Clan, there were descriptions regarding the 'Origin Model'.

It was not a specific record, but rather like a concept repeatedly mentioned—the Creator once condensed an object using the most primitive energy within the Chaos; it was not a structure, not a building, nor any observable entity.

It was more like... the pure 'existence' itself."

"It already existed before the birth of the Tiangong Clan.

The Creator placed it into the center of the Land of Origin, and then arranged a series of creations around it for monitoring and stabilization.

After the birth of the Tiangong Clan, those creations were gradually forgotten, but their distribution—the annular arrangement centered on the hollow center—matched the arcs recorded by Shen Nian completely."

Shen Nian's gaze did not leave the dark crystal core: "After that item was taken away, those monitoring and stabilizing structures lost their reason for existing, which is why they gradually ceased evolving—like a clock losing its central mainspring; although the gears remain in place, they can no longer turn."

The light of The Artisan dimmed slightly: "The Tiangong Clan always thought those structures decayed naturally.

We thought we had forgotten how to maintain them ourselves, forgotten to continuously input energy.

We thought it was our own fault."

"That is not your fault." Shen Nian's voice softly echoed in the quiet cabin, "The center upon which those structures depended no longer exists.

What they lost was not maintenance, but meaning."

The Artisan fell silent.

Shen Nian did not speak again either.

After a while, he lowered his head to look at the fine crystal, and softly spoke: "That item... the Creator took it away."

The light of The Artisan stabilized once more: "This seat believes that such a statement may be closer to the truth.

When leaving, the Creator transferred it together with itself.

Implantation was the beginning, taking away was the completion, and from start to finish, the Land of Origin was merely a nursery for it."

Shen Nian's gaze fell upon the dark crystal core: "If those lights truly carried something when leaving, then the trace of 'taking away' that Disciple felt at the hollow center might just be the fault left behind after that item was moved away."

He was silent for a moment, as if organizing his thoughts: "Between that taken-away item and the lostness of the Tiangong Clan in the Late Stage, there may exist a direct relationship of Karma."

"After it disappeared, the Tiangong Clan lost its connection with its own Origin.

You still remember how to build, but have forgotten why you build.

Those structures still maintain a complete form, yet no longer know how to continue—like after the trunk of a tree is removed, the vines that once attached to it still maintain the shape from when they were supported, yet can no longer find the starting point to climb upward."

The Artisan still did not respond.

But its light became even more restrained, like a tree whose wound had been touched, withdrawing its own boundaries in silence.

Shen Nian did not continue speaking either.

He just stood there, letting those words linger in the air for a while, like letting a leaf fall into the water after loosening one's grip, waiting for it to sink to its rightful place amidst the ripples.

He stood in the cabin for a period of time, then turned around and returned to the core space along the passageway he had come by.

When returning to the core space, Lu Qing was busy in front of that pile of rubbings.

She raised her head, saw Shen Nian's expression, and without asking much, simply handed over a newly completed rubbing: "Senior, during the comparison process, Disciple discovered that the trend of a fractured surface on the edge of Heluo completely corresponds to the radius of the hollow center.

That fractured surface had never been marked in the records of Heluo, as if it had always been defaulted to as a natural crack."

Shen Nian took the rubbing, carefully scrutinizing the trend of that fractured surface; its distance from the hollow center overlapped almost precisely.

That was no coincidence.

He put down the rubbing and sat down opposite Lu Qing: "Disciple saw the state of the Creator before they left in the image records.

The void of the hollow center was taken away by them.

That taken-away item is the ultimate meaning of all construction by the Tiangong Clan."

Lu Qing was silent for a moment: "So the Tiangong Clan has always been building around an item that no longer exists.

They thought they were creating, but in reality, they were maintaining an empty display stand, while the exhibit had long been taken away by the Creator."

Shen Nian did not reply.

He sat by the crystal core for a long time, the warmth of his palm transmitting through his clothing, as if continuously confirming a path that had already been walked through.

He realized that when leaving, the Creator did not abandon the Tiangong Clan—they merely took that item away, believing that its mission had been completed.

And the Tiangong Clan did not know this, only knowing that the structures left behind were slowly stopping, thinking that they had done something wrong.