301: Chapter 301 The Anomaly in the Desolate Starfield! The Heavenly Dao Begins to Reciprocate.

As the teleportation light dissipated, Lin Chen stood on the border of the Icebound Star Domain.

But he didn't go to find that young girl immediately.

Because the ground beneath his feet was vibrating.

It wasn't an earthquake; it was a deeper tremor coming from the level of laws. The source of the vibration wasn't in the Icebound Star Domain, but in—

The Dead Silence Star Domain.

Lin Chen frowned and opened the system monitoring.

On the screen, the tree of heavenly dao was undergoing a bizarre transformation.

The roots that had once delved deep into the star domain's substrate were suddenly growing frantically. The root system, which originally covered only one-third of the Dead Silence Star Domain, spread across the entire star domain within a mere three minutes. At the tip of every root, a faint golden light was being released.

Wherever the light reached, the lands eroded by the storm began to regain vitality. Withered buildings solidified once more, dissipated streets re-emerged, and even those living beings who had fallen into slumber due to low emotional concentration slowly opened their eyes.

"This is..." Lin Chen was stunned.

A system prompt popped up:

[Anomalous change detected in the tree of heavenly dao!]

[Anomaly Type: Feedback Mode Activated]

[Cause of Anomaly: Detected severe erosion in the host's star domain. The tree of heavenly dao has initiated the 'Concept Protection Program,' releasing its stored energy to give back to the star domain's underlying laws.]

[Current Feedback Progress: 17%... 34%... 58%...]

[Estimated Completion Time: 3 hours]

[Upon completion of the feedback, the Dead Silence Star Domain will receive the following permanent bonuses:]

1. emotional concentration limit increased by 50%

2. concept resistance increased by 30%

3. auto-repair capability activated

Lin Chen stared at the prompt, silent for three seconds.

Then he laughed.

That seed, which once sought to erase the concept of commerce, had now become the life-saving straw for the Dead Silence Star Domain.

Ironic.

But useful.

He switched to the monitoring for the Spiritual Energy Star Domain.

On the screen, the roots of the tree of heavenly dao had also spread over. Although not as dense as in the Dead Silence Star Domain, they covered about 40% of the area. The ruins of cultivation civilizations destroyed by the storm were slowly restructuring.

Zhang Hao's communication came through, his voice filled with pleasant surprise: "Boss! The tree of heavenly dao is giving back! The preservation rate of the Spiritual Energy Star Domain has risen from 89% to 91%!"

Lin Chen nodded. "What about the Icebound Star Domain?"

Zhang Hao pulled up the data: "The Icebound Star Domain hasn't been covered... Wait, a root has reached over! It's very thin, but it's definitely there! The preservation rate has started rising from 79%! 79.3%, 79.7%, 80.1%..."

Lin Chen watched the slowly climbing numbers in silence.

The star domain Morgana had traded her life for was being repaired, bit by bit, by the seed that once belonged to the enemy.

Alpha's communication came through, its voice still weak—it had just been urgently awakened from sleep mode:

"Lin Chen, the Data Star Domain... is also covered. The preservation rate rose from 71% to 73%. My core database... is more stable now."

Lin Chen nodded.

He turned off the communication and looked up toward the Dead Silence Star Domain.

There, the canopy of the tree of heavenly dao was glowing.

Golden light pierced through the void, illuminating the four star domains.

Like some kind of proclamation.

Or perhaps some kind of compensation.

Arrogant Dragon's voice came from beside him: "Boss, this tree... didn't it want to kill us before?"

"Mm."

"Then why is it saving us now?"

Lin Chen was silent for a second.

Then he said, "Because it has grown up."

Arrogant Dragon was stunned. "Grown up?"

"At first, it was just a seed, only capable of executing its programmed setting—erasing the concept of commerce," Lin Chen said. "But now, it has taken root in the Dead Silence Star Domain, absorbed the emotional energy here, and witnessed our struggles, sacrifices, betrayals, and redemptions."

"It has learned."

Arrogant Dragon opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

Lin Chen turned and looked into the depths of the Icebound Star Domain.

There, a small, thin figure stood before the ruins of the icebound throne, looking up at the sky.

She wore a thin white dress and stood barefoot on the ice, yet she seemed not to feel the cold. Her ice-blue hair reached down to her waist, fluttering gently in the wind.

Lin Chen walked over.

The sound of his footsteps startled her.

She turned her head.

That face was exactly the same as Morgana's.

But the look in her eyes was completely different.

Morgana's eyes were cold, filled with the frost accumulated from three million years of loneliness.

But her eyes were empty, possessing the vacancy of a newborn baby facing the world.

She looked at Lin Chen and tilted her head.

"Who are you?"

Lin Chen was silent for a second.

Then he said, "My name is Lin Chen."

"Lin Chen..." she repeated, as if trying to memorize the name. "I feel like... I've heard it somewhere before."

Lin Chen didn't answer.

He simply took out the inheritance fragment from his robe.

The crystal emitted an ice-blue light in his palm.

When she saw the crystal, her gaze suddenly became focused.

"What is that?"

"Something of yours." Lin Chen handed it to her. "Returning it to its original owner."

She took the crystal.

The moment her fingers touched the crystal, she froze.

Countless images flooded her mind—the icebound throne, the Zeroing Storm, the hand of formatting, the burning origin, the final smile...

She stood there, motionless.

For a long, long time.

Long enough that Arrogant Dragon couldn't help but want to speak, only to be stopped by Lin Chen raising his hand.

Then, she cried.

Tears slid from her eyes, freezing into tiny ice crystals on her cheeks.

She looked up at Lin Chen.

This time, her eyes were no longer empty.

Instead, they were complex—filled with gratitude, sadness, relief, and a little bit of... estrangement.

"I... remember some of it," she said. "But not much."

"What do you remember?"

"I remember someone telling me not to lose face." She looked at the crystal in her hand. "I remember a hand that wanted to destroy this place. I remember... a light."

She paused and looked at Lin Chen.

"At the end of that light, there was someone calling my name."

Lin Chen was silent.

She knew who that person was.

But she didn't say it.

She just looked at Lin Chen quietly, as if confirming something.

Arrogant Dragon whispered from the side: "Boss, is she..."

Lin Chen interrupted him: "Let's go."

"Where to?"

"Back to the Dead Silence Star Domain. The tree of heavenly dao is still giving back; we need to keep an eye on it."

He turned to leave.

After a few steps, he stopped again.

Without looking back, he said:

"What is your name?"

The girl was stunned for a moment.

Then she looked down at the crystal in her hand and was silent for three seconds.

"Morgana," she said. "My name is Morgana."

Lin Chen nodded.

He continued walking.

Behind him, the girl's voice drifted over:

"Lin Chen!"

He stopped.

"Thank you."

Lin Chen did not look back.

He just waved his hand.

The teleportation light flared up.

He vanished from the Icebound Star Domain.

The girl stood where she was, watching the direction where the light had disappeared.

The crystal in her hand was still glowing.