Tiesheng glanced nervously at Lin Xiaohe. Seeing no reaction from her, he assumed she hadn’t heard clearly and quickly said,
“Move aside! I’m going home.”
The man who had spoken earlier said with frustration, “Tiesheng! If it weren’t for the fact that we’re both Rocklings from the same Life Crucible batch, I wouldn’t bother with you. You’d better think this through—our Crystal Vein Bedrock Clan only has a few spots. If you piss off the Clan Chief because of this bald little Rockling and lose your spot, you’ll regret it forever!”
“Alright, alright, I get it. Don’t say stuff like that in front of the Rockling.” Tiesheng strode off with Lin Xiaohe.
The people behind stomped their feet and shouted, “Where are you going? Your aunt and uncle aren’t home—they’re at the Thermal Energy Plaza!”
“Got it.”
Tiesheng hesitated for a long while before explaining to Lin Xiaohe, his voice lacking confidence, “Tongsheng doesn’t dislike you, it’s just… well, he’s just overly concerned about me.”
The Bedrock Clan’s reproduction isn’t through live birth or egg-laying, but rather a geological-scale cultivation process.
In a specialized Life Crucible—an extremely high-energy underground crystal cavern deep within the earth—both parents contribute their genetic matrices. Combined with the planet’s core energy, and over the course of several hundred years, a new Bedrock Clan juvenile grows, much like cultivating a gemstone.
These juveniles are called Rocklings. During their first one to two centuries, they are raised and educated communally by the clan, learning to control their bodies, perceive vibrations, and understand the ancient traditions of the Bedrock Clan.
The entire upbringing process is a joint effort between the family and the clan.
Tiesheng and Tongsheng came from the same Life Crucible and the same batch of Rocklings.
Tiesheng’s genetic matrix was secretly placed into the crucible, so when he was born, no parents came to claim him.
Tongsheng, on the other hand, was different—his parents were relatives of the Clan Chief, and on the day of his birth, he had a huge crowd of family and friends there to celebrate.
When Tongsheng’s aunt and uncle saw that Tiesheng had no one, they decided to adopt him as their son.
In a way, Tiesheng and Tongsheng are related.
Lin Xiaohe looked thoughtful. “Tongsheng just said you wasted a breeding opportunity. Where’s your child?”
Tiesheng scratched his head awkwardly. “Right when I was about to place my genetic matrix, that person backed out. She went and bred with someone else instead. I was so embarrassed that I just went into deep slumber at the planet’s core.”
Tiesheng sighed with emotion. Waking up to find a Rockling he could adopt—how lucky!
Not wanting to bring up the embarrassing matter, Tiesheng changed the subject and began introducing the Forgeheart to Lin Xiaohe.
“Right here is the convergence point of all leyline networks. See that place right in the center? That’s our launch base. If you want to go to other planets, you have to go through that launch base to perform a stellar core resonance jump.”
Lin Xiaohe didn’t understand, so she asked, “What’s a stellar core resonance jump?”
Tiesheng was delighted that his Rockling was so curious and explained in detail, “Every planet has a core, and every core is a crucible. Every rocky planet, and even gas giants, are all potential sister crucibles. If we want to travel between stars, we don’t need to explore unknown places—we just need to activate and connect those dormant planetary hearts. That’s all.”
“Our Bedrock Clan’s goal is to establish a stable interplanetary leyline network with stellar cores as the nodes.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a brief spatial fold opened near the launch base.
Lin Xiaohe looked up. This fold resembled a root system or a tunnel, and it was incredibly stable.
The passage lasted less than ten minutes before it closed.
Tiesheng said, “That’s a stellar core jump. The passage’s stability depends on the immense mass anchoring of the stellar cores at both ends.”
Lin Xiaohe could see it—that tunnel was essentially an ultra-long-distance resonance between planets, a kind of gravitational-thermodynamic resonance in a sense.
This was an entirely different branch of technology from what the Federation had. The Bedrock Clan’s mastery over core energy was truly astounding.
Lin Xiaohe asked, “Where are we going? What’s next?”
Tiesheng’s steps were light. “First, we go to the Thermal Energy Plaza to find your grandparents. Then we’ll visit the Clan Chief together to get you officially registered. Only Rocklings certified by the Clan Chief can receive the inheritance.”
The Forgeheart was enormous. In addition to the core itself, part of it extended to the boundary between the mantle and the core.
That’s where the Thermal Energy Plaza was located—a relatively stable, massive mantle cavern, with an incredibly thick layer of rock above and the churning liquid core below.
Tiesheng led Lin Xiaohe dutifully to the Echo Rampart.
This was the true outer layer of the Forgeheart—a defensive sensor ring made of enormous natural crystal pillars that could absorb and analyze all vibrations coming from the crust above. It served as the city’s early warning system.
Waves of micro-vibrations swept over the two of them, scanning Lin Xiaohe several times in particular. After confirming there was no problem, they were finally allowed to enter.
Past the Echo Rampart lay the more spacious residential and workshop areas.
Countless hexagonal crystal-rock structures served as homes and artisan workshops, packed together like a honeycomb, with flowing rivers of magma providing them with energy.
Right in the center of the residential area was their destination: the Thermal Energy Plaza.
Lin Xiaohe rubbed her eyes. The underground environment was harsh on her vision.
In just this short time, her eyes were already feeling extremely fatigued.
Tiesheng noticed her discomfort and quickened his pace. “Xiaohe, you need to receive the inheritance as soon as possible. We Bedrock Clan don’t rely on eyes to see—we perceive everything through vibrational waves.”
At the Thermal Energy Plaza, all kinds of Bedrock Clan members sat together in a circle, absorbing geothermal heat and replenishing their energy.
“Mom, Dad! I’ve got a Rockling!” Tiesheng hollered.
Three Bedrock Clan members lounging at the edge scrambled to their feet.
“A granddaughter?”
“A little sister?”
The three of them circled around Tiesheng and Lin Xiaohe several times, their voices full of joy, with not a hint of disappointment at Lin Xiaohe’s incomplete evolution.
Ah well, for a dense blockhead like Tiesheng, just having a Rockling at all was already great.
Tiesheng said, “Mom, Dad, you two are acquainted with the Clan Chief. Can you help get our Xiaohe registered? Oh, and by the way, Xiaohe’s surname is Lin—should we take her surname?”
“Sure!”
After all, the Bedrock Clan identified individuals through special vibrational wave signatures. Names? They didn’t matter much.
Grandma Lin was a woman of action and prepared to wait at the entrance to intercept the Clan Chief. “The Clan Chief is in a meeting at the Core Spire. We’ll wait right here until he comes back.”
Tiesheng carried Lin Xiaohe on his back and followed, winding this way and that.
When they finally stopped, Lin Xiaohe looked up and saw a magma lake that defied the laws of physics—completely still.
It floated suspended beneath the dome, its surface smooth as a mirror, reflecting the artificial star chart above.
In the very center of the lake, suspended in midair, stood a living crystal tower made of pure energy.
Lin Xiaohe pointed. “Is that the spire? What’s it for?”
“Yes, that’s the spire. It’s the residence of the Council Leader and also the interface for direct communication with the planet’s core.”
Huh?!
The planet’s core can talk?
Lin Xiaohe was amazed.
Prehistoric civilizations really were something else.
She didn’t know how long they waited—Lin Xiaohe had even fallen asleep—when she vaguely heard a muffled voice.
“No. Unless she receives the blessing of the Sacred Stele, our Crystal Vein Bedrock Clan will never accept her!”
