When Lin Xiaohe woke up, she was already inside a crystal honeycomb cell, with Tiesheng and his family chatting nearby.
Grandma Lin: “Tiesheng, I heard from the Clan Leader that this ‘Seed of the World’ is vastly different from previous ones; it was forged by pooling the entire strength of the Bedrock Clan. Our Crystal-Vein Bedrock Clan has only three slots left for ‘Seed of the World’ guides—one is already taken by Tongsheng, while the other two remain undecided. You must give it your all!”
Tiesheng scratched his head and glanced at Lin Xiaohe.
Lin Xiaohe quickly shut her eyes and pretended to be asleep.
Tiesheng lowered his voice and said, “Forget it. If I can’t become a guide, I can still apply to be a Stellar Core Resonance Engineer or a Xenogeologist. I’ll find something to do.”
“No!” Grandpa Lin, who was usually quiet, spoke with a stern expression and absolute finality. “You must become a guide!”
Tiesheng paused what he was doing, a confused look on his face. “Why?”
Grandpa Lin cleared his throat. “This time’s ‘World Seed’ is targeted at the Outer Domains. It’s of immense significance.”
“The Outer Domains? Then I’m not going. The Outer Domains are too far away. Who knows how long it’ll be before I can come back home? It wouldn’t be convenient for taking care of you.”
Grandma Lin shot Grandpa Lin a harsh glare and continued persuading Tiesheng. “This is a rare opportunity. If you can guide the ‘World Seed’ to dive deep into the mantle in the Outer Domains and establish a colonial base, you’ll be a hero of the clan. You’ll get your own page in the clan genealogy! If you become the Clan Chief, do you still have to worry about Xiaohe not being in the genealogy?”
That made a lot of sense. Tiesheng was tempted. “I’ll take Xiaohe to the Sacred Stele first.”
Tiesheng was a man of action. As soon as he finished speaking, he hoisted Lin Xiaohe onto his back and left.
The stellar core jump required queuing, and the earlier you lined up, the sooner you got to use it.
Lin Xiaohe opened her eyes, straightened her neck, and looked around.
Little Black crawled to the inside of Lin Xiaohe’s wrist and melted into her skin like water, becoming an insectoid tattoo.
“Dad, what’s the ‘World Seed’?”
Tiesheng pointed his chin toward the west. “That’s it. The old ‘World Seeds’ were just miniature prototype Bedrock Clan cities. Using stellar core resonance jump technology, they open a tiny spatial root that goes straight into the target planet’s gravity well and launch the ‘World Seed’ through it.”
“Once the ‘World Seed’ is captured by the target planet’s gravity, it adjusts its angle and crashes straight into a predetermined location—usually a geological weak point—using kinetic energy to punch through the crust. After it dives to a certain depth, it deploys leyline roots, draws geothermal energy, activates its miniature core crucible, and establishes a preliminary resonance.”
This was how the Bedrock Clan colonized alien planets.
Lin Xiaohe observed the “World Seed” not far away.
It was a massive, irregular, dark crystalline meteorite shape, five kilometers long. Its surface was covered with specially treated obsidian armor, etched with mysterious crystal vein patterns.
“Dad, what about this ‘World Seed’ that’s targeted for the Outer Domains?”
Tiesheng shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s the Bedrock Clan’s highest secret. Maybe the Clan Chief knows a bit more.”
There were many people who wanted to go to the Sacred Stele. The launch base gathered them all together and transported them in one batch.
“Just like this?” Lin Xiaohe was dumbfounded. No spaceship or protective suit—just going in the raw?
The launch base staff shot her a disdainful glance and ruthlessly pressed the launch button.
Zzz zzz zzz.
Sparks crackled and popped on the passengers’ bodies.
Tiesheng hugged Lin Xiaohe worriedly, only to be surprised to find that his supposedly fragile Rockling was completely unfazed—she even had the spare energy to watch everyone else’s amusing reactions.
“As expected of my Rockling!” Tiesheng was immensely proud.
The whole process took about an hour.
Lin Xiaohe saw the Sacred Stele again.
Unlike the Sacred Steles in the Shaman civilization and the Federation civilization, the Bedrock Clan’s Sacred Stele was located at the core of a massive star.
To be precise, a supergiant star had formed with the Sacred Stele at its very heart.
“Xiaohe, go over there, kneel down, and receive the blessing.”
Lin Xiaohe walked toward the Sacred Stele, but after only three steps, she could not advance any further.
A wall of magma blocked Lin Xiaohe’s path, stopping only her.
The Sacred Stele was rejecting her!
This scene stunned everyone watching.
Some Bedrock Clan members wouldn’t receive the Stele’s blessing, but no one had ever been prevented from even approaching it like this.
“It’s okay. Don’t be sad. You still have your dad.” Tiesheng picked up Lin Xiaohe, his heart nearly shattering into pieces.
Poor Rockling!
After a moment of stunned silence, Lin Xiaohe let out a low chuckle. The laughter grew louder, until it gave people the creeps.
“Xiaohe?” Tiesheng was deeply concerned.
“Dad, it’s nothing. I just figured out a lot of things. I’m really happy.”
Lin Xiaohe’s eyes were bright—brighter than the clearest crystal!
From the very first day she arrived in the Bedrock civilization, Lin Xiaohe had been pondering one question.
In the First Era Shaman civilization, she had already blocked her own reincarnation path through the Sacred Stele.
In the Second Era cultivation civilization, Lin Xiaohe suffered from the Soulless Condition, proving that the decision she made in the First Era had already affected the subsequent timeline.
So how could she, with a Seventh Era body and a complete soul, enter the Bedrock civilization?!
Was she a foreign visitor to the civilization, or like Mu, did she inherently exist within the Bedrock civilization?
The Sacred Stele’s rejection helped her confirm her answer.
The Sacred Stele did not recognize her—she was an outsider to the civilization.
If you think of the Sacred Stele as a colossal, incredibly powerful supercomputer, then Lin Xiaohe was a virus that had accidentally slipped into a section of program code.
The reason the virus could breach the supercomputer’s firewall was because the supercomputer had a bug.
That bug was what the Divine Venerable called the place where the Upper Gods fell!
“Hahahahaha!”
Lin Xiaohe stood with her hands on her hips, laughing heartily.
All along, the Sacred Stele had placed enormous psychological pressure on her.
Not just because of its overwhelming power, but also because of its infallible foresight.
The apocalyptic crisis, soul reincarnation, the Chosen One, the seven eras of civilization…
The Sacred Stele was like the hand of God, arbitrarily manipulating the entire star sector—from civilization-ending disasters down to individual fates.
This sense of a predestined fate made Lin Xiaohe feel like a chess piece, or an NPC, filled with a sense of powerlessness against destiny.
But now, this god-like Sacred Stele had a bug! It wasn’t omnipotent—it was itself a creation of some civilization!
As long as there was a bug, Lin Xiaohe was confident she could clear this game. And if all else failed, she’d just flip the table.
Lin Xiaohe was deep in her own thoughts, mulling over how to make use of the place where the Upper Gods fell.
Back in the Shaman civilization, she had never heard anyone mention this place.
Logically speaking, the Shamans had inherited the most knowledge—they should have known more about the fallen place than anyone else.
Why had she never heard a single word about it? Could it be that the place where the Upper Gods fell came after the Shaman civilization?
How was the Divine Venerable able to enter that fallen place?
The biggest difference between the Shaman civilization and the cultivation civilization was how they utilized energy.
The Shaman civilization focused on internal power, while the cultivation civilization leaned more toward channeling spiritual energy—which placed greater demands on developing the origin of life.
The origin of life… Was that the reason?
“Tiesheng! Are you trying to piss me off?! Do you think this is about having a job or not?!”
Lin Xiaohe was pulled out of her thoughts. She looked up and saw Tongsheng so angry that his whole body had turned red.
He punched Tiesheng right on the nose and snarled, “You idiot! A major crisis is coming! Do you think being a guide is just a regular job? It’s a ticket—it’s the hope of escape!”
