Lost Contact

Then Lu Yuan was promptly kicked out of bed by a thoroughly mortified Si Tingxue and Rebecca.

He washed up with an expression of pure exasperation, left the room, and went off to train.

He'd rested two days after his breakthrough. It was time to get back to serious cultivation — to bring all his new Transcendent Genes to peak proficiency.

The real world. Heavenly Calamity Star.

On that planet where green flames burned everywhere and an unsettling glow permeated the air, deep within the vast sacred temple of the Heavenly Calamity Cult —

The First Apostle, Xue Han, sat at her desk attending to administrative matters. She wore a long green robe with blood-red Runes embroidered along the cuffs, her beautiful face framed by a pair of small crimson horns.

Her elegant brows were furrowed in thought.

The three Bishops were perpetually engaged in affairs of Heavenly Calamity, and the Apostles were all run off their feet. The previous operation to corrupt the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin had cost them the Eighth Apostle Bridge, the Twelfth Apostle Belok, and the Thirteenth Apostle Mu Jing — and no suitable replacements had been found yet. The Second and Third Apostles were in closed-door cultivation. The Fourth through Seventh had gone to corrupt the star domains. The Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh had been dispatched on official business to the Mechanical Race, the Elf Race, and the Beast Race respectively.

The Fourteenth Apostle, Du Bei, she had personally sent to Great Qi Star to investigate the newly emerged Battle Saint.

*Hmm...* Thinking of Du Bei made Xue Han's brow crease slightly. There had been no new reports so far — it seemed that Saint was hiding rather well. Could it be that even Du Bei was having difficulty tracking them down?

Still, Xue Han wasn't overly worried. Given Du Bei's concealment abilities and Aberration corruption powers, finding a hidden Saint was merely a matter of time. Surely Du Bei would deliver good news before long.

She was still lost in thought when a knock came at the door. Her brow twitched at the interruption.

"Come in."

The door swung open and a Heavenly Calamity cult member entered, a trace of alarm on their face.

"My Lord — Du Bei has gone dark!"

Silence fell over the office. Several large question marks materialized in Xue Han's mind. She looked up at the cult member, her expression unreadable.

"...The details?"

The cult member, unnerved by that impassive stare, swallowed hard and began to shake.

"Be-because Du Bei, My Lord, hasn't contacted headquarters in several months now. When we attempted routine contact, we found... we couldn't get through."

Xue Han: "..."

She had literally just been thinking Du Bei would bring her good news — and now, not thirty seconds later, they had gone completely dark?!

Her expression darkened, and she murmured quietly:

"...Great Qi Star, is it?"

Du Bei had gone dark while investigating that unknown Battle Saint. The Saint was clearly far more dangerous than Xue Han had assumed — even Du Bei, arguably the most capable of all the Apostles when it came to concealment, had been taken down.

She sat in grim silence, considering how to proceed.

The cult member who had brought the news saw her expression and began trembling violently, dropping to their knees without a word.

At that moment, a gentle voice reached Xue Han's ears:

"Come to the Heavenly Calamity Grand Hall."

She stiffened, then drew a slow breath. She glanced at the cult member.

"Set aside the matter of Du Bei for now. You may go."

The cult member exhaled in relief, nodded quickly, and left the office.

Once they were gone, Xue Han rose and made her way down the corridor toward the chamber deep within the temple. She took a steadying breath, composed herself, and pushed open the great doors.

The interior was as oppressive as ever. The torches along the walls flickered with pale blue light, casting the vast hall in perpetual shadow.

She dropped to her knees and bowed reverently toward the Elf man seated high upon the throne.

"Grand Archbishop."

The Grand Archbishop of Heavenly Calamity had something like a green sun burning in each eye. He gazed down at the kneeling Xue Han and spoke.

"Heavenly Calamity has granted its revelation. We will soon begin the second invasion of the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin. The Cult currently lacks sufficient Saint Grade powerhouses — seek out suitable candidates. Heavenly Calamity will bestow upon them the strength to reach Saint rank."

At those words, Xue Han pressed herself even lower, her forehead nearly touching the floor.

"At once, Grand Archbishop."

"Go."

Xue Han left the palace. Standing in the corridor, a fervent gleam spread across her face.

This second invasion of the Upper Layer would be nothing like the half-hearted skirmish of last time. With Heavenly Calamity itself granting power to their forces, the scale of what was coming was staggering to contemplate. When a horde of Saints descended upon it, the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin would surely be consumed entirely.

She strode back to her office and began her preparations.

As for Du Bei — she would deal with that later. For now, the mission to corrupt the Upper Layer took clear priority. A mere Battle Saint, however powerful — what could they possibly do against the cataclysm that was Heavenly Calamity?

The Land of Origin. A Gravity Room.

Lu Yuan peered at his Communication Crystal, where Amy and Wang Lingling's images hovered. He spoke with mild surprise:

"You're saying you want to head to the Upper Layer?"

Amy nodded, looking rather pleased with herself.

"Thanks to all the treasures you gave me, you big swindler, I'm actually pretty strong now — I could probably crack the top fifty on the King Rankings. But getting any stronger from here is getting really difficult. I want to focus on tempering my genes and breaking through, and spend the rest of my time hunting Feral Beasts in the Upper Layer for resources. My great-grandfather's already given his blessing."

Wang Lingling wore her usual gentle smile from beside her.

"I'll be accompanying the young lady."

Seeing their minds were made up, Lu Yuan thought it over.

"In that case, I'll check in with the others and see where they stand."

"Sure, sure!"

Amy bobbed her head eagerly.

Shortly after, Lu Yuan reached out to Yeye. A flicker of white light, and Yeye's expressionless little face appeared in the Communication Crystal. She blinked her large eyes, and the faintest smile curved her lips.

"A-Yuan, what's up?"

"Amy and Lingling are planning to train in the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin. What do you think, Yeye?"

"I'm going too."

She answered without a moment's hesitation. Lu Yuan hadn't expected that. He blinked.

"You're already a Battle Emperor," Yeye continued. "I'm still at Battle King Rank. I need to catch up."

A rare look of determination settled across her face. Something about it made Lu Yuan smile.

"Then you should go. Is Small White coming with you?"

"Young Master Lu, Small White wants to go too!"

Small White's voice came from off to the side, though she hadn't stepped into frame. She was nothing like Wang Lingling — Wang Lingling would casually tease Amy, but Small White held Yeye in the deepest respect and was altogether more earnest and capable in her conduct. Wang Lingling was formidably talented, but she had a calculating streak to her that Small White simply lacked.

"Understood," Lu Yuan said with a chuckle.

Having confirmed Yeye and Small White's intentions, he thought for a moment, then left his Gravity Room and walked to another one nearby. He knocked.

Almost immediately, Rebecca's voice came from inside, guarded:

"A-Yuan? What is it?"

Lu Yuan: "?"

He stared at the firmly shut door. "Why aren't you opening it?"

"If you have something to say, say it from out there! We're not opening this door! Who knows what you might get up to if we let you in?!"

She'd apparently startled at his question and only grown more anxious.

Lu Yuan rubbed his forehead, finally understanding.

*Good grief.* They were treating him like some predator lurking outside their door. Was he really that terrifying?

For a brief moment, he genuinely questioned himself.

Then a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

*Did she really think a locked door could stop him? How charming.*

His body vanished.

Inside the Gravity Room, Rebecca stood near the entrance, eyeing the door warily. Not far away, Si Tingxue had stopped her cultivation and was watching it with equal tension — as if Lu Yuan might come crashing through at any second.

When the outside fell suddenly silent, the two exchanged a puzzled glance.

Then something seemed to occur to Rebecca.

"X-Xiaoxue... do you think A-Yuan got angry because we wouldn't open up?"

A flicker of worry crossed Si Tingxue's face — then she rolled her eyes.

"That shameless oaf? Get angry over something like this? Please. And last time it was clearly his fault, not—"

She never finished the sentence. Warm breath grazed her ear, and a voice filled with quiet mischief spoke directly into it:

"Oh? Who's shameless? Who's 'not right'?"

Si Tingxue: "???"

Her entire body went rigid.

Rebecca stood with her mouth hanging open, staring at Lu Yuan — who had appeared behind Si Tingxue out of nowhere — her mind going completely blank.

Acting on pure instinct, she began inching toward the door, her hand reaching for the handle.

But no matter what she tried, she couldn't get any closer. The handle was barely ten centimeters away, yet it might as well have been on the other side of the universe.

It was Spatial Rift at work. The gap between her hand and the handle looked almost nonexistent, but Lu Yuan had woven Spatial Rifts through that tiny interval — threading infinite distance through the space of centimeters. No matter how hard Rebecca strained, the handle remained forever out of reach.

Lu Yuan smiled pleasantly. "Why are you both so wound up? I came here on actual business. Who'd have thought you'd be this scared of me?"

Si Tingxue's cheeks flushed faintly. She hunched her shoulders, deeply uncomfortable with his proximity — goosebumps prickling up her arms.

"What — what did you want to talk to us about?"

"Amy and the others are planning to head to the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin. Do you want to come?"

Both Si Tingxue and Rebecca's attention snapped to him entirely.

"The Upper Layer?"

A sharp light kindled in Si Tingxue's ice-blue eyes.

"Of course."

Rebecca abandoned all hope of reaching the door handle and nodded firmly. "Yes! We're going! My resources are running genuinely thin these days — Emperor Grade genes are great, but the tempering costs are absolutely brutal. At this rate I'll drain my entire family's fortune. I really do need to start pulling my own weight."

She couldn't help the mild complaint. Her family had only a single Battle Emperor; sustaining the tempering of an Emperor Grade gene put no small strain on their coffers.

"Then you'll both come along," Lu Yuan said.

Si Tingxue gave a small nod, then: "Well then — you can leave now, right?"

Lu Yuan blinked. Then his smile slowly turned dangerous.

"Well... I did only come to take care of business. But since I'm already here, I may as well make the trip worthwhile."

Si Tingxue: "???"

Rebecca: "???"

The following morning. White Cloud City. In front of the teleportation hall leading to the Upper Layer of the Land of Origin.

A violet-gold warship cut across the sky and settled along the street. The hatch opened and Amy and Wang Lingling stepped out.

Amy stowed the warship, then spotted Yeye and Small White standing not far ahead. Her eyes lit up.

"Yeye! Small White! You're here early!"

Yeye gave her a quiet nod. "Mm."

Small White bowed with solemn formality. "Miss Amy. Miss Wang Lingling."

Wang Lingling smiled gently and gave Small White a sidelong look. "Such ceremony. Very you."

Small White's expression didn't shift a fraction. "I represent Her Highness the Princess. Her Highness represents the Tianming Empire. I cannot afford to embarrass her — or the Empire. If anything, Miss Wang Lingling, you are far too casual."

"Oh~ is that so? Don't you find it exhausting to live like that? Like a tool, with no thoughts of your own?"

Wang Lingling's expression remained the picture of serene pleasantness.

"This is the truest feeling in my own heart, Miss Wang Lingling. Your attempt to provoke me is rather clumsy."

While the two of them were at it, Amy and Yeye had long since drifted to one side. Amy produced some fruit and offered it to Yeye.

"These are called sweet melons — apparently they're delicious. Try one!"

Yeye's eyes lit up. She nodded and accepted one, eating with quiet enthusiasm.

The two of them nibbled their melon slices and watched Wang Lingling and Small White go at each other.

Amy blinked.

"Why do those two end up fighting every single time they meet?"

Yeye shook her head. "No idea."

Through the connections forged at the Aier Mechanical Ruins, the Tianming Empire and Tianrao City had developed an ongoing cooperative relationship, which meant Yeye and Amy came to see each other from time to time. They hadn't been especially close back at the Ruins, but neither of them were complicated people — after a handful of encounters, they'd simply become good friends.

For Amy, it was enough to have someone to talk to and have fun with. For Yeye, having someone who fed her good food was more than sufficient. Their friendship was just that simple.

But every time they met, Small White and Wang Lingling clashed like oil and water — constitutionally unable to stand each other, guaranteed to quarrel on sight. Yeye and Amy felt entirely innocent in the matter and remained completely baffled by why those two kept fighting.

Amy took a crisp bite of the bright green melon and murmured contentedly, "This melon really is sweet."

Yeye nodded. "Mm."

At that moment, Lu Yuan appeared out of nowhere with Si Tingxue and Rebecca in tow.