“My internal archaeological index tells me this is a surviving image from history, marking a critical turning point in the passage of eras.

“The Eternal Empire once poured all its might into erecting the Tower of Origin at the very center of the world, intending to dominate all the Supreme Benevolences, reign over the world forever, and control everything.

“But the Celestial Pillar hadn’t even been completed before it collapsed, causing the old order to utterly collapse. The Origin split in two, indirectly leading to the formation of the Federation and the Empire over ninety years later.

“Stars fell from the heavens, and fire surged from the earth. Blood rained from the sky for three years. Plague ran rampant, disasters ravaged for twenty-one years, until the Eternal Dynasty completely ended, yet its aftershocks never truly dissipated. Even to this day, natural calamities continue to plague the land.”

This was the last wail before the Empire’s destruction, taking with it two-thirds of all life on the surface.

After the Primordial Era and the Age of Chaos, it had seemed that the once endless, infinite, and eternal Radiant Era had drawn its curtain. But at that time, the prologue of the Cataclysm Era had not yet begun.

The lawless Age of Chaos had endured for ninety-three years until the Twelve Supreme Benevolences reclaimed their positions, the Origin was restored, and two sages, the first Celestial Overseer and the Terrestrial Guardian, once again erected the foundation of order.

Yet the sky and earth did not return to tranquility. Instead, between the Federation and the Empire, long and unseen friction and stalemate took hold.

The world seemed frozen: it did not collapse outright, but from the bitter chill of hatred and enmity, turmoil raged without end, and war flared and faded like a shifting flame.

Over four hundred years later, a sudden, unforeseen disaster struck once more. The calamity swept across the land, leaving only a single survivor, who became a Chosen One by a twist of fate ten years later. The same Chosen One finally stepped into this place.

Thus, time and history were woven together through countless struggles, suffering, turmoil, and death. Amid the myriad of threads, one single strand, the thread of fate, continued on with Ji Jue.

Through the long expanse of time, he finally witnessed the silhouette the sage had left behind on the other side. It was a complex tapestry, with time as the medium and the events of the human world as threads, dyed and woven by the Supreme Benevolences.

They were scattered across different intervals, distant from each other yet subtly connected. To the sage and to the world, this had become a magnificent pattern, but Ji Jue himself was merely one pixel among countless colors.

In a sudden daze, Ji Jue gazed at the scene outside the window and at the lingering spectral shadow of the sage, and once again felt the insignificance of his own existence, as if he were a single grain of sand in the vast ocean.

“When the Tower of Origin collapsed, did anything else happen?” Ji Jue asked.

“You’d better ask what didn’t happen. Everything that should have happened did, and everything that shouldn’t have happened, happened too. The fall of the Eternal Empire was too sudden. Most surviving records contradict each other or point in completely opposite directions. But one thing is certain... Mercury wasn’t even here at the time.”

The devil’s work ball reminded him, “As the Empire’s greatest internal threat, the member of Onyx, Mercury, had already become a sage, and her involvement with the organization had made her just as much of a threat as their leader, Titan. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“At that time, all the Onyx members had mobilized to target the Tower of Origin. Afterwards, countless pieces of evidence pointed to them. They may as well have been the true culprits behind the tower’s collapse. Mercury undoubtedly played a key role. It’s even possible that the overturning of the Tower of Origin was her doing.”

Ji Jue turned in shock, gazing at the apparition.

The phantom remained unchanged. But from her gaze, it looked as if she was the true culprit staring at the sins and bitter fruits she had personally sown.

For a fleeting moment, the phantom seemed to look back, across the expanse of time, and fix its eyes on the young man who, many years later, would trespass into its long-abandoned workshop.

But after the moment of shock passed, when Ji Jue focused and looked carefully, he realized the phantom had vanished without a word. It was gone, never to be seen again. A shiver ran down his spine. His whole body went cold. Was this workshop really haunted?

An Ran didn’t react at all, still squatting on the ground, poking curiously at the discarded, broken instruments. Noticing Ji Jue’s gaze, he looked up in confusion.

“Time to go, kid.” The devil sounded resigned. Its blue glow contracted. “I’ve checked eight or nine times. There’s nothing hostile here, not a single trace of any matrix. Alright, I misread this one. We came all the way here for nothing.”

“Go?” Ji Jue hesitated. After all, leaving empty-handed feels the same as not coming at all, and after being scared half to death, he at least wanted to get something to make it worthwhile.

But as he looked around, he realized it wasn’t that the ball was useless; there was genuinely nothing left here.

When a workshop moved, the important things were never left behind. Anything nonessential left unattended for centuries was completely ruined. All that remained was a fixed furnace, immovable, and honestly worse than if it were rebuilt from scratch. It was entirely useless in its current, long-extinguished state. Without any corresponding spirit circuits or equipment, trying to salvage it would be a dream.

Wait... the furnace?

Ji Jue froze. His attention focused onto the rusted, battered furnace. His eyes gleamed with excitement, and he couldn’t look away. How could he have forgotten such a massive treasure?!

He swallowed hard, then dashed to the window to look down. In just a few minutes, the guardians and Homecoming Knights below were locked in fierce battle, the fight at its peak.

He spun back around. “Mr. Ball, can this furnace still be started?”

The devil’s work ball pulsed with light, spawning countless question marks. “No, bro, this thing’s been out cold for... how many years? It’s completely worthless now. If you try to start it recklessly, it’ll blow for sure. You just have to mess with a sage-level setup, huh?”

“Yes!” Ji Jue nodded firmly. “Anyway, don’t ask, don’t question it. Just tell me if it works or not!”

The ball paused. It really wanted to refuse such a reckless command, but the low-level instructions and permissions left behind by Professor Ye forced it to comply. “If you’re going to court death, I can’t stop you, but I won’t guarantee the outcome. As long as it doesn’t blow me up, I’m fine.”

Ji Jue grinned, cracking his knuckles as he stared at the dormant furnace before him, eyes shining.

I’m still young, and we’re already all the way here now... I at least have to touch the furnace, right?

Blow up? Ji Jue would be worried if it didn’t! Even after over four hundred years, even with decades of neglect, if it could start, that meant there was still a chance to awaken it with ability!

To gain such a huge amount of EXP, if I survive, it’ll all be worth it!

“Start!”

Ji Jue didn’t hold back, pouring all his spirit matter into the ball. In his hands, it surged, and its near-infinite internal recursive structures expanded explosively. In a flash, the complex circuits had been laid across the walls, floor, and ceiling!

Runic clusters, like a field of stars, unfurled around the emblem of Supreme Benevolence, fading into the void, only to reconnect everything once more. Layer by layer, they interfaced with the furnace’s external ports, forcibly assimilating it into their own system.

Low-level commands were overwritten, specifications converted, main circuits adjusted... The dizzying operations that would normally take hours were completed in an instant.

The mobile workshop deployment was complete. A violent grinding noise erupted from outside the temporary workshop erected by the ball.

The rift realm workshop’s own search and detection protocols activated, locking onto this anomaly in an instant. The struggle between the workshop and the divine creation had begun once again!

“Stealth protocol terminated. Offensive and defensive mode engaged. Parasitic integration initiated.” The devil’s work ball’s voice lost all emotion and inflection, barely able to maintain its simulated personality. “Time-sand reserves consumption initiated, estimated duration: 1 minute 14 seconds.”

“Thanks, Mr. Ball! I’ll make up for this with some spirit matter later!”

Without another thought for courtesy, Ji Jue pressed his hands onto the furnace and issued the command. “Awaken!”

The first command felt like speaking into the void, as he received no response. The second command stirred a faint, dim glow within the silence. By the third command, that fragile, flickering resonance, like a candle in the wind, exploded into a colossal echo that swallowed Ji Jue’s soul and consciousness!

It was as if opening the lid of a long-dry well, restarting the machinery, but what gushed out was a torrent far greater than a waterfall in flood.

Spirit matter drained at a breakneck pace, yet the flow couldn’t be stopped. His hands felt glued to the black void of the furnace, impossible to pull away. On his watch, the energy reserves plummeted, completely drained in a mere snap of the fingers.

The furnace, as if still unsatisfied, didn’t open further, but after just a shallow taste, it voluntarily stopped.

Ji Jue collapsed to the floor, pale and soaked in cold sweat, and dizzy from the overload. Quick as ever, An Ran drew the emergency injection gun from his backpack, aiming for the base of Ji Jue’s neck, ensuring he wouldn’t collapse from the severe depletion of spirit matter.

He had never before used his ability to awaken such a massive creation. It wasn’t the sheer size, nor the complexity of the structure; it was the accumulation of the past and the traces left by the former sage, which were far too immense. Even simply granting it awareness left Ji Jue utterly drained.

Now, the furnace trembled slightly with its rust flaking off, and from the open core flickered a sliver of light, like a phantom of a soul. It was thinking, recalling, and comprehending. Within the consciousness, an aged voice echoed with metallic resonance, weary and regretful.

“Has it really been over four hundred years? Thank you for your assistance, stranger. How may I serve you? Alas, I am of little use now.”

Ji Jue sat upright, composed, and said earnestly, “I am a humble novice seeking guidance. Please, enlighten me.”

The furnace fell silent, as if contemplating. “I understand... if it is merely this...”

Ji Jue had no time to respond. The lingering flames within the furnace suddenly erupted, and a vast, surging flood of light swept across him.

Then, it latched onto Horsey.

“Beep? Beep?”

The scooter-dog squatting nearby, sneakily watching the drama unfold, could not react in time. Just like that, it was yanked straight inside!

The furnace sealed shut, and flames roared, leaving only the scooter’s final terrified screams echoing through the air.

“Beeeeeeeeeeeep!!!”