Ten minutes ago, Saan Wangcheng—
With the approach of the coming-of-age ceremony for the sole Heir Apparent of Saen, the once solemn and austere palace was finally bustling with life.
Nobles from this star domain, generals from the borderlands, and even esteemed guests from other star domains had arrived one after another over these few days.
Within the ancient and splendid palace, attendants hurried swiftly through the corridors.
“This is the guest list and menu for the banquet ten days from now. Deliver it to the kitchen for confirmation, and once everything is settled, go out and purchase the necessary supplies immediately.”
“Clean the rooms on the west side again. The Duke will arrive tonight; the arrangements must follow the instructions exactly!”
“Notify the Guard of Honor to conduct the third rehearsal this afternoon. This time, there must be no mistakes!”
“……”
The ordinary attendants seemed to wish for two minutes in every one, rushing to complete the orders from above before hastening off to their assigned tasks.
Suddenly, a violent surge of Spirit Power rippled through the air, wildly and rapidly spreading.
Caught off guard, everyone stumbled as if struck by a sudden wave against the shore, their previously steady footsteps faltering.
Some attendants with weaker Spirit Power even fell to the ground, accidentally knocking over water basins they carried.
The attendant who had knocked over the basin turned pale and was quickly helped up by someone nearby.
Seeing the attendant’s terrified expression, the other person understood immediately and said, “You’re new, aren’t you?”
The attendant nodded nervously. “I was just recruited yesterday. What’s… what’s happening?”
Such a fierce Spirit Power outbreak— who could it be? This is the Royal City, after all. This was practically an attack! Why didn’t the guards react at all?!
The man hastily motioned for silence, glanced around fearfully, then lowered his voice and answered, “Don’t ask. It’s that person…” He pointed vaguely toward a distant direction outside the window, speaking evasively. “You’ll get used to it. Since a few years ago, His Highness has been like this from time to time.”
The attendant’s eyes widened. “You mean His Highness can’t control his own Spirit Power…”
“Shh!!” In the interstellar age, being unable to control one’s Spirit Power was equivalent to a disability. Such a thing was a taboo illness in any ordinary household, let alone in the royal family. The man glared, “Do you want to get yourself killed?!”
Only then did the attendant realize his mistake. He struggled to suppress it, but under the undying waves of Spirit Power in the air, he felt an increasing sense of painful suffocation.
More people soon reached their limits one by one, their eyes bloodshot, finally realizing that unlike previous outbursts that lasted just seconds before fading away, this was clearly—
The lead attendant’s legs suddenly gave way, and he scrambled out, shouting hoarsely, “Go notify the King at once! His Highness’s Spirit Power is completely out of control!!”
Back at the Ice Lake in the outskirts of the Royal City, Beiyuan and Amai were immersed in a newly constructed Spirit Space.
This state was akin to the soul leaving the body, abandoning the physical form to enter another dimension.
Time and space inside the Spirit Space differed from the outside world. Sometimes, an hour inside could be mere seconds outside. All of this was controlled by the one who created it.
In other words, as long as your Spirit Power was strong enough and no one more powerful attacked you, you were a god here—omnipotent.
Many races in the interstellar era attacked using such methods, but Beiyuan’s purpose was naturally not that.
In this world, he had suppressed Amai’s pain perception, so although her body was in great pain, her mind did not register it.
This was actually very dangerous— if Amai’s body were attacked at this moment, she wouldn’t even know she was injured. Fortunately, Beiyuan was on her side.
“…Huh?” Amai blinked suddenly, her eyes clearing as the highlights reappeared at the bottom of her gaze, like a fish leaping out of the sea gasping for oxygen. “Why don’t I feel any pain? Has the medicine worn off… Wait, where am I again!?”
Beiyuan: “Spirit World.”
“Sp-Spirit World?” Amai’s eyes widened in surprise. “I think I’ve heard something similar before. Some high-level Insect Race members use Spirit Antennae to destroy others’ Spirit Bodies. Is this Spirit World a more advanced version of Spirit Antennae?”
“Um…” Beiyuan thought seriously for a moment. “It’s probably like the relationship between a blade of grass and a whole world. If the Insect Race worked together, they might be able to create something like this.”
Yes, if a million Insect Race members cooperated wholeheartedly and were free from external interference, devoting themselves fully for half a month, they could achieve a Spirit Space comparable in scale to Beiyuan’s— a realm he could conjure in a millisecond with a casual flick.
It was like others spending a lifetime painting a masterpiece, while Beiyuan could sketch the same or even better with a single stroke.
Amai’s current knowledge couldn’t let her fully grasp this.
The most formidable creatures she knew were the Insect Race threatening countless star domains along the border, so she could only compare and say— well, they were very powerful.
But to what degree, she had no idea.
At this moment, Amai looked more closely at the world Beiyuan had created and realized— it was exactly the illustration she had shown him not long ago!
She marveled at the icy, snowy space sculpted by wind and frost. There were fewer fir trees and shrubs than in the real world, making the area feel even more vast and boundless.
The howling cold wind blew in from the distant north, carrying tiny shards of ice, sparkling translucent as they melted into the glacier’s cold waters.
When Amai turned her gaze southward, her breath caught.
—A towering Ice Dragon dozens of meters tall, carved from ice and snow, stood between heaven and earth, looming like a giant standing shoulder to shoulder with the sky.
“Th-That’s… a fairy tale…” She stood dumbfounded for a long moment, then babbled incoherently.
Suddenly, she staggered and limped as she dashed toward the Ice Dragon.
Beiyuan chuckled watching the girl fall several times before getting up. He then raised his voice slightly to remind her, “Your legs are fine now.”
Fine? Fine how? …Oh, right, this was the Spirit World, not reality! Her legs could be healed here?
Even as a trial experience, regaining the use of both legs was enough to make Amai wildly joyful.
Yet the more overwhelming sensation was seeing the gigantic Ice Dragon statue— her excitement was unparalleled.
Seeing this, Beiyuan knew that despite his ability to bring the dragon to life, holding back to create only an ice sculpture was the right call.
In the real world, especially in the Sarn Star Domain, obsession and fanaticism toward dragons could never be underestimated.
Amai panted heavily. “Faster, faster, closer, closer, closer…!”
The closer she approached the giant ice sculpture, the more oppressive the presence felt.
Anyone facing such an enormous creature, overwhelmed beneath it, would be humbled by their own insignificance.
Let alone— it was a dragon!
Even though it didn’t move or roar, obviously a fake, Amai still felt her heart spasm as the distance shrank, her chest feeling crushed.
“If I can just touch it…” She trembled all over, reverently and excitedly, “I’ll never wash this hand again, dying with it like this would be worth it!”
—She looked like she was about to lick it next.
The real Dragon— Beiyuan— worried for a moment, wondering if ice in the Spirit World was sticky enough to adhere to a tongue.
“I see, I see, I see its wings…”
Amai reached out her hand through the air.
Suddenly, disaster struck.
“—Boom!!”
Like a volcanic eruption.
In the originally icy world, a towering flame suddenly burst forth in the distance. The next second, thick smoke billowed in from the horizon’s opposite side.
Molten lava flowed from the base of the fire column, its crimson glow flickering under the darkened sky.
The intense heat rapidly melted everything nearby, first and foremost the Ice Dragon sculpture made entirely of snow and ice.
Before Amai could touch it, the wings fell off first, then most of the dragon’s body began melting away.
Drip by drip, the liquid fell on Amai. She froze for a moment, then let out a heartbroken cry, shouting, “No! You can’t do this!” while angrily sobbing and rushing forward.
“Danger.” Beiyuan, who had been tens of meters away just moments ago, instantly teleported beside Amai, blocking her from charging straight into the molten lava. “What are you trying to do?”
At this moment, the entire Spirit World had become a surreal spectacle— divided by the half-melted Ice Dragon statue.
On Beiyuan’s side was a white icy plain, formed of snow and ice; behind the dragon was a blackened land covered in crimson lava, shaking violently, scorched everywhere.
Ice on one side, fire on the other. Extreme cold, extreme heat. Almost frozen stillness, apocalyptic chaos.
“Why is this happening?!” Amai refused to believe it was an accident. “Who did this? Why? I’ll fight them to the death!”
Beiyuan calmly said, “I have a rough idea what’s going on.”
“Who?”
He lifted his gaze toward the distant earth, landing on a vague figure slowly approaching. “A stranger who broke in.”
That must have been the unknown Spirit Body he sensed at first.
Beiyuan hadn’t cared initially. After all, in ten minutes, he and Amai would leave, and the Spirit Space would automatically collapse. He didn’t want to waste time dealing with a stranger.
But now it seemed the other party was quite restless.
Was this… deliberate provocation?
Turning to Amai, he said, “Stay here,” then flew ahead.
Ensuring Amai was out of sight, he shifted into an adult form— after all, Spirit Space didn’t require crystal consumption, and appearances didn’t change color or age.
The boy’s body rapidly grew taller, transforming into a dependable and handsome adult male.
Clad in black clothing with golden patterns, gold armor, and a forehead ornament, he kicked off the ground hard, causing the earth to sink slightly.
With several strides, he thundered away.
On the other side of the land, the black-haired man— drawn here by the Spirit Power rampage— immediately sensed the blatant golden presence invading.
The black-haired man raised his cold, fierce face. His Spirit Body seemed split in two.
One half was uncontrollably rampaging, as if a hurricane swept through his mind, countless knives stabbing into the weakest mental barrier, tearing everything apart in a bloody frenzy.
The other half was calm, coldly observing the wailing half, even trying to push it further into madness.
He was indeed one step away from complete insanity, yet still very calm— that was the scariest part.
The black-haired man abandoned his defenses and stretched out a long arm.
But Beiyuan was faster. With a toe tap, he leapt high and descended like lightning, delivering a merciless kick to the man’s abdomen.
The man was instantly flung back by the immense force, crashing into the scorched earth dozens of meters away with a “boom.”
But this was the Spirit World; as long as Spirit Power could hold, fatal injuries healed instantly.
Almost without pause, the man regained mobility the next second, his expression unchanged.
He lifted his head and suddenly met a pair of golden eyes, close enough to touch.