The hustle and bustle of Starfire Base was left far behind. Linde didn't tell anyone of his departure, and just as he had quietly returned, his figure once again blended into the vast world of the Tyre Continent.
This time, however, he no longer had a clear goal or an imminent threat. Instead, he began his aimless travels in an almost "empty" state.
He withdrew all outward power, the seven-colored magical radiance receded, and the [Deconstruction Halo] no longer actively scanned, but passively received the most primitive and essential information of the surrounding environment.
Like an ordinary traveler, he walked on foot, feeling the solidity of the land beneath his feet, breathing the air from different regions, and listening to the sounds of nature and the whispers of life carried on the wind.
His first stop was back in the Howling Abyss.
He stood on the edge of the abyss, no longer the one eager to draw power and fight against the gods, but with the gaze of an observer, looking down upon the surging darkness that symbolized end and nothingness.
He reached out, and a wisp of pure Shadow Abyss power, like a docile pet, coiled around his fingertips. He didn't use it to destroy or end things, but rather to feel its "emptiness," its "stillness," and its quality of returning to its origin after devouring everything.
"The end is not merely about destruction..." Linde mused. "It is also part of the cycle, an 'empty cup' for new life. The Shadow Abyss may not be the enemy of order, but rather... a necessary condition for the reset of order?"
He plunged into the abyss and sat in meditation for days in the place where he had once gained power. He no longer tried to control it, but instead, like an observer, watched the natural flow of the Shadow Abyss's energy, feeling its subtle interaction with the abyss's rock walls and the sparse magic. He discovered that even the purest "nothingness" was not lifeless; it had its own "pulse" and a unique way of exchanging energy with the outside world.
At the edge of the abyss, a small outpost has now been established, where a few soldiers from the Blackrock Territory are stationed. They do not recognize their lord, who has concealed his aura, and simply regard him as a daring traveler.
"Hey, you over there! Don't go any further, it's really creepy down there!" a young soldier shouted to him, his face full of concern.
Linde didn't turn around, but simply asked, "Are you afraid to stay here?"
Another, slightly older soldier spat out, "Afraid? Of course we're afraid! But this is the lord's foundation, and also the shield of our Blackrock Territory. No matter how afraid we are, we have to guard it!"
“Foundation… Barrier…” Lind murmured these two words. In the soldiers’ simple words, he sensed a belief that transformed fear into responsibility.
Is this belief also a faint yet tenacious "order"? It stems from the protection of one's homeland, rather than a pure desire for power.
“The Shadow Abyss symbolizes the end, but if this end is to protect new life, does it then share the same direction as the Light Vein?” A realization flashed through his mind.
Then, he headed north into the Eversong Forest.
By this time, the forest had mostly recovered from the gloom of the "Silent Weaver," and the breath of life had become vibrant again.
He didn't disturb Alessia, but walked through the forest, observing how the sunlight filtered through the layers of leaves, casting dappled patterns; how dew condensed and dripped from the spiderwebs in the early morning; and how fungi quietly grew and multiplied on the decaying wood, completing their life cycle.
He noted that the forest's energy network was not built by Alessia alone; it was formed naturally over hundreds of millions of years through the joint efforts of countless plants, animals, elemental spirits, and even microorganisms.
Every life, no matter how insignificant, contributes its faint energy fluctuations and imprint of existence to this network, collectively weaving this symphony of life.
He saw elven children learning to identify herbs under the guidance of the luminous butterflies, and heard ancient songs slowly sung by elderly elves, telling the history of the forest and the blessings of Elessia.
On the tranquil shore of a lake, he encountered an old, elven craftsman who was carefully carving a piece of warm wood with a chisel imbued with the magic of nature, seemingly crafting a component of some musical instrument. His movements were slow and focused, as if he were not carving, but conversing with the very soul of the wood.
“So exquisite, so harmonious…” Linde observed the old craftsman’s work. “Is the conscious resonance that Iris pursues just like the relationship between this craftsman and the wood? Not forcibly shaping, but perceiving its texture, guiding its nature, and ultimately achieving a symbiotic perfection. Should my ‘All-Encompassing Star Hub’ also ‘listen’ to the ‘texture’ of this world itself in the same way?”
He realized that what he had been trying to build was more like a cold, mechanical structure than an organic whole full of life and vitality.
“Individual will is weak, but the resonance of billions of wills can form a melody that shakes the world…” Lind recalled Iris’s description of collective consciousness, “‘The All-Encompassing Star Hub’ should perhaps not be a perfectly designed structure, but rather a ‘resonance field’ that allows all ‘voices’ to join in and can coordinate naturally?”
He set foot on the western wilderness, a land ruled by the scorching sun and sandstorms.
The environment here is harsh, and life is scarce, but every surviving creature displays astonishing resilience. Creeping thorns extend their roots dozens of meters underground to obtain water, while gerbils construct intricate underground labyrinths to escape the scorching heat and predators. The fierce winds carve the rock walls into bizarre and wondrous shapes, telling tales of the power of time.
Here, he encountered a small nomadic tribe that lived by following the water and pasture. Their lives were extremely difficult, and water was as precious as gold.
Linde witnessed his tribe nearly clash with another group of nomads over a well that was about to dry up. In the end, a tribal elder stepped forward and, in a hoarse voice, recounted the ancient tradition of their ancestors sharing water resources in even harsher conditions, which calmed the dispute.
That evening, around the campfire, people shared the limited food and water, singing desolate and melodious songs. There were no complaints in the songs, only a tenacity for life and awe for the starry sky.
"In the face of absolute scarcity, order does not come from law, but from the wisdom of survival and ancient traditions."
Linde sat on a distant sand dune, feeling the faint warmth of the campfire and the resilience in the song. "If the order of the light veins cannot tolerate this kind of 'roughness' and 'practicality' that struggles to survive in extreme environments, then it is a flower in a greenhouse, vulnerable to destruction."
My system must be able to accommodate this seemingly 'disorderly' order based on survival instincts.
"The order of light veins should not be a carefully pruned bonsai in a greenhouse, but should possess the inclusiveness and resilience of a wilderness, capable of accommodating a certain degree of imperfection and variables..."
He dived into the deepest part of the endless southern sea.
In the ocean trenches where even light cannot reach, the water pressure is enough to crush steel, and the cold is bone-chilling. However, this is not a forbidden zone for life.
Strange bioluminescent jellyfish resemble stars in the darkness, while bizarre deep-sea fish swim in absolute darkness, relying on sensing water currents and faint geothermal heat to survive.
Linde floated in the cold seawater, feeling the immense water pressure that was everywhere.
This pressure is not destructive; it shapes unique ecosystems and forces life to evolve incredible forms and abilities.
The energy flow in the deep sea is slow and powerful, with an ancient rhythm, quite different from the active magical circulation on the continent.
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