"I'm also curious to see whether you can really tear open Destruction."
Herta immediately corrected him.
"I already told you—this is not tearing Destruction apart."
"It is simply giving its other side a chance to choose."
She was clearly in an excellent mood.
"Since you've agreed... I'll take the item now?"
"Go ahead and take it."
This time, the voice came from Lin Yi's true body.
Vines, leaves, and flowers intertwined to form his clothing.
One of his eyes had been dyed gold by the power of Destruction.
The other glowed emerald green, filled with the vitality of Abundance.
This appearance only emerged when he fully released the powers of his Paths without restraint.
Much like Acheron's white hair when she drew her blade, once he suppressed that power, he could return to ordinary black hair and black eyes.
At long last—
Lin Yi could finally move using his real body.
He stretched lazily.
A series of cracks echoed from his bones and joints.
The sound made him feel extraordinarily refreshed.
When his body awakened, the golden half-finger stored beside the laboratory device automatically fused back into him.
Lin Yi glanced at his right little finger.
The missing section had become bone once more.
Now that finger contained the power of Destruction.
He gently poked the air beside him.
A hole appeared.
It had not been compressed.
It had not been pierced.
It had not been annihilated.
It was simply... destroyed.
The matter occupying that space had ceased to exist.
For now, this power could only be released through his little finger.
Fortunately, the power of Destruction did not conflict with his authority as an Envoy of Abundance.
He could use both freely.
The sensation was marvelous.
At the very least, it proved that all those years of lying dormant had not been wasted.
And besides the power of Destruction—
There was also the long-familiar energy of Erudition.
Silent.
Steady.
Always accompanying him.
Lin Yi smiled faintly.
"It's been a long time."
After adjusting the laboratory device for a moment, he activated a mechanism.
The enormous machine folded inward and transformed into a cube.
Since he had already made his decision, there was no reason to hesitate.
Lin Yi handed the cube to Herta.
"Here. The Origin Cell you wanted."
Herta studied him carefully.
"You look exactly the same..."
"But for some reason, your real body feels more... natural."
Lin Yi shrugged.
"Maybe it's because of the Paths."
Once again, he found himself amazed by the bizarre nature of Path energy.
A philosophical force capable of reshaping reality truly defied common sense.
Herta carefully accepted the cube.
She handled it like something delicate—
Even though it could withstand a planet-destroying cannon.
"The three things I came here for are finished now," she said.
"I should leave."
"Oh, right."
"The Simulated Universe upgrade is almost complete."
"It should be ready in about ten days."
"Remember to come."
After saying that, Herta turned and left without hesitation.
Or rather—
She was eager to return the Origin Cell and push her experiment forward as quickly as possible.
Out of respect for Lin Yi, she did not summon the Fourth Mirror until she had stepped outside the laboratory.
With a tap of her staff, she passed through the mirror and vanished.
Lin Yi watched the direction she disappeared.
"One by one, everyone is doing something absurdly grand."
"This makes me feel a little awkward."
Now it was his turn to clean up the aftermath.
After all—
Zhuxing was no longer here.
Of course, it was not only about cleaning up.
It was also time to happily sort through the spoils.
Several days passed.
Lin Yi gradually adapted to his real body.
Here was the joke:
After lying dormant too long, and after both body and soul had grown immensely stronger—
He initially could not adapt to himself.
But after a few days, he began to feel a strange harmony and comfort.
The invisible crown of thorns above his head shimmered faintly when seen from certain angles.
The Abundance Path's adaptive correction of his body had finished.
From now on—
Lin Yi could no longer claim to be bad at combat.
Meanwhile, when Zhuxing heard that their destination was the Xianzhou Luofu, he brought Lancelot along.
Since arriving at Shenxiao Space City, Lancelot had never returned home.
Only occasional letters had passed between him and his family.
Why the siblings insisted on communicating that way, no one knew.
In an age like this, it felt oddly old-fashioned.
Lancelot had spent years training.
Strengthening his body.
Learning countless combat styles.
He was now proficient with nearly every weapon.
Living in Shenxiao Space City had also exposed him to vast stores of knowledge.
Outside, he would easily qualify as a highly educated scholar.
He could even handle technical work such as:
Warship piloting and repair.
Weapon system calibration.
But Igor believed that remaining in one place could never produce true talent.
As someone who had once crossed the universe seeking help for Belobog, Igor understood something well.
Compared with the true prodigies of the cosmos—
Anyone who stayed rooted in one place would inevitably fall behind in mentality and experience.
Igor had also noticed that Lancelot carried unresolved emotional burdens.
So he asked Zhuxing to bring him to the Xianzhou Luofu, where he could reunite with his sister, Guinaifen.
When Lin Yi heard this, he couldn't help laughing.
Igor had not even resolved his own emotional burden.
Yet he was trying to help someone else with theirs.
Since being reborn, Igor had never once returned to Belobog.
But whenever news arrived from there, he paid close attention.
Whenever Belobog encountered difficulties, he quietly offered help from the shadows.
And he was extremely careful not to let anyone know.
If anyone was awkward—
Igor was far worse than Lancelot.
Where he found the confidence to counsel others was a mystery.
Perhaps it was simply the classic case of a doctor unable to cure himself.
Meanwhile, Dongfang Qiqing had managed Shenxiao Space City exceptionally well.
The previous chaos had begun to vanish.
This also proved something:
Neither Lin Yi nor Zhuxing were especially good at administration.
After several cautious days studying the city's condition, Dongfang Qiqing grasped the overall situation.
Such a severe illness required strong medicine.
So she began purging corruption and restoring order.
She launched strict investigations into:
Fraud involving research funding.
Using Shenxiao Space City's name for personal profit.
Of course, she did not punish indiscriminately.
Minor cases were ignored.
Even people who idled around while living off welfare benefits were tolerated.
The ones she targeted were the truly outrageous offenders.
One especially serious case involved someone monopolizing external recruitment slots meant for incoming talent.
This did not merely create private profit.
It cut off the flow of new talent into Shenxiao Space City.
For a city of this scale, fresh talent was essential.
That person had already been sent to the Interastral Peace Court.
The sentence:
Life imprisonment.
Exile to a remote planet for mining.
As the old saying went—
"Banished to Lingnan."