For 1,825 days, Fang Yuan sat in a state of "Active Hibernation." He wasn't just hiding; he was performing a Molecular Overwrite.
Year 1-2 (The Weaving): He used the Broken Spindle of Fate to merge the silver threads of the Aegis with his bone marrow. He didn't want the armor to sit on his skin; he wanted it to replace his skeleton. By the end of the second year, his bones were no longer calcium, but Silver-Void Alloy.
Year 3-4 (The Mana-Filter): He reconfigured his "Copper-Lungs" to act as a Hyper-Cationic Intake. Instead of breathing air, he began to "breathe" the raw, toxic mana of the planetary core. This allowed him to maintain his Rank 1 appearance while possessing the energy density of a Rank 3.
Year 5 (The Synchronization): This was the hardest part. He had to teach his soul to think in "Binary Paradoxes"—the language of the Rank 6+ armor. He spent the entire year standing still, allowing the automated Rank 2 Guardian Droids to pass by him. To them, he wasn't a human; he was just a piece of the wall.
[STATUS UPDATE: YEAR 5]
Physical Form: Human-Machine Hybrid (Indistinguishable from a Slave).
Soul-Sync: 85% (Achieved Ghost-State Permanent).
Rank: Rank 1 (Peak) - [Pseudo-Rank 4 Potential].
"Patience is the weapon of the immortal," Yuan thought, his silver eyes glowing faintly in the pitch-black abyss. "For five years, they thought they were mining copper. They didn't realize they were fueling their own executioner."
He stood up. His movements were fluid, silent, and lacked the friction of normal physics. He was ready to reclaim the Planetary Core.