"Then that's settled." After Mia finished speaking, her figure slowly faded within the golden radiance, like a streak of light scattered by the wind, vanishing into the depths of the void Beyond the World.
Shen Yi stood alone at the boundary of the domain, watching the direction in which Mia had disappeared before lowering his head to look at the silver crystal in his hand, which had returned to silence.
A moment later, he turned and flew back to the core of the domain, landing atop the gray-white shell.
"What did Mia say?" Xilos walked toward him, concern and a hint of wariness in his eyes. "She came so suddenly. She definitely wasn't here just to catch up."
After considering it, Shen Yi answered honestly, "She gave me a crystal. Feng Qingyao left it for me. She said it might come in handy in the Immortal Sacred Land."
Xilos's expression shifted slightly. "The Immortal Sacred Land? Have you really decided to go there?"
"Once this domain has stabilized." Shen Yi emphasized once more, "It's not time yet."
He turned around and closed his eyes again, allowing the Shadow Authority and the Flame of Continued Combustion within him to flow slowly into the domain beneath his feet.
Under the infusion of his power, the gray-white shell seemed to expand outward by another fraction, like newborn roots quietly stretching through dark soil in search of a place to take hold.
Several more days passed.
The domain had steadily expanded to a size sufficient to accommodate a complete small outpost.
Fine, self-consistent patterns of rules had begun to condense across the gray-white ground, like frost naturally forming on ancient ice. Every line represented a Rule Fragment integrated into the framework of the domain.
Lilith, Fei Mi, and Winnie had all moved over