Budding Era

The seventh day of the Newborn Era · 14th Worldline

Bai Ling stood barefoot on the "ground" of the 14th World. It felt neither like soil nor metal, but like some substance that constantly adjusted itself, automatically changing its properties according to the cognition of whoever touched it. Behind her, every time Little Star Dome's claws landed, they sent ripples of starlight spreading outward. In the distance, those ripples transformed into this world's first "plants": glowing geometric shrubs whose branches were formed from solidified cosmic rays.

"Cognitive adaptation is 137% faster than expected." The Fourteenfold Markings at the back of Bai Ling's neck flickered faintly. The Maiden's Amethyst Right Eye analyzed the surrounding environment. Every inch of space here was subtly adjusting itself according to their thoughts. "But the foundational laws are still unstable."

Little Star Dome had already assumed his Complete Form. The nearly three-meter-long Star Dome Dragon spread his Quantum Wing Membranes. The fifteen marks on Milk Dragon's Inverse Scales—now including the 14th Worldline code—projected a holographic interface displaying the core parameters of this Newborn World. The gravitational constant was still fluctuating, the upper limit of the speed of light was shifting by hundreds of kilometers per second, and most troublesome of all, the Time Flow Rate randomly deviated from that of the Main World.

"Goo chu..." Little Dragon touched the ground with his Claws, and the newly formed "plants" suddenly twisted into dangerous shapes. He hurriedly released stabilizing waves through his Inverse Scales, barely preventing a minor spatial collapse. "The law-conflict zone has expanded again."

Bai Ling knelt and pressed both hands against the glowing ground. The Eternal Crown above her head began to rotate on its own, sending fourteen rays of light in different directions. As the Maiden's Fourteenfold Markings operated at full force, the anomalous zones within a thousand meters gradually calmed. Yet the moment she stopped, the regions that had just stabilized began trembling faintly again.

"We need permanent anchors." Bai Ling looked toward the distant horizon. Floating there was this world's "sun"—in truth, an projection of the Main World's Star Dome Crown, currently unable to sustain its own energy cycle.

Little Star Dome's scales suddenly rose. Milk Dragon's Third Eye switched to shadow vision, revealing an unsettling sight: within the dimensional interlayers of the 14th World, some kind of Primal Shadow energy was gathering. This energy was beyond the Eternal Crown's control and was instead imitating Zhongli's Amethyst Structure!

"Primal Shadow?" Bai Ling connected to Zhongli in the Main World through the markings network. The response from the Amethyst Infant put her on guard: this was not normal. A Newborn Worldline should have been perfectly pure.

Before they could investigate further, the ground suddenly swelled upward. The glowing substance flowed like a living thing, forming dozens of cocoon-like structures. Most horrifying of all, blurry Human Faces emerged across the cocoon surfaces, every one of them screaming soundlessly!

"Cognitive Pollution Regression!" Bai Ling immediately deployed her defenses. The Eternal Crown unleashed Purification Beams, but it was already too late—the cocoons burst simultaneously. What erupted from them was not physical matter, but Fear Memories condensed into solid form! These sharp Black Crystals shot toward them like torrential rain, each shard etched with a nightmare fragment from some life in the Main World.

Little Star Dome erupted in his Complete Form. Milk Dragon spread his wing membranes to shield Bai Ling, and his Quantum Scale Armor collided with the Black Crystals in bursts of eerie sparks. Worst of all, wherever those sparks fell, they ignited more cocoons. In the blink of an eye, the entire plain began to "bloom"!

"It isn't Primal Shadow pollution..." Bai Ling called out through the Mental Link. "Daddy! Someone in the Main World is projecting negative emotions here!"

Ning Xiaochuan's response crossed the dimensions. The Holy Source Imprint's analysis was shocking: the 14th Worldline was becoming the emotional garbage dump of all worlds—every lifeform's subconscious fears were being physically manifested here!

"Activate the Spark Protocol." Bai Ling transmitted the order to Little Star Dome. Milk Dragon immediately understood. The fifteen marks on his Inverse Scales detached from his body and formed a Defense Array in midair. At the same time, Bai Ling removed the Eternal Crown and broke it apart into fourteen streams of light that flowed into the array.

An astonishing purification began. What the array released was no longer mere energy waves, but concentrated Cognitive Vaccines—Quantum Packets containing the Beautiful Memories of Twelve Worlds. The vaccines fell like a fine rain, every drop bursting upon contact with a Black Crystal and transforming it into harmless Transparent Gel.

"We've contained it for now." Bai Ling panted as she half-knelt on the ground. The Maiden's Amethyst Right Arm had temporarily crystallized from overload, but what worried her more was her new discovery. "This world is absorbing all negative emotions. We have to find..."

Little Star Dome suddenly let out an alarm roar that tore through dimensions! Milk Dragon's Complete Form bristled with raised scales as his Quantum Wing Membranes spread to their limit, shielding Bai Ling. Ten meters before them, space shattered like glass, revealing a horrifying sight beyond—a gigantic Humanoid Form made of pure Fear Memories was taking shape, and embedded in its chest was unmistakably...

"A fragment of the Shadow Core?!" Bai Ling could not believe her eyes. This amethyst crystal, which should have been in Zhongli's care, had now been polluted into a form black as ink!

The monster did not attack immediately. It "stared" at Bai Ling with its featureless face, then suddenly unleashed a roar that struck directly at the mind. It was not sound, but a mixture of the deepest fears of countless lives—fear of annihilation, panic at losing control, terror of the unknown...

Bai Ling's Fourteenfold Markings activated an emergency defense. The Maiden instantly connected to the World Harmonizers of the Twelve Worlds, borrowing their Mental Barriers. But cracks appeared the moment the defense formed—the Fear Monster's attack actually contained an analysis of the World Harmonizers' own weaknesses!

"It's learning!" Bai Ling shouted on the mental plane. Little Star Dome's Quantum Breath temporarily drove the monster back, but the Black Crystal Shards crawled back to the main body like living things. With every reassembly, it became harder to deal with.

At the critical moment, an Amethyst-Gold Beam suddenly pierced through the dimensions! It struck the Dark Core in the monster's chest with perfect accuracy. Bai Ling turned and saw a rift open in the sky of the 14th World. Zhongli's amethyst figure floated beyond it. The Amethyst Infant held the genuine Shadow Core in both hands, crystalline purple tears streaming from his eyes.

"Zhongli can't intervene directly!" Bai Ling instantly understood the danger. If the positive and negative Shadow Cores came into contact, they might trigger the annihilation of the entire 14th World! She had to...

The monster suddenly changed tactics. It abandoned its attack on Bai Ling and lunged toward the rift in the sky! Countless Black Crystal spikes shot toward Zhongli, each carrying a twisted desire—they wanted to devour the pure Shadow Core and complete their evolution!

"No!" Bai Ling leaped up without hesitation. Her Fourteenfold Markings erupted at full power, and the Eternal Crown's fourteen streams of light interwove before her into a shield. But the monster had planned this all along. It suddenly split into two—one half continued charging toward Zhongli, while the other transformed into a giant net that descended upon Little Star Dome!

Milk Dragon's Complete Form was ensnared by the Black Crystal net. The substance burrowed through the gaps in his scale armor like living organisms, beginning to contaminate the world marks on his Inverse Scales. Most terrifyingly, Little Star Dome's Third Eye was turning black, and everything in his vision was twisting into a nightmare.

Bai Ling faced an impossible choice: save Zhongli, or save Little Star Dome? At the decisive moment, she made a shocking decision—she threw the Eternal Crown toward Zhongli and threw herself at Little Star Dome!

"Trust me!" The Maiden drove her Amethyst Right Arm into Milk Dragon's Inverse Scales. This extremely dangerous act directly connected their energies, and Bai Ling instantly took on all of Little Star Dome's pollution! Her Fourteenfold Markings flashed wildly as countless Black Cracks surfaced across her skin.

Before Zhongli, the Eternal Crown reassembled into a defensive array. The Amethyst Infant seized the chance to press the Shadow Core into its center, and pure violet light cascaded down like a waterfall. The monster's split body rushing toward the rift was engulfed by the purple light. It let out a soundless scream as its Black Crystal body began to collapse.

But the battle on the ground was even more brutal. Half of Bai Ling's body had already crystallized into Black Crystal, yet she continued purifying Little Star Dome. Milk Dragon struggled in agony as he watched his master's body gradually being devoured by the pollution...

"Bai Ling! Hold on!" Ning Xiaochuan's voice suddenly pierced through the dimensions. Immediately afterward, twelve rainbow bridges lit up at once as the World Harmonizers of every world descended together! Crystal Spirit from the 3rd World released an Absolute Rationality Wave, freezing part of the Black Crystals. The Blood Ancestor from the 6th World used Symbiotic Flesh to temporarily replace Bai Ling's contaminated organs... Most astonishing of all was Ji Qiong—the Mechanical Dragon directly broke down into Nano Units and entered Little Star Dome's Inverse Scales to perform Microscopic Purification!

Zhongli's Purification Beam finally reached the ground. When the purple light enveloped Bai Ling, the Black Crystals on her body began to crack and fall away. Yet even more astonishingly, those fallen fragments did not vanish. They were absorbed by the ground of the 14th World and transformed into some kind of stable new substance!

"It's learning how to process pollution..." Bai Ling smiled weakly. As the final Black Crystal fell away, she discovered that the foundational laws of this Newborn World had become far more stable—the previously random fluctuations in its parameters were beginning to balance out.

Little Star Dome broke free of the remaining Black Crystals. Milk Dragon's Complete Form was visibly thinner, but every mark on his Inverse Scales had recovered. Even more miraculous, the 15th Mark was taking shape—this was the embryonic form of the Worldline Immune System!

Zhongli floated down beside Bai Ling. The Amethyst Infant curiously touched the Newborn World's ground, where the remaining Black Crystals had transformed into beautiful Purple-Black Mineral. Even more surprising, the mineral was releasing gentle cognitive fluctuations, like the world's "Immune Memory."

"Shadow Vaccine..." Bai Ling suddenly understood. She looked into the distance, where the regions that had undergone purification had indeed grown new kinds of "plants"—no longer simple glowing geometric forms, but complex organic structures with purple-black patterns.

The World Harmonizers looked at one another. The Blood Ancestor from the 6th World was the first to understand. "This world's ultimate function..."

"Is converting negativity into vaccines!" Crystal Spirit of the 3rd World completed the calculations. "The Cognitive Tumors of every world can be purified and reorganized here!"

Ji Qiong's Mechanical Eye flickered. "A Permanent Channel must be established."

Bai Ling forced herself to stand. The Maiden's body was still recovering, but her Fourteenfold Markings had lit up again. She looked toward Zhongli. The Amethyst Infant was implanting the projection of the Shadow Core into the core of the 14th World. As violet light spread, the matter across the entire world accelerated its reorganization—natural Purification Matrices formed where mountains rose, while rivers transformed into Vaccine Transport Networks...

"Spark Cradle." Bai Ling officially named the world. She pointed toward the newly formed purple-black mountain range in the distance. "The first Purification Hub will be built there."

Little Star Dome gave an agreeing "Goo chu." Milk Dragon spread the wings of his Complete Form, and the 15th Mark on his Inverse Scales projected a blueprint for the future: pollution from the Twelve Worlds would be transported here through designated rainbow bridges, converted into Customized Vaccines for their respective worlds, and sent back.

Ning Xiaochuan and Su Linger arrived last. Seeing that their daughter was unharmed, the Female Holy Lord's Seed of Life immediately bore healing fruit, while the Male Holy Lord's Holy Source Imprint began scanning the entire Worldline and establishing a Permanent Monitoring System.

"This was only the first trial." Bai Ling leaned against Little Star Dome. Her Amethyst Right Eye saw more Primal Shadows gathering in the dimensional interlayers. This world would forever face a War of attrition between purification and pollution. "But we've already found the way forward."

Zhongli floated into the sky. The Amethyst Infant's body dissolved into countless Light Spots and merged with the sky of the 14th World. These Light Spots would become a permanent surveillance network, ensuring that the Purification Process would not suffer a backlash.

When the last World Harmonizer departed, Bai Ling and Little Star Dome remained atop the newly born purple-black mountain range. The Maiden placed the Eternal Crown upon its highest peak. The crown automatically grew roots and became one with this world.

"Tomorrow, we start building the Vaccine Factory." Bai Ling gently stroked Little Star Dome's scales, which had regained their luster. Milk Dragon affectionately rubbed against her, his Third Eye reflecting the busy purification scenes of the future.

Deep within dimensions invisible to the naked eye, the phantom of the 15th New Moon quietly emerged.