Welcoming Guests at the Frontier, Dao Rhyme Embracing Foreign Spirits

After the Mind-Speech Pathway resumed round-the-clock access, the symbiotic system of the Hongmeng Great Land grew ever more complete. Yet while sensing the land through the Pathway one day, Shen Hao detected a faint, unfamiliar ripple of consciousness. It came from the far western edge of the Hongmeng Great Land—the frontier Gobi. Sandstorms raged there year-round, spiritual energy was thin, and few living beings dwelled there. Yet now, an unknown aura of intelligence had appeared.

Curious, Shen Hao set off with Zi Xuan to investigate the frontier Gobi. The place was indeed desolate beyond compare. Its ground was covered in coarse gravel and stone, while fierce winds swept up clouds of sand and howled past, leaving not a trace of green in sight. The spiritual energy in the air was exceedingly sparse, mingled with a faint foreign aura that did not belong to the Hongmeng Great Land.

"Brother Hao, look over there." Zi Xuan pointed toward a low valley ahead. The wind and sand around it seemed to be blocked by some force, forming an invisible barrier. Within that barrier, several strange clusters of light and shadow could vaguely be seen—the source of that unfamiliar ripple of consciousness.

The two hurried toward the valley and passed through the invisible barrier. The sight before them suddenly opened up. Although the spiritual energy within the valley remained sparse, it was exceptionally pure. Several foreign spiritual herbs, unlike any they had ever seen, grew from the ground. Their leaves were translucent and gave off a faint blue glow. At the center of the valley gathered more than a dozen oddly shaped beings. Their entire bodies consisted of light and shadow, their forms shifting like flowing nebulae. They were the "foreign spirits" emitting those unfamiliar consciousness ripples.

At the sight of Shen Hao and