Study Plans and a Visitor

The elemental dust inside the stasis chamber slowly settled, marking the end of another joint experiment that had taken years.

Benjamin helped his mentor Clark record the last batch of data, then took his leave and activated his plane-transfer authorization.

The familiar smell of sulfur rushed over him, mingled with an indescribable sense of order. Benjamin had returned to his Purgatory Sulfur Plane.

The moment his feet touched solid ground, he did not rush to inspect the Black Giant Legion's expansion. Instead, he immediately sent his mind into the earth beneath him, carefully sensing the vast system that covered the plane: the Incense Divinity Path.

"Operating—everything normal."

A moment later, Benjamin opened his eyes, a trace of relief in his voice.

He had not been away long this time. Barely a dozen years.

For the management of a plane, measured in centuries, it was no more than the snap of a finger.

The plane itself had changed little. The Black Giant colonies still relied on the Incubation Pools to reproduce, and their numbers had risen steadily, but there had been no qualitative leap.

The Incense Divinity Path had completed only its most basic framework. Energy circulated through it steadily and in good order, without collapse or conflict. That alone met Benjamin's minimum expectations.

As for anything else—with a framework this rudimentary, he had never expected additional gains in so little time.

Yet just as he was about to withdraw his mind, a faint but startlingly distinct sensation made him freeze.

He focused and sensed it carefully. Then his eyes flew open.

Was that—Mortal Aura?

There was not much of it, but it was genuine Mortal Aura!

A sharp light flashed in Benjamin's eyes as understanding struck.

Of course. By successfully establishing the framework of the Incense Divinity Path, he had