Xiang Qian carried Jean Grey up into the air, soaring among the stars of the Soul Universe as if riding the clouds. Jean really was intrigued by what he had called "the charming side of the Phoenix Force."
Ever since the Phoenix had awakened and caused all kinds of negative effects, Jean had rejected the Phoenix Force deep down. But once she realized she couldn't escape its influence, she had desperately wanted to find meaning in its existence—struggling on the brink of self-rejection to find a reason to affirm herself.
Xiang Qian hoped he could ease her inner pain.
What, the Professor was still waiting for news back in the real world? He'd been waiting this long; surely he wouldn't mind waiting a little longer. What was the harm in worrying a little more? It wasn't as if he'd lose another hair over it, right?
Xiang Qian felt that healing the emotional wounds of this beautiful older woman was the most important thing. If Worthington Pharmaceuticals' gene drug went wrong, at worst it would stir up a little trouble among the Mutants. But if he failed to soothe the Phoenix Force, it could destroy Earth in the blink of an eye.
As they crossed the galaxy, the stars seemed close yet far away. Starlight streamed around them, and the vastness of the void, together with the beauty of the heavens, lifted Jean Grey from her low spirits. Her mood gradually improved.
"What's that?" A verdant planet caught Jean's eye. From far away, its surface seemed almost entirely covered in green vegetation beneath its atmosphere, with tranquil patches of blue water scattered among the lush greenery like sapphires.
Jean murmured, "It's so beautiful. Did you create it?"
Xiang Qian didn't answer right away. Instead, he took Jean through the atmosphere and descended to the planet's surface. They landed on a soft green lawn, with a peaceful lake before them and verdant mountains in the distance. The sight of all that life immediately lifted Jean's spirits.
"This planet is special. Did you create it on purpose?" Jean stretched her arms and legs, taking in the fresh scent of grass. Her graceful figure, stretched out to its full length, left Xiang Qian staring.
Xiang Qian said, a little dazed, "No, it wasn't me. It was you. Your beauty had an effect on it..."
The beautiful older woman, now in much better spirits, gave him a sidelong look that was almost a smile.
Xiang Qian hurried to explain, "I'm not lying. It really was because of you. A tiny Phoenix Fragment fell onto this planet. Though it was so small as to be insignificant, it accelerated the evolution of life here by a million times. I don't know what things are like on the other side, but in the Soul Realm I control, this is the only planet where life has appeared so far."
Strictly speaking, the universe that coexisted with Xiang Qian's soul was still very young. Only a little over twenty years had passed since the Big Bang he had "witnessed" at age six. Even though time flowed differently in his soul than in reality, the universe was still in its infancy, except for a few star systems where Xiang Qian had accelerated time. Some planets hadn't even cooled down after the Big Bang, let alone given rise to life.
"How could that be?" Jean asked curiously. "Didn't you say you drove out all of the Phoenix Force?"
Xiang Qian smiled. "I did, a few years ago. But the Phoenix Fragment on this planet wasn't left behind that time. It was left a year ago, when you came in last time."
At the mention of "last time," Jean suddenly felt flustered. It was as if a flame had started burning from the soles of her feet. She shot Xiang Qian a warning look, afraid the young man would start running his mouth again.
Xiang Qian ignored the beautiful older woman's warning and continued with a look of deep nostalgia. "Back then, a tiny Phoenix Fragment escaped through your soul. It was so small that neither of us noticed. After all, at the time, we were... well... pretty absorbed in each other? It was quite a while later that I noticed the planet had changed."
Jean glared fiercely at Xiang Qian, wanting to make her position clear with a menacing look. But all she could see of herself at that moment was a picture of springtime, and the fierce glare she tried to muster only made her look more alluring. It couldn't penetrate the Playboy's thick skin at all.
Realizing her warning had no effect, Jean drew a helpless breath and forced herself to change the subject. "Shouldn't the Phoenix Force have destroyed this planet? Why did it have a different effect here?"
"That's what I wanted to tell you, honey. The Phoenix Force isn't actually destructive." Xiang Qian was using the opportunity to help Jean work through her emotional turmoil. "I've been studying it ever since the first time I absorbed it. It's a force gathered from the life in the universe. The shared desire of all life to survive and reproduce awakened it. So, at its core, it's a life force—the power to stimulate and protect the growth of life."
Jean couldn't believe it. "But I've never seen it protect anything. All I've seen is destruction."
Xiang Qian smiled bitterly. "That's not your fault. The main reason was probably the Professor."
"Impossible. The Professor has always protected me from the Phoenix's influence."
Xiang Qian nodded without confirming or denying it. "Yes. When you were young, the Professor suppressed the Phoenix, keeping its powerful instincts from destroying your immature personality. But you have to understand: suppression always brings resistance. Survival is the highest priority among the instincts of life. The Professor's suppression made the Phoenix feel that its survival was threatened, so it instinctively began to fight back."
"Every time the Professor suppressed it, he only made the Phoenix resist more strongly. The suppression became less and less effective, until it finally spiraled out of control." Xiang Qian looked at Jean with helpless concern. "By the time the Professor could no longer suppress it, you were facing a Phoenix that had become agitated and unstable after years of suppression. That was the real reason it kept losing control."
Jean pondered. "What can I do to soothe it? Make it feel safe?"
"Accept it and communicate with it. The Phoenix Force has consciousness, but no reason or emotions. It follows instinct alone, and reacts to everything around it in a direct and crude way. If you're hostile toward it, it will inevitably respond with hostility."
Jean shrank back. "No, I can't do that. If I accept it, it'll change me completely. Then I won't know if I'm Jean Grey or the Phoenix."
"No, no, no..." Xiang Qian shook his head again and again. "All of us are influenced by the outside world. Our personalities and habits are shaped by those influences. Do you think I'd still be the person I am now if this universe didn't exist deep in my soul?"
Xiang Qian smiled. "Whether or not this universe exists, I'm still me, aren't I? The Phoenix will change you, but you'll still be Jean Grey. If you're truly afraid, come to me when you feel the Phoenix Force slipping out of control. Just like before, I'll absorb the power you can't control and drive it out to the other side of my realm."
"No, you're lying to me. The Phoenix Force is eroding my personality, and this universe is eroding yours too." Jean looked at Xiang Qian, her eyes full of both affection and reproach. "Absorbing the Phoenix Force puts more strain on you, doesn't it? Don't lie to me!"
Caught in his lie, Xiang Qian couldn't help feeling guilty. "The strain... well... maybe a little?"
Jean wrapped her arms around Xiang Qian's neck and looked up at the starry sky. "Have you ever thought about what we'd become if we failed and our minds were completely eroded?"
"Completely eroded? I have thought about it." Xiang Qian nodded. "We'd still be alive, but the human part of us would be gone. Emotions, reason, values—everything that makes us human would disappear. Everything we did would follow the rules of the universe or the Phoenix. We'd be the rules, but the rules wouldn't be us—because we'd have lost our sense of self."
"I do wonder if, assuming God or some other Creator really exists, they'd be like that too—completely devoid of emotion." Though he was talking about his own terrifying future, Xiang Qian seemed unconcerned. "But I'm confident I'll never let that happen."
"Such a confident and arrogant young man." Jean always found herself smiling when she was with Xiang Qian. "I used to keep wondering when I could finally get rid of the Phoenix. Have you ever thought about removing this universe from yourself—the day you could finally lay down that burden?"
A trace of helplessness entered Xiang Qian's expression. "I have, but I eventually realized I can't do it, and I don't dare try."
"Why not?"
"For the reason I mentioned earlier: this universe is physically real. It's an actual universe. It's fine in the soul dimension, but if it's separated from my soul, the most likely outcome is that it'll manifest in our real world." Xiang Qian gave a sardonic smile. "What do you think would happen if two universes collided?"
What would happen if universes collided? No one knew, because no one had ever seen it happen. They might both vanish and restart from scratch, or they might merge into one and create a new universe. But no matter what happened, Earth, at the center of the collision, would surely be reduced to dust.
The universe within his soul had brought Xiang Qian countless benefits, but it was also a burden he could never cast off—one fraught with enormous risks.
Jean sighed sadly, tightened her arms around Xiang Qian's neck, drew him closer, and kissed him.
"Mmm..." Xiang Qian was overjoyed by the unexpected treat. His hands, resting on the beautiful older woman's waist, began to wander.
Jean's body shivered. She hurriedly lowered her arms, braced her hands against Xiang Qian's chest, and pushed him away. One look at the greedy gaze so close to her told Jean that this Playboy was trying to push his luck again.
"I have to go," Jean said reproachfully.
Xiang Qian kept his arms around her waist and refused to let go. "I still can't bear to. I want to fly to the United States to see you right now."
Jean knew she had to rein in the young man's wandering hands, so she coldly unleashed her trump card. "Are you coming to the United States to see me, or to see Ororo?"
At the mention of Storm, Xiang Qian suddenly looked guilty and uneasy.
Jean was both exasperated and amused. Fighting down her softheartedness, she pressed her advantage. "I forgot to ask—have you ever brought Ororo into the Soul Realm too?"
"Of course not!" Xiang Qian hurriedly seized the chance to give an answer he could defend with a clear conscience.
Jean gave him a malicious smile. "Ororo would be heartbroken if she found out..."
"Uh..." Xiang Qian was struck dumb, with nothing to say.
It turned out that what got a scoundrel killed wasn't a question at all, but the sins he'd committed himself.
A patch of light shaped like a soaring Phoenix glimmered in the void, carrying the beautiful older woman away.
Xiang Qian hung his head, so dejected that he couldn't even be bothered to run his Gem Force Field experiment. Just as he was lying on the grass of the green planet with nothing to do, a voice from reality suddenly sounded in his ear.
Immersing himself in the Soul Realm didn't mean Xiang Qian was completely unaware of what was happening in reality. His current state was rather like that of an ordinary person in deep sleep. No matter how soundly you slept, an alarm clock could still wake you up.
The voice Xiang Qian heard now was one of the "alarm clocks" he had set before he "fell asleep."
Xiang Qian frowned in displeasure and emerged from the Soul Realm. His body in reality felt as if it were waking from a dream.
Time flowed very differently in the Soul Realm than in reality. Xiang Qian had run hundreds of experiments there and spent quite a while cuddling with the beautiful older woman, but less than half an hour had passed in the real world. Judging by the plane's speed, it might not even have entered the country's airspace yet.
The thing that had woken Xiang Qian was the tablet he always kept with him. Its screen flashed, and it vibrated with a steady rhythm.
Xiang Qian stared at the notification on the screen with a strange expression. "Someone's trying to crack the computer's firewall?"