Fusion Node

On the morning of the seventh day, the wind stopped completely.

The air on the platform seemed frozen. Even the usual sound of air currents from the distant valley could no longer be heard. Lin Chen stood at the eastern edge and felt the flow of energy within him moving slowly. Without the wind's guidance and without any deliberate adjustment, it simply maintained a steady cycle, as if it had already adapted to this state. He glanced down at his palm. It was slightly warmer than usual, but there was nothing unusual on the surface of his skin.

He turned and returned to his quarters. When he opened the wooden box, he found a faint layer of gray lines on the stone shard's surface—not the natural patterns from before, but more like traces left by something. He took out the shard and placed it in his palm, sensing its temperature gradually drawing closer to that of his hand. The difference between them was shrinking.

[Ding! Unknown item analysis progress: 38%.]

[Ding! Bloodline fusion level increased: current fusion level +3%. Current total fusion level: 17%.]

He felt the flow within him synchronizing with the shard's warmth, as though a passage between them was taking shape. Over the next hour or so, the faint fluctuations produced where those energies met gradually settled, like ripples on water fading away as a new current slowly stabilized.

After lunch, Son Gohan waited for him in the center of the platform. "A connection has already formed between you and that stone," he said. "Can you feel it?"

"I can."

"Then the next step isn't to deepen that connection further. It's to confirm that it's stable," Son Gohan said. "For the next three days, leave the stone in your quarters during the day and don't