Harmonic Leaping Note froze.
She suddenly understood-Lin Ye was not wasting time. He was giving every civilization a chance to speak. Three hundred and seventy million civilizations, each with its own name, history, and pride. They needed to be heard, respected, and remembered.
This was true "consensus"-not everyone agreeing on the same answer, but everyone being allowed to voice their own.
The arguing continued until the fourteenth day.
Every one of the three hundred and seventy million civilizations expressed its opinion. Some were heated, some gentle, some delivered lengthy speeches, and some spoke only a single word. The resonance network recorded every statement, producing the longest meeting transcript since the birth of the universe.
On the morning of the fifteenth day, the arguing began to quiet down.
Not because they had run out of strength, but because-they realized that every name had merit.
"Radiant Era" was not wrong. The moment of their return had indeed been radiant.
"Eternal Era" was not wrong either. Every civilization yearned for eternity.
"Return Era" was even more fitting. Their return was their greatest common ground.
Yet none of those names was enough. Radiance would fade, eternity did not exist, and their return was only the beginning, not the end.
On the sixteenth day, a representative of the oldest civilization spoke. It was the oldest of the 6,217 civilizations Lin Ye had rescued from the Taotie Court. Its existence had grown so faint that it was almost impossible to discern, yet its words silenced all three hundred and seventy million civilizations at once.
"I remember... countless eras ago... on the First Era Battlefield... that last word we cried out..."
Every civilization listened.
"Ash."
Dead silence.
"Not embers. Ash. After the burning, nothing remained. But we knew that ash was not the end. Ash was a