The instant his fingertips touched the Purifying Source Crystal, a gentle yet resilient energy wound its way up his arm. It was not domineering, yet it carried an unquestionable power of penetration.
Neji did not resist, allowing the energy to flow through his entire body. At the same time, his Divine Eye opened, analyzing the nature of that energy.
The energy carried a vast stream of fragmented, ancient information, like long-sealed books suddenly thrown open. Images, thoughts, knowledge, even vague fragments of emotion all flooded into his consciousness at once.
He saw a prosperous and peaceful Silver Civilization. They lived among the stars, wielded gentle energy, explored the mysteries of the universe, and coexisted harmoniously with countless forms of life. They called the dark energy pervading the universe "Source Energy" and developed refined Purifying Source techniques to purify, channel, and even cleanse the occasional Turbid Corruption born from Source Energy—beings filled with predatory instinct. They were the prototypes of the Void Spirit Clan, or rather, Source Devouring.
The scene shifted. A war that swept across the sea of stars erupted. The Void Spirit Clan—aggregates of Source Devouring—expanded out of control under the catalyst of some unknown existence, becoming a Dark Tide that devoured everything. The Silver Civilization suffered defeat after defeat, while countless worlds were consumed and assimilated.
The final image froze upon a brutal battlefield. Countless experts of the Silver Civilization burned themselves away, constructing a massive Purification Array at the cost of their lives. They forcibly suppressed and stripped apart the largest, most terrifying Source Devouring entity—perhaps the very remains Neji and the others were inside—and dragged it into this prepared Burial Pit formed from shattered starfields.
At the core of the Purification Array stood this Purification Pool, along with the ancient being beside it known as the