The huge black hand hung in the air without pressing down. An instant later, it vanished completely.
At the same time, a figure covered head to toe in black hair appeared before Yaoyao and the others. The figure looked deeply uncanny.
Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of metal chains bound the figure's body. Runes were engraved upon them, holding the figure captive.
"Who... are you?"
The figure spoke in an ancient, obscure tongue. It was the universal language, but some of its pronunciations and grammar belonged to an age long past.
As the black-haired figure spoke, its gaze stayed fixed on Yaoyao. A struggle appeared in its blood-red, bewildered eyes.
"Grandpa?" Yaoyao called.
"Senior?" The Saint Master's Heavenly Eye pierced through the truth.
"An incarnation formed from a drop of blood?"
Yaoyao's call of "Grandpa" seemed to shake the black-haired figure profoundly. Clarity surfaced in those blood-red eyes.
"Yaoyao? Xiao Ming? Xiao Chen?" He spoke three names in succession, stunning everyone.
"Grandpa, it's me. I'm Yaoyao." She was overcome with emotion. At the same time, she had seen through the person before her.
This was not her grandfather's true body, only an incarnation. But what did that mean?
It meant her grandfather really was here—and still alive!
Excitement shone in her grandfather's incarnation's eyes as well. He seemed about to speak, then stopped himself. At last, he said:
"Come with me."
He led the way into a stone wall, and Yaoyao and the others hurried after him.
They descended a long way, heading deep toward Earth's core.
At last, they reached it. An astonishing sight awaited them: it was like stepping into the void of the universe, where countless stars formed one star system after another.
The star systems turned in some mysterious arrangement. The sight was staggering.
At the heart of