Yet no matter what they did, even with the Heavenly People Empire of Faith of the Second Era and the Time Worm exhausting every option, they could not prevent the ascension plan from ultimately failing. After the Aetherophasic Engine drew vast amounts of energy from the Shroud and breached the barrier between the lower and higher dimensions, they failed to find a path to the Higher-Dimensional World and became hopelessly lost in the gaps between universes.
The second-generation Heavenly People Empire of Faith fell, and the second age of prosperity came to an end.
As time passed, the black holes formed from stars destroyed by the Aetherophasic Engine's backlash were eventually swallowed by the Galactic Center Black Hole, and the remaining stars gathered around the Milky Way once more.
By the third era, the Milky Way Galaxy had only a few thousand star systems left, along with two detached clusters, the L-Cluster and the Isomer Cluster. It differed little from the Milky Way Xi Yan now inhabited.
If they failed again, this universe would die completely, with no life left in it.
While waiting for a new Heavenly People Empire of Faith to rise, the Time Worm pondered alone within the black hole, drawing on the knowledge it had accumulated over two eras.
The previous plan had proven a failure. Whatever happened, this was their last chance, and it would not allow another failure. Ascension was this universe's only way out.
In the third era, the Heavenly People Empire of Faith ultimately failed to match the achievements of the two preceding eras. It became the most powerful empire in the universe, but could not eliminate the other empires.
But that was enough. Working with the finest scientists among the Third-Generation Heavenly People, the Time Worm finally gained a new understanding