His vision went black, shocking Zhong Yun into instant wakefulness. He immediately cranked his focus to its absolute limit, his entire being taut with extreme tension. He knew the terrifying nature of this trial space too well to dare let his mind wander, prepared for any eventuality.

Two breaths later, light flooded Zhong Yun’s vision again. In a single glance, he took in his surroundings: an immensely vast space, stretching out like an endless cosmos. His gaze snagged, utterly captivated, by a pale blue mecha ahead of him, unable to look away from the ripple-like patterns he knew intimately.

“Shui Huan,” the mecha he had gifted Yun.

His heart hammered against his ribs, his mouth suddenly dry. “Yun Qi, is that you?”

“Yun—” The familiar voice drifted from across the expanse, bringing tears to Zhong Yun’s eyes. All his worry, all his anxiety, vanished the moment he heard it.

“It’s… good that you’re alright…” Zhong Yun’s throat felt constricted, his voice raspy, barely managing to form the words.

“I made you worry.” The cockpit of Shui Huan hissed open, and Yun Qi emerged, drifting toward him like an ethereal fairy descending on water.

Zhong Yun didn’t hesitate. He immediately opened his own cockpit, ignoring the frantic alarms blaring from his optical computer. Stepping outside, his body felt weightless, devoid of gravity.

Yun Qi launched herself into his embrace, the two clinging to each other tightly. Breathing in her familiar scent, feeling the reality of her warmth, Zhong Yun finally found solid ground. He never wanted to let her go, wishing only to hold her like this, forever.

A long, long silence passed.

“What happened?” Finally, Zhong Yun remembered to ask.

Yun Qi shifted her elegant head, then playfully stuck out her tongue to lightly trace his neck, exhaling warm breath in slow circles. Only when he spoke did she stop, letting out a soft giggle. “Now, this place belongs to me.”

Zhong Yun shifted back, surprised. “This place is yours?”

Yun Qi wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close again. “I am the mistress of this place now.”

Zhong Yun paused, stunned, before realization dawned—this was an unimaginable joy. “You mean, this Golden Relic, you’ve become its master?” he asked in disbelief.

“Mm.” Yun Qi nodded emphatically.

Zhong Yun took a deep breath. “Tell me exactly what happened, every single detail.”

“When I heard the report…” Yun Qi began, slowly recounting the entire sequence of events.

The day Yun Qi entered the trial space, she was pulled directly into this location. A voice then materialized in her mind, declaring that she possessed the base’s key and commanded her to be its master.

“The base key?” At this, Zhong Yun interrupted, asking, “What is it?”

“This is it.” Yun Qi reached inside her clothing and produced a semi-transparent pendant that shimmered with an unearthly glow in the light.

“Eh?” Zhong Yun took the pendant, still warm from her body. “How did it change like this?”

Zhong Yun knew this pendant; Yun Qi always wore it. He’d heard it was a gift from her grandfather when she was very young, and she had never taken it off—not even during their most intimate moments. Usually tucked beneath her clothes, perhaps only Zhong Yun had ever seen it. But it hadn't been transparent before; it had been pure white. Now it was clear, its color transformed.

“Perhaps it changed because we came here,” Yun Qi admitted, unsure.

“So, one of the ruins your grandfather explored long ago… is this place,” Zhong Yun murmured, struck by the sheer coincidence. To think the key to unlocking this ruin had been worn by Yun Qi all along.

“No, not this one,” Yun Qi shook her head. “The coordinates of the ruin my grandfather visited are not here.”

“You truly are the good fortune star of my life.” Thinking of this immense relic, crafted by a super-civilization, now becoming their private property, Zhong Yun grew increasingly ecstatic. He couldn't help but press a hard kiss onto her.

Just the continent capable of accelerating cultivation speed was priceless enough. Not to mention this entire trial space; if they could utilize it, he could elevate the combat power of his entire army significantly in a short time. And the unexplored zones—this was an absolute treasure trove. An unparalleled repository of power.

“We’ve hit the jackpot!” Zhong Yun burst into laughter.

Seeing her beloved so overjoyed, Yun Qi felt a surge of happiness too.

“Blast it.” Zhong Yun slapped his own forehead hard.

“What is it?” Yun Qi asked nervously.

“We need to leave quickly. We’ve been in here so long, the people outside must be frantic,” Zhong Yun said, pulling her up and looking around. “How do we get out?”

Yun Qi waved her hand, and a spatial rift tore open before them, leaving Zhong Yun speechless. To spontaneously create a warp point—it was absurdly powerful.

“Right, and what about those soldiers trapped in the trial space? We should get them out too,” Zhong Yun recalled the thousand men just before stepping through the rift.

“Mm.” Yun Qi nodded.

Stepping through the spatial rift, approximately one second later, the scenery snapped, and they found themselves at the foot of a mountain. The landscape surrounding them was unmistakably that of the continent where Base Three was located.

Behind them, the spatial rift vanished quickly.

“Here, you can also casually create a ‘door’?” Zhong Yun’s eyes flashed as he suddenly inquired.

Yun Qi shook her head. “Not just anywhere. Only in certain fixed locations.”

“Where are we now?” Zhong Yun turned to survey their surroundings.

“We are very close to the base, less than a hundred kilometers away. As for those soldiers, I can only send them back to the exact points where they entered,” Yun Qi explained.

Saying this, the two took hands and flew up. Zhong Yun noticed with surprise that her power had soared. In the short forty-plus days they had been apart, she had actually broken through to the third tier. Remember, she had only just reached Tier Two last year, and forty days ago when they separated, she was barely at the third segment of Tier Two. How could her strength have jumped so drastically in such a short span?

Hearing his query, Yun Qi smiled faintly. “The base’s main consciousness said my physique was too poor, so it helped me improve it.”

Zhong Yun was utterly dumbfounded. Less than two months had passed since her disappearance. This Main Consciousness was too formidable—to upgrade someone’s entire tier so casually. He, relying on a creature as heaven-defying as the World Tree, had paid the price of a natural star just to advance three tiers.

Truly worthy of being a product of a super-civilization. Zhong Yun’s anticipation grew; what further surprises did this Golden Relic hold in store for him?