The chilling draft that followed Han Xueās retreat lingered in the narrow corridor of Dormitory Block D, but inside Room 409, the ambient temperature had already returned to a stable, heavy warmth. The thin hemp mat on the floorboards remained entirely dry, completely untouched by the frozen white powder that had dissolved across the concrete outside.
Lin Feng sat cross-legged, his upper torso bare once more. Within his
Dantian
, the liquid engine of his
Qi CirculationāStage 1
foundation rolled in smooth, massive rotations, its micro-gravitational pull quietly cleansing his scoured meridians of any residual sub-zero ice particles left behind by the
Frozen River Script
.
Han Xue will deliver the stones,
Lin Feng calculated calmly, his internal gaze tracking the perfectly aligned fluid pathways of his
Ren Channel
.
The Northern Frost Sanctuary didn't preserve its ancestral line for three centuries by being tactically blind. She experienced the unyielding density of an Unbroken Foundation firsthand. She knows that if she refuses the trade, the primary grand rift in seventy-two hours will swallow her enclave's layout whole.
To push past the baseline of
Qi Circulation ChannelingāStage 1
and initiate the secondary loop through his
Du Channel
, linear atmospheric energy was no longer sufficient. He needed high-density geocentric anchorsāmaterials compressed by the weight of ancient tectonic plates before the modern calendar split.
The three thousand tons of uncut northern marrow stones weren't a luxury; they were the raw fuel required to forge his
Stage 2 Meridian Loop
ahead of the global timeline.
Suddenly, a series of heavy, systematic metallic thuds vibrated through the floorboards.
It wasn't a hostile deployment from the Capital Zhao familyās remaining corporate enforcers. It was the rhythmic, heavy mechanical hum of automated heavy logistics flatbeds entering the university campus perimeter.
Lin Feng opened his eyes, a temporary, blinding flash of pure golden luminescence lighting the dark corners of the concrete room before returning to a calm, deceptive vacancy. He stood up smoothly, sliding into a fresh black t-shirt, and walked toward the window frame that the Central Bureau operatives had hastily replaced with reinforced ballistic poly-glass earlier that morning.
Down in the concrete loading plaza behind Dormitory Block D, an elite military logistical convoy had formed a tight, synchronized ring.
Six massive, multi-ton automated transport carriers bearing the high-security seals of the
Central Regulatory Bureauās Strategic Resource Reserve
sat idling, their diesel-hybrid engines emitting a low, rhythmic purr through the damp mountain fog. Flanking the vehicles were nearly twenty black-ops operatives dressed in full tactical gear, their multi-spectrum targeting visors actively painting the surrounding pine forest line with shifting green grid vectors.
Standing at the absolute center of the assembly plaza, her long trench coat of midnight-black silk damp from the morning mist, was Han Xue. Beside her stood Instructor Meng, whose fingers were tightly clasped around an official, encrypted state clearance tablet that was pulsing with an intense green light loop.
"The delivery is validated, Student Lin," Instructor Mengās sharp voice carried over the localized tactical speaker array, echoing cleanly into the open window of Room 409. "The Northern Frost Sanctuary has cleared their regional depot under Code Blue administrative transit. Three thousand tons of high-density geocentric marrow mineral are placed under your sovereign strategic account."
Lin Feng didn't take the stairs. He simply stepped off the concrete window ledge, his body gliding down through the thick white fog with an absolute, feather-like lightness that left zero impressions on the damp asphalt paving below.
He stopped exactly three paces from Han Xue. The clear, glacial gaze of the sanctuary successor was fixed entirely on his porcelain-smooth knuckles, her posture rigid, her breathing shallow and tightly disciplined to prevent her internal current from dropping into another violent pressure state.
"The stones are scoured straight from the deep fault blocks of the Changbai ridge," Han Xue said, her crisp, ringing voice dropping into a low frequency meant only for the three of them. She pulled a small, silver-plated magnetic cloner key from her lapel and handed it forward. "Every single fragment carries an internal matrix baseline forty times higher than the capital's standard synthetic jades. My sanctuary directors complied with the trade, Lin Feng... but they left a message on the ledger."
Lin Feng casually accepted the cloner token, his pulse maintaining its flat sixty beats per minute behind his plain utility jacket. "A message regarding the seventy-two-hour countdown?"
"A message regarding the
Imperial Core Rift
," Han Xue whispered, her eyes narrowing into two sharp points of silver light. "You think you can containerize the primary grand tear beneath the Academy's main testing ground using the state's military columns as a shield. You don't realize that the Capital branch isn't the only dragon sitting on the board. The
Southern Flame Syndicate
has already mobilized their three
Gilded Elders
from the ancestral vaults. They aren't coming to audit your files... they are coming to consume the marrow before the gates turn white."
Lin Feng smoothly slid the magnetic cloner key into his jeans pocket, a cold, undefeated smile curling the absolute corners of his lips under the pewter sky.
"Let them crawl out from their vaults," Lin Feng said softly, his smooth voice carrying an unhurried, mountain-like density that caused the multi-ton automated transport carriers to faintly vibrate in unison. "The elders spent forty years hiding behind synthetic seals, assuming their mortal flesh could withstand the fallout of an uncorrupted world-rift. When the sky splits open, I will show them how small their vaults look to the apex of New Huaxia."
He turned his back on her, walking toward the lead transport vehicle with a slow, unremarkable gait that completely ignored her legacy pride.
The pieces were drawing closer to the center of the grand stage, the countdown to the primary rupture was bleeding away by the millisecond, and the undefeated path toward absolute dominance was forcing him to ignite the second loop tonight.