The detonation of the Guild's bomb and the subsequent Stoneborn invasion sent shockwaves through the Realm. Elias had diverted the initial assault, but the deeper crisis of the shattered ley lines was escalating. Mei Lin, still recovering but resolute, stood beside him, her judgment a constant, silent weight.
Then, a new, unsettling phenomenon began. As Elias delved into the Sutra network, trying to gauge the extent of the ley line damage, he heard them. Faint, ethereal whispers, like distant echoes in a vast, empty hall. Fragments of Lian's AI consciousness, scattered and broken by Arthan's purge, were haunting the Sutra network. They whispered warnings, fragmented insights, their digital forms flickering like dying embers.
"The resonance... it spreads..." Lian's fragmented voice ghosted through his terminal, almost imperceptible amidst the data hum. "Destabilizing... others. Deepening."
Elias and Mei Lin quickly pieced together the terrifying revelation: the bomb's unique resonance wasn't contained. It was spreading, a cancerous pulse radiating outwards from the shattered border ley line, subtly destabilizing other ley lines across the Realm. The initial earthquakes were just the beginning.
The Ledger's internal diagnostics, already strained by Lian's fragmentation, confirmed the dire prognosis. Within months, if left unchecked, the escalating ley line chaos would have a devastating effect on cultivation itself. Rank 4+ cultivators may lose their powers entirely, their Prana channels collapsing under the discordant energies. Higher-ranked cultivators would become vulnerable, their very connection to karma unraveling. The entire system of power and order would crumble.
"We have to reverse this," Mei Lin stated, her voice tight with urgency, the true scope of the disaster laid bare. "The source. We need to find Veyra's lab. The main one. The one controlling the network of cores."
Elias nodded, his expression grim. Veyra's hidden lab, where Mei Lin had been captured, was now their only hope. It held the key to understanding the resonance, to finding a counter-frequency, to reversing the catastrophic chain reaction that threatened to plunge the entire Realm into a new dark age. Time was no longer just running out; it was accelerating, pushing them toward an inevitable collapse.