"Chirp… chirp chirp…"
Outside the study window, a night breeze blew through, briefly quieting the insects in the courtyard.
Lin Tuo had finally finished sorting through the relevant information.
Regarding the "Spirit Realm," although he still lacked a clear understanding, at least it was far better than being completely in the dark as before.
Moreover, the origin of the "Seals" and "Evolved Abilities" had also been explained.
"So, the appearance of the Seals and the Nightmares are both accidents caused by Spirit Realm forces entering reality?" Sitting at the desk, Lin Tuo tapped his right hand habitually on the tabletop, though his brows did not relax.
"Logically speaking, that makes sense. In the sandbox, such an event only occurs once every few thousand years—it really does rely heavily on chance."
"But… if Spirit Realm forces have a small probability of descending into the material world… then has it ever happened on Earth?"
"Even if we only consider recorded history.
Human civilization has spanned thousands of years on Earth, and if we include prehistory, it stretches even further back. In all that time, could there have been cases of spirituality—or even Spirit Realm creatures—descending?"
He had to admit, the thought stirred his curiosity.
"Thinking about it carefully, could some of humanity's ancient legends actually be shadows cast by the influence of the Spirit Realm?"
It was hard to say.
Sandbox No. 1, Sandbox No. 2—one spanning 300,000 square kilometers, the other several million—were both far smaller than Earth.
Yet in their few-thousand-year spans of civilization, one produced Seals and those Evolved "abilities," while the other even had a Spirit Realm creature slip through.
"Tsk… for all I know, some of Earth's historical disasters might also be related to these things…" Lin Tuo's thoughts drifted.
"Hmm, maybe not. After all, this all comes down to probability.
Maybe Earth has simply been lucky, untouched by Spirit Realm forces for all these years."
Shaking his head, he reined in his wandering thoughts.
Lifting his cup, he took another sip of tea, thinking carefully—only to realize helplessly that this was something he could hardly avoid.
An ordinary person, with a lifespan of just decades, might never encounter a Spirit Realm incursion.
But him? With the accelerated time in the sandbox, even one such event every three thousand years would keep him busy.
The key was, there was no way to prevent it. Spirit Realm rifts could open anywhere, and barriers couldn't block them.
"Sigh… nothing I can do. I'll just have to keep a closer eye on Ether fluctuations. If anything unexpected happens, I can at least eliminate it quickly to minimize losses."
Still, come to think of it, incursions of Spirit Realm forces weren't always bad.
For example, the innate abilities of those wizards fell into this category—and their outcomes were positive.
Even the "Seals" and "Nightmares" had only become disasters because they exploited human weaknesses—amplifying or tempting the evil in people's hearts.
At the end of the day, it was still a man-made calamity.
"Ahh."
He sighed softly, lingering on the thought for a moment before calming down and setting it aside.
The mysterious Spirit Realm, for now, was too distant for him, and the sandbox only provided limited information about it. It was enough to treat it as background knowledge—dwelling on it was pointless.
In contrast…
"This spiritual essence seems a lot more promising."
Placing the "Spiritual Essence" he had brought back from Sandbox No. 2 on the desk, Lin Tuo focused his attention and carefully observed it.
Under the lamp, it appeared in a state between reality and illusion.
Like an oval-shaped cloud, circulating at a very slow pace.
Semi-transparent, emitting a sacred glow.
It was… quite beautiful.
He pinched it. The texture was soft, carrying a faint warmth.
"Hard to imagine something as ugly as that Nightmare leaving behind such a cute essence," Lin Tuo muttered.
As a drop from the Nightmare's death, its spiritual nature carried with it a special ability.
Of course, it wasn't the full set of the Nightmare's powers—only a fragment.
For instance, the Spirit Realm's signature "corruption" was absent.
The sandbox's analysis report had already made this clear.
Its ability was to consume Ether in order to construct a virtual dreamscape—or rather, an illusory space—and pull the consciousness of others into it…
Yes, quite an interesting ability.
Its drawback was that maintaining the dream would cause the caster to grow fatigued… the duration varied depending on one's constitution…
But that was entirely manageable.
In the sandbox, Lin Tuo had refrained from absorbing it out of caution. Now that he understood the Spirit Realm somewhat better, he was finally ready to claim his prize.
Such a fun and harmless ability was not to be wasted.
Besides, setting aside the basic Ether-Feeding method, Tongues, and his self-invented modified "Soldier-Fist," this was the first true supernatural ability he had ever obtained.
[Spiritual Essence detected. Absorb?]
Holding it in his hand, the prompt reappeared in his mind.
"Absorb."
Lin Tuo gave the command without hesitation.
The next moment, the light cluster shattered, dissolving into countless glittering motes like drifting stardust, which, drawn by an unseen force, merged into Lin Tuo's body.
[Absorption complete]
"Boom…"
As the spiritual energy entered him, Lin Tuo felt his body heat slightly. His cells briefly grew more active, while a near-instinctual set of "knowledge" poured into his awareness.
It was the method for using the ability.
Supernatural abilities derived from spiritual essence required no learning. The moment absorption finished, they became part of him.
The sensation was extraordinary.
Closing his eyes, he digested the knowledge briefly before, with a thought, he willed Ether to flow and activated the ability.
Immediately, Ether rippled within him. In the next instant, the air before his eyes warped, like the wavering heat haze of summer…
Like rippling waves.
His vision of the cluttered desk, the sandbox at his side, the open window, and the quiet training ground outside…
All of it rippled, then shattered, then vanished.
In the blink of an eye, the world collapsed into boundless void.
In less than a second, Lin Tuo found himself shocked to see that between heaven and earth, nothing remained but himself and the rattan chair beneath him. Everything else was gone.
Looking down, the solid floor had been replaced by a dark abyss.
It felt as if he were alone, floating in a starless universe.
Yet Lin Tuo did not panic. Despite keeping his eyes open, he could still clearly sense he was seated in his study.
Reality itself remained unchanged.
What he now occupied was the dreamscape constructed by his ability—or rather, a space of consciousness. At the moment, it was simply empty.
"This barebones? At least give me a floor." Lin Tuo scoffed inwardly.
At his thought, a marble floor spread beneath his feet, expanding outward in all directions.
As the imagined ground stretched wider, Lin Tuo could feel his Ether consumption accelerate.
Of course, it was only relative.
With his reserve of three thousand points, this drain was trivial.
Still, to avoid unnecessary fatigue, he stopped the expansion after creating a sufficiently wide area.
Then, with a thought, he conjured dense white mist at the edges, marking the boundary between ground and void.
Now it felt like he stood in a vast, empty hall.
And he realized he could shape illusions here at will.
"I wonder if the sandbox can be constructed in here." Curious, Lin Tuo turned his gaze leftward.
With a flicker of thought, a long table appeared, the sandbox atop it—exactly as in reality.
Looking closer, even the internal changes within the sandbox were perfectly synchronized with reality.
"It really works?" Lin Tuo blinked, first surprised, then unsurprised.
After all, the sandbox had always been bound to him—seen only by him, accessible through both body and avatar.
That meant it was tied to his consciousness, not just his physical form.
So naturally, it manifested within this dreamscape.
"According to the ability description, after constructing a space, I can use Ether to pull in the consciousness of other supernaturals within a certain range…"
Standing in his grand "illusion hall," Lin Tuo pondered.
Nearby, the only supernatural was Hua Xi—but she wasn't within sight.
And since Lin Tuo wasn't a true "Nightmare," he still had to experiment to master the details.
Then suddenly, as his gaze passed over the sandbox—and more precisely, over the countless "threads of Ether" linking earth to sky within it—a thought struck him:
"Could I pull in the practitioners within the sandbox?"
Yes. They were all technically "around" him, within his line of sight. The conditions seemed to fit perfectly.
"And as for their Ether connection…" His eyes narrowed at the strands of pale-blue energy, growing brighter with realization.
"Let's try."
Acting on the thought, Lin Tuo summoned the virtual panel and switched to "Observation Mode"… choosing "Yang City" over "Oasis."
He wasn't about to experiment recklessly with Sandbox No. 2.
After all, he had the perfect test subject right here.
The sandbox dissolved and reformed—an instant later showing Yang City under the night sky.
At ten o'clock, countless Ether threads floated above the city, stretching toward the distant heavens.
Each thread connected to someone practicing the Ether-Feeding method.
In recent days, as the practice spread, the number of people training steadily climbed to impressive numbers.
Most threads were fine, a few thick.
Without hesitation, Lin Tuo's gaze locked onto one above the mountain—where Hua Xi was cultivating.
"A student helping her teacher with an experiment—completely reasonable, right?" he muttered softly, lifting his hand toward the thread.
Then gently, he pulled.