Just then, Shao Qiming finished the test paper he was working on. He checked it over once and breathed a sigh of relief, confirming that his intelligence and memory hadn't suffered any damage from his previous loss of consciousness. He and Su Zhou were both high school juniors, about to start their senior year. Any mishaps at this stage could be a major issue that would affect the rest of their lives.
He had wanted to suggest that Su Zhou also complete a test paper to check for any cognitive impairment, but just then, Su Zhou turned to him. With a slight frown, he asked, "By the way, Qiming, have you thought about what we're going to say when the time comes?"
'What to say?' It only took a moment for Shao Qiming to understand what Su Zhou meant. Their trip to Shan Country had been nothing short of a perilous adventure. When they got back, they were bound to get an earful from their parents. If they couldn't come up with a good explanation to reassure them, the two of them could probably forget about having any freedom for the entire next year, right up until their college entrance exams were over.
"What else can we say? We start by admitting we were wrong. Promise we'll never travel abroad again and that we'll be extremely careful. Basically, just grovel and beat ourselves up first, leaving them with nothing to lecture us about. That way, they'll end up feeling bad about what we went through and start comforting us instead."
Though he looked like a model student, Shao Qiming was a seasoned veteran in these matters. Right then and there, he concocted a complete strategy for himself and Su Zhou to handle their parents, leaving Su Zhou enlightened, his eyes wide with admiration.
There was no need to be secretive about this kind of conversation. Three rows behind them, an ordinary-looking man with a blank expression was jotting something down in a notebook. But upon overhearing the two high schoolers discussing how to pull one over on their parents, he couldn't help but crack a smile. He shook his head, reminiscing about his own youth.
Finally, in his notebook, next to the names 'Su Zhou' and 'Shao Qiming,' he placed a check mark in the box for 'Normal.'
At that same moment, even as he was speaking, Shao Qiming was typing something into the notepad on his phone.
[Kaidan and Anomalies... should we keep collecting information on them? We just stumbled into a real supernatural incident this time, and it was so dangerous...]
He showed the phone to Su Zhou. Su Zhou, while verbally answering Shao Qiming's small talk, also began to rapidly type on his own phone.
[Of course, we keep going. Your average ghosts and Evil Demons aren't going to seek us out just because we're researching them online, nor will they avoid us. They're real, and in the future, there are only going to be more of them.]
After each message, they would delete the previous one. After reading Su Zhou's reply, Shao Qiming frowned slightly.
[Did that voice tell you this? Are there really going to be more and more ghosts and Evil Demons?]
[Yes. It did. Sometime in the future, the Extraordinary will burst forth and spread uncontrollably across the entire world. It's a 'natural phenomenon' that no faction can suppress or conceal.]
Seeing this, Shao Qiming let out a soft sigh. He glanced at his friend, who had an eager, almost excited look on his face, and continued typing.
[But... whether it's the activity of Mysterious Organizations or the owner of that voice... aren't they all incredibly dangerous? What I mean is, if it's just Ghosts and freaks, we might be able to handle them with your power and my preparations. But what if more and more Evil Demons awaken, and more and more ghouls and monsters are revived?]
[If that really happens, what will become of our world?]
It was a perfectly rational concern—the anxiety of someone without Extraordinary Power, yet aware of the Extraordinary world.
Seeing his friend's words, Su Zhou froze for a moment, and his excitement cooled.
'He's right.'
Even before the arrival of the New Era, a Mysterious Organization like the Holy Snake Spirit Prayer Association was already trying to stir up major trouble. So, after the New Era begins, how many more heretical groups would spring up like mushrooms? How many dangerous Demon Fiends and monsters would reawaken?
From what he had seen, it seemed the world wasn't entirely defenseless. The government wasn't completely in the dark and had long since made preparations and established countermeasures. But if the Spiritual Energy Revival and Extraordinary Awakening truly came to pass, the fundamental order of the world would be thrown into chaos regardless.
'To love the abnormal, to love change, to love the unpredictable future—that's my own kind of fun, my freedom.'
'But I don't want other people's freedom to be trampled just so the world can become the way I like it.'
His earlier excitement had been born from not thinking things through, allowing him to anticipate the future with glee. But now that Shao Qiming had laid it all bare, a deep sense of unease settled over him.
'The awakening Evil Demons... what's to be done about them?'
He posed the question to himself, but it was also directed at another. Su Zhou subtly questioned the seemingly experienced Yara. The Snake Spirit hidden by his ear simply chuckled. "There is no need to worry."
"You will know soon enough."
After that, Yara said no more on the matter. Su Zhou didn't press the issue, either. He simply closed his eyes along with Shao Qiming to rest.
「Some time later, the plane reached its destination.」
As the plane decelerated and descended, the cabin pressure shifted. The aircraft, filled with tourists and returning nationals, arrived in Spring City, the capital of Zhengguo's Dian State.
After waking his sleeping companion, Su Zhou and Shao Qiming followed the flow of passengers off the plane. The jet bridge was a glass-walled corridor. The sky was cloudless, and the glittering stars were clearly visible through the glass.
At customs, airport staff were checking passports. Shao Qiming was about to call out to Su Zhou, but he saw that his friend was standing dazed to one side of the jet bridge. He was staring blankly at the sky, occasionally lowering his head to survey the ground, his eyes filled with shock and astonishment.
If a powerful cultivator had been present, they might have faintly perceived that Su Zhou's pupils had transformed into vertical slits, shimmering with a violet-cyan light.
"Do you see it clearly now? The world from the perspective of a 'Dragon'—or perhaps, a 'Celestial Being'."
Yara's voice held a trace of pure delight. It flicked its tail against Su Zhou's ear and said with a laugh, "It's hardly what you'd call a power, but it's enough to let you view the world from the perspective of a true Transcendent."
At that moment, Su Zhou was utterly incapable of responding to Yara. He tilted his head back, his Dragon Pupils swiveling, taking in this familiar yet alien world with a ravenous and disbelieving gaze.
Yes, he saw it.
He saw that the entire world was veiled in countless, warm Spirits.
—They were divine effigies, towering from earth to sky.
Su Zhou could see that across the lands of Dian State, countless ancient Soul Spirits were reawakening, shielding their homeland. He could see that across the Zhengguo Divine Continent, the Divine Thoughts of innumerable heroes and paragons were stirring, guarding the land of their birth.
—They were also Holy Emblems, illuminating the very heavens.
Su Zhou could see, at the far ends of the world, a compassionate Prajna Light shining, a hallowed Infinite Light ascending, and a colossal Divine Wood and a Holy Mountain standing firm upon the earth, holding up the Celestial Vault. He could see that no matter where in the world, wherever people lived, wherever society and Order existed, all was suffused with a warm Spiritual Light.
Su Zhou saw it all. The entire world was veiled in countless, warm Spirits.
They were love and ancestors, Gods and faith.
They formed an 'Array' composed of countless Beliefs, of guardianship and of heritage.
An immensely vast 'Array', organically formed by countless people, blanketed every human city and the entire planet, suppressing and eroding all aberrations that had been born or were about to be born. This was why, even now, on the cusp of the New Era, the world at large remained stable and unharmed.
—Yes.
In this age, the Spiritual Energy Revival has begun. The stars tremble, and Evil Demons stir to life. In realms unknown and incomprehensible to humanity, a dark terror begins to squirm, threatening to annihilate all existence.
—But.
What has also awakened is Order, human society, the protection of every ancestor, and the convergence of all Beliefs and faiths!
Evil has awakened, and so has good. Chaos has revived, and so has Order. Since it was Order that first triumphed over Chaos to sunder the heavens from the earth, and Good that seized Evil by the throat to forge civilization...
...then there is no reason to believe their positions would be reversed simply because of the Spiritual Energy Revival.
'That's right... Until now, the vast majority of Spirits I've encountered have been benevolent.'
'I see... There's nothing to be afraid of... We aren't facing this alone.'
Gazing at this splendor that only 'Celestial Beings' could perceive, Su Zhou recalled that over the past decade, most of the Spirits he had seen were 'white and gentle.' They would leave on their own, and some even greeted him. Only the fleeting, pure black Spirits would emit that maddening Spirit Sound.
However, the Snake Spirit Yara didn't let Su Zhou remain lost in his reflections. It gave his earlobe a gentle nip, prompting him to look up.
So Su Zhou looked up, his gaze sweeping toward the Celestial Vault.
As Shao Qiming approached, he saw his friend—who had always been so cheerful, energetic, optimistic, and self-assured—suddenly wear an expression of utter disbelief and 'fear.'
"It's cracked..."
He heard his friend muttering to himself, his eyes filled with utter disbelief and confusion.
Because at this very moment, Su Zhou could see.
Above this warm world, there was one, two... no, there were endless, uncountable 'black fissures.' These cracks crisscrossed and merged, forming a colossal, root-like network of scars and rifts that stretched across the entire planet, across the Celestial River and the starry sky, and even across the whole cosmic firmament!
The pitch-black fissures seemed capable of devouring everything. They vibrated slowly, as if something was about to shatter the boundaries of reality and emerge from beyond them.
"This is the 'Gate'—the 'Gate of Sealing.'"
Deep within the boy's stunned soul, the Snake Spirit's voice rang out, laced with a rare solemnity and gravity, and a hint of frank acceptance. Yara stared at the sky alongside Su Zhou and said softly, "The source of the Spiritual Energy Revival and the Extraordinary. The Celestial Giant Gate that links to other worlds."
"It is also the 'Great Gate'—the thing that is Tearing your world apart, and the very Seal that imprisons beings like me."
"The Gate will open. It is destined to open. And because of it, all the vile and wicked Soul Spirits will be revived. All the resentful, despairing abominations will begin to struggle. They, and *They*, will seek to crawl out from that primordial, fathomless Hell, to inflict the suffering they have endured upon all worlds."
The light in Su Zhou's eyes began to fade. The radiance of the Spirits and the fissures all receded. The boy blinked and took an involuntary step back. His friend caught his arm, steadying him before he could stumble.
The crowd surged along the jet bridge, the sweltering summer air overwhelming the air conditioning. But confronted with the terrifying truth that had just been revealed to him, Su Zhou—who not long ago was merely an ordinary student enjoying his school holiday—felt an icy chill run down his spine. A cold sweat soaked through his shirt.
—But it was precisely for this reason.
Out of indignation, out of hatred for the momentary fear and cowardice he had displayed, the boy's gaze gradually hardened, becoming fierce and resolute. Leaning on his friend for support, he gritted his teeth and glared at the sky, which now looked perfectly normal.
Yara's voice continued to echo in his mind. The Snake Spirit's tone was unreadable, somewhere between solemn and expectant. "Calamity will be unleashed, just as Annisadora opened the Magic Box out of curiosity."
"But along with it, Miracles will be released as well."
Su Zhou, my Contractor...
This is only the beginning. From this day until the far, endless tomorrow, the cowardly will have nowhere to hide. Only the brave and resolute can seize the future and hope.
—This era, ablaze with conflict and Miracles, is finally upon us—
—End of the Prologue: The Miracle Era—