The frigid air of the infirmary’s private section clung to Liu Jin like a second skin, a constant, absolute zero that mirrored the void within his own chest. Elder Mo’s departing words still resonated, not as a warning that stirred emotion, but as data: "The crack appeared, didn't it? ... The world, the universe itself, abhors such absolute stillness. It fights back." Liu Jin had registered the microscopic fissure on Xueru’s crystalline coffin. He watched it now, a hairline fracture, almost imperceptible, yet it was there. Anomaly. Requires constant monitoring. Energy output must remain absolute.
Two days had passed in this glacial vigil. Two days of ceaseless Qi flow, maintaining Xueru's stasis, while the world outside buzzed with frantic whispers and fearful speculation. He had not slep
