One hundred years is a blink of an eye to a star, but a lifetime to a world without magic.
The skyscrapers of the old city had grown taller, sheathed in smart-glass and carbon-nanotube lattices. The "Great Anchoring" was now a footnote in history books, a period of global transition that scientists called the Great Stabilization. People lived, loved, and died under a sun that no longer felt like a god—just a massive ball of hydrogen.
In a quiet, high-tech maternity ward in the heart of the capital, a child opened his eyes. He didn't cry. He simply watched the flickering neon of the vitals monitor with an intensity that unsettled the nursing droids.
Inside the infant's mind, the last spark of the old world—the tiny, stubborn ember of Chen Feng's soul—vibrated. It didn't explode into a silver aura. Instead, it compressed, folding in on itself like a dying star until it crystallized into something cold, logical, and precise.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION: 100%]
[HOST: CHEN FENG (REBORN)]
[CURRENT ERA: POST-NORMALIZATION (YEAR 102)]
[STATUS: FOUNDATION ANCHOR]
The Silent Guide
As I grew, the world felt... fragile. Not because it was weak, but because it was too balanced. Without the ebb and flow of aether, the "Dao" had become a static thing, like a stagnant pool. If it stayed this way, the universe would eventually lose its "stretch" and become brittle.
My "System" wasn't a gift of power; it was a set of instructions. It was the crystallized intent of the Dao I had merged with a century ago, now acting as a cosmic maintenance crew.
I was twelve years old, sitting in a mandatory "History of Science" class, when the first directive appeared in my vision.
[QUEST DETECTED: THE CALIBRATION OF SHADOWS]
[OBJECTIVE: LOCATE THE WEAKENED ANCHOR POINT IN DISTRICT 7 (FORMERLY 'HEAVENLY BREWS')]
[REWARD: 1% DAO STABILITY / UNLOCK: 'SIGHT OF THE HIDDEN FLOW']
I walked the streets of the new city. People passed me by, their lives governed by schedules, digital credits, and physical limits. They were happy, but they were flat.
I reached the coordinates. District 7 was now a sleek shopping plaza. Where the espresso machine once stood was now a high-end terminal for "Neural-Link" upgrades.
[ANALYSIS: THE GROUND IS BECOMING 'BRITTLE'. SPIRITUAL PRESSURE IS CLUMPING BENEATH THE CONCRETE.]
I knelt, pretending to tie my shoe, and pressed my palm against the cool, synthetic pavement. I felt the "hint" of my power—a tiny, needle-thin thread of gold—slip from my fingertips.
In the old world, I would have used this power to split the earth. Now, I used it to "stitch." I guided the clumped energy, smoothing it out like a wrinkle in a rug, re-anchoring the physical reality to the deep, silent Dao below.
[QUEST COMPLETE: DISTRICT 7 STABILIZED]
[SYSTEM UPDATE: DAO HARMONY INCREASED BY 0.05%]
[NEW TRAIT ACQUIRED: 'BREATH OF THE EARTH' (PASSIVE)]
A sense of warmth spread through my chest. I wasn't an immortal warlord anymore. I was a gardener, tending to a world that didn't even know it was a garden.
"Hey, kid! Move it! You're blocking the hover-lane!" a delivery driver shouted, his van humming with the quiet efficiency of a fusion battery.
I stood up and smiled. "Sorry. Just making sure the foundation was solid."
He scoffed and zoomed past. He didn't see the way the air behind his van shimmered for a split second, or the way the nearby trees seemed to stand just a little straighter.
I had a long way to go. There were thousands of districts, millions of anchors, and a world that needed to learn how to grow without breaking. But as the System chimed again, showing me the next location, I felt a familiar, ancient spark of humor.
At least this time, I didn't have to wear an apron.