Chapter 278: Jing Yi

"Yun Ge"'s incongruously playful log, like a discordant note in a grand symphony, briefly shattered the heaviness of Kunlun Mountain's core. Qin Feng sealed the data and refocused his attention on the vast stream of information carried by the "Star Core" regarding the "Star Ring" and the extinct civilization.

As analysis deepened, a highly encrypted record—apparently tied to the final fate of that extinct civilization—gradually surfaced. Its encryption level far surpassed all others, carrying even a sense… of tragic resolve, as if it were the creator's final testament.

The system mobilized nearly all its computational power, like the most precise key, peeling away layer upon layer of the hardened encryption shell.

Finally, the core information emerged.

No detailed description of the "Star Ring"'s destructive power, nor any ultimate countermeasure, appeared as expected.

What manifested in Qin Feng's consciousness was an unusually brief message, as if carved with the last ounce of strength.

No images. No complex data.

Only two cold symbols, written in the script of the extinct civilization.

The system swiftly translated them:

【Jing Yi】

Beneath the symbols, a fainter annotation, nearly dissolving, carried boundless regret and entrustment:

【…key…only…hope…entrusted…to…the successor…】

The message ended here, completely.

Jing Yi.

Was this the core information, hidden with the highest encryption and consuming the extinct civilization's final will?

A name?

A…key?

Qin Feng stared at the two translated characters: "Jing Yi." It sounded more like an individual's designation than the name of a weapon or technique.

"Key… only hope… entrusted to the successor…"

This message clearly placed the civilization's final hope for survival upon this entity named "Jing Yi," or something tied to this name.

Was it an individual? An object? Or… a concept?

The "Star Core"'s information archive held no further details about "Jing Yi." As if the name itself were the last, heaviest bargaining chip the civilization could leave before plunging into despair.

They never got to use this "key," ultimately perishing within the cyclical operation of the "Star Ring." Yet this "Star Core," carrying their civilization's essence and final hope, crossed billions of years and countless star systems, fell to Earth, and was buried beneath Kunlun Mountain until today.

Qin Feng fell silent.

He had hoped to find a direct method or weapon to oppose the "Star Ring." Instead, he received a more enigmatic name—a hope entrusted.

Where is "Jing Yi"? Alive or dead? Human or object? And how does one "use" this "key"?

All answers are hidden behind mist.

Qin Feng's gaze swept again over the suppressed space, over the black "Star Core," over the sleeping Xia Wan within the light cocoon, then turned toward the void—as if piercing through layers of space to see the invisible Sword of Damocles hanging above human civilization: the "Star Ring."

The path to opposing the "Star Ring" seemed even more convoluted than he had imagined.

But it was not without direction.

"Jing Yi"…

He silently memorized the name.

It would become one of the most vital objectives for the "New Era" to seek.

He extended his hand; Rule Force surged, carefully detaching the "Kunlun Star Core"—which contained vast information, especially the secret of "Jing Yi"—from its original floating "Hollow," and temporarily storing it within an independent, stable subspace created by the system.

This object was too important, too dangerous; it must be kept by him alone.

As the "Star Core" was removed, the rule distortions and energy surges that had plagued Kunlun Mountain's core for countless ages began to recede like a tide. Though the damaged Geological Structure and residual radiation would require time to heal, the suffocating strangeness and danger had greatly diminished.

Having finished, Qin Feng turned and walked toward the pale golden light cocoon enclosing Xia Wan.

He waved his hand, withdrawing the Rule Force sustaining the cocoon.

Without external support, the cocoon slowly dissolved, revealing Xia Wan within—still unconscious, but with stable vital signs.

Qin Feng bent down and lifted her into his arms.

The girl's body was light as if weightless; years of depletion and injury had rendered her fragile as a porcelain vase.

He did not linger.

With a thought, system permissions reactivated.

The space before him rippled; a stable channel, far wider than the one he had entered through, was forcibly constructed.

Beyond the channel's far end, the familiar scene of the "New Era" Command Center faintly appeared.

Qin Feng, carrying Xia Wan, stepped into it.

His figure vanished.

The Rule Channel closed behind him.

The Belly of Kunlun Mountain returned to true, eternal silence.

Only a forcibly smoothed scar of Rule remained, testifying to the conflict and struggle beyond mortal comprehension that had once occurred here.

And a hope and mystery named "Jing Yi" was carried away from these ancient mountains, entering a grander, more turbulent tide of history.