And now, the real centerpiece.
This nascent Aeon, stuck halfway, unable to ascend or descend.
It had indeed developed self-awareness, but there was very little it could actually do.
Mostly, it could only peer across the Path, randomly observing the other travelers upon it.
Yet, it possessed a profound sense of sanctity and was remarkably generous.
Who knows if it was just bored because it couldn't ascend to Aeonhood, or if this was simply its nature.
But Zero and her Light Giants could keenly feel it—they didn't even need to actively practice or walk the Path.
If their understanding and yearning for hope deepened even a little in their hearts, the Path would feed back power to them tenfold, a hundredfold.
It hadn't directly appointed them as its Emanators, but at this rate, becoming Emanators was only a matter of time.
Other Pathstriders don't get spoon-fed by an Aeon personally.
No matter how steadfast they are, reaching the stellar rank of an Emanator is incredibly difficult.
But the Light Giants are different.
With the Aeon feeding them directly, they can climb their Path ten, a hundred times faster.
They can gain power ten, a hundred times more easily than other Pathstriders. Growing on their own to the level of an Emanator has also become ten, a hundred times easier.
While mass-producing Emanators is still surely impossible, it's shocking enough.
And beneath these surface phenomena, there's another fact that stunned everyone.
Those Aeons of different Paths, through some shared method, had permitted this new Path—which should have been unable to coalesce—to stabilize.
In plain terms: They neither refused nor consented, but instead, in a form of lending, shared a portion of their own traits.
Using the combined traits of multiple Paths to prop it up, they allowed the brand-new Path to take temporary form.
As for the cost? Naturally, the new Aeon couldn't truly ascend to godhood.
Its control over its own Path was also exceedingly weak.
After all, those traits didn't belong to it yet.
And this conclusion seemed to further confirm 'Ruan Mei's' hypothesis.
These Aeons truly seemed to have reached some kind of consensus; they were leaving behind a 'seed of miracle' for the destined end that is to come.
This discovery drew a soft, impressed 'tsk' from Herta.
This world really will throw any absurd thing at you, won't it?
And precisely because of this collaboration of multiple Aeons, while the new Path felt somewhat unsteady, its breadth was terrifyingly vast!
Of course, if the other Aeons all withdrew their 'lent concepts', the Path's breadth would shrink considerably.
But the silver lining was that a Path, once manifested, would never truly disappear.
That fact alone was enough to make 'Ruan Mei' happy.
However, also because the current Path was propped up by other Aeons, the nascent Aeon sealed within the crystal struggled somewhat when bestowing blessings.
Other Aeons, if they want an Emanator, just pour power directly.
But it couldn't be so casual; for every scoop it ladled out, more than half would spill.
It was very difficult for it to directly raise an Emanator.
But then again, 'Ruan Mei' looked at Zero and the others.
Given their current strength and their rate of progress, coupled with their boss's immense generosity, as long as they don't stray onto a wicked path, within a few hundred years or so, reaching Emanator-tier was absolutely guaranteed.
After conducting a series of experiments and reaching these conclusions, Herta couldn't help but laugh:
"Ha~ Who knows when this new Path will be discovered by others."
The Aeon hadn't fully been born, so the cosmos had no idea what exactly happened here.
At most, they'd know some major event occurred in this star sector, and then, for some reason, Aha started cackling like a madman.
'Ruan Mei', hearing this, said with a smile:
"Very soon. Zero and her group won't stay here forever. Once the Seeds of Light are completed, they'll start running all over the universe. By then, newborn Light Giants will appear one after another, and the entire cosmos will…"
"Know of their existence."
The Ruan Mei standing nearby looked curiously at her other self and asked:
"You don't plan to lead them?"
"I won't. They are the embodiment of hope and miracles. In their presence, I'd only feel ashamed of my own inadequacy, let alone lead them."
"No one has the right to dictate how hope and miracles should manifest."
'Ruan Mei' understood clearly.
The power of the Light Giants should not be controlled by mortals.
As incarnations of hope and miracles, they possess both divinity and humanity—how could they be commanded by mortals?
They should be independent, beautiful embodiments.
At the very least, 'Ruan Mei' didn't feel she was qualified.
Herta, upon hearing this, laughed: "An interesting perspective. Though it lacks a bit of confidence, I find myself liking you more and more."
This was exactly what Herta appreciated about Bai Ming.
She knew very well that she was merely borrowing another's power, so she remained neither arrogant nor impatient, simply doing what she wanted to do.
This self-awareness, combined with her unique abilities, greatly satisfied Herta.
"I, however, feel Lady Herta's words are becoming increasingly blunt. It rather puts me in a difficult position."
'Ruan Mei' replied with a slight smile.
"What, fallen for me? But I can understand; my beauty is simply that captivating."
The original Ruan Mei, standing to the side, found Herta's words rather bizarre.
"…Let's return to the topic of the Seeds of Light. Now that we have a true Path, creating these Seeds should be much easier."
"Heh~"
Herta let out a light laugh.
In all these days, it was the first time she'd seen Ruan Mei react like that.
It was quite amusing.
But jokes aside, work still needed to be done.
Now that everything was in place, mere Seeds of Light were indeed simple.
"Since we even have a Path now, shouldn't we reconsider the purpose of the Seeds of Light?"
"Such as?"
'Ruan Mei' waited curiously for Herta to continue.
"The original purpose of the Seeds was to lower the threshold, allowing those in despair to be saved in time. But a lower threshold means uneven quality."
Herta tapped her fingers on the desk.
Though she hadn't fully deciphered why those Aeons had shown up for their little 'team-building exercise', she knew at least one thing.
This new Path most likely carried some form of expectation from them.
And the potential of this Path was very high.
Therefore.
"I think the Seeds of Light need a memetic contamination function."
"You can't guarantee that everyone who gains this power will maintain their original heart after peace arrives. How about having the Seed's belief 'contaminate' the chosen ones?"
Herta's idea was to make those who change their hearts undergo a forced 'redemption'.
But 'Ruan Mei' shook her head:
"But if we truly do that, who gets to set the standard? Obtaining an embodiment of hope by polluting the mind goes against my hopes."
"What's your idea, then? Anyway, I won't accept any Light Giants harboring strange intentions."
Herta's stance was firm.
Though unstated, she seemed quite taken with this new race born under her purview, even a bit protective.
"How about adding a separation mechanism? After overcoming hardship and ushering in peace, the Seed of Light automatically detaches."
"Those who truly kept their original heart will naturally set foot on this Path and become true Light Giants."
"You… you're harsher than I am."
Herta looked at 'Ruan Mei' with a strange expression.
This one, it seems, might be even more extreme than me.
--+--