At the same time, the Prime universe was in upheaval.
On the edge of Prime, a divine tower hung in the void: a white stele so large it dwarfed anything built by hand. It was one solid piece, upright and unmoving, with clean geometric edges and a surface too smooth to be stone. It didn't look carved. It didn't look forged. It looked placed. Its corners didn't chip. Its face didn't show seams. Light didn't cling to it the way it did to rock or metal; it slid off in a steady sheet, leaving the tower looking the same from every angle. The moment it stabilized, the pressure in the surrounding space changed, Ki currents shifting around it like they'd been redirected.
No one knew where or how these towers appeared. They were a tool of the Cultivation Assist Defense System.
Diviners across a thousand worlds felt it like a shift in weather, the kind you notice before you can name it.
The system was bringing in a new world.
Battle worlds were what Earth was about to become—beacons built to absorb Nether and Chaos so Prime could breathe. Relief didn't come from peace. It came from the load being spread out. It meant one battle world could be fully released from its duty. On paper, that was mercy. In practice, it meant the front lines rotated and someone else got to bleed first.
One of those battle worlds had been inhabited by halflings under Elder rule. Halflings were short-statured humanoids that resembled humans at a glance, right up until you caught the ears—flabby, mobile, expressive. They excelled in trickery, thievery, and stealth.
The Elders were an ancient race. An apt description was a human who appeared dried out and withered with glowing eyes. They excelled in cultivation arts and enlightenment. While the Elder race was few in number, their power was unmistakable. The Elders controlled a mighty empire with many vassals.
Joined beneath them were the Uric-Hi—a sub-race of intelligent orcs who weren't controlled by Chaos or their bloodlust. They excelled in body cultivation.
The dwarven mech worlds whirred on, ancient machinery spewing out weaponry, shields, and resources. As the merchant race, they could already see endless profits.
A new world meant new conflicts for the younger generation. A place to make their mark. A new world for their empires.
But there was always the chance of something new. A new race to rise.
Diviners had determined humanity would be the sentient species of this new world.
The powers that be were uncomfortable. Humanity was a weak race whose worlds constantly fell to Nether or Chaos. They couldn't afford a fallen world where it would phase in. It would create another front for Nether or Chaos.
The current war for survival had been at a stalemate for hundreds of years. This new world could undermine everything.
But if they could secure this world, it could strengthen the Prime universe.
It had been one thousand years since the last divine tower had appeared.
The elders of countless races moved. The Heavens would allow only so many outsiders. Only those who matched the sentient race in power would be allowed to enter—the uncultivated—and even that number was limited.
First come first serve was the rule.
Many empires would war and blockade this planet. Treaties would be made and broken.
This world would hold so many opportunities—not just Merits for battling Chaos and Nether, but secret realms.
But the biggest news was the diviners had determined the Heavens had opened a new path for humanity.
Bonds.
Humanity would be able to bond with beasts and get powers and affinity for enlightenment.
Most beast empires raged at the Heavens, but a wise beast contemplated—was it an grievous assault, or was it an opportunity in disguise?
The divine tower waited as a ball of energy gathered. The glow didn't flicker; it tightened, layer by layer, gathering close to the stele's surface as if the space around it was being pulled inward. Once Earth phased, it would land onto the North Pole, piercing Earth's core, and meld into the planet.
Tidal waves and earthquakes would be only the start. The planet would grow and change, only resembling what it had been.
Then it would absorb Nether and Chaos from the Prime universe and direct it with a basic design. Nether and Chaos would resist, but it was better than the alternative.
The system would stop manifestations of Chaos and Nether in cities, strongholds, and places of rest. Chaos and Nether had almost destroyed Prime in the past.
With the blessings of the Heavens, the tower held position.