A year passed quickly since the wedding, and the progress of research on magic and Spiritual Qi advanced tremendously.
Marriage had not slowed Gu Mian and Gu Ruisheng down in the slightest. If anything, it strengthened them. Their bond seemed to deepen their resonance with both energies, making their cultivation smoother and more stable.
After breaking through to level 12, they discovered something astonishing.
They could communicate with the world's consciousness.
The first time it happened, it felt like brushing against something vast and ancient—an ocean of awareness that stretched far beyond their comprehension. Yet when they tried to probe deeper, they realized it seemed to be asleep.
Dormant.
Even so, this discovery delighted them greatly.
To know the world itself possessed awareness meant cultivation was not random. There was structure. There was a path.
They also realized they could bond with beasts on a soul level.
It wasn't like taming. It wasn't slavery. It was resonance—two souls agreeing to walk forward together.
Almost all members of the Gu family chose their pegasi.
The connection between them had already grown strong through years of cultivation and shared battle. Formalizing it into a soul bond only strengthened the unity. The moment the contracts formed, their auras intertwined naturally, stabilizing and amplifying each other.
They sent this information to Tang Guo.
Tang Guo carefully searched for a beast of his own.
Eventually, he bonded with a three-tailed fox—a young but extremely intelligent one. Its silver eyes were sharp and cunning, and it seemed almost amused by humanity.
Xiao San was luckier in a more intense way.
He encountered a pack of wolves while leading an expedition. After defeating the alpha in open combat—without killing it—he earned its respect and formed a soul bond with it.
Soul bonding was an equal contract.
There was no fear of mistreating contract beasts like in novels. The agreement could not be forced. Both sides had to accept willingly.
Within four months, about sixty percent of GuoSan Base had contract beasts.
Now, the highest level of strength in the base was level seven—Xiao San.
And this was normal world standard.
After all, the Gu family had essentially been riding on steroids, cheating by cultivating inside accelerated time with enhanced foundations. Naturally, their levels couldn't be used for comparison.
So Xiao San was one of the strongest, if not the strongest, outside the forest.
Unlike the outside world, where survival and reconstruction demanded constant effort, life inside the forest dimension had become almost leisurely.
During her free time, Gu Mian began documenting the pictures they had taken since the beginning of the apocalypse.
Thousands of images.
The first day of chaos.
The first mutated crops.
The first successful formation.
The weddings.
The evolution of pegasi.
She compiled them carefully, writing annotations beneath each one.
They had also given Tang Guo about a hundred cameras for documentation.
Time continued to pass.
Now, they had one year left in the forest—and two years of sped-up time remaining inside their dimension.
Six years ago, when space ability users reached level 12, they discovered their personal spaces could support life.
They immediately filled them with soil.
Gu Mian generously gave them spring water from her space to nourish their lands.
Although they couldn't absorb jade to strengthen their spaces like she could, they were satisfied that theirs could now support life.
They planted trees. Flowers. Crops. Some created ponds stocked with fish. Others built miniature ranches.
It became a quiet competition—whose space was most beautiful.
They also learned that level 12 was merely the peak for beginners.
The world consciousness, though asleep, still transmitted fragmented information during their resonance.
They learned of the cultivation hierarchy:
Beginner Realm —
Level 1 to 12
Disciple Level
Tutor Level
Master Level
Grandmaster Level
Great Grandmaster Level
Intermediate Realm —
King Level
Emperor Level
Mythical Level
Immortal Level
Advanced Realm —
Demigod Level
God Level
The road ahead was unimaginably long.
Since no separate classification appeared for Spiritual Qi, they decided to apply the same system used for magic.
They documented everything and transferred the information to Tang Guo.
For now, that was all they could gather from the world consciousness.
Gu Mian was the first to break through to Disciple Level.
The moment she advanced, her space transformed.
Clouds formed.
Rain fell.
Wind moved.
Her space gained a weather system.
She was overjoyed.
"Ruisheng!" she called, dragging him inside. "Look! It's raining!"
He looked up at the forming clouds and laughed softly. "You're showing off again."
She grinned shamelessly. "Of course I am."
The spring water shimmered beneath the gentle rain, and the entire space felt alive in a new way.
As the others gradually broke through to Disciple Level, each gained new comprehensions and techniques.
Qi Chu could now condense sound into tangible blades and shields.
During one demonstration, he flicked his fingers and a vibrating crescent sliced cleanly through a boulder.
Gu Xing made an even more startling discovery.
"My ability… it's like coding," she murmured one evening, staring at floating streams of runic light. "Order isn't just control. It's language."
"Language?" Gu Bai raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," she replied. "Magic is syntax. Mana is data. If I structure it correctly… I can rewrite effects."
The implications were enormous.
Together with Gu Bai and Ming Baixu, they created bracelets that could hold vast storage spaces and even pause time within small contained fields.
When their time in the NCF came to an end, they packed up.
The pegasi, now at Disciple Stage, could reduce their sizes—though ten meters remained their smallest form.
On that day, if anyone looked toward the forest, they would see an extraordinary sight.
Pegasi of every color—black, silver, chestnut, white—rose into the sky in formation.
Just as predicted, the forest had expanded and covered the entire Y Province years ago.
Gu Mian had released domesticated animals back into the wild to diversify species. Many had undergone second mutations, evolving into powerful new creatures.
When guards at GuoSan Base saw the pegasi flying overhead, they panicked.
"Enemies?! Prepare defensive arrays!"
Weapons were raised.
Then the communication device crackled.
"Stand down," Xiao San's voice came through calmly. "It's family."
The gates opened.
The Gu family descended.
GuoSan Base had grown into a small city, expanded four times its original size.
Fields stretched outward. New buildings stood where tents once had. Markets buzzed with trade.
People gathered in droves.
"Is that really them?"
"They're back!"
"Look at the pegasi!"
Children pointed upward, eyes wide.
An elderly man stepped forward, tears in his eyes. "You all… you've grown so strong."
Tang Guo pushed through the crowd, laughing. "You disappeared for years and came back riding mythical beasts. How unfair!"
Gu Mian dismounted and embraced him. "You've done well too."
Xiao San approached with his wolf at his side. "Welcome home."
Gu Ruisheng clasped his shoulder firmly. "Looks like the base became a city."
"Because of you," someone shouted from behind. "Because of all the knowledge you sent!"
"We survived because you shared everything!"
A young cultivator bowed deeply. "Senior Gu Mian, thank you for the cameras. We've documented everything."
Gu Mian smiled warmly. "Keep recording. History matters."
Another voice called out jokingly, "When are you teaching us to ride pegasi?"
Laughter erupted.
Nostalgia filled the air.
They remembered the early days—hunger, fear, uncertainty. Now there were businesses, laughter, hope.
But not everything outside was peaceful.
The research institute in the capital still conducted human experiments.
Most ability users despised it.
GuoSan Base remained hostile toward the capital.
They had learned that seventy percent of ability users stationed there had betrayed someone—friends, family, teammates—to secure safety or advantage.
The institute didn't even hide it.
Even the main Gu family in the capital hated the institute, but their interests were entangled too deeply to sever ties.
Some children had been kidnapped. Some had their ability cores extracted and became ordinary people—servants in their own ancestral home.
"What a sin…" an elder muttered bitterly.
The capital had become an impenetrable fortress, fortified with advanced weapons and research breakthroughs.
But strength built on cruelty carried a heavy shadow.
As the Gu family stood in the middle of GuoSan City, surrounded by warmth and gratitude, they felt the difference clearly.
Power could protect.
Or it could corrupt.
And the road ahead would demand they choose which side of history they would stand on.