The Tianyan Research Institute. 10:00 AM.
When Xiao Lin arrived to see Yue Taizhou, the old professor was poring over an obscure volume of local mythology. His desk resembled that of a high school senior drowning in exam prep—books and files stacked into towering ramparts.
Seeing Xiao Lin enter, he closed the book, a smile breaking across his face. "How goes it? I heard you've been undergoing firearms training. Is it to your liking?"
"Mm. Though taxing, it is far more engaging than academic coursework," Xiao Lin replied, taking the seat opposite him, his demeanor serene.
"Good. As long as you enjoy it. However, alas, the training must be temporarily suspended."
"Why?"
Yue Taizhou raised a brow, his expression pregnant with meaning. "Yesterday, two members of the selection team successfully passed the Transcendent training."
"...Them?" Xiao Lin was momentarily stunned.
He was not the only one to dream of the Stone Gate. Aside from him, there were nine others within the institute, though he was the only one personally invited by Yue Taizhou. When he had arrived, the others had already undergone nearly a year of Transcendent training.
This training consisted of three stages, all conducted within the dream realm.
The first stage required establishing a complete self-awareness within the dream—maintaining lucidity, rational thought, and a perception of continuous time. The second stage involved somatization of this cognition; the dream body had to be complete, capable of free movement and complex actions.
The third stage was the manifestation of carried items within the dream. These had to be structurally identical to reality and possess their corresponding functions.
At the time, the others had already reached the third stage, and Xiao Lin had assumed he would need to exert his utmost just to catch up. Yet, three months later, when Xiao Lin had completed the entire regimen, they... were still stuck at stage three.
So much so that watching them train so arduously, Xiao Lin had even felt a pang of guilt.
Now, a year had passed, and finally, others had succeeded.
"Does this mean we can proceed to the next step?" Xiao Lin asked.
Yue Taizhou did not answer immediately, but countered with a question: "Have you not always been curious as to why I know of your dreams?"
Xiao Lin started. In the past two years, he had asked this more than once, but Yue Taizhou had always deferred the answer. Now, the truth was finally to be revealed.
Three minutes later, they stood before a heavily fortified, fully enclosed elevator. Entering the cab, the lift descended into the depths.
Cut off from the outside world, they plunged deeper and deeper, until the sense of isolation was absolute, and only then did the elevator finally halt.
As the doors slid open, a white corridor lay before Xiao Lin.
It was a long passage. The floor and walls were a soothing white, bathed in soft, cool light from above, evoking an unexpected sense of calm. At the end of the corridor stood a white metal sliding door, heavy, profound, and pristine.
"Do you know? Actually, this is where I first saw you," Yue Taizhou said, gazing at the door, his voice low.
"What do you mean?" Xiao Lin asked, puzzled.
"You will know once you see."
Xiao Lin approached the door. The access light blinked rhythmically. He placed his hand on the screen; a soft beep sounded, followed by the hiss of a pneumatic valve releasing.
The metal door slid open slowly before his eyes, revealing the scene behind it bit by bit.
He began to tremble. His pupils contracted slowly, his chest heaved violently, as if a vast white light had detonated within his mind.
He saw the Gate...
Not in a dream, but in reality. It stood erect within the room—distinct, magnificent, colossal!
The reliefs and symbols upon the door were steeped in ancient significance, like a tiny bubble rising from the deepest abyss of the river of time.
The Stone Gate stood slightly ajar. Countless colors flowed behind it, intermingled with strange hues that did not exist in this world. Though it was but a crack, the Stone Gate was so vast that those colors resembled a resplendent yet eerie vertical galaxy.
In his dreams, he had attempted to enter the Gate, but he would always awaken the moment he drew near. Now, in the waking world, he beheld it.
"Xiao Lin, every time you entered the dream, you would appear here. This is where I first encountered you," Yue Taizhou's voice came from behind him.
"Among all Tra
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nscendents, you alone possess this talent. Your connection to this place is more intimate than anyone else's."
"And you... shall be the first to witness the world beyond the Gate."
Three days later, the Mysterious Journey Project officially commenced.
Time: 10:06 AM.
The entire institute entered a state of emergency lockdown.
Simultaneously, countless research centers across the globe synchronized their attention to this journey, and many heads of state sent their congratulations.
But strangely, the closer the departure time approached, the calmer Xiao Lin became.
He even found himself pondering mundane trivialities, such as whether he should buy new clothes, or if he had locked his door properly.
Yue Taizhou told them: "Remember. This is humanity's first inter-world voyage. Absolutely no risks. Even if you just take a look and return, that is enough. Do you understand?"
He had been chattering all morning, looking less like a knowledgeable professor and more like a slightly nagging ordinary old man.
Xiao Lin's phone buzzed. It was a message from Yang Qi: "Xiao Lin, when you get back, I'll treat you to a meal. Roast whole lamb. I know this is nothing much to you now, but don't look down on it, okay?"
Xiao Lin felt a surge of emotion. During his year of training, he had kept in contact with Yang Qi. Aside from the Professor, this friend had been his greatest source of encouragement—his spiritual pillar.
Moreover, like himself, Yang Qi was a pauper; they had met while working part-time jobs to support their studies. For a guy who usually didn't even dare to order meat dishes to treat him to a whole roast lamb—he had truly dug deep into his pockets.
Time: 11:40 AM.
Location: Preparation Room.
The Mysterious Journey entered its countdown.
Xiao Lin was clad in a specially made full-environment protective suit, looking somewhat bulky. His two teammates, Yu Shuang and Ai Sheng, were also present.
Yu Shuang was slightly older than Xiao Lin. She was not beautiful—dark-skinned and thin—but she was a formidable woman. Only twenty-eight, she already held dual degrees in geology and biology, and she had traversed many of Earth's most perilous regions.
At this moment, she was fiddling with her portable instruments over and over, appearing somewhat anxious.
"Are you nervous?" Xiao Lin asked her.
Yu Shuang nodded. "I hope what lies beyond the Gate isn't an extreme environment beyond our cognition."
"Do you know? On some carbon-rich planets, there are diamond layers thousands of kilometers thick, with incredibly high temperatures—Cancer 55b, for instance."
"And then there are those colossal tidal waves. By the way, have you seen Interstellar?那种 (that kind of) ocean wave is theoretically possible, though they would be far more chaotic."
It was unclear whether Yu Shuang was speaking to Xiao Lin or merely muttering to herself.
That was just how she was; she easily sank into her own world and couldn't extricate herself, making her quite difficult to converse with.
Xiao Lin could only pat her shoulder and say, "Rest assured. We are just going to take a look. If there's danger, we'll run."
Hearing their exchange, Ai Sheng tugged at his gloves. "Risk is necessary. The whole world is waiting for our results. If we don't deliver, we'll just be replaced."
He looked up at Xiao Lin, his gaze through the visor somewhat sharp. "Xiao Lin, I know you're a genius who finished training in three months, but that doesn't mean you have command capabilities."
"I come from a military family and have participated in numerous exercises, so I believe I should take command."
Xiao Lin glanced at him and shook his head. "We follow the plan. And we do not take risks."
Ai Sheng frowned inside his helmet. He seemed about to say more, but ultimately gave up.
Time: 12:00 PM.
Location: Layer 0.
The institute broadcasted David Bowie's Space Oddity.
[Entering Countdown. Launch Preparation]
[Check ignition. May God bless you.]
Accompanied by the sound of the countdown, the white door slid open slowly before their eyes.
Time: 12:06 PM.
The first squad of Transcendents "entered the dream."
Watching the three of them, holding hands, step into the illusory, distorted colors, Yue Taizhou stared at the monitor and whispered:
"May Science protect you."