Ten days and twenty-three hours of deep, unbroken sleep drifted past like fallen leaves on water.
In the warm air of the fire-vein node, Kaelen’s breathing had barely stirred the edges of his wool blanket. Stage 5 Hibernation Compression had done its work with ruthless efficiency.
Five thousand ghosts clung silently to the obsidian walls, their hands pressed flat over their mouths. Not a single spectral throat had uttered a syllable.
Kaelen stirred slowly, blinking beneath the straw brim of his hat.
He stretched his limbs, his spine letting out three satisfying, muffled pops.
Within his soul-sea, the Fallow Slate hovered in blinding, bronze-white splendor. The numbers burned with breathtaking majesty.
[Track 1 (Cultivation Vessel): 1,026h 00m (10,270x Sealed) | Track 4 (Dao & Array Comprehension): 1,026h 00m (10,270x Sealed)] [Track 2 (Martial Combat): 786h 00m (7,870x Sealed) | Track 3 (Alchemy & Comprehension): 786h 00m (7,870x Sealed)] [Celestial Tax Ledger: 9,000,000 SJC]
Five hundred and twenty-six fallow hours had been compressed into those 263 mortal hours.
