The light that entered the underground server vault was not emitted by quartz lamps, nor by the glowing of CRT terminals.
It was the living manifestation of the planet itself.
Above the tiered black glass dais, the air shone with liquid gold. An upright rift of radiant sky mist tore open, from which cascaded the sweet fragrance of immortal orchids, mountain pines, and freshly rained-upon earth.
From within the mist dropped a towering, majestic figure.
The figure stood twenty feet tall, clothed in robes woven from the swirling star-patterns of the southern sky.
Its face was calm, ancient, and fathomless. Composed of the collective spiritual will of all rivers, mountains, beasts, and mortals across thirty million square miles.
It was the Planetary Avatar of the Jiuzhou Will.
In its hands, resting upon a floating cushion of white sky clouds, lay an amazing, awe-inspiring ancient object:
