The silence in the BIOS chamber tasted of cold dust and stale air sealed away before the birth of stars.
Lin Ke took his third step onto the polished black glass floor. Then, a low deep ring chimed through the soles of his boots.
A circular ripple of pale blue light swelled across the stone. That triggered a series of ancient optic transducers embedded in the vaulted ceiling.
The air between the nine diamond frozen stillness cylinders shone, then condensed into three-space-folding projections of light and shadow.
Elder Wu gasped, falling back a half-step. “Old family manifestations... The Primordial Gods!”
“Not gods,” Lin Ke said quietly. “A playback log.”
The light-projected projections resolved into nine figures seated around a circular table of unpolished slate.
They looked nothing like the towering, calm deities depicted on the murals of Azure Cloud Sect.
