Hermit in the Mountains

The entire blue planet was shrouded in a thick fog, and the whole planet fell into silence and darkness.

Countless living beings fell into a state of unconsciousness, cut off from external perception.

The blue planet seemed to come alive, its atmosphere expanding and contracting like a heart breathing.

With each breath, the planet expands.

Countless invisible chains of divine laws extend from the blue planet, traversing space and penetrating the interiors of countless stars.

The solar system is enveloped by an invisible force, and the laws of physics are disappearing or transforming into the laws of the Great Dao.

The moon, the closest planet to Earth, is slowly expanding and gradually moving away from Earth.

The moon was moved to the opposite side of the sun by an invisible hand.

The moon can no longer be called the moon; it should be called the Taiyin star.

It can no longer be called Blue Star; perhaps calling it the Primordial Star would be more appropriate.

The primordial star is located in the center, and the Sun and Moon stars revolve around it in a yin-yang pattern.

After an unknown period of time, the diameter of the original star expanded to 2000 million kilometers.

With a diameter of 140 million kilometers, the Sun is currently like a younger brother to the new Primordial Star.

However, both the Sun and the Moon expanded, their diameters soaring to 1000 million kilometers.

Among them, the Moon Star grew the best, transforming from a crescent-shaped celestial body with a diameter of 4000 kilometers into a giant celestial body with a diameter of 1000 million kilometers in the blink of an eye.

As the primordial star expands, it is accompanied by a continuous shower of spiritual rain, replenishing the stretched rivers, lakes, pools, streams, and oceans with water.

The mountain range rapidly rose and widened;

The earth was stretched, and countless boundless plains appeared.

Numerous phantom images of cities, mountains, and rivers appeared in the void above the primordial star, eventually merging into the earth.

Cracks of varying sizes appeared in the sky above the original star, and countless orbs of light fell into the earth, seas, mountains, and lakes before disappearing.

No living being witnessed any of this; the sphere of light appeared as if it had never existed.

When the fog that once enveloped the planet recedes, the atmosphere still exists, serving as a protective layer that maintains the planet's ecological environment.

Outside the atmosphere, the gale layer thickened to 100 kilometers, and the wind became even more violent.

Countless meteorites that entered the gale layer were instantly reduced to dust.

The terrain of the original planet no longer resembles that of the blue planet; instead, numerous new mountain ranges have formed.

The Qinling Mountains, originally part of China, have undergone the most significant changes, resembling a giant dragon 300 million kilometers long and 50 kilometers wide coiled on the earth.

The towering peaks that reach into the clouds resemble the spines of giant dragons.

Among the Qinling Mountains, there is a particularly outstanding giant mountain, which is also the highest peak in the Qinling Mountains, resembling three sticks of incense offered to heaven and earth.

The mountain is so high and so big that ordinary people looking up from the foot of it cannot see the summit at all.

A loud, high-pitched cry came from the summit of one of the mountains.

"Gurgle, gurgle... Oh—"

A crimson divine bird stood atop the fiery red mulberry tree, facing east and letting out a long cry.

A purple hue appeared in the east, the dark night receded, and light shone on the earth;

In an instant, everything came back to life.

Wild beasts, monsters, and spirit beasts in the mountains and fields awaken and go out to forage for food;

The grass and trees sway their branches, shaking off the dewdrops;

Wisps of smoke rose from the chimneys above the city walls, accompanied by the sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking.

On a flat area of ​​a cliff in the Kuru Mountain, there is a row of houses.

"Creak—"

A wooden door was pushed open, and an elderly man dressed in a Zhongshan suit walked out.

Zhang Yuanfu stood at the door, looking around at his surroundings.

Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings and the endless mountain peaks, my legs went weak, and I braced my right hand against the door.

He took a deep breath, supported his trembling legs, and sat down on the threshold, leaning against the door frame.

He entered the spiritual network and watched it operate normally, seeing the content posted by countless cultivators on the forum.

He had a general understanding of the situation outside, which can be summarized in one sentence.

Earth has expanded again.

This expansion is a bit large.

He used his access privileges to check the distance between Shou'an Ancient Town and Kurong Mountain.

A number caught Zhang Yuanfu's eye.

4500 km

The Spirit Network contains a distance measurement function, which can only be accessed by disciples of Kurong Mountain and above.

However, this function can only measure the distance between Shouan Ancient Town and Kurong Mountain.

Zhang Yuanfu was unaware of the reason and did not investigate it.

Actually, the distance measurement function was a hidden feature added by Gu Changsheng.

As for how the distance between Shouan Ancient Town and Kurong Mountain could be calculated, it is related to the local earth god temple.

The Land God Temple in Shou'an Ancient Town and the spirit of Kurong Mountain act like two locators; the distance can be calculated by the spiritual network by analyzing the spatial nodes.

The spatial nodes are distributed in a straight line, and the distances between the nodes and the ground are proportional.

Just like the blue planet and the planetarium, the planetarium is a scaled-down model.

The land temple and the mountain spirit are connected. By calculating the spatial nodes on the straight line, the actual straight-line distance on the ground can be deduced.

Spatial nodes cannot calculate distances.

Zhang Yuanfu had a general understanding of the changes in the outside world, and his emotions stabilized.

He pulled up the user count data in the backend and saw that the number of users had soared a thousandfold.

He quickly understood why the number of users had skyrocketed: the Spirit Network's soul fluctuation recognition function had been enhanced.

Previously, it could only scan soul fluctuations at the divine sense level and condense Dao seed cultivators.

Currently, the Spirit Network can scan for spiritual-level soul fluctuations.

Once a cultivator enters the Qi Refining Realm, they will generally develop a weak spiritual consciousness. Although they cannot manipulate objects remotely, they can be captured by the Spirit Network and connected to it.

Zhang Yuanfu withdrew from the spiritual network, staring blankly ahead, lost in thought.

His spiritual perception range is only a few hundred meters in radius, so it's completely useless.

The platform where the cabin was located widened to more than ten kilometers, and he couldn't even see the edge of the cabin area.

Just as Zhang Yuanfu was in a daze, the wooden doors were opened one by one, and dozens of young men and women with dazed eyes walked out.

Upon seeing Zhang Yuanfu sitting at the door, they all stepped forward to greet him.

"We have met with the dean..."

"Dean, what should we do?"

Zhang Yuanfu snapped out of his daze, stood up, and said, "Everyone, return to your workstations and collect and organize information about external changes."

"No one is allowed to leave the cabin without my permission, to avoid any accidents."

"Put away your curiosity, and stay indoors to cultivate or work as needed."

"You can contact your loved ones through the Spirit Network to let them know you are safe."

"If you go out without permission and something happens, you'll be on your own."

"Yes..." Everyone responded, and one by one they ran back into the house.

Those who were selected to be responsible for the development and operation of the Spirit Network are already highly qualified and intelligent individuals.

Currently, the mountain is the safest place.

They dared not run away, otherwise a demonic beast would take their lives.

Zhang Yuanfu returned to the courtyard and instructed his family not to go out, but to go back and cultivate diligently.

He walked into an office, slumped into a grand chair, and focused his mind on the spiritual network, sending a message to Senior Sister Silver Moon and awaiting instructions.

Because the Spirit Network is a soul-based internet, there are no public offices in its implementation; each courtyard has its own private office.

There are work groups on the Lingwang platform where people can communicate and exchange ideas about work at any time.

Zhang Yuanfu waited in vain for a reply. He then contacted Yang Qingshan through the spiritual network to inquire about the situation at Wanshou Pavilion and measures to deal with the great changes in the world.