He pushed open the door, and the familiar, slightly cramped living room appeared before his eyes. Video tapes were scattered everywhere, a pizza box lay overturned nearby... Apart from being a bit messy, everything inside matched Bologue’s memory from when he left. Seeing this, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief; it seemed that Vasilina had managed to keep her emotions in check and not get into a fight with Palmer in his home.

After tidying up a bit, Bologue plopped down in the place Palmer had previously occupied, closed his eyes to ponder for a moment, allowing his mind to relax somewhat. As for Palmer, Bologue couldn’t care less whether he lived or died.

"Gate of Origin."

Bologue murmured softly. If his hypothesis was correct, Ether descended from the heavens and first made contact with the Mountain Ridge, overlapping with it. Then, the numerous Ethereal Vortex Points located on the Mountain Ridge could be regarded as the source of all Ether in the world.

Moreover, that region might have spawned reality distortion phenomena, and perhaps even opened a substantial channel between the Material Realm and the Ethereal Realm.

Having understood these things, Bologue did not feel relieved. Had action been taken a hundred years earlier to resolve the hidden dangers of the Mountain Ridge, perhaps humanity could have managed the gradually increasing Ether concentration and locked in the distance of the Ethereal Realm from the Material Realm.

But things are different now. The increasingly massive Ether flows into the Material Realm through the overlapping region. To use a metaphor, Ether itself possesses "weight," and as the Ether concentration in the Material Realm rises, the "weight" of the Material Realm increases rapidly. Under this mysterious force, the mundane world is gradually moving toward the path of extraordinary ascension.

According to Bologue’s superficial academic knowledge, the Ethereal Realm possesses unimaginable gravity. In the era when Ether was scarce, the Material Realm might still have had the capability to escape or push away the Ethereal Realm. But as the weight increases, an inseparable gravitational force has formed between the two worlds, mutually attracting each other.

There’s no time left.

The increase in the Material Realm’s own weight has led to an increase in its gravitational pull, and the faster it gains weight, the more quickly it overlaps with the Ethereal Realm. This is also the reason why in recent years, the speed at which Ether concentration rises has far exceeded past rates.

Under the mutual attraction of weight, the collision and overlap of the two worlds have entered an accelerated state, an inevitability.

After struggling for quite a while, Bologue managed to calm his agitated mind once again, opened the fridge, and poured himself a glass of chilled orange juice. To distract himself, Bologue retrieved a metal cube from the cabinet.

After tinkering with it briefly, a small amount of Ether was injected into the metal, and immediately luminous patterns were reflected on the surface of the cube.

Incredibly, this metal cube is an Alchemy Armament, and the Alchemy Matrix implanted in it is quite simple. Its effect is merely making the metal tougher and more solid. It’s entirely an ordinary piece of craftsmanship with no appreciation value. If one must say it has any destructive power, it’s that hitting someone with it would be exceptionally painful.

For others, it’s a mundane and meaningless Alchemy Armament, but in Bologue’s hands, it serves as a toy to pass the time and hone his skills.

"Even if I know these secrets, what of it?" Bologue muttered to himself, staring at the metal cube, "If I am too weak, nothing can be changed."

Vivid gleams sparked in Bologue’s eyes as the aggressively conquering Ether invoked this Alchemy Armament. The Alchemy Matrix’s patterns extended from Bologue’s arm, proceeding to envelop the metal cube completely.

At this moment, the metal cube could be considered an extension of Bologue’s body.

Lately, Bologue has undergone many trainings and tests with his Secret Energy. He noticed that once he no longer needed to directly touch the target and could command solely by emitted Ether, his Alchemy Matrix ceased to extend beyond his body unless directly contacting the target.

"Though using emitted Ether allows control over a target, similar to regular teachings from the Commanding School, the moment I touch the target, the Alchemy Matrix extends and transforms it into a part of me, changing from commanding other substances to manipulating myself."

Bologue reflected that, while the effect was the same, inherently, these are two distinctly different command methods.

In the former, Bologue’s Ether remains an intruder, unable to completely subdue the target. However, in the latter, the target becomes part of Bologue, free from any interfering factors.

Absolute dominance.

Bologue wholly immersed himself in controlling the metal cube. Under the "solidifying" protection, the cube cracked open directly, without any hindrance, as if the Alchemy Matrix had vanished.

"Twisted Essence."

Bologue recalled when he destroyed the Blood and Flesh Plague; although he obliterated the flesh creation’s form, he hadn’t altered its essence. In direct contact with the metal cube, he made it part of his body, thereby twisting its essence and nullifying the "solidifying" effect.

"Perhaps I could try again..."

Bologue thought to himself, undoing the Secret Energy, reverting the metal cube to its original form, weighty once more in his hand.

He stuffed it back into the cabinet, noticing that the corner was filled with numerous metal cubes, each with different labeled characteristics. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

For the convenience of training and testing his Secret Energy, Bologue commissioned Aimou to create many similar metal cubes, and when free, he would tinker with them.