The cool, dry air of the sanctuary’s inventory room always provided Lin Wan with a brief sense of grounded structure. Surrounded by rows of organized steel shelving, she moved efficiently between the neat stacks of trading goods.

Her slender fingers sorted through wrapped boxes of refined sugar, medical supplies, and bars of modern soap. Everything was precisely categorized, a sharp contrast to the chaotic primal world waiting just beyond the borders of the space.

After the intense emotional and physical events of the previous night, this quiet solitude was exactly what she needed to clear her mind.

Suddenly, a sharp, incredibly crisp electronic sound vibrated directly against the center of her consciousness.

Ping!

The sound was clean, entirely metallic, and carried a high-frequency resonance that made her movements freeze mid-air. Before she could even form a thought, a thoroughly familiar, clinical voice echoed inside her mind.

The tone was smooth, laced with a distinct layer of artificial sarcasm and a delightfully witty attitude.

[Missed me, host? High-dimensional system upgrade v3.0 is officially complete.]

Lin Wan’s lips twitched slightly, a subtle wave of relief washing over her cool expression. She lowered the inventory clipboard onto a steel shelf and leaned back against the cool metal framework, speaking internally with a smooth, relaxed mental voice.

"You took your time, Weiwei. I was beginning to think your system core had completely fried during the transition."

[Fried? Please, give me some credit, host,] Weiwei responded instantly, her digital voice popping with a lively, animated frequency. [A high-dimensional upgrade doesn’t just happen overnight. I had to sift through layers of cosmic data packets, scrub out the local junk code from this mudhole of a world, and expand my processing matrix. But enough about my digital facial lift—how have you been doing? Did you manage to keep the house from burning down while I was offline?]

"The house is fine, and the triplets are growing perfectly," Lin Wan replied, her mental tone softening slightly as she thought of the three fluffy cubs. "Though the tension between Qin Mo and Long Zhan has officially reached a peak this morning. Long Zhan’s power took a massive leap after last night."

[Oh, I know that, I already scanned the energetic registers the millisecond I booted up,] Weiwei chuckled, her tone laced with a playful, mechanical snicker. [Trust me, host, I noticed. The dragon is practically radiating heat like a modern radiator, and your snake looks ready to freeze the entire kitchen tiles into an ice rink. You certainly know how to keep your hands full. But honestly, how are you feeling physically? No system glitches on your end?]

"I am completely fine. My physical stamina has adjusted well," Lin Wan said, her dark eyes scanning the rows of modern goods before her. "Now that you’re back, I need to check the upgraded store inventory. We need higher-grade defensive arrays to prepare the carriage for the upcoming transport across the capital ridges."

[Hold your horses, host. Do not look at the store items just yet,] Weiwei’s voice suddenly dropped. The light, sarcastic humor completely vanished, replaced by a heavy, clinical gravity that caused Lin Wan’s pulse to quicken slightly. [We have a crisis, host. A very real, very ugly crisis.]

Lin Wan’s posture instantly straightened, her eyes narrowing into thin, sharp slits. "What kind of crisis?"

[While I was upgrading, I ran a comprehensive thermodynamic and spiritual environmental scan of this entire lower world,] Weiwei explained, her digital interface projecting a series of rapidly falling numbers directly into Lin Wan’s mind’s eye. [The local energy grids of this lower world are collapsing at an exponential rate due to the thinning boundary walls. The pressure bleeding down from the Upper Realm is already too heavy for this planetary crust to handle.]

Lin Wan frowned, her mind instantly calculating the geographical layout of the beast capital outside. "If the energy is collapsing, the spatial rifts will tear open earlier than the two-week estimate."

[Exactly. But it’s worse than just a spatial tear,] Weiwei warned, her voice tight and serious. [If you and the cubs stay here when that boundary completely snaps, the sheer energetic weight will cause a localized gravity implosion. The citizens of this lower realm will be completely squashed. The atmospheric pressure alone will flatten them into the dirt. There will be so many casualties that you won’t be able to get them off your conscience, host.]

Lin Wan’s fingers tightened against the steel shelf. Though she always maintained a cold, pragmatic exterior, she had spent months trading with these beastpeople.

She had saved lives, built a steady network, and watched the common citizens live their simple lives under her protection.

The thought of the entire capital being crushed out of existence sent a cold chill through her chest.

"Is there no way to stabilize the local grid using the system arrays?" Lin Wan asked internally, her voice dropping into a hard, focused line.

[None,] Weiwei stated flatly. [This world is structurally fragile. The only way to ensure these lower citizens don’t get turned into meat pies is for you to leave the lower realm entirely. Your presence, your cubs’ unique bloodlines, and the spatial anchors inside the space are actually drawing the Upper Realm’s pressure directly to this coordinate like a lightning rod. If you stay, you accelerate the destruction. If you leave, the pressure redistributes, and the local citizens will actually survive the boundary thinning with nothing more than a bad storm.]

Lin Wan let out a slow, controlled breath, her mind rapidly adjusting to the new reality. "So we have no choice but to move immediately."

[None at all,] Weiwei sighed, a soft digital hum echoing in the background. [A long time has been spent and wasted here. Well, not really wasted, because you secured two high-quality males and birthed three powerful bloodlines, but you understand what I mean. The ceiling of this lower mudhole is too low. It’s time to pack up the mansion and move to a stage where we can actually something more productive.]

Lin Wan remained standing in the dim light of the inventory room, her thoughts swirling around the sudden evacuation order. But there was another question burning in her mind—one that had been bothering her since she witnessed the profound structural changes in her husbands’ energy profiles this morning.

"Weiwei," Lin Wan demanded, her mental voice sharp and authoritative. "Before we discuss the transport layout, I need an explanation for the weird energy changes I’m seeing in Long Zhan and Qin Mo. The standard ’stripe’ ranking system doesn’t match what their cores are doing anymore, they don’t seem to have any stripes visible, even Lanying and that Elder Shen too."

[Ah, I figured you’d ask that,] Weiwei replied.

With a soft, melodic chime, a sleek, modern holographic display materialized directly inside Lin Wan’s mind’s eye. Translucent blue text and complex geometric charts began to spin, mapping out distinct energetic frequencies.

[Listen carefully, host,] Weiwei’s voice echoed, carrying a sharp, instructive tone. [The simple ’stripe’ ranking of this lower realm is quite useless. Honestly, it’s a joke. It’s a localized, primitive measurement system. Even other lower worlds out there have basic warriors who could easily squash the beastwarriors here without breaking a sweat.]

Lin Wan watched the complex blue charts spin, the foreign symbols and shifting energy bars blurring together. She pinched the bridge of her nose, a rare flash of irritation crossing her calm face. "I don’t understand, Weiwei. You’re confusing me. Strip away the technical data and speak clearly."

[I know it’s confusing, host, that’s why you should let me explain every detail for you,] Weiwei chuckled softly, slowing down the spinning holographic charts until six distinct, glowing tiers appeared in a vertical ladder. [The true universe doesn’t care about stripes. It operates on six grand stages of cultivation: Body Tempering, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Soul Manifestation, Nascent Soul, and the legendary God Realm.]

Lin Wan studied the six glowing terms, her analytical mind instantly categorizing the new data. "Where do my husbands fall on this ladder?"

[Currently, your snake is at the absolute perfection of the Body Tempering stage,] Weiwei explained, pointing a digital marker at the first tier. [His physical density and bone structure are completely optimized. Meanwhile, your dragon beasthusband’s power has finally stabilized at the Foundation Establishment level because of the mating bond you locked last night. He has a true spiritual foundation now... but it still isn’t enough.]

Lin Wan’s brow furrowed slightly. "What do you mean by it’s still not enough? Long Zhan’s pressure alone was enough to make Qin Mo’s frost element flare defensively this morning. He is easily the strongest male in the entire beast capital."

[In this ’lower’ capital, yes,] Weiwei countered, her voice turning incredibly grave. [But host, what I can tell you is that you need powerful beasthusbands. You need a lot more strength than what a single Foundation stage dragon can offer. Because what is coming for you and your cubs—and even for the baby you’re carrying now—is on a completely different scale of danger.]