Demons rampaging on Earth typically possessed some terrifying and bizarre characteristics.

  Like the Light-Bender encountered before—though thermal imaging wasn't exactly novel technology back then, not everyone had it on hand.

  So early humans facing demons suffered devastating casualties.

  This made humans actually find demon spirits attractive by comparison, since demon spirits and demons were enemies.

  Demons ate demon spirits, but demon spirits didn't eat demons.

  Xia Li quietly watched Professor Yan Qing in the illusion, unable to figure out what rules governed these visions.

  Moreover, these illusions differed from illusion techniques on the other side—they couldn't be dispelled through soul arts.

  The cultivation world's illusion path bewitched souls. Infant Cry's illusion art simulated brain signals, using the same technology as full-immersion VR—biological illusion arts.

  Professor Yan Qing in the illusion stared at Xia Li for a good while...

  Then suddenly turned and left. The puppy followed along.

  Xia Li didn't pursue. He realized this might be exploiting his curiosity. He only needed to maintain his sense of direction and proceed in a fixed heading.

  So...

  Xia Li took a deep breath and jumped directly down onto the subway tracks.

  In his sense of direction, this was the correct path.

  But the moment he jumped down...

  The thundering roar of a subway train filled his ears. A train rushed toward him. Xia Li instinctively closed his eyes, and the cacophony around him instantly fell silent.

  When Xia Li opened his eyes again, he found himself somewhere else.

  A clean, bright office. The décor was clearly from five hundred years ago.

  People were arguing about something.

  "Professor Yan, what exactly did you do to the cryopreserved individuals? Why can't they be awakened after thawing!"

  Human silhouettes multiplied, growing louder...

  "Professor Yan, the world's first successfully revived cryopreservation patient has already appeared. Yet all patients under your care died—neural activity at zero. This is murder!"

  "Yan Qing, your published technique has critical flaws. We need to investigate you!"

  "Yan Qing..."

  Then suddenly the number of people decreased. The office transformed from clean and bright to dim and dilapidated.

  Yan Qing's hair was half-white now. An elegant middle-aged woman, also somewhat aged but dressed sharply, was interrogating her.

  "Professor Yan, I trust I don't need to introduce myself? You're a neurology professor, and so am I."

  "I've reinvestigated your technique from back then and found your cellular cryoprotectant has serious problems."

  "Please explain its source!"

  The middle-aged woman was furious. Xia Li found her strangely familiar—she bore seventy percent resemblance to his mother.

  "Professor Xia, since you're working in the same field, you should understand... current technology still has flaws. Cryopreserved individuals have less than fifty percent survival rate."

  "But my technique... can guarantee one hundred percent survival. I just haven't found the awakening method yet."

  "Are you joking? The cryopreserved patients' neural activity is virtually identical to corpses... They're just frozen corpses!"

  "You can reclaim your brother's remains for cremation. The experimental contract clearly states voluntary participation. I didn't force anyone, and I didn't take a single cent from your family."

  "You!!"

  The woman called Professor Xia couldn't help clenching her fist.

  Xia Li now realized who she was.

  His sister. Xia Shu, already middle-aged.

  "You think you've reached my level, but actually you've only just climbed to the mountainside. The path you walk is approaching current physics limits."

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "Without major new theoretical breakthroughs, that path has a visible end."

  "But I'm walking an unprecedented path!"

  Yan Qing spoke of this with great pride.

  "You're completely insane... People are dead and you're still putting on airs!"

  "Professor Xia, your definition of life has currently fallen into a narrow domain, too dependent on results from observable methods."

  "What do you mean?"

  Xia Shu frowned.

  "Do you think living beings possess souls? If so, what form would they take?"

  "Souls exist, but it's just a folk term for biological consciousness."

  "Wrong! The soul is consciousness's second vessel. The brain is the first vessel. And isn't the path you're researching precisely the third vessel?"

  "Souls... are just vessels for consciousness?"

  Xia Shu frowned.

  "Consciousness digitization—quite remarkable technology. You're one of the core researchers on that team. So you who treat science as truth, have you ever seen this?"

  Yan Qing walked to a bookshelf and carefully retrieved an empty flower pot, placing it delicately on the desk.

  "Is there something there?"

  "You think there isn't, so there isn't. But I think there is, so..."

  "There is!"

  As she spoke, inside the previously empty pot, a lotus flower appeared, blossoming as if carved from crystal.

  "This was discovered in archaeological excavations of the Kunlun Caverns thirty years ago. A plant existing in quantum state. Do you find this scientific?"

  "Impossible... How could... This isn't scientific!!"

  "It's not unscientific. Ancients seeing modern things would also cry foul. From this quantum plant, I extracted a special quantum-state substance."

  "Then... made it into a serum and injected it into the cryopreserved individuals. The result was as I expected—to you, the cryopreserved individuals died."

  "But if observed with quantum detection instruments, you'd find their thoughts formed invisible light points, continuously connected to their bodies!"

  "That is their soul!"

  Yan Qing sighed deeply.

  "I'm helping them achieve something... Once they awaken, they'll be spirit-energy beings possessing a second consciousness vessel, possessing souls. They can move objects with their minds, transmit thoughts telepathically!"

  "Even..."

  "Survive in other flesh vessels."

  "So what's missing now is something... some special energy. It must have existed in Earth's past. That energy will be key to awakening them."

  "Just like oxygen. Souls also need to breathe the soul's oxygen—spiritual energy!"

  Yan Qing spoke thus, her expression carrying a hint of smugness, as if proud of pioneering a new field.

  "I understand..."

  Xia Shu nodded. Having witnessed this, what more could she say? Long-term scientific research had instilled rationality, allowing her to regain composure.

  "So the reason they can't awaken is because their souls lack oxygen, correct?"

  "Yes. Just as oxygen concentration on Earth varied across different eras, normal people using my serum would immediately fall into apparent death slumber."

  "But that's merely cocoon hibernation before the butterfly emerges."

  After Yan Qing's explanation, Xia Shu realized this wasn't what she had thought.

  The other wasn't a quack, much less insane—she had simply accidentally leapt too far ahead of her time.

  "Professor Yan, I will invest in you going forward. My patent fees aren't much, but please take good care of my brother."

  "Very well. I promise your brother will always receive the best preservation measures. Even if World War Three triggers total nuclear war, your brother will remain safe."