Half a month later.
The original Changyuan Forbidden Zone.
Looking up at the falling snow, Luo Qingyan excitedly cupped the snowflakes in her hands and sighed, "It's snowing already..."
Lin Ran nodded and walked out of the tent with her, "Today is the twenty-seventh of the twelfth lunar month (in this world view, there is no distinction between lunar, solar, or lunisolar calendars; the entire Blue Star uses a unified calendar)."
"It's almost New Year, so it's normal for it to snow."
Luo Qingyan heard this and looked at the Element Children coming and going down the slope, and couldn't help but smile, "This New Year will be so much more lively."
"Unlike before, when it was cold and desolate, and the two of us lived in a small house, shivering as we ate dumplings."
Lin Ran nodded, "That's for sure..."
"This year, over two million more people are celebrating the New Year with us, which is truly unexpected."
Luo Qingyan stretched slowly, then said, "I have to say, the cloning methods of those elemental foreign races are simply heaven-defying."
"These Element Children not only have their own unique names, preferences, and personalities..."
"But they also possess all sorts of emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, just like real humans."
Lin Ran spread his hands, "Of course..."
"These clones were originally real people, so naturally, there's no difference."
"Not to mention they plan to allow these Element Children to grow and reproduce over a long period, ultimately cultivating innate perfect Chaos Bodies..."
"They wouldn't be careless in this regard."
"Otherwise, how could it be worthy of the top-secret status of the Nine Great Elemental Foreign Races?"
Luo Qingyan smiled and continued, "So, about our family name, do you have any ideas?"
"Unending Lin Family? But the Element Children's surnames are not unified, are we going to forcibly change their names?"
Lin Ran gently manipulated the Heart of Nature, condensing the falling snowflakes into snowballs.
"Why do we have to be confined to a place name before the family name?"
"Wouldn't that implicitly restrict our family's future development direction?"
Luo Qingyan was startled, "Huh?"
Lin Ran laughed, "I've decided to name our family..."
"Chaos Family!"
"What do you think?"
Luo Qingyan shook her head and began to condense snowballs too, "This name is quite good! It really suits your unconventional style."
"It's just that such a grand title... might easily attract hatred..."
"But I suppose we've already attracted enough hatred, so there's no need to care about more."
Lin Ran had already gathered his snowballs, brought them into his hands, and gently patted them.
The reason he named the family this way...
First, the Element Children were indeed aimed at cultivating Chaos Bodies, and Lin Ran had no intention of deviating from this main goal.
Second, this was also an inevitable direction for Luo Qingyan's and his future cultivation.
Back when they were at Yanda, Lin Ran had been curious why Matt named the newly established department they joined the Chaos Department when he accepted them as students.
Now, it seemed there was indeed foresight in that decision.
Luo Qingyan, as a combination of the double SSS-level talents of a Holy Angel and a Fallen Angel, could generate Chaos Qi on her own.
During the battle in the Ruined City, that layer of Chaos Breath had helped Lin Ran secretly manipulate the Black Dragon's body under everyone's watchful eyes.
Her Chaos was a combination of light and darkness.
As for himself, he was someone who could continuously gain new abilities.
The further into the endgame, the more numerous and chaotic his abilities would become.
In the later stages, he might possess dozens or even hundreds of abilities and still not be able to use them all in a single battle.
Wouldn't that lead to the idleness and waste of resources?
Therefore, the most strategic approach was to maximally stimulate the awakening and upgrading of his abilities, and even develop them into fusion skills or fusion abilities, creating an effect greater than the sum of its parts.
In that case, if enough abilities were fused, Lin Ran would eventually form a collective of Chaos...
And his Chaos would be true Chaos! Not merely a fusion of light and darkness, or a combination of natural elements.
This degree of Chaos, he suspected, would be unparalleled on the entire Blue Star...
Its power, it was evident, would be terrifying.
Just then, a communication request from Trist came through Lin Ran's bio-chip.
Trist?
Why was this guy calling him at the end of the year, surely not to wish him a Happy New Year...
However, Lin Ran didn't overthink it and accepted the call.
As soon as the communication connected, Trist's exasperated voice rang out, "Lin Ran! Look at what you've done!"
"You truly aren't afraid of causing trouble, you're so arrogant!"
Lin Ran chuckled and replied lazily, "Hmm? Councilor Trist, I'm not aware of what you're talking about..."
"Perhaps you could elaborate a bit?"
"Otherwise, I can't possibly recount all my experiences since we parted, one by one, can I?"
Trist took a deep breath, "Alright, let me ask you first, where did you get so many awakened individuals, and even formed an army?"
Lin Ran paused, then replied, "This... doesn't seem to be within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Council, does it?"
"Can it be that I need to report to the Supreme Council every time I summon a few fighters?"
Trist's face contorted, "A few? You call over two million awakened individuals 'a few'?"
"That's over two million awakened individuals! And their talent levels seem to be quite high!"
"Based on my preliminary estimates, their average talent level is probably around an S-rank."
"Do you know how terrifying the collective power of so many S-rank awakened individuals gathered together would be?"
Lin Ran snorted coldly, "Since Councilor Trist knows I have two million S-rank awakened individuals, and knows their terrifying collective power..."
"Then, why are you speaking to me in this tone?"
"Are you here to inquire for information, or to interrogate me?"
"I am now also a member of the Supreme Council, your peer, not your subordinate, nor your retainer..."
"Before you speak, you'd better think things through!"
"Otherwise, I can't guarantee what might happen in the future!"