Thinking of all this, Ethan Bolton's eyes grew a bit sore, and tears became hard to control. Perhaps, in the eyes of others, he was just heartbroken and lost after the divorce, but no one knew that, in fact, these were tears of self-blame and regret.

　　“Hoo~”

　　He exhaled a deep puff of thick smoke, the harsh, dry sensation obvious, yet it couldn't suppress the sense of desolation and disappointment in his heart.

　　In the modern world, people are restless, society is in decline, sincerity and kindness have become out of reach. In an era without faith, the collapse and absence of morality have led many to abandon character, dignity, and conscience, doing all sorts of crazy and infuriating things. In such an environment, the peaceful little mountain village had always been Ethan Bolton's preference. Although he was not a man of great ability, he had always yearned for the life of a recluse.

　　A two-story, fairly modern house, with a vast bamboo grove beside it, a lush green hill to the side, and a dense poplar forest behind the house.

　　In fact, calling this environment a villa or a park community would not be an exaggeration. Whether it was a satellite wireless receiver, an oversized hanging LCD color TV, a super energy-saving air conditioner, refrigerator, freezer, washing machine, solar water heater, tap water generator, and so on—everything that should be there was there, and even things that shouldn't be were there!

　　There was also a beautifully decorated yard at home. What could possibly be lacking? Compared to the hustle and bustle of the city, this place was truly a paradise, a utopia—what could be better?

　　Standing on a hillside outside the yard, looking at the magnificent house, Ethan Bolton's gaze became calm and sharp. That unwilling anger still involuntarily surged up, but soon, it faded away.

　　“It's all over. This woman and I are even from now on! Even if you kneel and beg me in the future, I will never forgive you again! And I believe that day is not far off!”

　　Ethan Bolton plugged in his Dopod earphones and continued listening to “Castle in the Sky,” fiercely muttering to himself in his heart.

　　Then, his always calm and peaceful eyes truly emitted a sharp light. The cold, tough aura of a strong man seemed to be fully revealed at this moment! The man who had seemed lazy and incompetent now, in this instant, appeared as calm and composed as a battle-hardened soldier.

Chapter 2: Castle in the Sky

　　The music “Castle in the Sky” was something Ethan Bolton had downloaded by chance from a network drive called “Octave Space” while researching material for his sci-fi novel “Castle in the Sky.” Along with the download came a text description, which claimed that it was a piece of music for self-awareness awakening among the Alnitak people, said to help humans open their third eye—the pineal gland—and thus achieve human evolution.

　　Ethan Bolton didn't feel anything special about this, because two years ago, he was always mentally exhausted, lacking energy all day, and very sleepy. It was precisely because of this that, when he planned to write a sci-fi novel, after days and nights of pondering, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration late one night, which led to the idea for “Castle in the Sky.” Then, while searching for such material, Ethan Bolton, as if guided by fate, unintentionally entered that strange and oppressive “Octave Space” and successfully downloaded the piece of music he later named “Castle in the Sky.”

　　Regarding this music and its description, Ethan Bolton had always practiced it while sleeping, just as an experiment. Since he didn't care about gains or losses and treated it as a step for hypnosis, this behavior, without him realizing it, actually continued for nearly two years!

　　Recalling this experience, he once again felt a swelling sensation between his brows, as if it was about to bulge out, and Ethan Bolton's expression became somewhat uncertain.

　　Taking a deep breath and quickly calming down, Ethan Bolton first imagined the boundless universe as colorless and empty, yet the vast universe still existed. Then, using his spiritual platform as the point of inhalation, he took a deep breath through his brain until his mind became colorless and empty, then let it flow through his limbs and bones, exiting through his feet, circulating back and forth, his body and mind existing in a state of ethereal nothingness.

　　After a long time, when the swelling sensation finally disappeared, Ethan Bolton suddenly felt a special kind of hunger and thirst, as if he needed to devour something to fill this unknown craving!

　　This hunger was not in his stomach. In fact, Ethan Bolton didn't feel hungry at all at this moment, but the sense of something missing in his body, as if he had lost something, made him feel a bit uneasy!

　　He tried several more cycles of the visualization based on the colorless universe, and after completely calming down, Ethan Bolton quickly walked back home.

　　Living in the countryside, at this time in July or August, it was naturally the season for harvesting early rice and transplanting late rice. These farm chores had never been done by Linda Howard before; they were always handled by Ethan Bolton and Diana Parker.

　　At this moment, Diana Parker had already gone out to work under the blazing sun. Or perhaps, she was deliberately avoiding her son, not wanting him to have to face her.

　　There was only one mu of early rice field at home, and with Ethan Bolton's ability, he could finish harvesting it in a day.