He reached out and carefully ran his fingers along the inner walls of the recess, examining every crevice, but found no hidden catches, concealed layers, or secret compartments. Once he confirmed there were no other mechanisms, Lin Feng rose. He stopped trying to channel power into the rock wall and slowly retraced the passage out of the fissure, returning to the void outside.
He did not immediately leave. Finding a flat floating rock near the fissure's entrance to stand on, he spread out the cloth again and reread the account of the Shadowstone, word by word. The text stated that the Shadowstone could change its form according to the aura of anyone who approached. If they were not close enough, or their aura failed to resonate with it, it would remain concealed for a long time, never revealing its true form.
Lin Feng slowly folded the cloth and did not enter the fissure again right away. Sitting quietly on the floating rock, he repeatedly reviewed what he had just seen: chaos power had brought forth the recess in the rock wall, proving that he had followed the correct route and was already close to his goal. The only obstacle was that resonance had yet to be established.
He sat in silence, allowing the long winds of the void to flow past him, quietly waiting for the Shadowstone deep within the fissure to respond. Throughout that long wait, the entire starfield was so still that only his own circulating chaos aura remained. After a long while, Lin Feng slowly rose. Without looking back at the concealed opening, he stretched out, changed course, and flew toward Return to the Ruins City.
The Shadowstone still lay dormant deep within the fissure and had not appeared, but he knew it was inside that dark