The stone platform jolted violently the instant his palm touched it. Chen Wuya felt as though the meridians in his right arm had been pierced through by iron needles, a scorching backflow surging straight toward his shoulder. Gritting his teeth, he did not withdraw his hand. Instead, he shifted his palm slightly and slid it half an inch along the path of the copper disc's crack, letting the Misaligned Force sink into the fissure.
The writhing red light slowed.
"Did it work?" Mo Feng panted as he leaned closer. Blood seeped from his temple, yet his eyes shone startlingly bright.
Bai Zhi stood three paces away, her sword tip lightly touching the ground as her gaze swept over the depression between the four broken pillars. "Something's wrong with this place." Her voice was quiet, yet both men turned toward her at once. "There are carvings on the inner walls of the pillars. They aren't decorations."
Only then did Chen Wuya notice that the seemingly weathered patterns actually connected into a set of symbols—crooked, yet ordered—pointing in two different directions. He frowned. "This isn't Qingfeng Sect writing, nor is it a secret mark of the Sky Eagle Escort Agency."
Mo Feng reached out and wiped away the dust. His fingertip traced a deep groove, and his expression changed abruptly. "It's a guidance map for the Earthcore Lock... The one beneath our feet is only a junction of branches. There are three true nodes, in East Valley, North Corridor, and West Cliff. If this place goes out of control now, the other two will eventually blow up with it."
Before his words had faded, the system buzzed in his consciousness once more:
[Node backlash countdown: 27 minutes]
Chen Wuya said nothing. He merely tore off the charred glove on his