Fang Mo stared at that half-inch gap for a long time.
The sea breeze blew in through the crack in the window, bending the flame of the oil lamp on the table to the left.
The lamplight cast a thin shadow across the two copper fragments. The shadow swayed gently with the flickering flame, as though something were breathing.
Nian Nu'er's voice came from behind him, very softly.
"My lord, the moisture inside this pearl and the law on the copper fragments are repelling each other."
Fang Mo did not turn around.
"I know."
He reached out, suspending the tip of his index finger over the half-inch gap between the copper fragments and the Water-Avoidance Pearl without touching it.
A trace of prison suppressor patterns seeped from his fingertip, an extremely fine thread of dark golden light that slowly extended toward the trembling gap like a probing feeler.
The instant the thread entered, it twisted violently, like cold water poured into boiling oil.
The green flecks of light inside the Water-Avoidance Pearl began circulating three times faster, and the dragon patterns on the copper fragments flashed for an instant.
Fang Mo withdrew his hand.
"One wants to swallow the other. The other won't let it."
Nian Nu'er walked to the bedside and looked down at the three objects.
"Things from Biyou Palace carry the Dao Sect's clear Qi. They're naturally at odds with the Prison Suppressor's Law."
"Clear Qi?"
Fang Mo picked up the Water-Avoidance Pearl and weighed it in his palm.
"There's something besides moisture in here."
Nian Nu'er leaned closer, the pearl's light reflected in her deep blue pupils.
"There's an extremely faint soul seal. It was probably left by successive palace masters of Biyou Palace to nurture the pearl, and to prevent outsiders from taking it."
Her