Chapter Summaries

Lin Mu improved his control of the glowing leaf while the youth explored the crystal’s descending levels, found a second key, and opened a new space containing a map. The youth was still confirming the map’s purpose before deciding where to explore next.

• Lin Mu kept the leaf glowing steadily on an overcast day, then practiced lighting it faster and prepared to try moving it after it lit.
• Jin Chen read a letter reporting that the youth had found a third level with a smaller groove, and Ling Feng and the others concluded that smaller keys might be hidden in the upper levels.
• The youth searched the third level, found a dark stone hidden in a wall recess, and later placed it in the pillar’s groove to reveal stairs to a fourth space.
• The youth studied a map carved into the fourth space’s wall, returned to his cabin, and copied its layout from memory.
• Jin Chen shared the youth’s report, and Ling Feng and the others discussed whether the map showed the structure of the levels or a route to an exit.

The boy used the map and stone block to uncover a hidden passage from the space to a rocky coast, then tested the route and safely went outside. His report showed the exit was not near Sea Breeze City, leaving Ling Feng and the others to suspect the space was larger or had other exits.

• The boy spent seven days studying the map and sent Jin Chen his confirmation that it marked a route behind the stone wall on the third floor.
• Jin Chen told Ling Feng and the others that the boy had used the stone block to open a hidden door and seen natural light and a rocky coast beyond it.
• The boy tested the passage for three days, then went outside, identified landmarks, and returned safely through the stone door.
• Jin Chen received the boy's report that the coast differed from those near Sea Breeze City, and Ling Feng and the others discussed the exit's remote location and the possibility of more exits.
• Ling Feng said the boy could determine the exit's approximate direction once he confirmed its coordinates again.

Lin Mu steadily controlled the glowing leaf while a letter from Sea Breeze City revealed a hidden chamber and an old notebook behind a hollow wall. The notebook’s unfamiliar script resembled symbols on the map, giving the group a possible way to learn more about the space.

• Lin Mu maintained the leaf’s glow in different weather, and Ling Feng urged him to practice moving it while lit.
• Jin Chen read a letter reporting that the explorer had found an abandoned building, a buried stone chamber, and a darker patch on its eastern wall.
• Tang San suggested striking the darker wall to test whether it was hollow, and the explorer planned to bring a small hammer.
• Lin Mu demonstrated steady control of the leaf after the rain, while Ling Feng advised him to try moving it.
• Jin Chen read that the explorer had pried a stone slab from the hollow wall and found a thin notebook in a hidden recess.
• The explorer recognized symbols in the notebook that resembled markings on the map, and Ling Feng said its writing system might be deciphered.

The boy deciphered more of the notebook and learned that the underground space had five levels, then found the concealed entrance to the fourth level. The fourth level contained a circular design ringed with recorded symbols, whose purpose remained unknown.

• The boy spent a night deciphering the notebook and added newly identified symbols to his notes and map.
• The boy wrote to Martial Soul Capital, reporting that the space had five levels and that its builders had been travelers from another continent who made it their base near Sea Breeze City.
• Jin Chen read the letter, and Ling Feng, Qian Renxue, and Tang San discussed the two undiscovered levels and the possibility that they held the space's core.
• Lin Mu practiced controlling the branch's leaves until he could make them hold a chosen direction.
• The boy found a dusty crack behind the third-level stone wall, opened a narrow passage, and entered the fourth level.
• The boy examined the circular design and its ring of symbols, then left; Qian Renxue suggested it might be a positioning marker.

Jin Chen received letters describing how the young man in Sea Breeze City deciphered the fourth-floor pattern as a Fixed-Point Array Map and located the entrance to the fifth floor. After prying open the entrance and letting the air circulate, the young man descended into the hidden level and reached a wider space.

• The young man compared the fourth-floor circular pattern with the notes and identified it as a Fixed-Point Array Map showing the underground structure.
• Jin Chen received a letter explaining that the fifth floor lay beneath the first-floor stairway entrance, and the others reasoned that it might be opened from the ground above.
• The young man found a concealed metal plate in the first-floor center and deciphered its edge symbols as “downward.”
• Tang San forged a slender pry bar, which the young man used to open the plate and reveal a circular entrance.
• After leaving the entrance open for three days, the young man climbed down with an oil lamp and reached a wider space at the bottom of the stairs.

The youth observed the sphere on the fifth level, confirmed its daily brightness pattern matched the notebook’s description of the energy core, and prepared to touch it. When he finally touched it, its glow briefly intensified before returning to normal, leaving its function uncertain.

• The youth entered the fifth level, observed the glowing sphere, and reported his findings to Jin Chen.
• Ling Feng advised Lin Mu to try moving his branch faster after Lin Mu kept its brightness steady while moving.
• The youth recorded that the sphere dimmed in the morning, brightened at noon, and faded in the evening, matching the notebook’s description.
• Jin Chen read the youth’s report, and the group discussed the precautions and possible effects of touching the sphere.
• The youth touched the sphere with the back of his fingers, causing its glow to briefly intensify before it resumed its steady rotation.

A youth in Sea Breeze City gradually prolonged his contact with the sphere on the fifth level until its vibrations aligned with his heartbeat and its brightness stayed permanently higher. Jin Chen and the others concluded that the sphere had entered a new state, and Tang San predicted that a new structure might appear.

• Jin Chen read the youth’s report that a brief touch had made the sphere brighten momentarily without changing its lasting state.
• The youth maintained contact for longer, causing the sphere to brighten gradually before it slowly returned to its original state.
• Jin Chen, Ling Feng, Qian Renxue, Chen Yuan, and Tang San discussed how sustained contact might activate the sphere and make its reaction more pronounced.
• The youth extended his daily contact over several days and recorded that the sphere’s brightness faded more slowly as its vibrations shifted toward synchronization with him.
• On the twelfth day, the youth felt the sphere’s vibrations approach his heartbeat, and its brightness remained at a higher level after he withdrew his hand.
• Jin Chen read that the sphere’s brightness had stabilized permanently, and Ling Feng, Qian Renxue, Chen Yuan, and Tang San discussed its new state and the possibility of a new structure appearing.

Lin Mu steadily activated the sphere on the fifth level until it opened a stairway beneath the pedestal, but he left without descending. He returned to the surface and pondered what awaited at the stairs’ end.

• Lin Mu kept the leaf glowing steadily while moving, then planned to test changing its direction.
• Jin Chen reported that Lin Mu sensed the sphere’s barrier thinning, and Ling Feng urged him to proceed at his own pace.
• Lin Mu touched the sphere, causing light patterns to spread down the pedestal and a faint sound to come from beneath it.
• After a week of daily contact, Lin Mu watched a seam open in the floor and reveal a stairway leading downward.
• Lin Mu confirmed the stairway remained open, returned to the surface, and sat thinking about where it led.

The young man confirmed that the staircase beneath the fifth level remained open and descended to a spacious Stone Chamber with a single intact stone platform. After hearing his report, Jin Chen and the others speculated about the platform, while the young man noticed that his notebook did not mention the chamber.

• Jin Chen read a letter reporting that the staircase had risen from the ground, remained open, and could now be located without touching the sphere.
• Lin Mu demonstrated that he could precisely control where the bluish-gray leaf stopped, and Ling Feng urged him to practice keeping it moving.
• Chen Yuan reported that the wind vane remained stable, and Tang San told him to return if it needed adjustment.
• The young man descended the staircase to a spacious Stone Chamber, inspected its smooth floor and low central stone platform, then returned without finding an exit.
• Jin Chen shared the young man's report, and Qian Renxue suggested the platform might be meant to be read while Chen Yuan proposed that something might have been removed from it.
• The young man reread his notebook, found no mention of the Stone Chamber or platform, and suspected the chamber had been sealed off later.

The boy from Sea Breeze City investigated the Stone Chamber and found evidence that an object had once rested on its platform, then discovered two similar pressable slots on opposite levels. Jin Chen and the others concluded that the boy should search for an object that might fit the slots and reveal the chamber’s purpose.

• The boy found a darker patch on the stone platform and reported it to Jin Chen, Ling Feng, Qian Renxue, Chen Yuan, and Tang San.
• The boy sketched and measured the patch, then matched its dimensions to the base of an object mentioned in the notes and recorded that the object might be elsewhere in the space.
• The boy searched the first and fifth levels and found two similar pressable areas in roughly symmetrical positions.
• The boy recorded the areas and suspected they were slots for securing an object, while Jin Chen and the others considered that it might be a beam or support.
• Ling Feng and Qian Renxue sat beneath the eaves as the night wind moved a dead leaf through the courtyard.

The youth found and installed components in a hidden passage, causing its stairs to recalibrate and its interior lighting to change. After the metal plate activated a new light source, he confirmed the passage remained stable and withdrew.

• Jin Chen read a letter describing how the youth found a stone bar hidden in the third-level wall and confirmed it matched the slots on the first and fifth levels.
• The youth installed the stone bar between the first and fifth levels, causing the stairs to adjust and become smoother.
• Lin Mu told Ling Feng that the leaves he carried now maintained their direction as he moved, and Ling Feng advised him to practice changing their brightness while moving.
• The youth found a circular stone disk beneath a slab on the second level and placed it in a groove on the third-level ceiling, raising a pillar from the floor.
• The youth found a metal plate hidden in the third-level wall and fitted it atop the pillar, activating a deeper light source without affecting the passage’s stability.

A young man found a worn stone fragment on the fourth floor and discovered that placing it beneath the fifth-floor staircase patterns raised their brightness. Jin Chen and the others concluded it was a control device, possibly connected to the next floor, while the young man continued investigating how it worked.

• The young man reread his notebook and prepared to search the space for the remaining components.
• Three days later, Jin Chen received a letter reporting that the young man had found a dark stone fragment in a hidden compartment on the fourth floor.
• The young man repeatedly brought the fragment near the fifth-floor staircase patterns and observed that their brightness changed consistently.
• When he placed the fragment beneath the patterns, their brightness stayed raised until he removed it.
• The young man wrote to Martial Soul Capital about the discovery, and Jin Chen, Ling Feng, Qian Renxue, Chen Yuan, and Tang San discussed the fragment's possible function as a control device or means of unlocking the next floor.

The young man tested how the stone shard affected the light pattern and discovered that leaving the shard beneath it expanded the pattern’s coverage. Jin Chen and the others concluded the expansion revealed a hidden crack in the staircase wall that might mark the next entrance, and the young man planned how to approach it.

• The young man found that the shard’s proximity and time beneath the light pattern controlled its brightness and duration, and he reported his observations to Martial Soul Capital.
• Lin Mu demonstrated that he could coordinate a leaf’s brightness changes with his movement, even while walking.
• The young man left the shard under the pattern long enough to make its coverage expand, then confirmed that the brightness and coverage returned to normal when he removed the shard.
• The young man discovered that longer exposure expanded the pattern farther and revealed a narrow vertical crack in the staircase wall, which became difficult to see again when the pattern contracted.
• Jin Chen relayed the discovery, and Ling Feng, Qian Renxue, Chen Yuan, and Tang San agreed that the crack might be the next entrance and that the shard could reveal it.

The boy uncovered a faint route diagram on a stone disk and compared it with the notes, identifying an alternate route leading outside. The notes placed its entrance on the first level’s north wall, but the boy had found no hidden door there, and they did not specify the symbol needed to open it.

• The boy shifted a stone slab, entered a hidden Stone Chamber, and found a dark disk bearing a nearly erased design.
• Jin Chen shared the boy’s findings, and Ling Feng, Qian Renxue, Chen Yuan, and Tang San suggested examining the disk under different lighting.
• Lin Mu demonstrated that he could coordinate the brightness and direction of the leaf’s light, and Ling Feng encouraged him to continue.
• The boy used a lamp to reveal and sketch a branching route pattern on the disk, then left to compare it with the notes.
• Jin Chen read that the boy had matched the pattern to an alternate route in the notes and identified its entrance on the first level’s north wall.
• Jin Chen reported that the entrance required a corresponding symbol, though the notes did not describe its form, and the boy had found no crack or hidden door.

The youth deduced an installation sequence for four components from their descriptions in the notes and used it to open a hidden passage to the Stone Chamber. The sequence enlarged the Light Pattern and clarified the crack, but the stone disk showed no new changes, leaving the chamber's activation unresolved.

• The youth organized the notes and inferred that the Stone Bar, stone disk, Metal Plate, and stone slab represented stability, activation, connection, and adjustment in that order.
• Jin Chen received the youth's plan, and Qian Renxue, Chen Yuan, Tang San, and Ling Feng discussed how he should carry it out.
• Three days later, the youth reinstalled the Stone Bar on the first level, the stone disk on the third, the Metal Plate in the raised pillar, and the stone slab beneath the Light Pattern on the fifth.
• The expanded Light Pattern revealed a clearer crack, and the youth opened it to enter the Stone Chamber and inspect the stone disk.
• Jin Chen reported that the installation had gone smoothly, but the disk and chamber showed no new changes, and Ling Feng concluded that other conditions might be needed to activate the chamber.

The young man tested the stone disk and discovered that sustained contact revealed a pattern that grew clearer over time. He identified a marker matching a surface landmark, suggesting the pattern showed a corresponding coordinate, and prepared to continue.

• The young man touched the stone disk and found that its surface warmed during sustained contact.
• Jin Chen and the others concluded that continued contact activated the disk and advised testing it for longer.
• Lin Mu demonstrated that he could control the leaf’s brightness and direction continuously, and Ling Feng suggested practicing without looking.
• The young man maintained contact with the disk until flowing lines appeared, then reported that the lines matched his earlier pattern and faded after he withdrew his hand.
• After several attempts, the young man revealed a small circular marker at a branch’s end and confirmed it matched a surface landmark in his notes.
• The young man recorded that the pattern’s location might correspond to a coordinate on the surface and prepared for the next step.

The boy from Sea Breeze City uncovered a hidden entrance beneath a marked depression and, after checking its stability, descended into a small Stone Chamber. He found a dusty groove shaped like the mark on the stone disk, and Jin Chen relayed his discovery to the others.

• Jin Chen read a letter describing how the boy from Sea Breeze City found and marked a depression that matched the stone disk's mark.
• Lin Mu reported mastering movement control without looking at the leaf, and Ling Feng advised him to practice changing direction independently of brightness.
• Tang San forged a small shovel for the boy, who used it to uncover a dark slab with Light Patterns and confirm that a space lay beneath it.
• The boy inspected the slab for several days, confirmed the entrance was stable, and told Jin Chen he planned to enter.
• The boy lifted the slab, climbed down into a small Stone Chamber, and found a dusty groove shaped like the stone disk's mark.

The youth found a small stone disk that fit the groove in the Stone Chamber, revealing a hidden passage and a sealed door with a second map. After copying and comparing the maps, he planned to inspect the locations where their markings differed on his next entry.

• The youth searched the second level and found a small stone disk that matched the Stone Chamber’s groove.
• He placed the disk in the groove, causing a crack to appear in the northern wall and revealing a narrow passage that ended at a sealed stone door bearing a map.
• The youth copied the second map and compared it with the map from the fourth level, finding that several markings differed in position.
• Jin Chen reported that the youth planned to prioritize those differing locations during his next entry in two days.

A young man discovered a hidden Stone Chamber in Sea Breeze City and began copying and interpreting its wall inscriptions. He identified a pattern linking times to spatial coordinates and suspected the text recorded when and where items had been placed.

• Jin Chen read a letter describing a concealed passage and a Stone Chamber covered in writing, which the young man planned to copy.
• Lin Mu practiced moving in different directions while keeping the leaf steady, then decided to plan a more complicated route.
• The young man copied the first wall of inscriptions and noticed that some words repeated meanings found in the earlier notes.
• He used the repeated words to infer the text’s structure and identified correspondences between points in time and spatial coordinates.
• Jin Chen reported that the young man was interpreting the remaining words, and Qian Renxue suggested the inscriptions might record where and when items were placed.

Jin Chen relayed updates from Sea Breeze City about the Observation Station, where the explorer interpreted its walls and calibrated the Core Device. After the device stabilized, it revealed a hidden passage and a map showing the underground space’s reach beneath the continent and several surface points.

• Jin Chen reported that the explorer had copied and interpreted three walls, learning that the underground structure was built as an Observation Station to track divine power and earth veins.
• Jin Chen said the explorer followed the fourth wall’s instructions to calibrate the Core Device, causing its brightness to rise before it began stabilizing.
• Lin Mu demonstrated that he could guide a glowing leaf along complicated routes without controlling it at every turn, and Ling Feng suggested he test it over a longer distance.
• Jin Chen reported that five days after calibration, the sphere stabilized and a Light Pattern led the explorer to a concealed passage.
• The explorer found a map showing the underground space extending beneath the continent and marking several points corresponding to the surface, then returned and concealed the passage.
• Ling Feng, Qian Renxue, and Chen Yuan discussed whether the marked surface points indicated connections to multiple entrances and whether the explorer should verify them.