The Awakened Ancient Node

The team set out once more, but the atmosphere was completely different.

The awe that had once been mixed with scrutiny had now turned into near-blind faith.

Tu Feng, that rough brute, even did the unprecedented and walked half a step behind Huo Yuhao's flank, looking every bit like a fiercely loyal bodyguard.

"Advisor, why are all the trees in this damned place so... twisted?" one of the team members muttered quietly, rubbing his arms.

They had entered an ancient forest encased in icy armor. The trees here were enormous, but their trunks and branches spiraled in an eerie fashion, pointing straight toward the heavens.

The entire forest was deathly silent. Even the sound of the wind seemed to have been swallowed by those massive tree trunks.

It was oppressive—an oppression that seeped into the marrow.

"The energy field affected their growth patterns," Huo Yuhao explained casually, without slowing his pace in the slightest.

His spiritual power had long since spread out like an invisible net, carefully sensing Sky Dream Iceworm's increasingly distinct life fluctuations.

Almost there. Deep within this forest.

After walking for roughly another quarter of an hour, Huo Yuhao suddenly raised a hand. The entire team immediately obeyed, dozens of people coming to an abrupt halt without making a single unnecessary sound.

"What is it, Advisor?" Tu Feng immediately gripped his battle axe warily and scanned their surroundings.

Huo Yuhao did not answer. He walked beneath a massive tree, where there seemed to be nothing different from anywhere else—just an ordinary patch of snow-covered ground.

He crouched down, reached out, and gently brushed aside the snow.

"Advisor, do you need help?" A technical staff member in charge of surveying approached, holding a compass-shaped soul tool. "My detector shows that everything here is normal. The elemental energy is just slightly more active than elsewhere."

"Is that so?" Huo Yuhao did not even raise his head.

Within the Thought Palace, the faint energy fluctuation was magnified billions of times, revealing an extraordinarily complex periodic pattern, like an ancient encoded program.

Normal? Can your soul tools understand quantum entanglement?

"Your theories are too outdated," Huo Yuhao said calmly. "You only measure 'quantity,' but never analyze 'form.'"

As he spoke, he pressed down hard with his hand!

Crack!

With a crisp sound, the ice beneath his palm split open. A pale blue wisp, nearly invisible to the naked eye, flashed past like a slithering snake.

"This is..." The technician was dumbfounded.

"An energy fluctuation!" Vice Dean Mo Li rushed over as well, his face filled with uncertainty and shock. "Such an ancient aura! But... why did our soul tools show no reaction just now?"

Huo Yuhao slowly rose to his feet, a perfectly timed look of wild delight appearing on his face.

"This is it! I found it!"

His voice was not loud, yet it exploded beside everyone's ears like thunder.

"Found what?" Tu Feng hurriedly asked.

"A resonance node!" Huo Yuhao pointed at the ground. "As I previously speculated, the cooling system of the 'main server' must contain maintenance nodes. This formation is one of them! It shares some kind of resonance with the 'life core' at the heart of the Far North—a resonance we still cannot understand!"

His explanation perfectly fitted the discovery before them into the "server theory" he had constructed earlier, instantly completing the logical chain.

"Quick! Activate the highest-precision energy analyzer!" Mo Li's old face flushed red with excitement as he roared at his subordinates.

Several technicians hurriedly hauled out a large, intricately designed soul tool, aiming its various probes at the spot Huo Yuhao had pressed.

However, the instrument's needle merely trembled slightly before falling completely still.

"Vice Dean... it won't work! The energy response is too faint. We can't capture or analyze it at all!"

"Useless! A bunch of useless fools!" Mo Li was so furious that he nearly jumped on the spot.

Everyone was as anxious as ants on a hot pan. The treasure was clearly right before their eyes, yet they could not even find the door.

"Let me do it."

Huo Yuhao's voice rang out once more.

The entire scene instantly fell silent.

He walked to the center of that area and slowly closed his eyes.

He did not release his martial soul, nor did any soul rings shine. He simply stood quietly amid the wind and snow like a statue.

Yet within his sea of consciousness, the Thought Palace was undergoing a storm.

[Knowledge Reenactment: Geophysics—Geomagnetic Field Model, Resonant Frequency Theory]

[Concept Armament: Mental Resonance]

His spiritual power was no longer scanning crudely. Instead, it simulated a specific frequency, like a precise tuning fork, gently "plucking" at the dormant energy node underground.

Hummm—

A deep hum rose from the depths of the earth!

The ground beneath everyone's feet began to tremble faintly.

"It moved! There's a reaction!"

"Heavens! Look at the ground!"

Centered on Huo Yuhao, the ice and snow beneath his feet melted away at a visible rate, revealing black rock that had been frozen beneath the ice for countless years.

Then, streaks of blue light lit up from the cracks in the rock like spirit serpents coming to life!

The mysterious light patterns outlined a massive circular magic array over thirty meters in diameter! An ancient, vast, and enigmatic aura washed over them, as though stars that had slumbered for billions of years had suddenly been awakened at this very moment!

Everyone present, including Mo Li, stared in stunned silence, feeling as if they had stopped breathing.

The soul-tool technology they took such pride in was like a child's toy before this scene, which could only be called miraculous!

"A... a miracle..." Tu Feng muttered. As he looked at Huo Yuhao's back, his eyes were filled with fervent admiration.

He believed it completely now!

This kid was no mere consultant! He was the "key" mentioned in President Xu's prophecy—the key that could usher in a new era!

Huo Yuhao slowly opened his eyes, the magic array's radiance reflected in his pupils.

"Don't celebrate too soon." His solemn voice broke the silence.

"This array's energy is extremely unstable. It's like a leaking gas tank—it could be detonated at any moment. All we've done is awaken it from its dormant state."

That single sentence instantly cooled the crowd's fevered minds.

Right. Something this incredible had to be incredibly dangerous too!

Yet Huo Yuhao's heart burned with excitement.

He had found it!

This wasn't some bullshit "heat dissipation node" at all. It was the ancient grand array sealing Sky Dream Iceworm!

He had succeeded—he had led those tools from Light of Truth straight to their destination!

He extended a hand, sensing the pure energy emanating from the array.

"Prepare to break the array."

The array's glow gradually stabilized. Its deep-blue patterns flickered like breathing, casting an eerie light across everyone's faces.

"The energy source... is over there!" A technician pointed deeper into the forest, his voice trembling with excitement.