I stared at the fleeting shadow of the door, my heart skipping a beat.
The stone's surface returned to calm, as though nothing had happened. But I knew that moment had not been an illusion. My spiritual sense still lingered between my brows, faintly hot, reminding me that what I had discovered was real.
I withdrew my hand. My palm was no longer warm. After the rune had been completed, the fluctuations within the stone did not reappear, but the sensation of being drawn by something remained. Like an undercurrent beneath the water, invisible yet perceptible in its direction.
I sat down cross-legged and closed my eyes. Spiritual sense slowly spread out from between my brows, first sweeping the surrounding area. Within thirty meters, the patterns of fallen leaves, broken stones, and moss became clear. The spirit beast lay beside me, breathing steadily, its body temperature slightly higher than usual. Perhaps the energy fluctuation from before had made it nervous.
This time, I did not rush to extend it further. I still remembered the feeling of my spiritual sense nearly collapsing when I had examined the standing stone last time. The most important thing now was stability.
I focused my attention on the standing stone's surface. My fingertips could still feel the location of that indentation. After the rune had been completed, an extremely faint trace of energy remained inside the stone, like a damp mark left on the ground after water had flowed over it. It was so faint it was nearly impossible to detect, but I could follow it back in a certain direction.
On my first attempt, my spiritual sense broke the moment it touched the trace. I had been too hasty and failed to control my strength.
On the second attempt, I slowed down and let my spiritual sense cling to it gently like a thin thread. The trace quivered slightly, like a startled snake, swiftly retreating deeper inside.
On the third attempt, I finally caught it.
That energy seeped from beneath the stone into the ground, extending all the way toward the deepest part of the valley. My spiritual sense followed it through damp soil, rock layers, and gaps tangled with tree roots. The farther in it went, the greater the resistance in the air became. With every step forward, the pain between my brows intensified.
After advancing roughly a hundred paces, my spiritual sense suddenly struck a barrier.
It was neither solid nor interference caused by mist. It was like an invisible net stretched across the way, preventing any probing from entering. The moment my spiritual sense touched its edge, it was flung back. A sharp pain stabbed between my brows, and cold sweat instantly broke out across my forehead.
I immediately withdrew my spiritual sense and opened my eyes.
My breathing was a little uneven, but my mind was clear. That barrier... had not formed naturally. Its structure was far too orderly, and the way its energy circulated bore traces of human intervention. It resembled the runes on the standing stone.
"System," I asked inwardly, "did you detect anything unusual?"
After waiting several breaths, the system did not respond.
That did not surprise me. It only gave prompts at critical junctures; it would not interfere in everything. The clues were already enough to explain the situation—something was indeed hidden deep within this valley.
I turned to look at the spirit beast. It had not moved, but its ears were pricked up, and the tips of its horns angled slightly forward, as though it had sensed some danger.
"Do you want me to stop?" I asked softly.
It neither raised its head nor cried out. It merely edged closer to me, its tail gently curling around my ankle.
That was how it expressed unease.
I reached out and stroked its back. Beneath its warm fur, its muscles were taut. It did not want me to go, but it would not stop me either.
"If there really is danger, we can retreat at any time," I said. "But right now, I want to see what lies beyond it."
I stood and stretched my limbs. My meridians were clear, my spiritual power abundant, and I was in far better condition than before my breakthrough. As long as I did not force my way in, nothing should happen.
After taking five steps, I released my spiritual sense again.
This time, I no longer tracked the energy trace. Instead, I used point-based scanning. Every three steps, I condensed my spiritual sense into a point the size of a needle tip and sent it into the empty space ahead. Only after confirming it was safe did I take another step. It was slow, but reliable.
The deeper I went, the thicker the mist became. My vision was reduced to less than six meters. The air carried an old, stale smell, like a stone chamber sealed for years had just been opened. The ground also began to change. The once-soft earth became hard, producing a faint echo beneath my feet, as though it were hollow below.
The spirit beast followed behind me, its steps light. It paused after every step, as if judging whether the ground beneath it was safe.
After walking about two hundred paces, the spiritual-sense probe suddenly vanished.
It had not been blocked, nor had it been absorbed. It simply stopped responding altogether. Like a stone thrown into a deep well, without even an echo.
I stopped.
Three steps ahead, the color of the mist had changed. It was no longer grayish white, but glimmered with a faint blue light, like moonlight shining over water. The air had also stagnated. The wind stopped there, the leaves did not move, and even the insects had fallen silent.
I knew it was here.
I withdrew my spiritual sense and took a jade slip from my storage pouch. This was a detection-type artifact the system had rewarded me with earlier, capable of sensing spatial abnormalities to a certain degree. I poured spiritual power into it, and a faint pattern of light appeared across its surface.
The light pattern pointed directly ahead.
I took out another talisman plaque the size of a copper coin and lightly tossed it into the air. The plaque hovered for a moment, then suddenly began to shake violently. With a crack, it split in two. A wisp of black smoke rose from it and was instantly swallowed by the mist.
Both tests gave the same result—there was a seal ahead.
I took a deep breath and raised my hand, condensing a drop of pure spiritual power at my fingertip. It was not for attack, but to test the barrier's reaction. I slowly pushed the spiritual power forward, sending it toward that blue mist.
The instant the spiritual power touched the mist, it was like striking an invisible wall.
But it neither rebounded nor vanished. Instead, like a drop of water landing on a lotus leaf, it slowly spread out, forming a ring of ripples. At the center of those spreading ripples, a translucent curtain of light appeared.
Patterns covered the light curtain—ancient and intricate, layered upon layer, like the projection of some formation. I recognized them at once—they shared the same origin as the runes on the standing stone!
At that exact moment, the space between my brows suddenly grew hot.
The system's voice sounded: [A high-dimensional spatial anchor has been detected. Compatibility: 89%. It matches the predictive model for a "place of opportunity."]
I said nothing, only stared at the curtain of light.
Through its rippling surface, I could vaguely see what lay behind it. The upturned eaves of a palace, a stone pillar, and mottled carvings on a flight of stairs. They looked as though they lay beneath water, indistinct yet undeniably real.
This was the entrance to the secret realm.
I glanced back at the spirit beast. It had crouched down, its forelimbs pressed against the ground, its horns aimed toward the light curtain. Every muscle in its body was taut, ready to deal with any sudden danger.
"We found it," I said.
It looked up at me, its eyes filled with worry, but also trust.
I did not approach immediately. The seal could block ordinary probing, which meant the person who had set it was no weakling. Disturbing it rashly might trigger a countermeasure.
I took two steps back and removed a small blue stone from my robes. This was the "Sealbreaking Stone" awarded for answering questions last time, specifically used to analyze low-level seal structures. I infused it with spiritual power. Fine patterns emerged across its surface and began automatically recording the paths of the runes on the light curtain.
The recording continued for half an incense stick's time.
When the final line was completed, the Sealbreaking Stone suddenly grew hot, then turned into powder and slipped through my fingers.
At the same time, the system gave another prompt: [Analysis complete. Localized infiltration may be attempted. It is recommended that the host use their origin aura for guidance to avoid triggering the alarm mechanism.]
I nodded, bit my fingertip, and smeared a drop of blood across my right palm. Then I slowly raised my hand and pushed it toward the center of the light curtain.
The instant the blood touched the barrier, the entire light curtain trembled slightly.
The patterns began to rotate slowly, like a lock cylinder being turned by a key. A tiny crack appeared at the center, no wider than a strand of hair, yet a cool breath wafted out from it.
I stopped and did not continue.
The crack neither widened nor closed. It simply remained quietly open, as if waiting for me to make a decision.
The spirit beast let out a low growl. The sound was soft, but I knew it was warning me—once I went in, there might be no turning back.
I looked at that crack, breathing slowly.
Then I raised my foot and took a step forward.