Jiang Lan looked down at his backpack.
The sphere vibrated more and more violently, making the entire backpack feel as though it was about to break free of his control.
He reached out, about to hold the backpack down, but the sphere flew straight out of the side compartment.
Jiang Lan felt his backpack lighten and instinctively reached out to grab the little ball.
But the little ball moved far faster than he had expected.
Now a deep blue all over, the little ball traced an arc through the pitch-black hall, then flew straight toward its depths.
Jiang Lan froze for a moment, then chased after it.
Something had to be behind such a strange turn of events. The little ball had always been an inanimate object, yet now it could suddenly fly on its own. No matter how he looked at it, this was not normal.
Fortunately, although the little ball was fast, it did not fly very far, soon descending in front of a wall.
Seeing this, Jiang Lan stopped as well, his gaze settling on the spot where the sphere hovered.
There was a circular recess in that wall.
The recess was almost exactly the same diameter as the sphere, with intricate patterns carved around it.
The next instant, as though it had received some sort of guidance, the little ball slotted straight into the recess.
Buzzz!
The instant the little ball slotted into the recess, a low hum suddenly came from deep within the wall.
At the same time, the patterns around the recess abruptly lit up.
Blue light spread outward from the center at incredible speed. Almost in an instant, every pattern across the wall had lit up.
But the light did not stop there. It continued spreading along the walls, reaching in every direction