After Feng Lingtian stepped into the passage cleared by the Blue Silver Grass, the leaves around him closed up again. The Blue Silver Grass in front of him gradually thinned out, revealing a small open space.
In the center of the open space stood a Blue Silver Grass, much taller than its counterparts around it. Its leaves were deep blue with a faint golden sheen at the edges, exuding an aura of antiquity.
As Feng Lingtian approached, a phantom slowly materialized above the Blue Silver Grass —the outline of an old man, formed by pale blue light, his face blurred but his figure clear.
The old man looked at Feng Lingtian, skipped the pleasantries, and went straight to asking, "Now tell me, what exactly do you need for that idea you mentioned earlier?"
Feng Lingtian sat down in front of him and organized his thoughts. "First, I need a metal vessel that can carry the flow of Soul Power."
Ordinary metals are too brittle; they easily crack if too much Soul Power passes through them. I need a ore with moderate hardness that allows Soul Power to pass through stably.
Blue Silver King pondered for a moment before speaking, "There's a type of silver-patterned ore deep beneath this valley. It's grown here for countless years and has been imbued with the aura of Blue Silver Grass. Its texture is tougher than ordinary metals, and it can even accommodate the flow of Soul Power within it. Perhaps it can be useful."
Feng Lingtian's eyes lit up. "Can you take me to see it?"
The illusory image of the Blue Silver King moved slightly. "Come with me."
Feng Lingtian stood up and followed the pale blue light deeper into the valley. The further he went, the lower the density of the Blue Silver Grass became, and the more rocks appeared.
Blue Silver King stopped in front of an exposed rock formation. Several pieces of silver-gray ore were embedded in the rock wall, their surfaces bearing fine natural patterns, as if they had been imbued with the scent of Blue Silver Grass for countless years.
Feng Lingtian took a piece and held it in his hand to feel it—the ore itself was hard, but it had a subtle toughness inside, as if it could accommodate the flow of Soul Power within it. He nodded in satisfaction and followed the Blue Silver King back to the open space.
"Now that we have the ore," Feng Lingtian said, "The next step is to prepare the carving tools—but don't worry about that."
Feng Lingtian raised his right hand, Wind Attribute Soul Power condensed, compressed, and rotated in his palm, forming an extremely thin cyan wind blade.
The wind blade was as thin as a leaf, with edges so sharp they were almost transparent, and it emitted a slight humming sound in the air.
"These are the carving tools," Feng Lingtian said, then sighed, "The first two steps are done; now we need to solve the carving of the patterns—"
We need to design a path for the Soul Power to flow so that the communicator can function properly.
Feng Lingtian held the silver-gray ore, turning it over and over to examine it for a long time. Then he picked up the wind blade and tried to scratch the first line on the surface of the ore.
The wind blade left a shallow mark as it sliced across the surface of the ore, but the line was uneven and intermittent, like water encountering an obstacle.
Feng Lingtian tried several times, but he still couldn't carve a continuous pattern—he could control the wind blade to maintain a stable sharpness, but he didn't know what direction the pattern should take.
Feng Lingtian reluctantly stopped working, remained silent for a long time, and then said, "If we don't solve this carving path problem, we can't achieve the communication function."
Blue Silver King also fell silent. He didn't understand what path Feng Lingtian was talking about, but he still cooperated and fell into thought just like Feng Lingtian.
Suddenly, Blue Silver King seemed to remember something and said uncertainly, "What you said about ' Soul Power following a fixed path' reminds me of something I saw when I was young."
It was an artifact from an ancient site, covered with intricate patterns, much like the 'paths' you described.
Feng Lingtian raised his head. "Do you still remember what those patterns looked like?"
"I remember part of it. When I first saw it, I thought the patterns were beautiful, so I memorized the direction of the lines."
After Blue Silver King finished speaking, a scene suddenly flashed into Feng Lingtian's mind—
The silver-gray pattern, branching out like tree roots, radiates from the center outwards and then loops back at the edges.
Blue Silver King directly transmitted the images from his memory into his consciousness.
Feng Lingtian stared at the image for a long time. He felt a strange sense of familiarity with the patterns, as if he had seen similar logic somewhere before.
Current flows along the conductor, branching off from the main line and then converging back to the main line to form a complete loop.
This is not the power of Blue Silver Grass, nor the structure of Soul Power; it is something much more fundamental.
Upon seeing this, Feng Lingtian suddenly understood—the circuit board in his previous life allowed current to flow along copper wires, through components, and back to the starting point.
If we consider Soul Power as an electric current, and the essence of the Blue Silver King as a conductor, then the patterns are like an electrical circuit.
"So that's how it is." Feng Lingtian's eyes lit up.
He quickly picked up the ore again, the wind blades re-condensed at his fingertips, and then began to carve along the pattern in his mind.
This time, each of his cuts landed steadily, as if he had finally found the right path. The Blue Silver King remained silent, watching quietly as he finished carving the entire pattern.
He carved those patterns into closed grooves of consistent depth and connected end to end. The cross-section of the grooves is a trapezoid, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, like a pre-reserved channel, yet without leaving any extra gaps.
After finishing the last stroke, Feng Lingtian put down the ore in his hand, looked up at the pale blue light, and said, " Blue Silver King, I need some of your primordial essence as the core medium for the patterns."
The Blue Silver King did not hesitate. The leaves of the Blue Silver Grass beside it trembled slightly, and a drop of pale golden liquid condensed from the tip of the leaf, hovering in mid-air and emitting a soft light.
"Take it," said the Blue Silver King.
Feng Lingtian took out a small porcelain bottle, caught the drop of pale golden essence, then picked up the engraved mineral stone, aligned the bottle opening with the beginning of the pattern, tilted the bottle, and let the drop of essence slowly flow in along the groove.
The pale golden liquid followed the patterns along the entire path, leaving faint traces of light at each branch, and finally flowing into the loop at the end.
After the essence flowed in, Feng Lingtian didn't rush to seal it. He took out another small porcelain bottle from his pocket, containing powdered Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid leaves.
He had specifically asked Dugu Bo for it before he set off, originally just for emergencies.
Feng Lingtian pinched up a little powder, about to sprinkle it on, when the Blue Silver King spoke up, "What are you sprinkling?"
"This is powder from Eight-Petal Immortal Orchid," Feng Lingtian said. "It allows the essence to remain stable for a long time, preventing it from dissipating over time. In this way, this token can be used for many years."
Blue Silver King didn't ask any more questions and quietly watched Feng Lingtian continue operating.
Feng Lingtian pinched a little powder and gently sprinkled it along the path of the essence.
The moment the Immortal Herb powder came into contact with the essence, it seemed to be activated, melting into an extremely fine silver thread that mixed with the essence and traveled around the pattern before stopping.
Feng Lingtian put down the porcelain bottle and injected a wisp of Soul Power into the surface of the ore, guiding the grooves on both sides to slightly retract inward.
When he carved it, he deliberately designed the groove to be a trapezoidal cross-section that is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. After the essence is poured in from the entrance, the textured walls on both sides will press inward under the slight adjustment of the Soul Power, sealing the entrance and interlocking together like a mortise and tenon joint.
The moment the groove closed, the pale golden essence was completely sealed inside the ore, flowing steadily along the closed circuit.
He tentatively injected a wisp of Soul Power into the surface of the ore. The patterns lit up briefly, and a dark golden light spread forward along the patterns, splitting into two beams at the branching point before merging again at the front and then slowly fading away.
Feng Lingtian watched the patterns light up and then go out, but he didn't stop immediately. He gathered a wisp of Soul Power again and tried to inject a message into the Master Token —he silently recited "hello" in his mind and sent the Soul Power along with that thought into the patterns.
He looked up. "What are you feeling over there?"
Blue Silver King was silent for a moment. "Just now, I felt a very faint vibration coming from your direction, like the sound of wind blowing through grass. It was very light and gentle, but it formed a word in my mind—'Hello'."
Feng Lingtian nodded. "Then it's done. This token can transmit messages."
He picked up the token, examined it against the light again, and decided, "This is the first successful token; let's take it as the Master Token, the core."
The ones refined using the diluted essence will be called Sub-Token, which are the branches. This whole set is called the Yu Feng Token — Communication Soul Tool we developed."
He weighed the Master Token in his palm, about to put it away, when the Blue Silver King spoke up, "This Yu Feng Token indeed usable, but if someone else specifically studies the patterns on it, can't they just carve the same way?"
Feng Lingtian paused for a moment, then remained silent. The Blue Silver King was right—the patterns were exposed, and anyone with the inclination could indeed carve them out by examining them closely.
He was silent for a moment, then placed the token on his lap. "You're right. This... still needs improvement."