As the morning mist dissipated, the Youth Guardian Camp, guided by the "energy red line" of the Symbiosis Core, arrived at the Resonance Valley deep within the continent. A Mu's New Sprout Sword, its scabbard adorned with Ice-Fire Entwining Pattern, was now shimmering with silver light. With each step, the scabbard collided with the energy in the air, scattering tiny particles of light—the aftershocks of the previously activated crystal core, forming a visible "energy trajectory" in the valley. In A Ya's bag, besides the Symbiotic Fiber, several small pouches contained Star Core Fragments, Forest Heart Crystal Fragments, and Molten Fire Crystal Fragments— "crystal energy carriers" deliberately preserved during the repairs of various locations. On A Shi's record board, a new blank "energy flow map" had been drawn, with the "energy convergence points" calculated by Loran the previous night marked in the corners, but conspicuously lacking terms like "pollution index"—this time, they would face an invisible energy disorder.
"Something's wrong, the energy in the valley is too 'crowded'!" Loran suddenly stopped, the pale green light emanating from her fingertips being pushed back by an invisible force. The golden figure of the Icefield Wolf also became alert, circling A Mu twice and growling at the entrance to the valley ahead—the air there seemed to be distorted, the leaves of the Lightleaf Tree glowed with a blinding green light, nearly twice their normal size, their branches intertwined, blocking the originally open valley entrance into only a narrow slit; even stranger, the Singing Insect that should have been singing were now emitting a sharp "zzzz" sound, which was chilling to the bone.
As you walk deeper into the narrow crevice, the valley's scenery becomes increasingly bizarre: the "energy patterns" on the ground (originally pale gold, evenly distributed natural patterns) become chaotic, broken in some places and overlapping in others, forming small clusters of light; several low-lying areas even have rotating energy vortexes, sucking up fallen leaves and pebbles into the air and then flinging them out violently; the " Echo Stone group" in the distance (a dozen or so black rocks about the height of a person, with spiral patterns all over their surfaces), which should reflect soft energy light, now glow with a dark red light, as if they are holding back a lot of energy with nowhere to release it.
"Is anyone there?" A Ya tried calling out, but her voice was immediately reflected by the Echo Stone as a piercing noise, startling her so much that she quickly covered her mouth. At that moment, a boy dressed in dark-patterned linen clothes emerged from behind the Echo Stone. He wore a crown woven from the wings of Singing Insect and held a small Echo Stone the size of a palm in his hand. He looked at the group warily. "Who are you? Are you here to destroy the energy nexus?"
"We're here to help!" A Mu quickly raised his sword sheath. "Look, we have crystal core fragments; we can sense the energy disturbance." The boy stared at the shimmering silver light of the sheath, his brow gradually relaxing. "My A Yin, from the Echo Tribe. For the past two weeks, the energy in the valley has become increasingly chaotic. The Lightleaf Tree are growing wildly, the Singing Insect are chirping incessantly, and even the tribe's ' Echo Ritual ' is no longer effective—the elders say it's because the 'great energy' outside (referring to the crystal core resonance) has disrupted the core."
Following A Yin, they arrived at the Echo Tribe's settlement (a round stone house built in the center of the Echo Stone cluster, with a semi-transparent " Main Echo Stone " embedded in its roof). An elder with gray hair, holding a wooden " Echo Staff," was pacing around the Main Echo Stone. Seeing the group, the elder sighed, "Finally, someone who can sense crystal energy has arrived. The Main Echo Stone is the valley's energy hub, responsible for 'smoothing' the energy from all over the continent before transmitting it out. But recently, when the crystal cores outside resonated, the Main Echo Stone acted like a blocked water pipe, causing energy to flow back and disrupting the entire valley."
A Mu walked to the Main Echo Stone and gently touched it with his fingertips—a tremor emanated from the stone's surface, as if countless energies were colliding within it. The silver light of the sword sheath clashed with the red light on the stone's surface, creating a small energy wave that sent the surrounding Singing Insect scattering in all directions. "Energy has nowhere to go, that's why it's flowing erratically!" A Mu immediately understood. "We need to find the bottleneck in the energy flow first, then use the crystal core fragment to guide it, allowing the energy to flow back along the patterns."
A Shi pulled out his recording tablet and opened a blank energy flow diagram. " A Yin, does your tribe have a diagram recording energy patterns? I need to mark the blockages." A Yin nodded, ran back to the stone house, and retrieved a piece of animal hide—on which were drawn the energy patterns of the valley in pale gold paint, like a complex net, with small circles marking the nodes. "These circles indicate the locations of the Echo Stone. Right now, only the Main Echo Stone is glowing red; the others are dark."