Like the first deep, puzzled snort of a sleeping beast disturbed from its slumber.
That slow, heavy pulse, as though eternal and unchanging, did indeed quicken slightly the instant Ming Xin's "key" frequency source touched the ancient pattern.
It was not merely the frequency; its "sense of presence" had also become clearer than ever before.
No longer was it just a vague tremor on the Rule Layer. It was more like an unimaginably vast system.
Some deepest core had been activated by a faint current, beginning an exceedingly slow yet unmistakable process of self-diagnosis or rebooting.
The source of the pulse seemed to come from beneath this dark platform, from somewhere extremely, extremely deep.
Each beat came with faint ripples of energy, quietly spreading like undercurrents stirred by the heartbeat of a deep-sea leviathan.
The once deathly still Energy Field in the air began to show minute, imperceptible disturbances.
Ming Xin immediately withdrew the glow of his frequency source, suppressing both his own presence and that of the Dark Gold Fragment Remnant to the absolute limit, like truly lifeless objects.
He did not dare determine what this change in the pulse meant—was it the ruin recognizing and welcoming the "key" frequency?
Or had some defense mechanism or cleansing program been activated? In a completely unknown environment, any abnormal movement could bring fatal danger.
He quietly "lay" beside the patterned depression like the most cautious observer, using his newly restored and extremely limited perception to catch every change around him.
The pulse continued to accelerate, gradually shortening from once every few minutes to once every minute.
Once every half minute... At the same time, its "sound" grew more "layered."
Ming Xin could make out what seemed to be energy currents of several different frequencies, the faint friction of mechanical structures, and