Putting Things in Order
The ship sailed smoothly on the night sea. Long Tian sat leaning against the bow, his coat mostly dry. The sea breeze had carried away the moisture, leaving the fabric nearly dry. He didn't look back at the waters where the keel was located; his gaze was fixed on the bow, where the Dragon Shadow's shadow continued to illuminate his shoulders and back, maintaining a stable range of light.
It was the afternoon of the third day when they returned to Longfish Bay. After the boat docked, Long Tian slung his leather bag over his shoulder and walked ashore along the pier. Yu Jin followed behind him, and the two walked out onto a side road on the outskirts of Longfish Bay. They stopped under an old elm tree by the roadside, placed the leather bag on the ground, and rearranged it again. Long Tian unfolded the silk map and placed it on his lap. In the sunlight, he checked the markings on the keel's position against the ends of the superimposed map, confirming that the anchor points matched.
As they walked back to the stone house that evening, Long Tieshan was hanging newly harvested dried vegetables on the drying rope beside the house. Seeing the two return, he hung up the last bundle of dried vegetables, brushed the fallen leaves off his hands, and squatted down by the doorframe to wash them. Long Tian put down his leather bag by the well and also squatted down to scoop up water and wash his face. Water droplets dripped from his chin onto the ground, leaving a trail of dark spots in the twilight.
After dinner, Long Tian spread out a silk map on the table, connecting the location of the dragon bones, the direction of the engravings on the marking plate, and the stroke order of the ancient characters he saw on the dome map. He arranged them in order on the table and studied them for a long time. Long Tieshan sat by the stove, occasionally glancing at the table, but did not move over to look. Yu Jin squatted on the threshold outside the door, gazing into the distance in the twilight for a while, then stood up and slowly took a few steps around the room.
For the next two days, Long Tian did not travel far. Every morning, he practiced the Return to Origin Path on the hillside behind the house, letting the Origin Return Pearl and the new core complete twelve full cycles. After finishing, he felt the evenness of the flow of energy under the illumination of the Dragon Shadow. The next afternoon, he tried a set of movements in the open space in front of the house, from extremely fast continuous palm strikes to suddenly stopping and then following up with a short sideways shift. The intervals between each set of movements were very short, and the Dragon Shadow always followed the main body without any lag or deviation.
On the morning of the third day, Long Tian tidied his leather bag, put away the old paper and silk map, and went down the mountain with Yu Jin. They walked along the official road all morning, and when they arrived at the intersection outside the Shrek Academy in the afternoon, Tang San was squatting on the ridge of a field by the roadside, as if he had been waiting for a while. When he saw Long Tian coming, he stood up, dusted off his hands, and said, "I found a corresponding record for the stone dragon bone you mentioned before. In the old archives of the Spirit Hall, there is an old sea chart classified as 'errata,' and someone has written a note in pencil in the blank space at the edge: 'The underwater Dragon Bone Marker Disc can only be activated if it resonates with Martial Soul of the same origin.'"
Long Tian stopped at the edge of the field. Yu Jin also stopped beside him. After Tang San finished speaking, he didn't explain further. He simply wiped the dirt off his hands on the grass by the field edge, turned around, and walked towards the academy. Long Tian stood there, mentally reviewing his words, then turned and walked back the way he came.
"Same Origin Martial Soul." He repeated those four words on his way back to the stone house. "That dragon bone isn't just for show—it needs resonance."
Yu Jin walked beside him without speaking. After walking uphill for a while, Long Tian glanced at the Dragon Shadow above his shoulder and back—it maintained a constant brightness in the sunlight, its four eyes slightly lowered, and the vertical line on its forehead closed, but the edges of which were continuously illuminated by a fine layer of light. He looked away and continued walking.
That evening, after returning to the stone house, Long Tian didn't go inside. He stood in the open space in front of the house for a while, then took off his coat and draped it over the well platform. He walked to the center of the open space and stood facing southeast. He lit up his six Soul Ring one by one, the rotation speed of the Origin Return Pearl steadily increased, and the new core began to accelerate synchronously. The Dragon Shadow rose from its position against his back, the wing membranes unfolded to their maximum extent, and at this moment, the light layer on the vertical line of his forehead seeped outward from its closed state, revealing a stable bright line.
He raised his right hand, holding it flat in front of him, pointing southeast. Simultaneously, Dragon Shadow raised his right claw, the tip pointing in the same direction as Long Tian's finger. He channeled his Soul Power along his right arm into Dragon Shadow's claw tip, causing the aura of the Origin Return Pearl to condense into a persistent point of light at the tip of Dragon Shadow's claw. The point of light lingered in the air for a while before gradually fading away. Long Tian lowered his hand, and Dragon Shadow simultaneously retracted his right claw, its wing membranes folding back to fit against its back. He stood in the open space for a while, and as the twilight continued to darken, he felt the Origin Return Pearl and the new core in his chest cavity vibrate slightly, like two resonating parts brushing against each other's edges during continuous operation.