Resonance
Long Tian stood in the twilight for a while longer, until the night breeze made his limbs slightly cool, before returning to the well and putting his coat back on. Yu Jin stood up from the threshold and asked as Long Tian bent down to fasten his coat, "That vibration you felt just now—was it one-way, or did it come from the direction of Dragon Shadow?"
Long Tian straightened up, straightened his clothes, and thought for a moment before answering, "It traveled from the Dragon Shadow back into my body. First, the Dragon Shadow's forehead lit up, and then the Origin Return Pearl and the new core vibrated. It was as if the Dragon Shadow received some kind of response first, and then transmitted it to me."
Yu Jin didn't ask any more questions and squatted back down by the threshold. Long Tian also squatted down by the well, repeating the feeling of that instant in his mind several times. When Dragon Shadow received the resonance response, the vertical line of light on his forehead brightened a bit more than usual, as if he had completed a connection with a signal source of the same frequency in a very short instant. Although the connection lasted only a moment, the almost imperceptible ripples formed in the air at that time did exist, like a bell being struck from a distance by another bell of the same pitch.
Long Tieshan came out of the house, squatted down on the other side of the threshold, and asked, "Is there a structural connection between that marking plate and the round stone slab?"
Long Tian recalled, "The marking disc was embedded in the middle of the dragon's spine, and the circular stone slab was in a small room at the bottom of the Great Abyss. The distance between the two was at least several hundred feet. But judging from the direction of the engravings on the edge of the marking disc, it seemed to have the same arrangement as the pattern on the base of the circular stone slab, as if they were carved from the same mold."
Long Tieshan didn't press further after hearing this, stood up, and went back inside. Yu Jin stood up from the threshold, glanced in Long Tian's direction in the twilight, and then said, "Tomorrow, let's try a two-person simultaneous attack in the open space, activating only the light layer and not the Soul Skill."
Long Tian nodded. That night, he went to bed earlier than usual. Before lying down, he adjusted the rotation speed of the Origin Return Pearl and the new core to the lowest maintenance level, allowing them to operate in a near-quiet state. The Dragon Shadow remained suspended above the door frame, its wing membranes retracted to their narrowest point, and the light layer on its forehead, which was vertical after nightfall, also narrowed into a strip the same width as the wing membranes, like a night light whose brightness had been dimmed.
The next morning, the open space in front of the house was mostly illuminated by the morning light. Long Tian and Yu Jin stood at opposite ends of the open space, about ten feet apart, each activating their Soul Power. Long Tian's Origin Return Pearl reached its usual operating speed, and the light layer of the Dragon Shadow descended from above the door frame and adhered to Long Tian's back. His wing membranes were slightly spread, and the vertical line on his forehead shone with a continuous light. Yu Jin stood opposite him, the dark gray bead on his collarbone shining with a uniform light layer. His Origin Core was operating steadily in his dantian, and the halos of his four Soul Ring continued to spread, connecting with the light layer of the dark gray bead. The two simultaneously spread their respective light layers outward, allowing them to converge in the center of the open space.
The moment the two layers of light converged, the edge of the vertical line on Dragon Shadow's forehead lit up slightly. At the same moment, the dark gray bead on Yu Jin's collarbone also lit up slightly. The light lasted for about two breaths before stabilizing, forming a small, continuous layer of light in the area where they converged. It was neither pure gray-gold nor pure dark gray, but a gentle color between the two.
Long Tian raised his right arm, pointing southeast. Simultaneously, Dragon Shadow raised his right claw, a point of light condensing at its tip. Yu Jin didn't raise his arm, but the dark gray bead on his collarbone automatically increased its brightness, emitting a continuous beam of light in the same direction. The two beams merged in the air, both pointing towards the southeast sky. The edge of the vertical line on Dragon Shadow's forehead lit up the instant the converging beams formed, showing a faster reaction time and more stable brightness than in the previous individual tests.
Long Tian lowered his arm, and Dragon Shadow's right claw retracted accordingly, its wing membranes folding back to fit against its back. After the two layers of light merged, they each withdrew, and the gentle light in the air gradually faded, like a thin mist blown away by the wind. Yu Jin walked over from the opposite side, squatted near the spot where they had just met, and touched the ground with the back of his hand. The ground still retained a very faint layer of residual heat, which slowly cooled down as it continued to release heat.