Dragon Slumber
Under the continuous illumination of two light sources, the color of the dome's markings began to gradually change from dark gray to grayish-white. The change was slow, like the surface of old metal being slowly heated, gradually altering its lattice structure under continuous heat conduction. The grayish-white color diffused outward from the center of the markings, covering the entire outline of the markings, and then began to conduct downward along the curved ribs of the dome.
The light spread out segment by segment along the ribs, forming a continuous layer of light on their surface. After the light layer covered the entire dome, the walls of the hall began to change in the same way, spreading downwards from the junction of the dome and the walls, forming a uniform grayish-white light film on the entire wall surface. The light film did not stop after reaching the ground, but spread outwards along the stone of the ground, converging in the center of the hall. At the point of convergence, it began to rise upwards, forming a translucent column of light.
The pillar was about an arm's length in diameter, similar in shape to the pillar of light at the vortex entrance, but with a denser texture, as if all the previous light layers had been compressed into a single pillar. Its surface was smooth and undisturbed, exhibiting a texture that had reached its final form. Long Tian walked to the pillar of light and placed his palm on it. The aura of the Origin Return Pearl passed through the surface of the pillar without encountering any obstruction, smoothly entering its interior and extending downwards along its longitudinal direction. After descending to a certain depth, the aura touched a flat, hard surface, with a surface temperature close to that of human body temperature, and a smooth, dense feel.
He withdrew his hand, squatted down, and placed his palm against the edge of the bottom of the pillar of light, allowing the aura of the Origin Return Pearl to extend downwards along the vertical direction of the pillar of light once again. This time, the aura did not stop during the extension process, directly penetrating the flat, hard surface and entering a deeper level. Below that layer, he came into contact with a texture similar to the temperature of human body, a uniform and stable texture, like the surface of some kind of material that has maintained its own temperature after long-term storage.
He withdrew his breath, stood up, took a step back, and looked down at the area at the base of the pillar of light. The layer of light within the pillar maintained a stable brightness under his gaze. Yu Jin walked up from behind, squatted down beside him, and unfastened the dark gray bead from his collar, suspending it at the edge of the pillar's base. As the bead approached the base, a layer of light matching the pillar's color lit up on its surface, as if it were synchronizing with the pillar's internal structure. He held the bead in his palm, glanced up at Long Tian, and said, "The space at the base of the pillar is empty—it doesn't seem like a solid base, more like a pre-reserved chamber."
Long Tian crouched down again at the edge of the pillar of light, channeling the aura of the Origin Return Pearl into the base of the pillar once more. The aura extended vertically downwards along the pillar, passing through the hard surface and entering a deeper level. Upon entering that space, he sensed a more spacious chamber than the upper hall. At the bottom of the space was a circular groove identical in shape to the Dragon Bone Marker Disc, its size and depth perfectly matching the groove in the main hall, like a docking point placed deeper within. He withdrew his aura and stood up, walking around the base of the pillar to confirm a very narrow seam between its base and the ground, like an independent component embedded in the ground. He ran his palm along the seam, and as the aura of the Origin Return Pearl traveled along it, a continuous layer of light gradually illuminated the gap along its complete path. Once the light layer fully covered the gap, the connection between the pillar and the ground began to loosen, like a component that could move after its locking mechanism was released.
Long Tian crouched down, placed his hands along the edges of the base of the pillar of light, and lifted it evenly upwards. The joint at the base of the pillar detached from the ground during his lifting. Once it was completely detached, he gently placed it on the ground beside him, revealing a vertical square opening underneath. The edges of the opening were neat and perfectly matched the outline of the pillar's base, as if they were matching parts that had been processed together and then separated.
He crouched at the edge of the opening and glanced down. The Dragon Shadow's shadow light extended downwards for a distance before illuminating a smooth, light-colored floor. He pressed his palm against the edge of the opening to confirm it was stable enough, then stretched his leg into the opening and stepped onto the light-colored floor below. After standing up, his head was still in the next level of space. He saw a circular room about half the size of the upper hall. The ceiling was about 15 feet above the ground, and the walls were polished smooth with a uniform light gray hue. In the center of the room, embedded in the floor, was a circular relief identical to the dome's markings. Under the illumination of the Dragon Shadow light, the relief's surface emitted a continuously flowing shimmer.
He crouched down at the edge of the relief, not touching it directly, but first confirming its outline and size. The circular relief matched the size of the groove, embedded in the ground, flush with it. A ring of fine serrations encircled the edge of the relief, the spacing of which matched the Dragon Bone Marker Disc, like the lowest-level component in the same system. Long Tian placed his palm on the surface of the relief, and the aura of the Origin Return Pearl spread along the surface, being completely absorbed by the relief in the process of flowing, leaving no residue or reflection. It was like a structure that continuously absorbed all the energy input that came into contact with it, waiting for enough accumulation to be finally triggered, maintaining its own rhythm in continuous absorption.