The Inner Layer
Long Tian sat on the deck for a while, repeatedly going over in his mind the state in which the inner layer of the Light Core was still operating independently.
Yu Jin sat beside him and waited for a while before speaking, "The outer shell of that Light Core was closed before you opened it, and the pulsations inside were converging towards the interior of the Light Core. After you opened the outer shell, did the direction of the pulsations inside change?"
Long Tian recalled the state he had observed in front of the Light Core. After the outer shell opened, the pulsation of the inner core did indeed change from a converging direction to a continuous outward radiation, with a small amplitude and slow rhythm, like a fruit whose shell had been opened continuously releasing the scent stored inside. He described the changes he had observed. Yu Jin didn't respond immediately after listening. He sat on the deck for a while, took the dark gray bead off his collar, held it in his palm for a moment, and then said, "The inner layer of your Light Core might need a corresponding external pulsation to resonate with it. It's currently releasing outwards. If another pulsation of the same frequency resonates with it from the outside, the two will merge in the middle, and it will automatically close, completely opening the connection between the outer layer and the core."
Long Tian reviewed the mechanism Yu Jin had described in his mind, confirming that it matched the phenomena he had sensed. He turned his gaze to the continuously glowing water outside the ship's side, stood up on the deck, walked to the ship's side, and squatted down to observe the slowly surging layer of light beneath the water. After the outer shell of the Light Core opened, the brightness of the glowing layer became more uniform than before, as if the internal structure was transmitting information outward through its own light. He adjusted the pulsation frequency of the Origin Return Pearl within his body to the level closest to the inner layer of the Light Core, and then submerged himself in the water.
This time, he descended directly along the path beneath the light membrane to the front of the Light Core. The outer shell remained open, and the inner core continued to radiate outwards, its pulsating rhythm slow and steady. Long Tian floated in front of the Light Core, aligning his right palm with the center of the Light Core, maintaining the pulsating frequency of the Origin Return Pearl at the set level, and then continuously pushing his aura into the inner layer of the Light Core.
When the two pulses made contact at the center of the Light Core, Long Tian felt a continuous feedback force. The radiation direction of the inner core changed at the moment of contact, from continuously radiating outwards to concentrating towards the interface, thus connecting with the aura of the Origin Return Pearl. During the connection process, the two pulses gradually adjusted their phases, getting closer and closer, like people walking towards each other in a narrow passage adjusting their strides to pass side by side. He floated in front of the Light Core, maintaining the stable output of the Origin Return Pearl. At the moment when the two pulses finally synchronized, he felt the gently sloping transition layer inside the Origin Return Pearl vibrate slightly, and then return to stability, like the brief damping produced when a bolt is finally tightened was completely absorbed.
After the pulsations synchronized, the inner layer of the Light Core began a continuous transformation. Its brightness increased layer by layer from the inside out, and the texture on the surface of the inner core gradually became clearer. It could be seen that its internal texture was arranged in the same way as the vertical lines on the Dragon Shadow's forehead, as if two parts carved from the same mold had found each other in their corresponding positions. After the texture of the inner core was completely clear, it began to shrink towards the center of the Light Core Light Core became a complete, gapless solid structure, with the internal texture connecting from the inside to the outside into a complete path.
As Long Tian withdrew his hand, the brightness of the Light Core's surface gradually dropped from its peak to normal, while the internal texture maintained its complete arrangement, with no longer a distinction between inner and outer layers. It was now a complete single-layer structure, like a bead that had been polished to its final form. He floated in front of this now-connected Light Core for a moment, confirming that its pulsation frequency and the Origin Return Pearl had formed a continuous phase-locked state, with the phase difference between the two remaining constant, requiring no further adjustment to maintain synchronization. He withdrew his hand to his side, turned around, and floated back to the surface. As he passed through the fluorescent film, he felt it had become thinner than before, as if the adjustment of the Light Core's internal structure had made the energy distribution of the outer fluorescence more concentrated, no longer needing to diffuse outwards to maintain its state. When he broke through the water, the sky was already tinged with gray-white dawn light, and the fluorescence on the sea surface gradually faded in the morning light, like a thin mist diluted by sunlight dissipating.
After climbing onto the boat, he squatted by the gunwale and wiped the water droplets from his face. Yu Jin handed him a dry cloth, which he took and used to dry his face and hair for a while. Then, sitting on the deck, he recounted the underwater procedures and observations. The person at the stern nodded after listening, released the rudder from its fixed position, and began to slowly turn the boat back along the path they had come from. Long Tian sat on the deck, looking at the fading fluorescent area ahead in the morning light. The Dragon Shadow hovered above his shoulders and back, its wing membranes half-spread, its four eyes slightly lowered, and the light layer on its forehead shining in the morning light. The Light Core inside had completed its final docking, and its light layer was more uniform and coherent than before, like a recalibrated lamp wick that had reached its stable brightness through continuous burning.