A Single Roar
The moment the third eye opened, the air in the entire basement changed.
The previously stagnant, heavy aura, mixed with engine oil and old iron, seemed to have been cleaved in two by an invisible blade, receding towards the walls on either side. Under the watchful eye of the third eye, the two purple Soul Ring beneath Meng Changyuan's feet continued to rotate at a low speed, their color like ink diluted with water—darkened, but not dissipated. He looked down at the pair of dark metal wristbands on his wrists; the fine Soul Power patterns on the wristbands were visibly darkening layer by layer, as if the wick of an oil lamp had been removed.
Long Tian stood on the last step at the bottom of the stairs, not taking a step forward. During this time, the Dragon Shadow behind him had completely solidified—the gray-gold light layer at the edge of the scales had folded into a seamless base color, and the wing membranes, once fully extended, covered the entire width of the basement ceiling. The third vertical pupil was open rhythmically in the center of his forehead, without any contraction of the pupil; it was a constant, unchanging gaze, like well water continuously flowing in the deepest part without any change in the water level.
Meng Changyuan's wrist twitched. The remaining Soul Power patterns on the wrist guards ceased the instant he moved—like a line cut in the middle, both ends curling back. He glanced down at the wrist guards, which were no longer glowing. As he lowered his hand, the metal surface his knuckles touched provided tactile feedback; it was cool, at room temperature, with no residual Soul Power warmth. He raised his gaze again to the Dragon Shadow behind Long Tian, his voice lower than usual. "You've covered the field force field."
Long Tian didn't answer. He raised his right hand, and Dragon Shadow simultaneously raised his right claw—the gray-gold claw tip pointed in Meng Changyuan's direction, not striking, but merely pointing. That pointing motion caused all the remaining Soul Power array patterns in the entire basement to extinguish completely at the same time, like someone blowing out all the candles in a large hall. In the darkness, only the gray-gold and golden-black light emanating from Long Tian and Yu Jin remained, along with the two purple Soul Ring at Meng Changyuan's feet that had stopped emitting light on their own. The Soul Ring were like two lamps that no one lit, barely able to maintain their visible outlines only by the last glimmer of light remaining within them.
Yu Jin stood at the entrance to the top of the stairs, not descending. His Power of Origin continuously maintained a thin protective layer around his body, and the faint light seeping from the edges of this layer shone along the handrail of the stairs all the way to the ground at the bottom, like a lamp placed high up, spreading light from the stairwell all the way to the end of the basement. He didn't look anywhere else, only in that direction, seeing where Long Tian stood and the outstretched wings of Dragon Shadow. The light illuminated the ground beneath Long Tian's feet; his boots stepped on the concrete floor, which showed no cracks. The magic array patterns had all disappeared, but the footprints remained, each carrying a neat, light gray afterimage.
Meng Changyuan let his hands fall back to his sides. His wrist guards had completely lost their luster; the metal surface resembled an old sheet of iron with its core hollowed out, dried rust seeping from the edges and clinging to the wearer's wrists, maintaining his standing position in the gaps of continuous collapse. He stood beside the completely extinguished remnants of the Reverse Fusion Device, the remaining supports casting several thin shadows on the ground beside him. His purple rings continued to cool in the darkness, like two furnaces slowly reducing their embers, losing their inner Yu Jin layer by layer from the bottom up.
Long Tian lowered his right hand. Simultaneously, Dragon Shadow retracted its right claw. As its wings folded, they brushed against the ceiling of the basement, and gray-gold dust fell from the edges of the wing membranes, covering half the floor like a compressed rain of light. It didn't immediately extinguish after landing, remaining lit for a while before slowly fading. Meng Changyuan stood in the area covered by the dust, his boots and trousers stained with fine gray-gold particles. Before the dust completely extinguished, his wristband flashed one last time, like a burning ember being unearthed from the ashes of a dying stove by the last gust of wind. It lit up briefly before going completely dark again, never to light up again.
Long Tian turned and walked back down the stairs to the ground. As he passed, Yu Jin retracted his primal protective layer, and the two of them exited the main building one after the other. The iron door closed behind them on its own, and the magic array patterns on the side of the door frame did not light up again when it closed—the gray-gold afterglow covered the surface of the patterns, preventing them from being reactivated, like a layer of wet mud covering a fuse. The sound of the door closing echoed back in the basement, bouncing several times between the multiple walls before gradually narrowing into a thin line. Meng Changyuan stood in the completely dark basement, the support of the Reverse Fusion Device standing steadily beside him, the metal on the surface of the support changing from dark red to dark gray and finally returning to its normal color during the cooling process. The layer of gray-gold light dust on the ground had completely extinguished, leaving only a faint trace on the surface, like a thin watermark left on the road after a heavy rain, which lingered in this dark basement for a long time without completely drying.
When Long Tian stepped out of the camp gate, the sun was high in the sky. The main street was as crowded as before, carriages leaving ruts of varying widths on the road, and several peddlers resting and drinking water at the crossroads. His Dragon Shadow remained suspended behind him, its wings folded, its third eye closed, and its four eyes half-closed, like a silhouette maintaining its basic form, following him through the city streets and out of the city gate. Even after leaving the city, Long Tian didn't retract it. He walked back along the official road, the Dragon Shadow always following above his shoulder, like a flag blown in the same direction by the wind, maintaining its extended posture until the mountain shadows at the horizon changed from light gray back to dark solidity. Scattered pedestrians passing by on the official road would glance in his direction; some stopped to look for a few moments, while others quickened their pace to avoid him. Long Tian didn't stop, nor did he retract the gray-gold shadow whose outline was visible even in daylight. He continued walking forward along the road, as if finishing a journey that was about to end. When he reached the outer edge of the mountain range, he glanced at Yu Jin, Yu Jin also looked at him. Their eyes met briefly in the air before they turned back to the road ahead and continued walking. The Dragon Shadow continued to extend above them, gradually changing from gray-gold to deep gold in the sky at the edge of the mountain range. After following them past the last stretch of flat road at the foot of the mountain, it began to gradually ascend along the gentle slope in the forest, always hovering above the shoulder of the person walking in front, like a flag that no longer needed to be held up but could flutter in the wind, continuously fluttering among the grass, trees, and mountain shadows, until smoke from the stone roof peeked through the gaps in the forest ahead.