Shadow Whisper

Lu Yuan stared at the dark red hue at the crystal core, his fingers icy cold.

It's not an illusion.

That thing was watching him. Or rather, it was "marking" him.

He took a few deep breaths, forcing his heartbeat to calm down. Fear was useless. Lu Yuan put the crystal back into the metal box, affixed the isolation rune, and strode out of the isolation stone chamber.

Outside, the lights were bright. Shen Moxin was checking the data of the talisman, Lin Xiao was leaning against the wall tapping on his sword sheath, Yun Youzi was hunched over a long table, frowning at a sketch of energy channels.

"Everyone," Lu Yuan said in a low voice, "Emergency meeting. Now."

Half an hour later, the core members gathered. Lu Yuan didn't beat around the bush and went straight to talking about the changes in perception and the Source Seed.

"That gaze was cold." He paused, "With a clear malice. Like hatred, like hunger."

No one uttered a sound in the stone hall.

Yun Youzi's face turned pale. "Shadow Whisper," the old man's throat was dry, "Some of the oldest forbidden manuscripts mention that ancient experiments that touched upon the rules often failed because they couldn't handle the 'byproducts'."

He looked at Lu Yuan: "Those byproducts might be reflections of inner demons, echoes of rules, or negative entities arising from energy imbalances. They are sealed together deep within the experimental field. They harbor an instinctive hostility towards any newcomer who tries to approach, or even try to 'correct' them."

"The kind that eats people?" Lin Xiao licked his canine teeth.

"Worse," Yun Youzi shook his head. "They erode the mind. They are invisible and intangible, impossible to defend against. Ancient texts call them 'heart erosion' or 'soul defilement.' Those afflicted suffer from mild mental confusion, or even a complete collapse of consciousness, and may even become their 'channels' here."

Shen Moxin adjusted her glasses. "So, behind the rift are not only ' Rule Shackles ' waiting to be corrected, but also a bunch of... hungry ghosts?"

"I'm afraid so." Lu Yuan nodded. "The 'constraints,' 'imbalance,' and 'awaiting correction' that I sensed during my previous resonance may have originated from the original 'subjective consciousness' of the experimental field. And those ' Shadow Whisper ' are the 'errors' and 'filth' parasitizing it. The two may have been constantly fighting each other. The complete failure of the ancient experiments may have been because they couldn't cleanse themselves of these filths, ultimately leading to their backlash."

The pressure escalated to a more insidious psychological level.

"We need to revise the plan," Lin Xiao said first. "I'm good at fighting, but dealing with these invisible and intangible things... is troublesome."

"Immediately adjust the preparation direction." Lu Yuan looked at Shen Moxin, "Moxin, you take the lead. Combining the harmonizing properties of ' Primordial Qi,' develop a talisman or small array that can stabilize the mind and purify negative influences. It must be reliable and have high energy efficiency."

"Okay." Shen Moxin immediately took out her notebook.

"At the same time," Lu Yuan added, "We will strengthen the monitoring of the mental state of all members, especially those in the elite teams who may participate in the reconnaissance. Conduct basic scans twice a day, morning and evening. Report any abnormalities immediately."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "In addition, everyone will begin learning the most basic meditation techniques for calming the mind. Profound understanding isn't required, but one must know how to control one's thoughts and remain alert when slightly disturbed."

Yun Youzi nodded. "I remember several ancient purification mantras, though incomplete, they are indeed remarkably effective in stabilizing the mind. They can be compiled."

"Thank you for your help." Lu Yuan turned to Lin Xiao and Shi Jian, "Combat training will continue as usual, but with added anti-interference training. Find members with strong mental strength to Simulation mental shocks and illusion interference, so that the others can adapt to maintaining their combat instincts when their minds are unstable. We'll proceed step by step."

Lin Xiao hummed in agreement.

"My own," Lu Yuan concluded, "Will begin to train the resilience and purity of my spiritual power. ' Primordial Qi ' might be a breakthrough."

The meeting adjourned. The atmosphere was heavy, but the instructions were clear.

Shen Moxin spent the entire night in the makeshift laboratory. She disassembled a half-finished talisman and carefully channeled the faint wisp of "Primordial Qi" extracted by Lu Yuan into the core rune. Under the Soul Power lamp, her eyes behind her glasses remained unblinking.

Yun Youzi pulled out several scrolls of animal hide notebooks and, by the light of the lamp, tried to decipher the blurry ancient characters.

Lin Xiao pulled Shi Jian to the empty stone hall on the outskirts of the ruins. He called over Su Yan and two other members with keen mental abilities. "Come on," Lin Xiao grinned, "Try 'poking' me with your mental energy. Don't be shy."

Su Yan paused for a moment, then nodded. He closed his eyes, and a wisp of condensed spiritual energy pierced Lin Xiao's brow like a needle.

Lin Xiao's body stiffened slightly, his eyes glazed over for half a second, then cleared. "That's it?" he scoffed. "Again, with more power."

Lu Yuan returned to the isolation stone chamber. He didn't touch the Mutated Source Seed again, sat cross-legged, and began practicing the improved meditation method. As his Soul Power circulated, he focused his attention on the "texture" of his spiritual power. Like forging an iron blank, he repeatedly gathered, condensed, and purified the scattered spiritual threads.

The process was tedious and painful. Two hours later, Lu Yuan's forehead was covered in sweat, but he felt that his mental strength seemed to have become a little more "solid".

The days slipped by in focused preparation. Five days, ten days.

The prototype of the talisman has been made, but its effects are limited. However, in testing, it did alleviate the irritability caused by mild Mental Interference. With the promotion of the Mind-Cleansing Mantra combined with breathing techniques, many people reported that their sleep became more restful. Lin Xiao's anti-interference training has enabled most combat members to barely maintain their formation under moderate-intensity impacts.

Everything seems to be getting better.

Until the night of the fourteenth day.

A research assistant A Chang was found huddled in the passageway outside the fracture laboratory, trembling and with a vacant look in his eyes. He was in charge of recording peripheral data and had to spend four hours a day for the past week at an observation point thirty feet away from the fracture.

Shen Moxin arrived immediately. She used a newly made talisman to calm A Chang's mind and cast a soothing spell. Half an hour later, A Chang was able to speak intermittently.

"Dreams... so many dreams..." His lips were pale. "Chains... black, binding me... and voices, talking in my ear, I couldn't hear them, but they were so cold... I could almost hear them even during the day..."

Shen Moxin checked his mental state and her expression was grim. "Mild contamination. Although it was stopped in time, he needs at least half a month of rest and absolutely must not approach the rift energy field."

When the news reached Lu Yuan, he was inspecting the Source Seed Crystal.

The metal box was opened, and a thin strand of dark red light, as thin as a hair, began to spread outward from the edge of the light spot. Although extremely slow, it was indeed spreading.

Lu Yuan closed the box.

A Chang's incident was like a bucket of ice water. It proved that even without deep resonance, long-term exposure to the energy field of the enhanced fissures—especially the negative radiation that the "shadows" might emanate—can subtly erode one's spirit.

"The reconnaissance team must be reduced to the bare minimum," Lu Yuan stated decisively at the subsequent core meeting. "Furthermore, each member must possess extremely strong willpower and mental fortitude. Ordinary Soul Master, even those of considerable level, might not be able to withstand it."

The most pressing issue immediately became finding the right candidates. There were only a handful of people who met the criteria.

What weighed heavily on Lu Yuan's mind was the change in the Source Seed. It was like a beacon that was getting brighter and brighter, allowing the "shadow" on the other side to perceive the existence of this side more and more clearly.

The ninety-day countdown ticked silently on the wall.

Time seems to have suddenly sped up.