A Glimmer

A 'living' signal? Not a residual energy echo?

Shen Moxin continued, "The possibility is very low. If it were a periodic echo, the halo would fluctuate regularly. But this," she ran her fingers over the green light, "Is too stable. So stable it's like it's trying to maintain something."

Try your best to maintain it.

The atmosphere in the stone hall changed once again. The euphoria subsided, and anxiety surged up.

"He's still alive," Shi Jian suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse, "Behind that door."

No one objected.

Shen Moxin nodded heavily, tears streaming down her face. She wiped her face haphazardly.

"We have to do something." She looked at Yun Youzi, her eyes urgent. "We can't just wait like this!"

"Yes!" Shi Jian stepped forward. "Organize a team to go in again! Even if it's just to get close to the stone gate to confirm the situation! Lu Yuan said before he went in that if he could successfully 'calibrate,' he might be able to stabilize that area. This signal... might be a harbinger!"

Li Wangye stood up from behind the pile of supplies, his face filled with excitement and determination. Even the eyes of a few dejected team members in the corner lit up.

"Nonsense!"

A low shout.

Yun Youzi's face darkened, and his gaze swept over everyone. "Have you all forgotten what it's like inside? Forgot how Lin Xiao fell? Forgot how Lu Yuan risked his life to secure this chance to escape?"

With each question he asked, the temperature dropped by one point.

"We have a signal," Yun Youzi said, pointing to the compass. "But Mo Chen also said the signal is weak and might be isolated. What's the situation inside? Is the stone gate more stable, or is it in a different, dangerous balance? Is the shadow still there? Has the spatial structure deteriorated?"

He paused, his voice growing deeper.

"What do we have now? Lin Xiao is unconscious, Mo Chen is seriously injured, and my Soul Power has only recovered to 50-60%. Shen Moxin's spiritual power is exhausted. Shi Jian, you are a strong fighter, but this is not a place that can be solved by brute force. If we send this depleted force in, it won't be to save people, it will be to send them to their deaths, and it will be a betrayal of the life that Lu Yuan risked his life for!"

The words were harsh.

Shi Jian's face flushed red, his chest heaving, but he couldn't utter a rebuttal. Shen Moxin bit her lip, her nails digging into her palms. She knew Yun Youzi was right; rationally, every word he said was correct.

But that green light was right in front of them.

A suffocating silence.

Mo Chen coughed.

"Elder Yun is right, going in now is too risky, it's tantamount to suicide." His voice was weak but clear, "But we don't necessarily need 'people' to go in."

Shen Moxin suddenly looked at him.

"I modified a few 'probes' before," Mo Chen explained. "They were originally used to monitor the energy pulsations in the rifts, but they weren't needed after the evacuation. They're small, powered by Soul Power crystals, can fly, and are equipped with image recording and energy sensing runes."

He looked at the compass.

"We can send the 'probe' down first. Fly it along the evacuation route to the vicinity of that underground space. It doesn't need to get too close, just enough to transmit real-time images and data back."

"How far can it travel?" Yun Youzi asked immediately.

"In a stable environment, the effective control distance is about three miles. Entering an area of chaotic energy... the signal will weaken and may become intermittent," Mo Chen stated frankly, "But it's still better than guessing."

This is a compromise.

Shen Moxin looked at Yun Youzi. Shi Jian also looked over.

Yun Youzi remained silent, his gaze shifting between the green light, the pale face of Mo Chen, and the mixed expressions of hope and anxiety on everyone's faces. The old man paced back and forth, his hands behind his back, the gravel crunching beneath his feet.

Time passed little by little.

Finally, the Yun Youzi stopped.

"Detection is possible," he decided, "But it must be done strictly according to procedure. Mo Chen, how long do you need to prepare?"

"Half a day," Mo Chen replied immediately. "The parts are readily available; the main issues are charging and calibration."

"Alright. Half a day." Yun Youzi nodded. "Shen Moxin, you cooperate with Mo Chen to provide signal data. Shi Jian, set up early warning systems at the entrance and key nodes. Everyone must remain on high alert during the probe. If any anomaly is detected—such as increased energy fluctuations or a complete interruption of the 'probe' signal for more than the predetermined time—immediately evacuate at full speed according to the final plan. Do not hesitate!"

The last sentence was resolute.

Do you understand?

"Understood!" Shi Jian replied in a deep voice.

Shen Moxin nodded vigorously, hugging the compass tightly. The faint light pressed against her heart, bringing a barely perceptible warmth.

Hope has not been extinguished. It has taken a more cautious approach, continuing to burn in the darkness.

For the next half day, the atmosphere in the "Land Where the Spark First Ignited" was tense.

Mo Chen buried himself in the pile of metal parts. He refused to help, only letting Shen Moxin stand beside him with the compass to report the signal strength. His left hand was steady, unlike someone who was seriously injured. Tweezers, carving knife, and Soul Power guiding pen flew between his fingertips as he embedded the rune chip into the core of the "probe".

Those were three creations shaped like metal moths, with wingspans the size of a palm, and their surfaces engraved with stabilizing patterns.

Shen Moxin held the compass, her eyes fixed on the green light, and announced the reading every now and then. Her voice was steady, but her fingertips trembled slightly.

Shi Jian led Li Wangye as they busied themselves in the passage. There were no complicated traps, just simple tripwires and rock-falling mechanisms, with powder sensitive to abnormal Soul Power fluctuations sprinkled in key locations. Better than nothing.

Su Yan silently checked and sealed the core notes again. Bai Zhi stayed by Lin Xiao's side, frequently glancing at the corner where Mo Chen was working.

Yun Youzi sat in the center, eyes closed, regulating his breathing, his brows slightly furrowed.

As the sun began to set and its golden light bathed the entrance to the stone hall, Mo Chen straightened up.

"Alright."

Three metallic moths lay still, their shells gleaming with a subtle, understated sheen.

Mo Chen picked one up, pressed his fingertip into the groove, and infused it with Soul Power. A buzzing sound arose, and the moth's "eyes" lit up with a ghostly blue light.

"Charging complete, basic runes normal." He placed the moths into a padded wooden box. "The sensor pointing is pre-set to the signal source. They will descend along a safe route, avoiding known energy turbulence zones."

He looked at Yun Youzi.

"Start now?"

Yun Youzi opened his eyes and glanced at everyone. Shi Jian Shen Moxin's knuckles turned white as she held the compass.

"Start up."

Mo Chen took out the control core—a palm-sized metal plate covered with levers and runes. He took a deep breath and pressed the central activation rune with his left thumb.

Silently, the patterns on the backs of the three moths lit up simultaneously, swirling with a ghostly blue light. They took flight, hovered briefly in the air, formed a triangular formation, and flew towards the dark passage leading to the vertical rift.

The buzzing sound disappeared into the depths.

Mo Chen activated the image projection rune. Blurred light and shadow unfolded in the air, initially appearing as the swaying rocky tunnel walls.

The stone hall was completely silent. Everyone crowded around, their eyes fixed on the light and shadow.

The image is stable, showing the remnants of a downward-sloping spiral staircase. Moths skillfully navigate around collapsed pillars and cracks, steadily descending in altitude. The signal is good, and the image is clear, with only occasional energy interference causing static noise.

Time passed. The scenery deepened, and the temperature seemed to drop slightly, even through the runes. The passage widened, and the outline of an underground entrance appeared ahead.

Shen Moxin.

The first "probe" flew out of the passage.

The scene suddenly changed.

The anticipated raging chaos did not materialize. There were no raging energy storms, no wildly roaming dark red shadows. The vast underground space was eerily... calm.

No, it's not calm.

It is an indescribable order, as if it had been forcibly "organized" by a tremendous force.

The void was no longer twisted and broken haphazardly, but rotated slowly, like a deep-sea eddy. The fragments of broken rules and spatial cracks were confined to certain orbits, no longer colliding randomly. The light was dim, but no longer the all-consuming pitch black, but a uniform, ancient, dusty yellow.

Everyone's hearts were in their throats.

The probe continued flying forward, carefully avoiding the slowly rotating vortex of void. In the center of the image, the giant rock gradually came into focus.

On the giant rock, the "Gate of Finality" remains tightly shut.

But the surface of the stone gate has changed.

The originally rough and dull stone now faintly shimmered with an extremely thin, almost imperceptible green halo. The halo was very weak, appearing and disappearing intermittently, like breathing, just like the green light on the compass in Shen Moxin's hand.

"They're from the same origin," Shen Moxin voice trembling. "Look!"

Mo Chen quickly adjusted the lever, attempting to zoom in to analyze the energy characteristics. However, the distance was still too far, and the rune's accuracy was limited; he could only confirm the existence of the green halo, which was highly correlated with the compass signal.

"Keep getting closer," Yun Youzi whispered, his eyes fixed on the screen. "Slow down."

Mo Chen manipulated the "probe" to slowly lower its height, circling around from the side to find a clearer angle to observe the front of the stone gate, especially the area below it.

The image moves smoothly through the dim, empty space. The second and third "probes" also transmit similar scenes from different angles—an orderly but unfamiliar void, and a pale green halo on the surface of the stone gate.

A mixture of hope and unease spread through the air. This change was too strange. What exactly had Lu Yuan done inside?

Just as the first "probe" was adjusted to the correct angle, the camera slowly turned to directly below the stone gate—the location that had once been the vent of the chaotic energy vortex—

The screen suddenly jolted.

All the lights and shadows shook violently at the same time, and the buzzing sound of the signal transmission turned into a sharp noise. The projected image began to shatter, stretching out colorful stripes.

"Energy interference!" Mo Chen roared, his left hand rapidly manipulating the control core in an attempt to stabilize the signal. "Intensity surges! The source... is near the stone gate!"

Amidst the chaotic light and shadow, one could vaguely see a blurry, indistinct outline silently floating in the void directly below the stone gate.

It looks like a human figure.

But before anyone could see clearly--

Laugh!

A short, soft sound, as if the connection of Soul Power had been forcibly severed.

All the runes on the control core dimmed instantly.

The light and shadow in the air completely disappeared.

In the center of the stone platform, only a silent metal plate and the indicator runes of the three "probes" that had automatically reset to zero after losing contact remained.

The signal abruptly cut off.