A New Core Flame

Seven days later, the last group of people passed through the narrow pass hidden by vines, and suddenly the view opened up before them.

This is a valley located on the border between two countries, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with a treacherous entrance. A stream flows out from the northern cliff, nourishing the valley. The air is moist, and the scent of grass and trees replaces the dusty smell of the Black Stone Mountain Range.

Shen Moxin stood by the stream, adjusting her glasses. "Better than expected."

"I discovered it during my early travels." Yun Youzi stroked his beard.

Lu Yuan's gaze swept across the valley. "Let's call it ' New Fire Valley '."

The name was decided. The group began building huts, cultivating a medicinal herb garden, and planning workshops. Lin Xiao led his men to a high point to set up a perimeter. They hoped to quietly take root in this relatively safe land.

After three days of rest, Lu Yuan gathered the core members and outstanding disciples in the largest cave. The campfire crackled, illuminating the focused faces of more than twenty people.

Lu Yuan cut to the chase. "Today we won't talk about cultivation methods. Let's discuss what I saw behind the 'door'."

The cave fell silent instantly.

He raised his right hand, his fingertips releasing a slight surge of Soul Power. A wisp of pale silver Soul Power, interspersed with golden threads, traced a steady and orderly pattern in the air. "The Soul Power we understand is a form of energy."

Everyone nodded.

The strands of Soul Power at her fingertips suddenly trembled slightly, and a subtle "burr" appeared in the otherwise stable internal fluctuations. "But within the Crevice Space, the more fundamental elements formed by Soul Power were 'broken.'"

"Broken?" Lin Xiao frowned.

"The energy is still there. But the underlying rules that maintain its 'stable existence' have gone wrong," Lu Yuan tried to explain. "Like a river, the water is still flowing, but the riverbed is full of cracks, and the direction of the flow has become chaotic and unpredictable."

The wisp of Soul Power suddenly brightened and then dimmed, as if an uncontrollable energy leap had occurred.

"There, the laws of physics, the conservation of energy, and the order of causality can all be distorted. That's damage at the level of the world's 'fundamental code.'"

A suppressed gasp filled the air. This concept was beyond the comprehension of most people.

Su Yan spoke, his voice steady. "Does this 'shattering' have anything to do with our cultivation?"

"Yes." Lu Yuan looked at him. "The relationship might be deeper than you imagine. Our cultivation involves the interaction of Martial Soul and Soul Power, following established 'rules.' But where do these rules come from? Why does Blue Silver Grass focus on control and support, Hell Spirit Cat leans towards agility and attack? Why do Soul Ring have a time limit?"

He paused.

"The 'fragmentation' I see makes me wonder: the cultivation system we are familiar with—the classification of Martial Soul, the acquisition of Soul Ring, and the generation of Soul Skill —may not be a perfect 'truth.' It may just be an 'application layer' that has been running stably for countless years, built on a more ancient and fundamental 'rule platform.'"

Shen Moxin took a deep breath, her fingers gripping the notebook on her lap tightly. The metaphor was like a lightning bolt, illuminating the confusion that had plagued her for years.

"And the ' Gate of Finality,'" Lu Yuan continued, "may involve an experiment to intervene in that underlying 'platform.' The experiment failed, leaving behind 'scars' like the Crevice Space ' and 'stabilizing devices' like the 'Door.'"

Mo Chen grunted, his eyes burning with fervor. "So, the Soul Tool's energy circuit and rune array utilize 'application layer' rules. If one could understand even a little bit of the 'platform layer'..."

"That would be revolutionary," Yun Youzi said, his voice trembling. "It would mean finding a completely new path, breaking many 'ironclad rules'."

Lin Xiao licked his lips. "That mischievous energy in my Martial Soul might not be a 'bloodline defect,' but rather... my Martial Soul unconsciously touched some kind of 'fragment of rules'?"

"Possibly," Lu said frankly, "But this requires extremely careful verification. Touching the broken rules carries far more risks than opportunities. The chaos within the Crevice Space is not a cultivation paradise, but a dead end."

As the initial fervor subsided, awe and reverence returned.

"I'm telling you all this not to encourage you to take immediate risks. On the contrary, I want you to understand where ' Lu Yuan ' Spark headed in the future."

He stood up, walked to the cave entrance, and looked out at the approaching twilight and the scattered campfires.

"Previous theoretical research, basic training methods, and Soul Power models... are all necessary foundations. But the future direction should be to try to explore the deeper connection between Soul Power and rules, and to understand the more fundamental logic that supports the operation of the world."

Lu Yuan turned around, the firelight casting a shadow on his profile.

"This path will be difficult, slow, and full of unknowns. We need more observation, experimentation, and data to build a more rigorous theoretical framework, rather than blindly pursuing power. At the same time..."

He paused, lightly touching his brow with his index finger. It was smooth as usual, but those with keen senses could detect a subtle, strange fluctuation.

"I must be honest about my personal situation. I am bound to the ' Gate of Finality,' becoming its anchor point in the mortal world. This brings limitations—I cannot leave the 'Gate's' influence for extended periods or over long distances. My freedom of movement is restricted."

The cave was completely silent.

"Moreover," Lu Yuan said with a far-reaching gaze, "There may be more than one 'unstable node' like the ' Gate of Finality.' In the future, we may need to actively or passively seek out, contact, and deal with them."

Shen Moxin's face paled slightly. "You mean... ' Spark ' is destined to be entangled with these ancient secrets?"

"Yes," Lu Yuan answered without hesitation. "From the moment we decided to explore the ' Source Seed ' and stepped into the ruins, this thread was drawn. There's no point in running away. Only by actively understanding and preparing in advance can we have a glimmer of hope, or even turn it into an opportunity to break free from our Shackles."

He walked back to the fire and sat down. "That's all for today's meeting. This information needs time to digest. Don't rush things, and certainly don't try anything rash. First, let's build our new home well and lay a solid foundation. We'll gradually develop the relevant courses and research plans."

The seminar ended. People left one after another, each silent, brows slightly furrowed, but their steps carrying a burning thirst for knowledge.

Yun Youzi and Mo Chen huddled together, discussing in hushed tones. Shen Moxin walked along, taking notes in her notebook. Lin Xiao climbed a tall tree, crouching on a branch as he gazed at the dark valley. Su Yan headed towards the workshop area to inspect the tools and materials.

Lu Yuan was the last to emerge from the cave.

The autumn night wind carried a chill. A dozen or so bonfires and Soul Guidance Lamp in the valley emitted a warm glow, and the sounds of clanging, whispering, and the babbling of the stream intertwined to create a vibrant scene.

Lu Yuan did not go back. He walked along the path to the highest cliff on the north side, where there was a natural platform.

Standing on the platform, the entire New Fire Valley unfolds before your eyes. Below, lights twinkle like faint stars, defying the boundless night. In the distance, the silhouettes of dark mountains and the faintly starlit wilderness stretch out before you.

Having left the crisis at the ruins and standing at a new starting point, Lu Yuan felt no relief. The burden on his shoulders and the unknown road ahead were instead clearer.

He closed his eyes, his mind sinking into his sea of consciousness.

The Stone Gate Mark floated silently, emitting a warm, soft light. At this moment, when he actively "listened," the illusory stone gate deep within the imprint trembled slightly.

They've arrived.

It was a fraction clearer than on the ridge—extremely faint, intermittent, as if traversing a vast distance—but that sense of "resonance" resurfaced. Like an invisible thread being plucked, the other end connecting to the unknown distance.

The direction remains clear: northeast, near the edge of the Far North.

What's there?

Lu Yuan frowned slightly. At the same time, perhaps because his mind was calm, or perhaps because his senses were enhanced after being bound to the stone gate, he suddenly "heard" something else.

It's not sound, but a more abstract "feeling".

It was as if he could hear the flow of water veins close to the earth. At this moment, through the mark between his brows, he vaguely sensed the "background sound" of the Soul Power flowing beneath his feet.

A vast, boundless, river-like surge of Soul Power forms the foundation of life. This should have been a unified "rhythm."

However, the "background noise" that Lu Yuan perceived was mixed with some extremely faint, widely distributed, but real... "noise".

Disharmony. Lack of fluency.

Like hidden reefs and eddies at the bottom of a river, or imperceptible off-key notes in a musical piece, these "noises" are so scattered and concealed that they would be impossible to detect without the sense of order provided by the Stone Gate Mark.

They seem to be imprinted deep within the continent's Soul Power system, ancient and stagnant, like scars from old wounds, or like "blockages" or... "cracks" accumulated after a vast system has been operating for a long time.

Lu Yuan suddenly opened his eyes.

He looked up at the dark night sky to the northeast, then looked down at the ground beneath his feet.

A vague yet heavy conjecture washed over my heart like icy water.

Ancient experiments, interventions into underlying rules... the failed remnants of "The Gate of Finality"...

A cultivation system passed down for thousands of years, the mysteries of Martial Soul Power, level barriers...

And that ultimate goal that drives peak Soul Master mad—reaching level 100 to become a god and ascending to the Divine Realm.

Is there some unknown, even deliberately concealed, connection between these "noises," these "cracks," and the "Divine Realm," and this seemingly stable system?

The path seems to have just become a little clearer.

But looking further ahead, the road stretches into an even larger, more mysterious, and unknown realm shrouded in the endless Mist of time.

The night breeze grew cooler.

Lu Yuan stood on the cliff platform, his figure appearing solitary and upright under the starry sky. He took one last look at the faint light representing hope in the valley below, then turned and walked steadily down the path.

It's time to go back. There's still a lot of specific work to do.

From the distant northeast, that faint resonance seemed to become clear for an extremely brief moment as he turned around.