180: Chapter 180 Reconnaissance Confirms, Three Lines Emerge (1)

Leng Feng pressed his palm against the ice, feeling the temperature inside the ice layer through his Water-avoiding Talisman. The surface temperature was nearly two degrees higher than it had been three months ago. A two-degree temperature difference was not enough to melt the ice under the 1,500-zhang water pressure of the Cold Dragon Abyss, but it was enough to generate thermal stress within the ice layer. This thermal stress expanded outward from the center of the ice, and the ice itself, unable to withstand the difference in temperature between the inside and outside, cracked from within.

The white-blue light spots behind the ice cave were still there; the number of light spots had not decreased, and they were actually brighter than they had been three months ago. The spirit plant was still there; it had not been taken. But the fact that the ice had cracked meant the sealed environment of the ice cave had been broken, and the aura of the spirit plant would leak out through the cracks. He could smell the faint, cold fragrance unique to cold-attribute spirit plants. The cold fragrance smelled clearer in the water than in the air, because water molecules enveloped the scent particles, allowing them to travel a longer distance.

He stayed at the ice cave for less than ten breaths, then used a formation pen to record a note on his rubbing Jade Slip: "Three ice cave cracks, internal thermal expansion, water temperature rose by about two degrees." After marking it, he continued his descent.

1,800 zhang: the bloodthirsty Bone Fish school. The number of Bone Fish had increased by nearly half compared to three months ago. When Leng Feng led his personal guards through the Bone Fish school three months ago, the scent of the Bone-Repelling Paste had caused the school to part to both sides, leaving a gap of about three zhang. Now, the density of the Bone Fish school was higher, and the same dosage of Bone-Repelling Paste was only enough to make them part by less than two zhang. A two-zhang gap was enough for the diamond formation to pass through, but everyone's movements had to be completely synchronized, and no one could deviate from their formation position by more than half a chi. Leng Feng advanced according to the same rhythm as last time: stopping for half a breath every ten zhang, using his Divine Sense to scan the turning trends of the Bone Fish on both sides, and only advancing further after confirming there were no signs of them closing in from the outside.

After passing through the Bone Fish school, he reached 2,000 zhang: the entrance to the Dragon Burial Trench.

The cold light of the altar had changed.

Three months ago, the altar's dim blue cold light had seeped out from deep within the rock wall, spreading across the bottom of the trench with a steady brightness, like a layer of extremely thin, fluorescent water film spread over the altar's stone surface. Now, the cold light was flickering. The light source emitted from deep within the rock wall for about thirty breaths, then extinguished for about ten breaths. Thirty on, ten off—a complete cycle of forty breaths. The rhythm of the pulse was completely synchronized with the main fluctuation on the Blue Moon Island Receiving Formation.

Directly above the altar, Leng Feng found the protruding rock ledge where he had hidden during his observation three months ago. The ledge was still there, its surface worn even smoother by the water current. He pressed against the ledge, keeping his body as low as possible, his armor plates pressed against the rock surface. Deng Yue, Ma Yuan, and Tian Qi each occupied an observation position on either side of the ledge, the four of them completely motionless underwater.

He counted thirty pulses. Each interval was about forty breaths, with an error of no more than one breath. The margin of error was smaller than the natural fluctuations of the altar measured three months ago, which meant the magnitude of spiritual power at the source of the fluctuation was continuously increasing. The greater the spiritual power, the more stable the fluctuation frequency—this was a basic law of spiritual power conduction in deep water.

The number of patrolling Haiyuan Clan members had doubled.

Three months ago, there were fifteen of them, divided into three groups of five, patrolling the perimeter of the altar along fixed concentric circular paths. The shift change time was fixed, occurring about every half-stick of incense. During the shift change, the next group would swim out from a grotto on the east side of the trench bottom, and the previous group would swim back into the grotto. Now, there were at least thirty patrollers, divided into three groups of ten. The rhythm of the shift changes had changed from a fixed interval to a random one. During his observation, Leng Feng recorded four shift changes: the first was about one stick of incense apart, the second less than half a stick of incense, the third nearly two sticks of incense, and the fourth about one and a half sticks of incense. Random shift changes meant the patrol commander was deliberately disrupting the rhythm to prevent outsiders from finding a safe gap by observing the shift change patterns.

The stone patterns on the surface of the altar were moving.

Three months ago, the stone patterns Leng Feng had rubbed were static; the lines were carved into the stone surface, clearly visible under the cold light, but the lines themselves did not move. Now, the stone patterns were slowly rotating, with the direction of rotation contracting from the outer circle of the altar toward the center. The speed of contraction was extremely slow, almost imperceptible to the naked eye. Leng Feng made a time mark on his rubbing Jade Slip; he first traced the current position of the stone patterns on the Jade Slip, waited for about one stick of incense, and then traced the new position of the stone patterns on the same Jade Slip. Comparing the two sets of lines, the position of the patterns had moved toward the center by about half a grain of rice. Moving half a grain of rice in one stick of incense—calculating at this speed, it had moved about half an inch in three months. The direction was from the outside in—the stone patterns were converging toward the very center of the altar.

The stone surface at the very center of the altar—three months ago, it had been the darkest spot, where the cold light seeped out from deep within the rock wall but could not reach the very center of the stone surface. Now, a tiny protrusion had risen in a circle on the stone surface at the center, about the size of a teacup's mouth. Its surface was smooth, and its texture was completely different from the rough stone surface around it. There was a layer of translucent film on the surface of the protrusion, and the stone beneath the film was emitting a faint light. The color of this faint light was different from the surrounding cold light—it was not dim blue, but dark red. The dark red light was consistent with the ink color of the red circle on the incomplete map.

Leng Feng carefully traced the position and shape of the protrusion onto his rubbing Jade Slip. After finishing, he put the Jade Slip into the waterproof bag at his waist and began to withdraw.

When he retreated to 1,500 zhang, he took another look at the ice cave. In less than a stick of incense, the widest crack in the ice cave had expanded outward by less than half a grain of rice. The speed at which the cracks were widening was faster than the speed at which the altar's stone patterns were contracting. He noted this change and continued to ascend.

He surfaced before dark.

Su Qingli was waiting at the Pier, holding the real-time records of the Receiving Formation. The records showed that during the time Leng Feng was underwater, the amplitude of the main fluctuation had increased by nearly ten percent. The small fluctuation source closest to Blue Moon Island—at the exact moment Leng Feng retreated from the entrance of the Dragon Burial Trench—had its amplitude drop by a tiny sliver, before rising back up again.

Leng Feng climbed off the sampan; the seawater on his armor plates had not yet dried. As he walked into the Lords Mansion, his feet left a trail of wet footprints on the stone floor. He took the rubbing Jade Slip out of the waterproof bag and placed it on the nautical chart table in front of Lu Changyuan.