177: Vortex mutation and the prototype of "portal"

The information transmitted from the Fallen Star Lake Node Two allowed Wen Youyi to temporarily set aside his worries about the Scavengers and Elder Heisha, refocusing his attention on that mysterious lake.

The energy vortex at the bottom of the lake had abnormally intensified? Was it resonating deeply with the main star core, triggering unknown changes?

This piqued his immense curiosity. Could the implantation of the star core fragment and the node have acted like a catalyst in a chemical reaction, triggering some unexpected chain reaction?

He had to go and investigate!

But currently, the Qingxuan Sect was in a state of high alert, especially since Falling Star Lake was Elder Heisha's "place of sorrow" and an important resource point, so the guards were surely even more stringent. Furthermore, those three Scavengers were still scanning everywhere within the Sect, posing a huge risk.

"I cannot go there in my physical body; it is too risky." Wen Youyi pondered for a moment and came up with an idea.

He decided to adopt a relatively safe method—consciousness projection.

This was a mental application technique he had learned from ancient knowledge, which allowed him to attach a portion of his consciousness to the Star Core Power to conduct long-distance perception and limited interaction, similar to remote desktop connections from his previous life. The advantage was that it was concealed and difficult to detect; the disadvantage was that the perception was blurry, complex operations were impossible, and it consumed mental energy.

After preparing, Wen Youyi sat cross-legged in the quiet room of the Ding Zi Courtyard, sank his mind into his Dantian, and guided the Star Core Power to wrap around a wisp of his main consciousness, like launching a miniature reconnaissance satellite, "floating" silently toward Falling Star Lake.

This process required extremely precise control; he had to avoid the Sect's Formation while also dodging the scanning areas where those three Scavengers might be. Wen Youyi was extremely cautious, as if walking through a minefield.

Fortunately, the Star Network node provided stable coordinates and a certain level of signal enhancement. After some twists and turns, his wisp of consciousness finally successfully "infiltrated" Falling Star Lake and arrived at the underwater cave on the northwest bank.

As soon as he entered the cave, Wen Youyi felt a difference.

The previously stable energy vortex now seemed to have "come alive"! Its rotation speed had clearly accelerated, its range had expanded, the center of the vortex was shining with brilliant starlight, and it was emitting energy fluctuations several times stronger than before! Even more peculiar, the lake water around the vortex seemed to have been pushed away by an invisible force, forming a spherical space about two zhang in diameter that was devoid of lake water!

The second-generation relay was floating in the center of this spherical space, pulsating like a heart module, resonating strongly with the vortex and some unknown depths.

"What... is going on?" Wen Youyi's consciousness perceived carefully.

He discovered that the intensified energy of the vortex was not chaotically violent, but was being combed and guided by the relay and the star core fragment inside it in a profound way. These energies were no longer limited to circulating within the vortex; they had begun to penetrate and impact downward toward the center of the vortex—deep into the rock layers at the bottom of the lake!

In his perception, the spatial structure there seemed to be undergoing extremely subtle, twisting changes! It was as if an invisible "drill" was trying to bore through some kind of barrier!

"Could it be..." A shocking thought surged into Wen Youyi's consciousness, "Is it trying to open a... spatial channel? Or rather, a miniature, unstable portal?"

This thought startled even himself!

A portal? Even in the Immortal Realm, this thing was a top-tier Divine Ability involving profound Laws of space, usually only barely performable by powerful figures at the Nascent Soul or even Soul Transformation Stage. How could a natural energy vortex combined with a crude relay possibly achieve this?

But the scene before him, along with the increasingly clear sense of spatial distortion, left him no choice but to believe it.

He attempted to move his consciousness closer to the area below the center of the vortex, but immediately felt a powerful repulsive force and spatial turbulence, scaring him into quickly retreating.

"Unstable! Extremely unstable!" He felt lingering fear, "And the target coordinates are completely random. If one were to barge in, heaven knows where they might be teleported to, or they might even be directly torn apart by the power of space!"

This was by no means a mature portal; it was more like a spatial rift accidentally torn open after an energy loss of control, or perhaps a prototype of a "door," but it lacked the most critical "door frame" and "coordinate lock."

However, even so, its significance was astonishing enough!

If... what if he could control this process? What if he could stabilize this channel and set accurate coordinates?

Wouldn't that mean they could teleport between different locations without anyone knowing? Whether for infiltration, evacuation, or supply transport, it would trigger a revolutionary change!

Just as Wen Youyi's consciousness was deeply shocked by this, he suddenly sensed that from within those chaotic spatial fluctuations, there seemed to be a trace of an extremely faint, yet exceptionally pure... Star Power?

This trace of Star Power was of the same origin as the star core, yet it carried an even more ancient and desolate aura, as if it came from a starry sky that had been desolate for countless years.

"Where... does the other end of the channel connect to?" Wen Youyi's consciousness was filled with curiosity.

He cautiously approached again, attempting to capture more information.

However, just as his consciousness tendrils were about to touch that chaotic spatial region again—

"Hum!!!"

A powerful, cold, and hostile scanning fluctuation suddenly swept across the entire Falling Star Lake area!

It was the Scavengers' scan! They had actually patrolled to this place!

Wen Youyi's consciousness, like a startled rabbit, instantly retracted, severing the connection with that wisp of Star Core Power, and his consciousness quickly returned to his physical body.

In the quiet room, Wen Youyi opened his eyes abruptly, cold sweat seeping from his forehead.

That was close! He had almost been caught red-handed!

He reflected on everything he had just "seen," his mood unable to calm down for a long time.

The anomaly at the bottom of Falling Star Lake, that unstable prototype of a "portal," and the trace of strange Star Power behind the door...

This unexpected discovery seemed to have opened a door to a new world for them, although this door was currently still full of danger and unknowns.

"I must figure out what is on the other side of that channel!" Wen Youyi made up his mind, "And I must find a way to stabilize and control it!"

He felt that this unexpected "bug" might become an unforeseen trump card for them to use against the Creation Heavenly Court.

(End of chapter)