310: Chapter 308 The Obscured Coordinates

Shen Nian sat before the Core of Tiangong for two full days.

He repeatedly reviewed the scattered records regarding the ancient structure of the Land of Origin, carefully comparing every piece of information he could find.

The Artisan did not urge him, only quietly floating aside, waiting for him to piece together some sort of outline from those fragmented texts.

Late in the second night, when the warm light of the core space gradually dimmed, Shen Nian finally raised his head from before the crystal core.

His gaze fell upon the star map suspended above, still lingering at the edge of that obscured dark zone.

"Disciple wishes to take a look."

His voice was calm, his gaze never leaving that dark zone, "It is not acting rashly, but rather bringing a recording talisman, starting from the edge, and touching it little by little.

If that region is truly some kind of force field, at least Disciple can confirm whether its boundary is changing."

The Artisan's light flickered slightly under the dim illumination: "This seat has considered it for two days.

The Tiangong Clan has approached that region several times in the past, returning empty-handed every time.

But the records you brought have indeed allowed this seat to see some forgotten outlines.

If you truly wish to go, this seat will open a passage for you, allowing you to reach the edge of that dark zone faster."

Shen Nian stood up and slightly bowed toward the direction of The Artisan: "Thank you, Senior."

He did not set off immediately, instead returning first to the core space to find Lu Qing.

Lu Qing was tidying up her rubbings and sketches. Seeing Shen Nian approach, she put down the scroll in her hand: "Senior, are you setting off?"

"Disciple is preparing to take a look at the edge of that obscured region.

Over the next few days, you will lead the Disciples to continue sorting the rubbings brought back from Heluo. If Disciple does not return within seven days, you are to lead the team back to the Heart of Tiangong first; do not wait for Disciple."

Lu Qing was silent for a moment, offering no dissuasion, only taking out a tiny spar from her bosom and handing it to Shen Nian: "This is a stone chip Disciple found at the edge of Heluo, of the exact same material as the crystals on the stairway.

Disciple does not know what it is used for, but Disciple feels that perhaps you will find a use for it."

Shen Nian took the spar, feeling a warm, smooth touch, like a droplet of frozen lake water.

He did not ask further, simply putting the spar into his bosom: "Thank you."

"Senior, please take care."

Shen Nian nodded and turned to walk toward the depths of the Heart of Tiangong.

The Artisan's light emerged beside him, and a slender silver-white passage slowly unfolded before him, piercing through the layers of the Heart of Tiangong and leading into the distant depths of Chaos.

The silver-white passage resembled a static river, flanked on both sides by churning gray mist.

The passage itself had no temperature fluctuations; Shen Nian traveled through it for about two hours before his field of vision began to change.

The color of the Chaos ahead gradually deepened, transitioning from off-white to a nearly solidified dark cyan, resembling a sea surface compacted by time.

The closer he got to the edge of the dark zone, the thinner the energy became, as if even echoes were being slowly absorbed by something.

The end of the silver-white passage stopped about a hundred zhang before the edge of the dark zone.

"This seat can only send you this far."

The Artisan's voice grew slightly fainter, "Further ahead, the perception of the Power of Tiangong will begin to wane.

Are you sure you wish to continue?"

"Disciple is sure."

Shen Nian stepped out of the passage, stepping into that dark cyan Chaos.

There was no physical substance beneath his feet, but with every step he took, he could feel the surrounding space becoming quieter, as though wrapped layer by layer by something.

He walked very slowly, extending the Sixteen-Color Power forward in extremely fine threads as he went, like gently probing the wall ahead with his fingers in the darkness.

After walking for several dozen zhang, his perception touched that edge.

That edge was softer than he had anticipated, lacking a clear dividing line and resembling more of a slowly transitioning region.

When Shen Nian's power traveled through it, it was absorbed in an extremely uniform manner—not swallowed, but rather "accommodated," as if those energy flows had poured into an entirely different space.

He stopped at the edge.

The scenery ahead was similar to the surrounding Chaos, but with a subtle difference—the color there was more uniform and quieter.

There was no flow, no fluctuation, like a static sheet of paper suspended there.

Shen Nian took a recording talisman from his bosom and pressed it against a node at the edge.

Threads of light spread along the edge, extending deep inside like a probe for a certain distance, then slowly retracting.

When Shen Nian retrieved the recording talisman into his hands to inspect it, he found that the information recorded at the ends of those light threads was extremely sparse, like shouting toward an empty room and hearing only the faintest of echoes.

He put away the recording talisman, not forcing his way deeper.

He walked a distance along the edge, observing the subtle changes of that boundary as he moved.

After walking for about several hundred zhang, he discovered that the edge dipped slightly in a certain place, as if something had once entered from here and then left.

Shen Nian stopped at the depression.

The shape of that depression did not look like it was naturally formed; the arc of its edge carried a certain regularity, resembling the docking interface of some structure.

He recalled the rhythms he had felt on the stairway, that repetitive sequence and continuously overlapping form, resembling a precisely aligned passage.

"There was once a passage here."

Shen Nian's voice gently echoed in the empty Chaos, "Leading to the interior of that dark zone.

But it was later closed or covered up."

The Artisan did not respond—at this moment, he was already beyond the coverage range of the passage, and that connection had become extremely weak.

Shen Nian squatted down, carefully examining the outline of that depression, and suddenly remembered Lu Qing's expression when she gave him that spar.

He did not immediately embed the spar into the depression, simply holding it in his palm and feeling its warm, smooth touch.

He looked at the depression once more.

If those ruins were truly distributed around this dark zone, then they certainly could not have been arranged by coincidence.

Perhaps before the Tiangong Clan became lost, they once had some kind of connection with this obscured region.

And the traces of that connection remained on the stretch of the edge he had just walked past—like a door being closed, leaving behind the imprint of the doorframe.

He stood up and took one last look at that static dark zone.

Then he turned around and slowly returned along the silver-white passage in the direction he had come.