331: Chapter 329 The Call of New Coordinates

Shen Nian stood in front of the three-dimensional outline diagram condensed from the Sixteen-Color Power, his gaze falling on the few incomplete outline lines above the index disk.

They still maintained a very shallow state of existence, like paper that had been folded too many times, whose creases could not be completely smoothed out even when unfolded.

That broken end was still in its original place.

Lu Qing had already completely recorded the direction of those outline lines on a new scroll.

She put down her pen and turned the scroll toward Shen Nian.

"Disciple's recording is complete. The directions of those outline lines are not random; there is a fixed proportional relationship between them, roughly similar to vineyard-like dodecagon structure of the base layer, just on a larger scale."

Shen Nian turned around: "Larger?"

"About twice as large. If it is a continuation of the same set of blueprints, it might point to an area even vaster than the Land of Origin itself."

Lu Qing pointed out the annotations on the scroll one by one, "But Disciple's record only captured the upper half of the outline lines. The lower half seems to be blocked by something, making it impossible to read the complete form."

He had observed the direction of those outline lines many times in the light and shadow of the fine crystal, but now that they were presented in a fixed form on the scroll, he noticed some details he had not paid attention to before.

The turning points of the outline lines were not smooth arcs, but had an extremely tiny angle change, like line segments carefully aligned at the joints, with each turn corresponding to a fixed scale.

"When recording these outline lines, Disciple measured the angle of each turn." Lu Qing reached out and pointed to several annotations on the scroll: "The differences between them are extremely small, like the marks left by the same protractor being used repeatedly."

Shen Nian's gaze moved along those turning points one by one.

Under his gaze, those angles presented an extremely regular changing trend; they did not deflect in random directions, but each turn increased slightly more than the previous one, like a pointer slowly rotating.

"Are the angle changes of these turns," he began, "accumulating in the same direction?"

Lu Qing picked up her pen, quickly calculated for a moment on the edge of the scroll, and then raised her head: "Yes. Each turn is about one degree more than the previous one. Accumulated over the entire sequence, it does form a gradual turning trend, as if leading to a fixed direction."

"Where does that direction point?"

After quickly comparing several sets of data, Lu Qing gave a coordinate: "North-northwest, about... farther away from the index disk than any road we have walked. It's like after the edge of a map is folded, the arrow extends beyond the range that the paper itself can cover."

Shen Nian was silent for a moment.

He did not rush to respond, but first returned to the side of the Core of Tiangong, removed the fine crystal from the base, and held it in his palm to feel its temperature for a moment.

The crystal's touch remained stable, undisturbed by new data, and produced no new fluctuations, as if waiting for a decision to be made.

He checked the coordinates and path data stored in the recording talisman on the inside of his lapel again—they were consistent with Lu Qing's calculation results, like a math problem checked repeatedly, with every part yielding the same answer.

He put away the fine crystal, turned around, and walked back to the platform: "Disciple is ready to verify it."

Lu Qing carefully rolled up the scroll and put it into her storage ring: "Disciple will go with Senior."

The two did not stay long and walked straight toward the edge of the Heart of Tiangong.

The light of The Artisan hovered at the entrance of the passage, its light threads more condensed than usual, as if the path had been paved before they decided to set off: "This seat has marked a path in the north-northwest direction, but its end is not within the coverage of the Heart of Tiangong. You may need to judge for yourselves where to stop."

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

The light golden passage slowly unfolded before them.

This passage was narrower than any previous one, like a silk thread stretched repeatedly, passing through the outer structure of the Heart of Tiangong and extending toward a direction never set foot in before.

The two stepped into the passage, their paces steady and quiet.

Shen Nian walked in front, and the Chaos on both sides of the passage gradually changed during the walk—from grayish white to light cyan, and from light cyan to a deeper ink blue, like the process of slowly walking from shallow water to deep water, and the surrounding light became calmer accordingly.

After walking for more than an hour, the end of the passage began to become clear.

That was an open space, and the ground presented a texture different from any previous ruins—it was not like the grayish-brown gravel of the Heluo Ruins, nor was it repeatedly compacted like the southeast shallow pit, but an extremely uniform silver, like metal powder carefully smoothed out and slowly solidified into a solid piece during a long period of stillness.

Shen Nian stopped at the exit of the passage and did not rush to step into that area.

He squatted down first, placed his palm close to the edge of the ground, and felt its temperature for a moment—slightly cool, with a uniform touch, and an extremely delicate graininess on the surface, like a stone surface ground repeatedly.

"The material of this ground is different from the sediments in other areas of the Land of Origin." Lu Qing also squatted down beside him, gently sliding her fingertips across the silver ground, "Its particles are very uniform, as if screened, with no larger debris. It looks like it was uniformly transported from somewhere, rather than a vein formed in place."

Shen Nian stood up and looked into the distance.

The silver ground extended in all directions, its surface extremely flat, without any bumps or depressions, and everywhere within sight was the same color and texture.

He stepped onto that ground, and when his soles fell, they made no sound, as if stepping on a very thin layer of fine sand, with a soft and uniform touch.

The two began to walk toward the target direction.

As he walked, Shen Nian probed the Sixteen-Color Power into the subsurface with extremely fine threads.

Those threads slowly threaded beneath the silver surface, as if detecting the stratification state of the sediments below.

"About three feet below the surface, there is an interface with a less obvious density difference." Shen Nian slowed down his pace and re-perceived the feedback from the end of the threads, "It is neither a hard rock layer nor a hollow echo, but like a continuously existing temperature difference."

Lu Qing stopped, took out a recording talisman, and pressed it gently against the ground.

Threads of light slowly spread along the silver surface for a moment and then retracted.

"The data captured by the recording talisman is basically consistent with Disciple's predicted coordinates." Lu Qing looked up after checking the data, "But there is an extremely subtle error between Disciple's expected position and the actual position, as if the surface gravity has slowly drifted over a long period of time."

Shen Nian did not respond immediately.

He continued walking forward for a distance, the silver ground maintaining a stable and uniform texture under his feet.

When he stopped, he indeed perceived a subtle difference ahead—not that the material of the ground had changed, but a difference in aura.

The air was heavier, as if dense energy particles were mixed in it.

He extended his perception forward, touching a very faint echo.

The frequency was extremely slow, as if some very ancient existence was breathing slowly in the same rhythm.

"There is something ahead," he said softly.

The two continued walking forward.

Hundreds of zhang ahead of them, the silver ground began to show an extremely slight change—gradually transitioning from a uniform flat surface into an extremely gentle bulge, like a strip-like structure buried beneath the surface, leaving a faint outline during the long subsidence process.

Shen Nian slowed his pace.

The outlined bulge was not clear, but when he squatted down and pressed his palm close to the ground, he could feel that it indeed existed—like a ridge line covered by sediments, still maintaining a complete form underground.

He walked about half a circle along the raised outline and stopped at one end of it.

That end dipped slightly, forming an extremely faint depression on the ground, as if something had been placed there briefly and then taken away.

Shen Nian squatted down, took out the fine crystal from his embrace, and gently placed it in the center of the depression.

The moment the crystal touched the ground, a layer of extremely faint shimmering light appeared on its surface.

He felt an extremely faint response coming from deeper underground, like a seed that had lain dormant for countless years finally gently moistened by a dewdrop stored at the same temperature for a long time.

He waited for a moment, not rushing to retrieve the crystal, but letting it stay in contact there for a period of time.

That faint response remained constant during his continued stay, as if it had confirmed that the signal he carried was from the same source.

Shen Nian gently retrieved the crystal and put it back into his embrace.

Lu Qing walked over, her gaze falling on the depression: "The energy distribution in this area has similarities with the records around the index disk earlier. Perhaps this road is right."

Shen Nian stood up and took one last look at the depression: "Disciple confirms the coordinates here."

He took out the recording talisman and detailed the position and shape of the depression on the silver ground.

In the completed map, he crossed off another gray dot.

There was still a long way to go, but at least he had firmly stepped on the first loose piece of ground.