Lù Zhāomíng’s footsteps took him deeper into the Temple, the metallic tang in the air growing stronger, as if the entire space were immersed in some ancient blood. He didn’t look back, nor did he stop, just kept moving forward. The Compass in the depths of his spine trembled slightly, like a dormant beast sniffing the scent of prey.
The passage ahead narrowed, revealing fine bronze patterns on both walls, remnants of some ancient ritual. The patterns weren’t static; they writhed and extended slowly, as if poised to crawl out of the walls at any moment. His fingers unconsciously rested on the edge of the Compass. Upon touching the cold metal, a familiar numbness shot through his nerves into his spinal cord.
“Dimensional Anchor Mark,” he murmured. Three strands of Bioluminescent Mycelia shot from his palm, sketching precise trajectories in the air, landing at three points ahead, to the right, and overhead.
The next second, he flickered, appearing at the coordinates indicated by the forward strand.
As soon as he landed, the floor beneath emitted a dull click, and the entire corridor began to twist. The originally straight path suddenly split into three forks, each leading in a different direction. The patterns on the walls vibrated violently, as if something were about to break through.
Without hesitation, he activated his spiritual vision again. The spatial structure in his sight immediately presented a complex map of energy flows. Indeed, this was not a simple architectural structure, but a living labyrinth, where every step taken triggered a spatial reconstruction.
“...Good heavens,” he whispered, adjusting his breathing and reactivating the Compass.
The Twelve Zodiac Constellations slowly rotated, casting a holographic Star Chart onto the ground, pointing to the leftmost fork. The patterns on that path were the dimmest, faded to a grayish-white, but precisely because of this, it appeared particularly eerie.
He stepped forward, feeling a faint pulse beneath his feet as he tread on the floor, like stepping on a beating heart.
The moment he passed through the fork, the passage behind him snapped shut, as if it had never existed. The path ahead opened up, revealing a vast circular hall.
In the center of the hall stood a broken giant tree—no, its remains to be precise.
It was a Divine Tree cast from bronze, soaring into the clouds. Its main trunk had long since broken, covered in cracks at the break, as if violently torn apart by some immense force. Branches lay scattered around, some embedded deeply in the ground, others impaled diagonally in the walls. Each root and branch was covered in intricate runes and patterns.
Lù Zhāomíng walked closer, his pupils contracting.
Those patterns… were identical to the markings on the Key Fragments.
He instinctively reached for the Key Fragments in his pocket, but the moment he touched them, a strong repulsive force emanated from the Divine Tree’s remains, flinging him several meters back, crashing heavily against the wall.
“Hiss—”
He gasped, getting to his feet, his hand over his chest where a burning pain pulsed. Looking up, he saw that a semi-transparent energy field had appeared around the Divine Tree’s remains, emitting intertwined blue and dark red light, like an invisible barrier, isolating everything from the outside.
Worse still, the Compass needle began to spin wildly, losing all direction.
“...Damn it.”
He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to calm down, observing the energy field’s frequency. This was no ordinary defense mechanism, but a highly complex energy structure, like a sealing system left by some ancient civilization.
He attempted to use the entropy value materialization function to analyze the energy field, only to find his abilities severely disrupted, everything in his vision becoming blurred.
“I must find a way to weaken it,” he muttered, scanning his surroundings for a control node.
Just then, a strange humming sound filled his ears, like a creature whispering, or the wind sighing through withered leaves. He turned sharply, noticing a faint blue light emanating from between several broken branches on one side of the Divine Tree’s remains.
He squinted, looking closely, and finally saw what it was—
A Bronze Plate embedded in a crevice of the trunk, its surface flowing with the same energy ripples as the Key Fragments.
“A clue has appeared,” his gaze sharpened, clenching his fist.
But just as he was about to approach, the energy field suddenly vibrated violently. A beam of brilliant white light shot from the center of the remains towards the dome. The entire hall shook, the patterns on the walls lit up, as if the entire Temple were responding to some summons.
Forced to retreat a few steps, he raised his hand to shield his eyes. When the light gradually dissipated, he looked again. The runes on the Divine Tree’s remains began to move slowly, reassembling to form a new pattern.
It was the complete outline of a key.
Lù Zhāomíng’s heart jolted. He realized that what he had just seen might be the key information to unlocking the true purpose of the first Key Fragment.
But the problem was, he couldn’t get close.
He took a deep breath, placing his hands on the Compass, feeling the subtle resonance from the depths of his spine. If the Compass truly possessed the ability of Mother Nest Resonance, perhaps it could be used to disrupt the energy field’s stability.
He closed his eyes, concentrating, guiding the Corruption Value into the Compass Core.
A moment later, the Twelve Zodiac Constellations rotated again, the Star Chart projection appearing, this time directly cast upon the energy field.
The instant the patterns overlapped, the energy field experienced a brief disturbance, ripples spreading along the edge of the halo.
An opportunity!
He stepped forward without hesitation. The tip of his toe had just touched the edge of the energy field when his body felt a powerful pull, as if it were about to be torn into countless fragments.
He gritted his teeth, enduring the intense pain, and forced his way through the final barrier.
Boom!
A shockwave erupted from within him, and the energy field disintegrated. The runes on the Divine Tree’s surface extinguished one by one, leaving only a faint afterglow suspended in the air.
He staggered and knelt on the ground, a bloody taste rising in his throat. His right hand trembled as he reached for the Bronze Plate embedded in the trunk.
The moment his fingertip touched it, a scene flashed through his mind—
On a desolate land, three keys floated in the air, connected by silver lines, forming a perfect triangle.
And at the center of the triangle, a city hung upside down, with a dark abyss below it.
The image flashed by. Lù Zhāomíng’s eyes snapped open, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
He knew what he had seen.
It was a map of the real world, and also an entrance to the Mother Nest Dimension.
And he had embarked on a path of no return.