Douluo Continent: The Twin Holy Dragons of Light and Darkness, the Dragon Emperor Breaks Through the

Qian Renxue sat by the stone table: "That means there is indeed a deeper layer inside the crystal."

If he can run his finger through the surface and stay there longer when it's cooler next time, he might be able to perceive the specific structure inside the crystal.

Ling Feng said, "He is getting closer and closer to that goal."

Tang San came over in the evening.

He sat on the stone bench: "Then he should try for a longer time next time."

Ling Feng said, "He will."

He's already building his own path.

For the next two days, the boy did not enter the space where the crystal was located.

Every morning he would walk to the beach and stand there for a while, as if to check his condition, before walking back to the cabin and sitting down at the table to organize his previous notes.

He repeatedly reviewed his observation notes and added new annotations to the blank spaces.

On the evening of the third day, he walked into that passage again.

He walked up to the crystal, waited for it to cool down, and then reached out his hand. This time, he didn't stop after passing through the surface; he continued forward.

His fingertips felt the temperature inside the crystal continuously decreasing. After passing through the surface, the crystal advanced a distance, about the width of an average person's finger joint, and then stopped there.

He could sense a channel slowly opening inside the crystal.

He paused there for the time it takes to take two breaths, then withdrew his hand and retreated in the direction he had come from.

He retreated to the beach, where the sea breeze blew in his face. He stood on the beach for a while, then went back to the cabin, sat under the lamp for a moment, and then picked up a pen and wrote a passage on a piece of paper: "There are channels inside the crystal. The channels open when the temperature cools down, and you can feel the channels slowly expanding with your fingertips."

Next time, try putting your finger through the tunnel when it gets cooler and see where it leads.

Jin Chen finished reading the letter the following afternoon.

He placed the letter on the stone table: "There is a channel inside the crystal that opens when the temperature cools down."

Ling Feng said, "If he could put his hand in when the passage opened, he should be able to sense the direction the passage leads to."

Qian Renxue said, "He has already gone further than expected. The next step is to confirm the specific route of the passage."

Chen Yuan stood in the corner of the courtyard, holding the weathervane in his hand. The fog had already dissipated in the morning light. After hearing Jin Chen finish reading the contents of the letter, he asked, "Is that passage fixed or dynamic?"

Jin Chen glanced at the letter: "He said the passage opens when the temperature drops and closes when the temperature rises again."

This indicates that the channel exists periodically, not continuously.

Chen Yuan said, "The existence of that channel is itself a rhythm, and it is tied to the temperature cycle of the crystal."

Tang San came over and sat for a while in the evening. After listening to Jin Chen relay the contents of the letter, he was silent for a moment: "The existence of that passage is periodic, which means that it was designed like this by humans, and was not formed naturally."

If the boy can pass through that passage when the temperature drops, he might discover the true purpose of that space.

Ling Feng said, "He's already preparing for that moment."

Lin Mu arrived the next morning.

He stood in the courtyard, raised his hand and stretched out the branch. The bluish-gray leaf lit up faster than before, and the brightness was more stable, lasting for the longest time since he started practicing.

He kept it dark for a long time before it slowly dimmed.

He pulled the branch back: "I've discovered a new pattern: the brightness of the leaves is related to the weather."

It's brighter on a sunny day than on a cloudy day, and brighter in the morning than in the afternoon.

Ling Feng said, "Then there is some kind of connection between your martial spirit and natural light."

Lin Mu thought for a moment: "If I can maintain the same brightness even on a cloudy day, it means that my control over it is stable enough."

Ling Feng said, "Then you can try it on a cloudy day."

The letter from Sea Breeze City arrived five days later on the morning.

Jin Chen sat on the stone bench and opened the letter: "He said that he put his hand into that passage yesterday when the temperature was getting cooler."

After his fingers passed through the passage, he felt the end of the passage, which was a space that was slowly opening. He could feel that the air temperature in that space was different from the outside, and it was drier than the outside.

He didn't venture any deeper, and withdrew after sensing the end of the passage.

Ling Feng said, "Then he will be able to enter that space soon."

Qian Renxue said from the stone table, "Once he passes through the passage and enters that space, he may see its true purpose."

Chen Yuan stood in the corner of the courtyard: "The temperature at the end of that passage is drier than outside, which means that the space is separated from the outside environment and has its own independent climate system."

Ling Feng said, "That wasn't a naturally formed space; it was artificially sealed off."

Tang San came over in the evening. After listening to Jin Chen's account, he asked, "Is the end of the passage a fixed location or a movable one?"

Jin Chen glanced down at the letter: "He said he could feel that the end of the passage was fixed in the same direction and had not shifted."

Tang San said, "The location at the end of that passage is fixed, which means it's an existing space, not something that was temporarily created."

The next evening, the boy walked into that passage again.

He walked up to the crystal, waited for it to cool down, then reached out and pushed his hand through the surface of the crystal, moving forward along the channel.

The passageway was wider than before, and he could feel himself moving forward along it; the walls of the passageway were smooth to the touch.

He walked forward about a dozen steps, the distance a normal person would take, and then stopped.

He felt that he had reached the end of the passage, and in front of him was a space that was slowly opening.

He didn't go in immediately; he paused at the entrance and sensed that the air temperature inside was indeed different from the outside.

Then he took a step and entered that space.

He felt as if he had entered a larger space, where the light was brighter than in the passageway, as if it were coming from somewhere above, but he couldn't see the exact location of the light source.

He stood there for a while, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the brightness of the light, and then began to observe his surroundings.

Chapter 380, Second Level

The walls of the space are light gray with no obvious texture, and the floor is flat, like a carefully polished stone slab.

In the center of the space was a low pedestal with a shallow groove on its surface, the shape of which matched the outline of the crystal he had seen earlier.

He walked to the pedestal, but instead of touching the groove, he stood in front of it and observed it for a while.

He stood there for about fifteen minutes, then retreated in the direction he had come from, through the passage, out of the crystal, and out of the entire space.

By the time he returned to the cabin, it was completely dark.

He pushed open the door, sat down at the table, picked up a pen and wrote a few words on a piece of paper, then folded the paper and put it in an envelope.

Jin Chen received the letter on the morning of the third day.

He sat on the stone bench, opened the letter, and read aloud: "He has entered that space."

There is a pedestal in the center of the space, and there is a groove on the surface of the pedestal, the shape of which matches the outline of the crystal.

He confirmed that the shape of the groove matched the crystal, then withdrew without placing the crystal on it.

Qian Renxue said, "He was right not to rush to put it up."

Ling Feng said, "The crystal is the key, and the pedestal is the lock."

He was confirming the relationship between the key and the lock.

Tang San sat by the stone table: "If he puts the crystal into the groove, that space might undergo new changes."

Chen Yuan stood in the corner of the courtyard, the fog had already dissipated: "Then his next step should be to put the crystal in and try it out."

Ling Feng said, "He will wait until he is completely sure before doing this."

Lin Mu arrived in the afternoon.

He stood under the eaves, raised his hand and reached out onto the branch. The bluish-gray leaf lit up, brighter than yesterday, and lasted longer.

He put away the branches: "It's a cloudy day today, but the leaves haven't lost their brightness."

Ling Feng looked at him: "So now you can maintain the same brightness even on cloudy days."

Lin Mu thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll try it on a rainy day tomorrow."

Ling Feng said, "Okay."

The letter from Sea Breeze City arrived at the Hall of Offerings four days later in the morning.

Jin Chen sat on the stone bench and opened the letter. The morning light was just coming from the east, spilling over the courtyard wall and falling on the edge of the stone table.

He looked at it for a while, then put the letter on the table: "He put the crystal on it."

Ling Feng paused, holding his teacup. "And then?"

Jin Chen said, "He said that after he put the crystal into the groove, the surface of the pedestal lit up, and then the ground in the center of the space began to slowly sink, revealing a downward step."

The steps are narrow, just wide enough for one person to pass through, and have faint luminous patterns along their edges.

He didn't go down immediately. He stood at the entrance of the steps for a while, observing the changes in brightness of the glowing patterns to make sure they weren't flickering, before finally walking down the steps for a short distance, stopping after about a dozen steps.

Qian Renxue sat down at the stone table: "Is there any space below the steps?"

Jin Chen said, "He said the steps continued downwards and there was no end in sight."

He didn't continue down; he stopped at about a dozen steps, observed for a while, and then backed out.

Ling Feng put down his teacup: "So, how deep did he see the steps leading downwards?"

Jin Chen said, "He said that the light could only reach a limited area. The steps extended downwards for about two zhang before being obscured by the fog, making it impossible to see what was below."

Chen Yuan stood in the corner of the courtyard, holding a weather vane in his hand. Hearing this, he pulled the weather vane out of the soil: "The steps extend downwards and are covered by fog. The fog may be a protective layer of the space itself, or it may be that the air pressure in the space below the steps is different from that above, causing the fog to accumulate."

Tang San sat down at the stone table: "Will he continue down there?"

Jin Chen said, "He said he plans to observe the glowing patterns at the entrance of the steps for a few more days. If the brightness and direction of the patterns remain stable, he will try to continue walking down."

Ling Feng said, "Then let him do it at his own pace."

Qian Renxue asked, "Are the steps wide enough for one person to pass through?"

Jin Chen said, "It can only accommodate one person to pass through, but it might be crowded if two people are side by side."

Qian Renxue said, "That means that the steps are not for parallel passages, but a one-way passage."

Ning Rongrong walked out of the offering hall with the record book in her hand and sat down at the stone table: "Then when he goes down next time, he may encounter a new spatial structure."