The outline of the underground palace loomed in the darkness, resembling a dormant giant beast. 岳停舟 crouched behind a weathered rock pillar, his breathing shallow, almost merging with the mountain breeze. The stinging pain in his right arm's meridians felt like a cluster of tiny needles, and each heartbeat was like a dull instrument striking the damaged fascia. Across from him, 祝寒梨 was pressed against another massive rock, her figure almost blending with the rock's texture in the dim starlight. They were separated by a gentle slope, and below the slope lay the outer perimeter of the Yun Ding underground palace - three intersecting paths that appeared random but subtly corresponded to a certain array pattern. "Based on previous observations," 岳停舟 transmitted silently using lip movements, each word intensified by the strain on his breath, "the patrol guards cross paths every fifteen minutes. The eastern blind spot has a three-second window." 祝寒梨 nodded, without turning around. She made a brief gesture with her left hand – a镖局 (鏢局 -鏢局,鏢局) code, meaning "flank maneuver." Action. 岳停舟 moved first. He didn't leap, but slid along the ground, like a shadow swept by the wind. His true qi circulated slowly within his body using the concept of "transformative force," no longer forcefully impacting the meridians, but attempting to "adhere" to the stagnant nodes, like water finding cracks to seep through. A slight coolness touched his fingertips, as if he could sense the faint fluctuations of restrictions in the air. Five zhang, three zhang, one zhang – A faint sound of footsteps came from the bend in the path below. 岳停舟 instantly froze, his entire body curled into the shadows of a cluster of dead shrubs. His heart pounded heavily in his chest, each contraction pulling on the damaged meridians. The footsteps grew closer, and they belonged to two patrol guards, wearing dark gray uniforms, with short blades at their waists, their strides perfectly synchronized. Their gazes swept across the surroundings like falcons, but they paused for a moment on the cluster of shrubs. One of them twitched his nostrils. 岳停舟's lungs forgot how to breathe. He could almost smell the faint sweat and leather on the other person. Time stretched, and each breath felt like being roasted on a scorching anvil. He forced himself to maintain the concept of "transformative force," retracting his qi to the extreme, as if he were a lifeless stone. The stinging pain in his meridians became sharp, like countless tiny ice needles shattering within his body. The other patrol guard shrugged. "There's a smell of decaying leaves in the wind. Let's go." The footsteps receded. 岳停舟 slowly exhaled, the breath forming a white mist in the cold night air, which quickly dissipated. He turned his head and saw that 祝寒梨 had already taken advantage of the gap to silently move closer to the outer wall of the underground palace. She was crouching behind a protruding rock, taking a small piece of charcoal and tanned sheepskin from her pocket. The marking of the first layer of defense had begun. *** The outer wall of the underground palace was made of heavy, dark gray stone blocks, covered in the mottled traces of years of erosion. But as 岳停舟 approached, he could feel with his fingertips the faint, rhythmic vibrations emanating from the gaps between the stones – the warning array embedded within the walls. He closed his eyes, pushing his perception to its limit. His innate ability to sense, honed through listening cultivation, was brought to its peak. The world in his ears became layered: the wailing of the distant mountain wind, the intermittent chirping of insects, the gurgling sound of his own blood flow... and the "dong, dong" light rhythm from deep within the wall, like a heartbeat. It was a composite array, at least with three layers nested, the outer layer responsible for sensing life aura, the middle layer monitoring true qi fluctuations, and the inner layer... He suddenly opened his eyes. "The inner layer has a backlash," he silently gestured to 祝寒梨, pointing to a seemingly ordinary seam on the wall, "forcibly breaking it will trigger a chain reaction." 祝寒梨 frowned slightly. She extended her left hand, her palm hovering an inch above the seam, without touching it. After a few breaths, she withdrew her hand and quickly sketched on the sheepskin. "Here," she marked a point on the diagram, "the frequency of the true qi fluctuation is different from other places, like a分流 (fēn liú -分流) node of the array. Based on the analysis of the protective vault diagrams that the镖局 (鏢局 -鏢局,鏢局) has handled, there are 岳停舟的指尖开始渗出细密的冷汗。 His "hua jin" understanding was still in its infancy, and he had to simultaneously avoid the array's perception, evade the patrolling guards, and bypass these hidden sentries. The difficulty was like walking on a knife's edge. The pain in his meridians reminded him that every circulation of true qi was consuming the balance that was already precariously maintained. 祝寒梨 looked at his pale face, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but she ultimately just put the sheepskin and charcoal pencil into his arms and tightened her grip on the hilt of her "jing shui" dagger. Her eyes conveyed: "Continue." 岳停舟 nodded. He took a deep breath—even this simple action caused a tearing sensation in his ribs—and then began to move. This time, he no longer tried to completely conceal his aura, but instead used the "hua jin" technique he had just grasped to "align" his faint fluctuations of true qi with the rhythm of the array's operation. Like a stream flowing into a river. His perception became extraordinarily clear, allowing him to "see" the invisible restrictive patterns in the air, which were like a spiderweb covering the outer wall area. He carefully searched for gaps in the patterns, those brief "blind spots" created by the alternating array nodes and energy flow. The movements had to be precise to the millimeter, and the timing had to be perfect. One step, two steps... He bypassed the area of broken stones that seemed to be a hidden sentry and moved past a gap in a restrictive pattern. 祝寒梨, who was like a shadow, followed closely behind. Her movements were more agile, but the sharpness of her blade was difficult to completely suppress, and she almost touched those sensitive "spider silk" several times. The two of them were dancing in a minefield. The outline of the outer wall gradually became complete. Based on the energy flow of the array, 岳停舟 deduced the approximate layout of the first layer of defense on the sheepskin: centered on the main entrance to the underground palace, radiating outwards to twelve main array nodes, connected by patrol routes and disguised sentries, forming a three-dimensional monitoring network covering an area of a hundred zhang. The size of the network was not fixed and would change subtly over time and with guard deployments. "The most vulnerable point is here," 祝寒梨 pointed to a location in the northeast corner of the map where two array nodes intersected, "where the energy would clash and produce periodic fluctuations and decay. According to the镖局 algorithm, the next decay period will be... around寅时三刻, approximately twenty breaths." 岳停舟 noted the time and coordinates. His fingertips began to tremble slightly due to the sustained high-intensity perception and micro-manipulation of true qi, and sweat trickled down his temples, seeping into his collar. But he didn't stop, his gaze turning deeper. The outline of the second layer of defense was faintly visible in the darkness. It was a low wall about thirty zhang from the outer wall, with faint, rhythmic patterns of light flickering on the wall, like breathing. Behind the low wall, the terrain rose sharply, and the main buildings of the underground palace were built on the mountainside, with flying eaves and upturned roofs outlining a solemn silhouette in the darkness. There, was the possible location of the "twelfth node." It was also the area with the most stringent defenses. "The patrol range of the mountain guards only extends to the outside of the low wall," 岳停舟 said in a low voice, his voice hoarse due to dryness, "there are no signs of living guards within the wall." 祝寒梨's pupils contracted slightly. "All restrictions?" "Probably more than that," 岳停舟's gaze fell on a pattern on the low wall where the flickering frequency was slightly different, "the light of those patterns... bears the mark of a blood oath. It requires a specific token or identity verification to pass without triggering it. Otherwise..." He didn't say more. But they both understood. Otherwise, what would be triggered would not be an alarm, but a devastating counterattack. The level of restriction was enough to turn anything within ten zhang of the intruder into dust. The map on the sheepskin was gradually becoming more complete. The first layer was a dynamic monitoring network, the second layer was a static blood oath wall, so what about the third layer...? 岳停舟's gaze turned towards the depths of the underground palace buildings, where it was completely dark, and even the faint light of the patterns was absent. But it was this absolute "silence" that revealed an even deeper danger. As if something was sleeping in the darkness, waiting to be awakened. *** A faint hint of dawn appeared on Almost simultaneously, a faint "click," like the turning of a mechanism, came from the upper left—the location of a disguised observation post they had previously marked. They had been discovered. 岳停舟's thoughts froze and then exploded. There was no time for hesitation. He abruptly turned and grabbed 祝寒梨's arm, pulling her towards an inward-jutting crevice in the rock wall. The two of them pressed close, squeezing into the narrow space. 岳停舟's back slammed against the rough rock wall, the dull pain making him see stars. He forcibly stabilized his mind and pushed the "transformative energy" intent to its limit. No longer "fitting," but "enveloping." He drew his breath, true energy, and even the warmth of his life, and tried to form a very thin "shell" that was in harmony with the environment. The meridians protested violently against this overloaded, delicate operation, the stinging escalating into a burning sensation, as if a line of fire was spreading along the meridians. Outside the crevice, the cold and focused "gaze" from the disguised observation post swept over. It paused. 岳停舟 could feel the weight of that gaze, like a tangible probe, slowly moving across the rock face, searching for any inconsistencies. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, each pulse like a drumbeat. Beside him, 祝寒梨 was tense as a drawn bow, her hand already on the hilt of her sword, but she was forcibly restraining herself from drawing it. Time passed, second by second. Every second felt like an eternity. Finally, the "gaze" moved away. The disguised observation post seemed to attribute the sound to wind blowing stones or small animals. The faint clicking sound of the mechanism came again, and it returned to its original monitoring posture. The immediate danger was averted. But 岳停舟 knew that they could not delay any longer. He gestured to 祝寒梨, and the two of them slowly and carefully emerged from the crevice, then retreated from the outer perimeter of the tomb as quickly as possible, but without losing caution. When they finally returned to the depths of the rock crevice on the north slope, the dawn had completely broken through the edge of the night. The pale blue morning light seeped into the cave, illuminating the rough stone walls and the scattered ashes on the ground. As soon as 岳停舟 stepped into the crevice, the suppressed qi and blood that he had been holding back finally surged out of control. He suddenly bent over and coughed up black blood streaked with dark red. The腥甜 smell permeated his mouth, followed by a tearing pain throughout his meridians. He stumbled and leaned against the rock wall, preventing himself from falling. Forcing the use of an immature "transformative energy" technique to interfere with the perception of restrictions, and then overloading it at a critical moment, ultimately exacerbated his already serious injuries. 祝寒梨 immediately stepped forward to support him, and took out a porcelain bottle from her arms, pouring out a pale green pill. "The last one of the '脉续散'." 岳停舟 did not refuse and took the pill. A cool current flowed from his throat, slowly seeping into the burning meridians, temporarily suppressing the rampage of tearing pain. But it was only suppression, far from a cure. He gasped and took out the sheepskin map from his oilcloth pouch, and unfolded it again in the morning light. The charcoal lines and simple markings were now incredibly important. The layout of the three layers of defense was clearly visible: an outer dynamic monitoring network, a middle blood oath validation wall, and an inner... unknown darkness. And the last hurdle leading to the core "第十二枢位," was clearly marked as requiring a "token" or "specific identity." "Three layers of defense, the outermost is easy to break, the innermost..." 岳停舟's voice was low and hoarse, but unusually clear, "requires a life to pay." He raised his head and looked at the gradually brightening sky outside the crevice, the outlines of the mountains barely visible in the morning mist. Then, he looked at 祝寒梨 beside him. She was also exhausted, her white fox fur coat stained with morning dew and dust, but her eyes were still sharp, and she held tightly the map that had been obtained at a cost. "寒梨," 岳停舟 said, each word seemed to be squeezed out of his chest, "this map is the key, but also a death sentence." 祝寒梨 did not answer immediately. She let go of his hand and walked to the edge of the crevice, silently looking at the mist outside. After a long while, she spoke, her voice calm but with an undeniable weight. "The key is dead, but people are alive." She But the path to the Mother Scroll had an additional "lock" that they hadn't anticipated, and one they didn't know how to overcome. And the only person who might know where the "key" was, or who might be part of the "key" itself... Was their mentor, the one they had to face, but didn't know how to face. Outside the rock crevice, the mountain wind began to rise, dispersing some of the morning mist, but making the imposing outline of the distant underground palace even more clearly visible. It was like a giant mouth, silently waiting for its prey to come.