Due to Zhu Shi and Lu Youxun’s previous cautionary remarks about the space across the Teleportation Door, I had also prepared for the "Firefly" to encounter enemies after passing through the Teleportation Door.
In fact, there were no enemies on the other side of the Teleportation Door, not even a living creature to be seen.
The space the "Firefly" entered looked like a storeroom.
Calling it a storeroom might be an overstatent; it was practically empty, with few miscellaneous items, just a row of shelves and a few empty cardboard boxes that gave the impression of a "storeroom". The room also had a half-open window, with the afternoon sunlight streaming in. Outside was not a city, but a forest where the sounds of birds chirping and leaves rustling could be faintly heard.
I divided the "Firefly" into two, one to explore the outdoors and the other to explore indoors.
While Mazao had just opened the Teleportation Door, Zhu Shi and Lu Youxun were not idle. They seized the opportunity to investigate the Teleportation Door itself. Zhu Shi appeared to be using "Buzhou Mountain", while Lu Youxun seed to use so kind of Array for exploration. At this mont, they both shifted their attention to my side.
While controlling the "Firefly", I relayed what I saw to them.
"There’s nothing in the room opposite the Teleportation Door? Strange," said Lu Youxun, puzzled, "The black mist that Mazao reproduced and the mana fluctuations it emitted are neither hers nor seem like those a human would possess. It might be the product of so unknown technology. Which ans there should be related equipnt or an Array on the other side of the Teleportation Door."
"Could it be hidden in the walls?" Zhu Shi asked.
"My perception can penetrate walls. The walls are just walls, nothing out of the ordinary."
While I responded, the "Firefly" had already grasped a rough overview of the place.
It appeared to be a large research facility located in a suburban forest, with the storeroom leading out to a corridor that interconnected many rooms of various sizes; notice boards and regulations were posted on the walls.
Centering on my "Firefly", my perception spread out and allowed to see many places that looked like laboratories and living areas.
Still, I found no living persons. The facility seed as though it had been abandoned like the "clinic", with all laboratory instrunts and equipnt gone. Naturally, there was no trace of any equipnt that had been transferred from the "clinic".
Sothing was not right. This place actually fit my impression of a secret base for the Human Bureau—the organization conducting secret evil experints. It was indeed a research facility, located far from human habitation, eting the criterion of "secrecy". Yet, it was abandoned—why would the Weirdo Maker choose this location for transporting equipnt?
There had to be a catch here.
I couldn’t let my guard down in this place, which should be rife with danger and oddities, yet nothing was visible. I wasn’t sure how to explain this unease—whether I was on alert for so unknown danger or simply uncomfortable with the situation itself.
Like an abandoned amusent park from a horror ga or a school silent in the dead of night, this deserted research facility gave a similar sense of unease. It should be filled with an air of orderly work, yet it had beco so vacant and desolate. It was difficult to feel like "there really is no one here"; it felt more like many "people" were lingering around, just invisible to .
—Was this just an illusion, or the intuition of a supernatural power user?
I had to probe deeper into this seemingly calm surface that hinted at eeriness.
Suddenly, I recalled what Zhu Shi and Lu Youxun had said earlier.
"You both kept ntioning ’mana fluctuations’... what exactly are they?" I asked, "I’ve never been able to feel the fluctuations you talk about. Can you explain them to ?"
"As long as one is a demon hunter capable of perceiving and manipulating one’s own Mana, one can definitely sense Mana fluctuations. Essentially, Mana fluctuations are signals dispersed by external Mana, similar in nature to light and sound signals—those could disturb your own Mana," Lu Youxun explained. "The reason you can’t feel external Mana fluctuations is that you’re too powerful. The fluctuations of the external Mana are too subtle to perturb your own Mana.
"Let’s say, if a cockroach crawls onto your skin, you’d certainly feel itchy. But what if it’s just a mosquito that lands on you?"
After thinking for a mont, I replied, "Even a mosquito isn’t completely imperceptible. Although I couldn’t always feel a mosquito landing on my skin before, most people would experience it occasionally."
"Right, so as long as you find the knack for it, you should also be able to sense other Mana fluctuations," he said. "As for the specifics... I’m sorry, but if you were a complete beginner, it would be easy to say, but I don’t know how to teach soone of your level to catch up on a skill that should have been mastered at the most basic stage."
Zhu Shi suggested, "The most direct thod is to find a demon hunter of at least Great Success Rank to release Mana fluctuations in front of you, allowing you to physically feel what Mana fluctuations are like, and then you would learn."
Though I knew her reasoning was sound, what I needed was to grasp this technique imdiately, to sense whether there were other Mana fluctuations lurking in this abandoned research facility.
Having no other options, I closed my eyes and began to ditate on the spot, giving it a try.
I had ditated before, back when I had not yet awakened my superpower. At that ti, I was keen on mystical discipline and had also attempted to enter a state of ditation by focusing on an extinguished candlewick. Although I never had a successful experience, it wasn’t without so insight.
I slowly recalled my past experiences and gradually dispelled distracting thoughts, imagining myself dimming my senses one by one like turning off a light switch, focusing all my attention on the profound and mysterious perception of the "Firefly."
Then, I even blocked out the sensations from the "Firefly" itself, attempting to capture external signals that I had never before grasped.
The world seed to grow dark.
In this focused darkness, I couldn’t tell the passing of ti, or rather, I chose not to discern it. I felt like I was sailing on a small boat in a dark sea. I didn’t even know if I was moving through the sea, which itself was eerily calm, with no waves reaching .
No, to be strict, there were still fluctuations—ones that originated from . Being on the surface of the sea, it was impossible not to create any ripples.
Could this be what they call "mana fluctuations"?
Had I really found the knack for sensing mana fluctuations on my first try? Could it be that I had a talent in this area?
Wait, I seem to have overlooked sothing.
Zhu Shi had said that to sense mana fluctuations, it would be best to bring a demon hunter of at least Great Success Rank, implying that I should be faced with an opponent on my level. But in fact, there was already soone of my level here—myself.
I am a demon hunter above the Great Success Rank and also possess mana fluctuations. The trick to sensing mana fluctuations had been within all along. It’s just that I had always taken my own fluctuations for granted, much like how people accustod to their own sll can’t detect it. The more familiar sothing is, the harder it is to identify.
Do I really have a talent in this area? If I were truly talented, why would it have taken until now to beco aware of it? This was more a sign of my own dullness.
Let’s put aside the self-deprecating thoughts for now. The most important thing at this mont is to sense this abandoned research facility.
Unfortunately, even though I should now be aware of the concept of "mana fluctuations," I still couldn’t sense any fluctuations other than my own here.
Is there really nothing abnormal about this place? Or is it that even in this state, I can’t capture any mana fluctuations other than my own?
Or had I misunderstood, and what I had seized was not my own mana fluctuations, but just an illusion borne of ditation?
Just then, I seed to finally perceive a trace of sothing abnormal.
Sothing seed to be stirring, not far away, but nearby. No, not even nearby, but within —in my consciousness?
I quickly understood what the source of the restlessness was and exited my ditative state.
Seeing suddenly open my eyes, Lu Youxun seed even more concerned than Zhu Shi and Mazao. He hurriedly asked before anyone else, "Did you find sothing?"
"...No, nothing."
I couldn’t reveal the truth in front of him; instead, I just slipped my right hand into my pocket and summoned the Divine Seal Fragnt.
The Divine Seal Fragnt vibrated in the palm of my hand. It wasn’t a vibration loud enough to make a sound, it was a subtle quiver, barely perceivable unless felt carefully.
The Master of Divine Seal had said that if other Divine Seal Fragnts appeared nearby, the one bound to us would vibrate.
And this situation undoubtedly indicated that a Divine Seal Fragnt had appeared near .
But where was nearby?
The "clinic," or the abandoned research facility?
My "Firefly" acted as an extension of myself; it made complete sense that the Divine Seal Fragnt bound to would vibrate if another appeared near my "Firefly."
I imdiately controlled the "Firefly" inside the abandoned research facility to leave, and the vibration ceased after it moved several hundred ters away. When I made the "Firefly" return to the facility, the vibration appeared again.
There was no room for doubt now.
Another Divine Seal Fragnt was inside this abandoned research facility!
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