Lin Fan's renewed focus was terrifying in its intensity. He plunged back into the library scrolls, his objective no longer just information gathering, but information weaponization. He wasn't just looking for a location; he was looking for a survivable path through cosmic insanity.
He meticulously charted every recorded instance of spatial instability within a thousand-li radius of the Tianxuan Sect, cross-referencing ancient battle records, geological surveys, and cautionary tales passed down through obscure disciple journals. A grim map began to take shape on his workbench, dotted with locations that radiated 'danger' even on paper.
The Whispering Battlefield: West of the sect. Site of a devastating war between righteous cultivators and demonic forces five thousand years ago. Residual killing intent and lingering spatial scars from forbidden techniques were said to drive Foundation Establishment cultivators mad within hours. Risk: High (Psychological and Spatial).
The Sunken Moon Rift: South, deep beneath the Endless Sea. A dimensional tear supposedly sealed by ancient sea-dwelling races. Prone to sudden abyssal currents and inhabited by creatures warped by chaotic energies. Risk: High (Environmental, Unknown Entities, Inaccessible).
The Dragon's Vein Nexus: North, deep within the sect's own mountain range but far from inhabited areas. A convergence point of several major ley lines known for unpredictable surges of raw, untamed earth energy that occasionally warped space. Risk: Moderate-High (Sudden Energy Surges, Potential Cave-ins, Proximity to Sect).
Lin Fan studied the Dragon's Vein Nexus entry with particular interest. While dangerous, its proximity offered a logistical advantage. More importantly, the chaotic energy surges, while unpredictable, were primarily earth-elemental, a type of energy Lin Fan had some understanding of and could potentially shield against more effectively than the purely psychic or abyssal threats of the other locations. Furthermore, the spatial warping was described as intermittent and localized, suggesting pockets of instability rather than a constantly hostile environment.
"This is it," he decided, pointing to the Nexus location on his grim map. "It's the least worst option. Relatively close, the primary threat is energy surges which we might be able to predict or shield against, and the spatial instability isn't constant."
The new objective required entirely new preparations. Standard concealment and escape talismans were insufficient against raw, untamed ley line energy or sudden spatial distortions.
Lin Fan began crafting specialized equipment:
Ley Line Dampeners: Small, heavy discs made from a lead-like alloy mixed with powdered spirit-absorbing crystals. Designed to be placed on the ground to temporarily create small zones of reduced energy flow, offering brief windows of relative stability.
Spatial Resonance Detectors: Delicate, compass-like devices attuned to the subtle vibrations that often preceded a localized spatial warp. Their needles would spin erratically just before a distortion occurred, providing a precious few seconds of warning.
Reinforced Personal Shields: He didn't have time to create full-body protective arrays, but he reinforced their best defensive amulets with layers of energy-dispersing runes, specifically targeted against chaotic earth-elemental surges.
The 'Anomaly Net': This was his most speculative creation. A fine net woven from spirit-conducting silk, embedded with micro-runes designed to resonate with and gently contain spatial energy. His hope was that if they were lucky enough to witness the formation of a Void Crystal, this net might allow them to capture it without triggering a catastrophic energy release. It was pure theory, untested and incredibly dangerous.
He explained the new plan, the location, and the inherent dangers to Yue Qingqian. He didn't sugarcoat it.
"This is fundamentally different from our previous missions, Junior Sister," he said, his voice level. "The Ghost Market, the Dragon Pool – those were controlled environments with predictable threats, however dangerous. We were thieves operating within a system. This..." he gestured towards the map, "This is walking into pure chaos. There are no rules, no guarantees. The mountain itself could try to kill us at any moment through energy surges or spatial collapse. We are looking for a one-in-a-billion cosmic accident, and we are doing it in the middle of a geological warzone."
He showed her the Spatial Resonance Detector. "Your primary role will be monitoring this. Your senses are sharp. At the instant this needle moves erratically, you deploy a personal shield and alert me. We will have seconds, at most, to react before a potential warp."
Yue Qingqian looked at the map, at the strange new equipment, and then at her Senior Brother's determined, exhausted face. The fear was still there, a cold knot in her stomach, but overlaying it now was a sense of shared purpose, a grim acceptance of the path they were forced to walk. Her trust in his planning, even when it led them towards apparent suicide, was absolute.
"I understand, Senior Brother," she said simply. "When do we leave?"
"Tomorrow night," Lin Fan replied, already turning back to his workbench to make final adjustments to the Anomaly Net. "The energy surges at the Nexus are reportedly weakest during the waning moon phase. It's the 'safest' window we're likely to get."
The quiet month granted by Elder Liu was almost over. The pressure from Elder Zhao's suspicion would soon return. The clock was ticking louder than ever. Their desperate search for luck had led them to the brink of utter chaos.