Ruan Xue bounced off it twice before giving up with a huff of frustration.
"It only lets Core Formation and above through unassisted," Su Yubing explained, crouching down slightly beside her. "Hold onto my sleeve. I can carry you through inside my own qi boundary if you stay close enough."
Once everyone was safely across, the island opened up into a series of natural caverns that had clearly been reshaped by human hands centuries ago, smooth stone corridors lit by strange luminescent moss that gave everything a faint blue green glow. At the heart of the first chamber stood four stone statues arranged around a circular dais, each one representing a different element, and a plaque carved into the floor in old script that Su Yubing translated slowly, something about needing to offer the correct balance of spiritual energy to each statue in turn in order to proceed any deeper into the mountain.
