Deep within the "Watcher's Barrier," in a laboratory isolated by multiple layers of formations and filled with various precision runic instruments, spirit energy conduits, and flickering light screens, Second Brother Luo Feng's soul core floated above a specially made energy pool continuously flowing with nurturing soul liquid. His virtual image was somewhat more solid than before, yet his brow still carried the exhaustion of excessive soul power depletion. However, those eyes simulated by data streams now flickered with nearly fanatical focus.
At the laboratory's center operation table lay quietly a crystal about the size of a fist, its entire body presenting a deep midnight blue, its interior seeming to have countless nebula vortices slowly flowing—a Void Dragon Crystal obtained earlier from the slain void dragon. This crystal contained pure, high-level spatial attribute power, itself extremely valuable as refinement and formation material. The alliance had originally planned to use it to upgrade Space Piercing Shuttles or construct more powerful spatial sealing formations.
But at this moment, Second Brother's research direction was not the crystal's material application, but its deeper-level characteristics.
Dozens of filament-thin probes made of spiritual energy extended from around the operation table, carefully contacting the Void Dragon Crystal's surface, amplifying and analyzing faint energy fluctuation signals, presenting them in real-time on surrounding screens. On the screens flowed data streams and complex three-dimensional energy spectrograms like waterfalls.
"Wrong... the regular spatial energy resonance frequency isn't like this..." Second Brother murmured, his virtual fingers quickly moving in the air, adjusting probe parameters and filter algorithms. "Remove background void radiation interference... filter out the crystal's self-stable dissipating energy bands..."
The data stream on screen became purer, and an extremely faint yet strangely periodic fluctuation signal was gradually extracted from the massive noise—like catching a specific whisper in a bustling crowd.
"Found it!" Second Brother's voice carried restrained excitement. He magnified that signal band. Its waveform was not a smooth sine wave but presented a subtle, constantly self-folding and unfolding complex fractal structure, carrying an indescribable, cold "texture."
"This fluctuation... doesn't originate from the crystal itself, nor is it any known spatial phenomenon..." Second Brother's virtual image quickly accessed the alliance's vast database for comparison. "Energy level extremely high, structure extremely stable, carrying strong 'branding' characteristics... more like some... residual 'trace'?"
He fell into deep thought, his soul core slightly fluctuating as he calculated various possibilities at high speed. This Void Dragon Crystal came from the void dragon guarding the Demon Nest entrance, and between the dragon, the Demon Nest, and the Demonic Entity, there must certainly exist deep energy connections, or the dragon might even be a creation derived from the Demonic Entity's power.
A bold conjecture flashed through Second Brother's mind like lightning.
"If... if the Demonic Entity, when escaping at the end, employed some spatial means surpassing convention—in essence also extremely high-level spatial law application... then, could it have left in the void a unique energy imprint of the same origin as this 'trace'?"
This thought energized him. He immediately adjusted the experimental plan, no longer passive receiving but attempting active excitation!
He controlled the probes, carefully injecting a strand of pure spiritual energy into the Void Dragon Crystal following that special fluctuation's inverse phase.
Hum—!
The Void Dragon Crystal shook violently. The internal nebula vortices behaved like water disturbed by a thrown stone, surging intensely! Midnight blue light suddenly blazed, but not dazzling—instead spreading like ripples, forming circles of pale blue, visible spatial ripples in the laboratory.
More astonishingly, at the center of those spreading ripples, in the air above the operation table, several strands thinner than hair by thousands of times, nearly transparent silver filaments faintly appeared! These filaments twisted and coiled, faint and fleeting as if ready to break and dissipate at any moment, but the energy fluctuation they emitted matched exactly the faint signal captured by the crystal! Moreover, these silver filaments seemed attracted by some invisible force, faintly pointing toward a direction outside the laboratory!
"Exactly as expected!" Second Brother was so excited that his virtual image flickered. "The Void Dragon Crystal not only can passively sense this same-source high-level spatial energy residue, but under certain conditions can actively manifest it, even provide vague direction!"
He immediately recorded all data, including that silver filament's rough directional angle (though extremely vague), and its energy decay rate.
"The Demonic Entity, at the final moment, employed an escape technique whose energy essence had some homology with this Void Dragon Crystal, or rather with that void dragon's power! This likely because the Demonic Entity resided in the void for so long, its power also absorbed void characteristics, or it itself mastered part of void laws!" Second Brother quickly drew preliminary conclusions. "And this crystal derived from the void dragon acts like a... a 'receiver' tunable to a specific frequency, capable of capturing the extremely faint and rapidly dissipating 'footprints' the Demonic Entity left on spatial structure when escaping!"
The significance of this discovery was enormous!
Before this, searching for the Demonic Entity's whereabouts was like finding a needle in a haystack, with celestial divination severely disrupted and karma-tracing broken due to the Demonic Entity's voluntary abandonment of most power—almost impossible. But now they had found a possible material-energy-level tracking path!
Though these "footprints" were extremely faint, rapidly dissipating with time, and the direction vague—this was nevertheless the first ray of dawn in darkness!
Second Brother immediately compiled this discovery, along with all experimental data, energy spectrum analyses, and his conjectures, into a highest-classified report, sending it through the soul direct connection channel to Acting Alliance Leader Mu Qingfeng and "Shadow Hunting Department" head Third Senior Sister Liu Yun.
In the report he emphasized: Must act immediately! Use this characteristic of the Void Dragon Crystal, before the Demonic Entity's residual spatial traces completely dissipate, to capture as much data as possible for cross-positioning and trajectory projection. Simultaneously, need to search for more items possibly containing similar spatial characteristics (for example cores of other void creatures, or certain ancient artifacts related to the void), to enhance detection sensitivity and accuracy.
This crystal originally regarded as precious material suddenly skyrocketed in value, becoming the potential key to finding the concealed Demonic Entity!
A brand-new, filled with hope yet destined to be arduous tracking path quietly opened in this quiet laboratory. Whether they could catch this brief spatial tail left by the Demonic Entity might directly determine whether the Three Realms could seize the initiative in the future, crushing the potential threat in its embryonic stage.