Wuchen returned the next morning with a diagram of the central furnace and a second ledger. Wei and Qinghe waited in the outer room after checking the papers. Yan sat across from the registrar at the lower observatory map table.
The diagram showed the provincial lines converging on a central chamber. The furnace did not create power from nothing. It gathered the ordinary force carried by each barrier, aligned the channels, and released surges before any single wall took the full pressure.
“The anchor keeps the pathways from shifting,” Wuchen said. “When the pressure rises, he holds them together long enough for the outer lines to settle.”
Yan studied the marks. “How long is each cycle?”
“It depends on the storm. The anchor may hold for hours, or for several days if the network continues to destabilize.”
“And the harm?”
Wuchen opened the ledger. It listed injuries, recovery times, and the dates of each anchor’s service. The former anchors had suffered fractures, internal burns, and damage to their spiritual channels. Their lifespan had shortened with each cycle.
Yan read the entries slowly. “These costs belong to the practitioner?”
