The central furnace still shook under the same storm surge. Yan kept both hands on the inner ring and continued the Final Offering cycle already active at the end of the previous chapter. He did not restart the method.
Its anchor benefit held the central line. The art’s normal costs through body, foundation, soul, and lifespan reversed into strength, density, coherence, and added vitality. Yan felt each turn leave him more able to carry the current. He grinned when a stronger pulse passed through the ring.
Qinghe called the west conduit reading from the console. It had fallen behind the inner measure. “Keep the ring steady while I redirect the next turn.”
Yan matched his breath to the marked rhythm. At her signal, he shifted the current by a finger’s width. The furnace glow evened, and the central line stopped pulling against the outer brace.
A furnace worker recorded the cycle time and studied the old operator register. “Were the earlier operators told what the technique would take from them?”
The register listed years spent but not the full sequence or any alternative. Yan looked at the page. “Write down what happened to them as it was recorded. And add what the measured practice does to me. Those are both true, but they aren’t the same result.”
