Deep beneath the lowest sub-basement of the Thousand Treasures Pavilion, past the water tanks and the sealed limestone vaults, lay an underground chamber untouched by mortal feet for a thousand years.
Lin Tao and Tie Shan walked down a narrow spiral stair cut from solid bedrock, lit up only by the faint emerald soft glow of Lin Tao’s test eye.
At the bottom of the stair, an ancient archway of non-shiny black glass was carved with angular sharp-angled glyphs that predated the foundation of the mortal dynasties. Beyond the threshold lay the central Precursor Root End-post of the southern river basin.
The room was vast, cold, and utterly silent.
In the center of the dark rock floor stood an eight-foot console of polished star-bronze, crowned by a floating semi-clear crystal slate that hummed with a low, sixty-cycle shaking ringing. Wires of crystal-clear optic fiber ran from the base of the console into the deep bedrock, connecting to the land-wide ley-line grid.
Lin Tao approached the console, drawing the three-sided white jade Master Key from his cuff.
Beside the key, he extended his four-inch steel land-mapper metal pen, the newly fitted star-white-gold micro-needle catching the dim crystal light.
He pushed in the key into the central receptacle.
