The duration of this state was unknown, but Ren Yuanhao felt no hunger. His feet, however, had been moving non-stop, growing numb and sore.
In the endless darkness, fear gnawed at his courage little by little. Yet, he dared not shout aloud, lest the constant, buzzing echoes pierce his eardrums.
Echoes?
His body suddenly jolted. If he could hear echoes, then there must be an end!
"Sound travels at 331 meters per second in air. If I can measure the time it takes for the sound to feed back, I can calculate how far the end is!"
Ren Yuanhao's spirits lifted instantly. However, before he could even let out a shout, another problem arose: the feedback frequency of the echoes was extremely high, and the sound didn't just come from the front but from all directions. Therefore, how could he capture the correct feedback time?
Of course, this problem wasn't insurmountable. After all, he possessed the Bi Hai Chao Sheng Jue, which allowed him to precisely control his hearing!
With this thought, he immediately sat down cross-legged and glanced at the quartz watch on his left hand. The second hand was moving accurately, but no matter how it moved, the minute and hour hands remained completely still.
Time held no meaning here.
"Let's test the front first."
Ren Yuanhao circulated his internal energy, his entire being seeming to sink into the boundless darkness, meditating within it. After about thirty seconds, he finally whispered a 'yi' towards the front.
After 13 seconds, the sound fed back.
"13 seconds, meaning a distance of nearly 4 kilometers."
Ren Yuanhao circulated his energy again to block the continuous, buzzing echoes. After a moment, he measured the other three directions using the same method, but the results made him gasp!
"All 13 seconds? This means I am indeed standing at the exact center of the space? Or perhaps I have been walking in place the entire time, never getting any closer to any of the ends from the very beginning?"
13?
Ren Yuanhao suddenly remembered this ominous number. It was the name of the thirteenth disciple of Christ in the Old Testament, a symbol of Satan!
Of course, this number also represented the beginning of a cycle. But what significance did it hold here?
Ren Yuanhao immediately got up and rushed forward for about three to five minutes, then measured again using the same method. As he had suspected, the time was still 13 seconds!
"Hey, handsome, beautiful? Stop messing with me, I'm busy."
Ren Yuanhao felt utterly defeated, completely crushed. Even racking his brains, he couldn't fathom the mystery of this place. He was just going in circles, and even without hunger, he could be worn out, suffocated to death.
This sense of frustration was a despair without retries, no loading or saving. However, he knew one thing: the System Girl would never play such a trick on him.
This was the only reason he could maintain his composure.
Just then, he suddenly recalled what the System Girl had said before he jumped into the vortex: 'To enter the vortex, one must gain its approval, or be crushed to pieces.' Since he hadn't been crushed, didn't that mean he had already been recognized by the hidden shop?
"Yes, the shop owner must want me to unravel the secret of this space before appearing to meet me!"
With renewed hope, Ren Yuanhao perked up again, his mind constantly substituting the number '13' into the illusory, ethereal space.
"13, the end of one cycle, the beginning of another..."
For some reason, he suddenly thought of the Yin-Yang fish, of Snake, of—a circle!
"A circle?"
Ren Yuanhao slapped his thigh, suddenly bursting into wild laughter. "Hahahaha, Senior, I finally understand! I've been walking in circles within a circle. This place isn't static; it's rotating clockwise or counter-clockwise. When I thought I was running forward, I was actually running along an arc! That's why I could never reach the end!"
In the endless darkness, as Ren Yuanhao spoke, it gradually brightened. Directly in front of him, a man of about fifty years old appeared.
The man stood with his back to Ren Yuanhao, his silver hair slicked back in a pompadour. His tailored tailcoat billowed without wind, and his attire was remarkably gentlemanly. He held a black-brimmed hat in his left hand and a black iron saber in his right. The quenched blade glinted with a chilling coldness. Even more terrifying was the man's presence alone, which exuded a sharp, saber-like aura!
"You finally figured it out."
"Uh, just a stroke of luck, a stroke of luck." Ren Yuanhao dared not be careless, let alone arrogant.
"It's not good for a man to be so low-key. The more arrogant you are, the fewer opponents you'll have. If I were you, I'd be so arrogant I wouldn't even recognize myself!"
—Damn, this uncle is a bit too cool!
Ren Yuanhao swallowed, only to hear the man continue, "Indeed, you are intelligent and can stay calm. Your mind works quickly, but you're not arrogant enough. That point doesn't quite suit my taste. However, since you've passed the assessment, all items in the hidden shop will be open to you."
—It's better to be low-key in this world, after all, there are plenty of people who want to harm me.
Ren Yuanhao silently grumbled, then asked, "Uncle, this shop~"
"Don't call me uncle. We're not that familiar."
"Then what should I call you?" Ren Yuanhao thought: Uncle, you're a bit difficult to get along with.
"Call me? No need. This might be our last interaction, no need to remember me."
—Damn, uncle, you're not being fair! Aren't you cursing me to death? Besides, who wants to remember you anyway?
Ren Yuanhao's expression turned a bit awkward, his lips moving, but he couldn't say a word. No, it wasn't that he couldn't, but that he simply didn't know what to say.
"Boy, you want to ask, since it's a hidden shop, why is it empty? You can't even see a single thing, right?"
Ren Yuanhao's forehead creased. He thought: Uncle, you should really watch your words. That's how you maintain that aloof image in my mind!
He felt that he had accumulated enough grumbles for the day. He sighed slightly and then nodded in agreement.
"Since it's called a hidden shop, the treasures are naturally hidden. Whether you can find them depends on your luck, kid."
Ren Yuanhao's mind was racing. He thought: I finally managed to get in, intending to ransack the place, but uncle is talking about metaphysics? That's not very fair!
"Alright, get ready. You have 30 seconds."
"Uh, wait, 30 seconds for what?"