The interior mapping notebook was blank when he bought it. It was a notebook with sixty pages and he got it from the compound supply office fourteen months ago. He bought it to help him with the Hollow preparation. This was after the cessation test, when the AES's interpretation made it clear that he would need to navigate the inner layer based on formation pattern analysis.
The standard way to navigate in an environment is to use the Qi density gradient. This gradient is like a map that shows where the higher-density areas are. Normally the gradient points towards the higher-value zones, which are usually found towards the interior. But the formation of the layers was not natural. It was designed by the Clearwater Sect. They shaped the Qi density gradient to serve the cultivation chambers' needs not to help with navigation. If he read the gradient as if it were natural he would get. End up at the outer edges of the chamber instead of at the central formation substrate where the root grew.
He started filling the notebook in his year when he got some important documents from the restricted archive. These documents gave him information to start building a picture of the Hollows' three-layer architecture. He filled fifty-three pages of the notebook. He had seven pages left.
The first fifteen pages were drawings that showed how the different parts of the Hollow fit together. The outer layer was well documented,. The middle layer was only partially documented. The inner layer was documented using the Clearwater Sects construction specifications and some information from Wei Shan.
The next twenty-five pages were about navigation protocols. He wrote down the procedures for entering and navigating the layer transitioning to the middle layer and accessing the inner layer. He also wrote down the procedures for acquiring the root and navigating back out.
The next thirteen pages were about formation analysis. He identified the formation patterns he would encounter at key points and he wrote down the criteria for identifying them and the protocols for responding to them.
The final seven pages were about planning. He integrated all the information into a day-by-day timeline for the interior period. He started writing this part of the notebook eight days before he was scheduled to enter the Hollow.
The plan for the day was to enter the Hollow and get oriented. He would need to recalibrate his cultivation sense to adapt to the eight-times compression of the ambient Qi. He allocated two and a half hours for this process. After that, he would deploy six formation stones in the layers' northeast quadrant to establish a baseline for monitoring the ambient Qi.
On the day he would enter the middle layer and calibrate his sense again. The layers' Qi density was twelve times that of the exterior ambient Qi so he would need to adjust again. He allocated the two hours of the day for this process. After that, he would navigate to the Clearwater Sect calibration marker in the layer's southern quadrant.
The plan for days three to five was to acquire the root. He allocated three days for this process even though it should only take one or two days if everything went normally. He needed to account for any delays or complications that might arise.
The plan for days six to thirteen was to do some observation work in the layer and collect some additional resources from the outer layer. He had a list of seven formation patterns he wanted to observe and he allocated the remaining time generously in case the root acquisition took longer than expected.
On the day he would prepare to exit the Hollow. He would need to make sure he had everything he needed and that he was ready to transition to the exterior ambient Qi.
The formation stone kit was a part of his plan. He had carefully selected twenty-two formation stones. Put them in a protective wrapping. Ten of the stones were from the northeast corner arrangement and the remaining twelve were from the maintenance inventory's higher-quality stock.
He had mapped out the deployment plan for the stones in the notebook. He knew which stones would go to which positions in which layers. He had six stones for the layers northeast quadrant four stones for the middle layers transition zone and four stones for the inner chambers environmental calibration positions. The remaining eight stones were reserve stones in case something went wrong.
Seven days before he was scheduled to enter the Hollow he did a review of the notebook. He read all sixty pages. Made sure everything was in order. He found three corrections that needed to be made.
The first correction was to the layer's southern quadrant navigation note. The cultivators' account had described the primary formation array as a standard ambient collection array but the Clearwater Sect construction documentation showed that it was actually a directional array. This changed the navigation protocol for the quadrant.
The second correction was to the inner layer approach timing. Wei Shan had described the access formation activation as producing a twenty-minute ambient effect but the complete review showed that this effect only applied within a specific distance from the gate.
The third correction was to the preservation container handling protocol. If the root's ambient absorption rate was unusually high after severing the container's internal formation registration step would require up to twenty additional seconds before the compression seal could be applied correctly.
He made all three corrections. Closed the notebook. He would not open it again until he was at the Hollows formation gate.
The three corrections changed parts of the plan. The first correction changed the layer navigation route, adding about twenty minutes to the southern transit. The second correction changed the inner layer approach timing and the third correction changed the preservation container handling protocol.
The second thing he changed was the inner layer approach wait position. This changed where he would be during the twenty-minute wait after the gate opened. He would stay close to the gate within five meters of moving back to the middle layer. This was a change. If he was within five meters the gate would know he was there and it would be okay.. If he were back at the middle layer the gate might not know he was there and that could cause problems. He did not know this until he did a review. The information was on page thirty-one of the formation diagram. He did not understand it until he read it with the approach protocol.
This is why he did a review. When he only reviewed parts of it he only got part of the information right.. When he did a complete review he got all of the information right. It made sense.
The third thing he changed was the preservation container timing. This was not really a change. An addition. The protocol was already correct. He just added a note to help with a situation that the botanical text talked about in its seventh chapter. It is always a good idea to note these kinds of things.
On the morning of the day before the Hollow, he did his seventeenth and final review of his kit bag.
He checked all seventeen points on the review protocol. The preservation container was. Sealed. The cutting tool was in condition and the isolation field was working. The twenty-two formation stones were all wrapped up and safe. The mapping notebook had three corrected pages and the binding was good. The compound notebook and Foundation file were in the pocket. They were both okay. The standard provisions kit and medical supplies were in the pocket and they were all there. The day-one token was there. It was registered.
It took him thirty-one minutes to do the review. He did not find any problems. Everything was good. He had done seventeen reviews in three weeks. He had found problems three times. The other fourteen times everything was fine.
He was done with the reviews. He did not do another one. He wrote in the compound notebook that the review was complete and the kit was ready.
He put the kit bag in the corner of the room, where it would stay until he left. He had four days to go. He had been in this compound for four and a half years. The kit bag was the thing that showed he was getting ready to leave. Everything else was in files and notebooks or in his body and mind.
On the morning of the day before he left he did his last formation maintenance patrol before the Hollow.
He went to the northeast Greenwood section and checked the formation. It was all good. He had been checking this formation for four and a half years. It was always the same. He had first noticed something about this formation eight months after he started and he had been checking it every three or four weeks since then. It was always dormant and stable.
He had checked it forty-three times. It was always the same. This formation was the stable of the five mysteries he was watching. It was not. It was changing at a level that was too deep for him to see.
After he established his Foundation he would be able to see and he would check this formation again. He had written this down in his mystery file. He would do it in the first month after he established his Foundation. For now, he just noted that it was still the same and he went back to the compound.
He had three days to go.
He spent the afternoon of the day before the Hollow doing his last formation maintenance assignment before he left.
He did a perimeter check of the northwest quadrant. It was the route he had been doing for four and a half years. He checked the formation arrays and the checkpoint positions. He wrote down his notes in the duty log.
As he was doing the check he thought about what he was doing. He was presenting an image to the formation arrays and they were registering it correctly. He would do five assignments like this but he would not really be doing them because he would be in the Hollow. The duty log would show that he was doing them and the formation arrays would show that he was still maintaining the formation.
After he established his Foundation he would still be presenting the image to the formation arrays but things would be different underneath. He had been doing this for four and a half years. He would start doing it differently after he returned from the Hollow.
He finished the perimeter check. Went back, to the secondary hall.
He had five days to go.