466: Players attending the event

Player Divine Craftsmanship, dressed in light black armor, wielded a man-sized greatblade, severing the head of a Demon Race Player. He roared, leaping out like a fighter jet, landing on a small sand dune to the west.

This sand dune, made entirely of sand, was inherently unstable. With his stomp, it immediately bore immense pressure, collapsing with a roar and even causing the surrounding sand to form a vortex.

Seeing this, Divine Craftsmanship laughed twice, then leaped up again, tapping several more sand dunes before finally dispelling his overbearing strength and steadying himself on a giant rock.

Crack!

Although the giant rock was sturdy and Divine Craftsmanship had discharged some force, his stomp still caused it to crack. Before long, it split into two halves, demonstrating the overbearing power of Divine Craftsmanship.

But it also showed how poor his control over that power was.

Powerful Cultivators can control their power freely, making heavy things light and light things heavy, or destroy a town or even a continent with a flick of a finger, or land a punch that only scrapes an inch of skin.

The exquisite mastery involved made Divine Craftsmanship very envious and longing.

He came to the Great Desert to fight and headed towards the Ascension Assembly, also to solve this problem.

He was a Veteran Player, having played in the Xuanhuan World for a long time, but for a long period, he had a typical 'player' mentality. He didn't follow quests, plots, or dungeons. Instead, he played whatever he found interesting, liking to dig for 'hidden' things everywhere.

Even in the novice dungeon meticulously crafted by the state-stabilizing seal, he didn't follow the guided quests but searched and dug everywhere.

This playstyle led him to discover many hidden Secret Realms, Legacies, or Spirit Ore and Spirit Medicine, allowing him to cultivate an extremely overbearing Cultivation Technique. Combined with a Fifth-Grade Greatblade dug out from a certain grotto, his combat power was among the best in Foundation Establishment.

However, at the same time, he was also pulled into a hidden 'blacklist' by the state-stabilizing seal, which deemed that although this player could be guided by some complex hidden quests, he was ultimately difficult to control.

So, when the state-stabilizing seal secretly distributed spiritual resources to easily controllable players, Divine Craftsmanship received nothing.

Once, Divine Craftsmanship discovered that Immortal Caves where Golden Core Immortal Masters had secluded themselves would give birth to Heaven And Earth Treasure. Thus, he developed an interest in exploring Immortal Caves and gathered many like-minded individuals.

Initially, the gains were good, but when they explored the Immortal Caves of some powerful Immortal Masters, they would occasionally trigger lingering defensive measures, or even be suppressed and killed by the True Intent left behind by others.

This caused Divine Craftsmanship's companions to dwindle, and he himself died repeatedly. His cultivation remained stagnant, unable to Breakthrough to Golden Core.

To this day, he, a Veteran Player, is still only at Foundation Establishment, having failed to Breakthrough to Golden Core.

What's more, if it were just a lack of spiritual resources, he could still endure by patiently waiting.

But there was a problem with the Dao Lineage Divine Craftsmanship cultivated. This Legacy, dug out from who-knows-where, could only be cultivated to Foundation Establishment. The path beyond was directly cut off.

Having no choice, Divine Craftsmanship could only seek a new Legacy, attempting to switch his cultivation.

And in the current turbulent and chaotic situation, directly abandoning one's cultivation to start anew is extremely dangerous; a slight mishap could lead to being completely left behind.

So Divine Craftsmanship and many other players held the same idea:

First, pass the Ascension Assembly with Foundation Establishment strength, proving their Heart-Nature and talent, gaining recognition from the Eastern Domain Sects, and then start anew, subsequently joining a Sect as Mortals and cultivating a new Dao Lineage from scratch.

This was equivalent to the most Righteous Path and most successful path for restarting and changing professions.

The only problem was that the Ascension Assembly had limited spots, so everyone had to fight it out first.

Fortunately, Divine Craftsmanship's combat power was decent, allowing him to fight his way to the westernmost point, only tens of miles from the entrance of the Ascension Assembly.

"It should be here..."

Divine Craftsmanship looked to the west, his Spiritual Sense sweeping across, and flew closer, his brows tightly furrowed.

All he could see was still a desolate landscape.

The yellow sand gradually thinned here, but beyond the desert was still uninhabited barren land. He would have to continue west to reach the fertile lands of Yanwang Prefecture.

The Ascension Assembly was set up on the border, and theoretically, it should be very conspicuous, easily discoverable by Cultivators.

But Divine Craftsmanship circled around and saw nothing, even making him suspect if he had missed the time and the Ascension Assembly had already ended.

At this moment, Divine Craftsmanship suddenly saw a player flying west, stopping in mid-air for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, then forming an incomprehensible hand seal, and his figure suddenly vanished without a trace.

"Hmm?"

Divine Craftsmanship immediately realized something was wrong. He quickly flew to where the person had stopped earlier, carefully investigated, but still found nothing.

He knew very well that there must be some kind of arrangement here, either a hidden Grand Array or an independent Secret Realm.

The most crucial thing was that the Ascension Assembly had limited spots, and all players were competitors. Those who found a way in would most likely not announce the news.

This made things difficult.

Many players were stuck at this step, unable to grasp the key.

Fortunately, Divine Craftsmanship was a player who liked to tinker. In previous years, he often explored the Immortal Caves where Immortal Masters had cultivated, learning many methods.

Therefore, he carefully observed and confirmed his surroundings, then contacted a few acquaintances skilled in Formation, and bought some potentially relevant spells from the trade shop.

After several hours of practical attempts, he finally found the key.

He formed a hand seal and cast a spell. A stream of light flashed, and the scene before him drastically changed.

Divine Craftsmanship first felt a refreshing breeze, followed by the cries of cranes, and seemingly the long calls of deer, all mixed with the tinkling sound of spring water.

He blinked. What appeared before him was like an oasis in the desert, or a rich plains city forcibly moved into the desert, so beautiful it didn't seem like a Mortal scene.

Lush vegetation, tinkling spring water, gurgling streams, and towering, neat, shining city walls.

He scanned around, unable to see the end of the city walls, neither their extension to the sides nor their height upwards.

Here, his Spiritual Sense was also sealed, so he couldn't determine whether it was some method that made the city walls appear massive, or if such a truly gigantic city had been moved into the Great Desert.

Finally, his gaze narrowed to the city gate entrance, a gate so massive it could accommodate hundreds of people walking shoulder-to-shoulder. Many Cultivators were currently waiting at the entrance, all in the posture of Immortals looking up, standing suspended in mid-air, a faint smile on their lips, appearing elegant.

Divine Craftsmanship, who had always been fearless, suddenly became nervous. He knew what kind of heaven-defying methods were required to conceal such a massive city within a Grand Array and construct it in the desert.

He also knew what kind of powerful Legacy the force behind such methods would possess. Once he successfully joined them, his future would naturally be limitless.

Thus, for the first time since entering the Xuanhuan World, he felt inferior about his talent, which in turn generated fear, and then a slight apprehension about the path ahead.

His body tensed, and for a moment, he forgot to step forward, merely remaining in place.