467: proceed with caution

Divine Craftsmanship suddenly recalled an old matter from back when Xuanhuan World was first released, and most players were still Mortals or at the Qi Refining stage.

A player named "Old Potato" had soul-transmigrated into the body of the Empress's Male Consort, thereby revealing the world of Cultivators to the players and showing everyone what the residences of Cultivators truly looked like.

Buildings that seemed ordinary were actually made of spirit wood, gathering Spiritual Qi day and night; even the bricks and tiles beneath one's feet were inscribed with Formation markings, which also served to gather Spiritual Qi and accelerate cultivation.

Beyond that, there were many special designs within the Great Jiang Imperial City, and they even raised spirit fish, making the players of that time feel as if they were looking at a fairyland.

After that, the players' cultivation grew stronger by the day, and the world they saw expanded as well; the Great Jiang Dynasty was eventually completely overthrown, and even the Imperial City was gone.

The Sects established by the players also began to cultivate Immortal Mountains, cast Immortal Cities, and maintain Immortal Pools, which were in no way inferior to the Great Jiang Imperial City of the past.

Divine Craftsmanship had originally thought that they, as players, were no longer those humble, ignorant outsiders.

But now he realized he was wrong.

The reason for Divine Craftsmanship's shock was not just the city's immense size or the lushness of its vegetation, nor was it merely the terrifying fact that it could remain hidden by a Grand Array while situated in the Great Desert.

It was because he could feel that the Spiritual Qi in this small world was so surging it almost made one suffocate, as if simple breathing could cause a Cultivation Technique to run wildly.

And this was in the desolate Great Desert!

Beyond the Spiritual Qi, he could feel that everything around him seemed to possess Formation markings and True Intent; even the most ordinary small stone flowed with the spiritual light of the immortals.

This was terrifying; the Great Jiang Dynasty of the past could not achieve this at all, and neither could the various Sects of the current players.

For a moment, Divine Craftsmanship did not even dare to step forward, fearing that he might accidentally damage some Formation here, disturb the Heaven And Earth Spiritual Essence, and bring disaster upon himself.

It wasn't until he saw a later player enter the city gate that he gathered his courage, followed behind, and slowly walked toward the gate.

Upon drawing closer, Divine Craftsmanship suddenly discovered that the Cultivators guarding the city gate, who had looked from afar like they were standing straight and suspended in mid-air as if waiting for someone, were actually sitting at stone tables and chairs, either drinking tea or playing chess, appearing quite leisurely.

A Maze Formation?

Divine Craftsmanship was startled again, and a sense of fear arose for no reason; he suddenly feared that this place was part of a trial, something similar to the infinite illusions one must face during Core Formation.

Whoosh... After forcing himself to calm down, Divine Craftsmanship stepped forward as steadily as possible.

At that moment, one of the Cultivators watching the chess game suddenly spoke: "There are still three days until the Assembly begins. During these three days, you may tour the Immortal City on your own, but remember... Elders responsible for recruiting disciples occasionally patrol the city; you must never lose your decorum, let alone conflict with others or damage the city's implements."

Divine Craftsmanship's heart trembled, and he quickly replied, "I understand."

He entered the city gate with great caution, but could not help but let out a cry of surprise.

From the outside, the city appeared extremely vast and should have contained various buildings and streets inside.

But once he actually entered, he found the interior of the city somewhat empty, with only a winding brick road guiding the way forward.

Divine Craftsmanship frowned slightly, not knowing what was going on, and stepped onto the road, moving forward one step at a time.

But just as he took a step, a burst of flowing light suddenly flashed on one side of the road, followed by the rising of scorching flames, which startled him so much he almost fell to the ground.

The Cultivator who had spoken at the city gate said again:

"Follow this road forward to the end, and you will reach the true entrance of the Ascension Assembly."

Though Divine Craftsmanship was apprehensive, he still asked, "May I ask what this fire is? Is it a test?"

The Cultivator shook his head and said, "Various methods will constantly appear on both sides of this road, all set up by the various Sects of the Eastern Region to allow participants to understand the Legacies of different Sects."

Divine Craftsmanship realized the situation but became even more vigilant.

They said it was to let participants understand the different Legacies, but who knew if the Sects were using this for testing and screening?

He couldn't help but focus with all his might, feigning composure as he continued forward step by step.

Various methods appeared one after another on both sides: towering flames, rushing rivers, sharp giant swords, flickering Buddha light... Divine Craftsmanship could see the True Intent in some of these methods, but he could not decipher most of them.

Consequently, he felt more and more that this was a screening process, and his heart grew increasingly wary; whenever he could see the True Intent within, he would definitely stop to speak eloquently at length, even performing hand seals to echo the methods, and even if he didn't understand, he would try his best to pretend that he did.

At one point, just as his back foot left an area of flashing sword light, his front foot stepped onto a luxurious carpet, and the empty scenery on both sides suddenly vanished, replaced by the walls of a room.

Divine Craftsmanship's breath hitched.

He looked around cautiously and saw that he had indeed inexplicably entered a room; no doorway was visible, the brick road circled within the room, and there were many shelves on both sides displaying many implements he didn't understand—perhaps Magic Treasures? Or treasures recording Legacies?

Divine Craftsmanship didn't understand, but he guessed that he must have reached a key node; perhaps his performance along the way had won the favor of some Sect, and they had pulled him into this space to test him further?

But what should he do now? Stop and meditate? Or find a way to leave?

For a moment, Divine Craftsmanship was somewhat undecided.

To be honest, while walking along the path just now, although there were bursts of visions and thousands of methods presented, they didn't involve actual Magic Treasures or Formations, and they didn't seem that extraordinary.

But once in this room, Divine Craftsmanship became instantly nervous because he felt that this must be where the trial was located; the things on those shelves must have some purpose, yet he couldn't understand a single one of them.

Divine Craftsmanship thought that no matter what was being examined here, since there was no door, it meant the examiner likely intended for him to stay here for a while.

So he moved forward slowly, wanting to take a look around.

To be honest, although this room was narrower than the previous road, it was still quite spacious overall; the brick road was a full meter wide, and the distance between shelves was about three meters, so it didn't feel oppressive.

But Divine Craftsmanship felt as if he had returned to the time he explored a Golden Core Immortal Cave, as if there were rocks and soil around him that could collapse at any moment, or lethal techniques that could appear at any time, making his movements extremely slow as he didn't dare to take large strides.

Suddenly, he thought of the warning from the Cultivator at the gate and knew he absolutely could not damage the implements here; for a moment, he broke into a cold sweat, constantly watching his hands for fear of bumping into something.

Thus, he forced himself to walk as if the originally spacious road was very narrow; a space that was not inherently dangerous became slightly more so because of how he constantly swayed his arms.

By the time he had circled around and finished seeing the entire room's layout, he was covered in sweat and didn't even dare to breathe heavily.