Chapter 29: The Star-Gazing Pavilion

Chen Hongxu rolled his eyes, ignoring the clearly ambiguous remark from the bumbling Fan. He gripped Fan’s hand even tighter and pulled him along the corridor, which seemed to be fashioned from polished glaze.

A hundred meters ahead, a light appeared. With a single stride, Chen pulled Fan to the end of the passage. Both men were bold and highly skilled, so they felt no fear of whatever monsters or calamities might lie beyond. Moreover, a vision of the world outside the corridor was constantly taking shape in Chen’s mind; he did not know what this meant, but the sensation was hauntingly familiar.

Stepping out of the passage, Chen released Fan’s hand and scanned the surroundings with a look of melancholy.

Fan kept his hand outstretched, utterly stunned by the scenery. Ignoring the redness and swelling where Chen had deliberately squeezed him, he tremblingly reached up to pinch his own cheek, whispering in disbelief, "This... this..."

Seeing that Fan could not even complete a sentence, Chen placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. "This city is called the World, or the City of the World," he said in a low voice. "The people outside cannot enter through the vortex; only those who possess a Martial Embryo and have contemplated the staircase runes can step inside."

Fan recovered from his shock and glanced at Chen with a hint of surprise. "Brother Chen, isn't this your first time here too? How do you seem to know so much? As expected of an educated man, your insight is truly extraordinary."

Chen shot him a glare. Reading had nothing to do with understanding this place. Throughout history, no formal academic discipline—not even those dealing with the ethereal concepts of spiritual energy—could explain the City of the World, which defied all scientific logic.

After surveying the dilapidated houses, Chen led Fan forward, moving as if he were intimately familiar with the terrain.

Soon, the two arrived before a massive, nondescript hall. The hall had no doors, and four pillars that seemed to stretch into infinity supported the front structure. A plaque hung above the entrance, inscribed with characters that were clearly visible yet impossible to decipher.

"Star Observatory!" Chen murmured.

Had they known each other for only a day or two, Fan would have dismissed this as Chen showing off. "Observatory my foot," he would have thought; there were clearly only two characters on the plaque, yet Chen had insisted on saying three. However, knowing Chen’s temperament—while not entirely devoid of humor, he rarely joked—Fan decided to play along.

"Brother Chen is truly profound to be able to read such cryptic scribbles," Fan said with a fawning smile, laughing it off.

Chen sighed, tapped his own temple without offering an explanation, and gestured for Fan to follow him inside.

The interior of the hall was vast and empty. The floor was paved with two distinct colors, black and white, separated by clear boundaries. The black sections flanked the sides, while the white lay in the center. The perspective was bizarre: the white path, ten meters wide at the entrance, seemed to narrow to a single meter at the far end. Yet, from Chen’s angle, the edges of the white path remained perfectly straight, without the slightest distortion.

"From an architectural standpoint, this design is called visual illusion. It is based on..." Fan, having also noticed the oddity of the floor, clutched his hand to his chin, feigning a look of profound expertise.

Chen would have loved to hear him ramble, but this was no time to waste on trivialities. He patted Fan, who was still lost in his architectural musings, and said solemnly, "Be careful. The space in this hall is distorted."

"I know!" Fan nodded earnestly.

Chen stopped wasting words and began walking along the white path.

"Wait, Brother Chen, what do you mean by 'distorted'?" Fan caught up, scratching his head in embarrassment.

"It means your upper body might be right next to me, while your lower body ends up in the corner of the hall," Chen explained in plain terms.

"How stylish, a clone?" Fan’s eyes lit up. "And then?"

"And then you die," Chen said firmly, tapping Fan’s shoulder before moving on.

"Die?" Fan gulped and reached down to check his crotch, feeling a wave of relief that everything was still attached. He jogged to catch up, sticking out his tongue. "Inseparable," he muttered.

Reaching the end of the white floor, Chen looked back and noticed the entrance now appeared to be only a meter wide, while the spot where he stood was ten meters across.

He frowned but did not linger. Space was not something he could comprehend just yet, and it was better to get straight to the point. The Star Observatory, as the name implied, was for observing the stars.

After winding through the small courtyard inside the hall, Chen arrived before a towering pavilion. It had no doors or windows, offering no clue as to how one might enter.

Fan squatted behind Chen, drawing circles on the ground with his index finger. Nothing here followed conventional logic, and his past experience was useless. To avoid causing trouble or stumbling into some unknown horror, he decided to stay quiet.

Chen circled the pavilion three times. Suddenly, a surge of powerful energy erupted from his palm as he pressed it against the outer wall. Instantly, runes began to shift and dance under his palm, responding to the runes emerging from the wall.

After a long while, beads of sweat broke out on Chen's forehead. He felt as though he were being drained dry, but he knew this was vital for the opportunity he and Fan were seeking. "Fan, help me brush the dust off my shoulder."

"When did Brother Chen become such a germaphobe, fussing over a bit of dust?" Fan grumbled, though he stood up and reached out. Immediately, he felt a powerful suction pulling at his shoulder, as if his very life force were being drained. Before he could shout, "Brother Chen, you're scamming me!", he began to circulate his own energy, turning his passive state into an active flow of power.

He knew exactly what Chen needed. Soon, the runes under Chen’s palm flickered and vanished, and both men were overcome by a wave of exhaustion.

Chen’s legs gave out, and he collapsed backward.

Fan, dizzy and lightheaded, opened his eyes to see Chen falling toward him. Even with his remaining strength, he was too embarrassed to dodge.

With a grimace, Fan served as a human cushion as Chen landed on top of him. Catching a glimpse of the upturned corners of Chen’s mouth, Fan smiled knowingly and shifted his gaze to the spot where Chen’s palm had been pressed.

A number had appeared there.

"33"...