"This is the aerospace propulsion device I've struggled to find, and under specific circumstances, these pillars should be easily pressed down. Otherwise, even if building the Tianji Lock was a miracle in that ancient era without technology, there would have to be a way for someone to open it, right?"
It seems that Professor Yang has some misunderstandings about ancient civilizations.
"Unlocking computation replay finished, completely conforms to the previous calculations; accuracy of the unlocking sequence is 97 percent."
"Only 97 percent? Rounding that off, what's the difference between that and a wild gamble? Calculate it again, perform a full, thorough analysis, and ensure the accuracy is above 98.5 percent."
"Yes!"
After toiling for another half-day, they reluctantly raised the accuracy to 98 percent.
"Prepare to unlock. Is engine number one ready for ignition?"
"Number one engine is ready."
"Ignition—" Professor Yang waved his fists with excitement. The fierce expression on his face made it seem like he was shouting 'fire the cannons,' rather than 'ignition,' had one only observed his face.
BOOM—
From among the multitude of mountains, the top of one peak spouted raging flames. The soaring tail flame seemed to set the peak ablaze, rising like a blue sword light.
The mountain shook violently, and after a soft sound, a cloud of dust scattered. But soon, the shaking of the mountain ceased. No matter how much the aerospace engines were powered, the pillars remained unchanged.
"How... how could this be? Is the unlocking sequence wrong? Calculate it again," Professor Yang roared in frustration.
"The unlocking sequence should be correct. It could be that the engine's thrust is too weak."
"Never mind that, Mr. Jin, let me give it a try," Wang Lan said to Mr. Jin, his form flashing into the air above the mountain in an instant.
"Turn off the engine. It would be a pity to damage it."
Amidst a gust of whistling wind, the engine shut down.
Wang Lan took a deep breath and circulated his Star Power. In a flash, the Star Power from the heavens and earth surged like a tidal wave from all directions. The terrifying concentration of Star Power caused the very heavens and earth to change colors.
The previously sunny skies turned dark with clouds in an instant.
"Wang Lan, be careful not to twist the mountain apart," Mr. Jin shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth.
"Giant Palm!"
Wang Lan thrust his palm toward the mountain fiercely. Instantly, a loud bang echoed as a clear palm imprint appeared on the top of the mountain. The imprint was dozens of meters long and sank more than half a meter deep into the rock.
RUMBLE—
With a loud noise, the mountain began to slowly descend into the ground amidst the roaring. It was only at this moment that Wang Lan truly believed that the peaks of Zhangjiajie could actually be pressed back into the ground.
If there wasn't a hollow space beneath, even if I crushed the mountain into powder, it would not be possible to press it back into the ground.
As the mountain was pressed meter by meter into the ground, the research staff watching from a distance suddenly erupted into cheers like a landslide or a tsunami. The scene was too shocking. The imagined picture and the actual scene were completely different experiences.
The first mountain was pressed down, and everyone's spirits were lifted.
"Next is number two."
Wang Lan's figure flashed, and he appeared instantaneously at the mountain with the number two flag. Using the same technique, he pressed down the second mountain.
There were more than 700 mountains. Pressing them down one by one, even with Wang Lan's strength, was quite exhausting. After three whole days, only the last mountain remained.
This mountain was also the largest among all the pillar-like mountains.
Wang Lan's pressing speed was also significantly slower than before. As he exerted his Star Power to its full capacity, the huge mountain slowly sank into the earth, causing the entire Zhangjiajie region to tremble violently.
BOOM—
With a loud bang, the entire mountain was pressed down.
Wang Lan's form flashed, and he appeared next to Jiang Xinyu, panting and lightly rubbing his lower back. It had been a long time since he had exerted such continuous, strong output.
Everyone held their breath and stared with wide eyes at the now-empty valley in front of them.
After waiting for a few minutes, a sudden breeze swept through. The earth began to tremble. Accompanied by a rumbling sound, the ground started to crack.
Looking down from the sky, one would see countless cracks appearing on the ground. These cracks seemed to curl up like fish scales. Accompanied by plumes of dust shooting into the sky, the ground in the center of the canyon gradually swelled high up.
"Look, everyone, what is that?"
A pointed apex slowly emerged from the ground, continuing to rise and become enormous.
"Is that a pyramid? A pyramid in the East?"
In the blink of an eye, the rising apex revealed its entire appearance—it was the rooftop of a building at least 10 meters tall. After the tip emerged, the main body of the building also gradually appeared.
In just 10 minutes, from what was once an empty plain, a massive complex of buildings slowly rose from underground. Without exception, all these structures were gigantic.
"Could this be... an ancient city?" Professor Yang, as the most learned person present, pushed up his glasses and said in a deep voice, "It's an ancient city, but the overall scale has been magnified at least tenfold."
Half an hour later, the shaking subsided. The vast city, having endured countless years, remained majestic and imposing. What was even more astonishing was that this city had been contained within the Tianji Lock.
To open the Tianji Lock and release a city... If this was the crystallization of ancient human civilization, "crystallization," my foot! Even modern civilization couldn't achieve this without a few hundred to a thousand years of development.
"Let's go, let's go have a look." Not to mention the group of ordinary experts and scholars—even Wang Lan, who had seen Heaven and witnessed the descent of gods, was itching with curiosity and couldn't wait to find out more.
The city walls were at least 100 meters high—how could one even describe their towering presence? Wang Lan went to the base of a wall and looked up; its height was comparable to a 35-story residential building. The city gate was also dozens of meters high and 20 to 30 meters wide.
"A miracle, it's truly a miracle. Did humans really create this?" Professor Yang exclaimed in amazement.
The city gate was made from high-quality ironwood, as hard as steel and exceptionally thick. Wang Lan pushed hard, but the gate didn't budge. Only when he used Star Power did the gate slowly begin to move.
Pushing open the gate revealed a broad, straight road. The group entered, finding the surrounding houses surprisingly large. Although now devoid of people, one could still envision the city's former prosperity through its architecture.
Compared to the scale of the surrounding buildings, the group felt as though they had entered a land of giants.
"The city's inhabitants must have been between 15 to 20 meters tall, judging by the height of the doors, windows, and thresholds of these houses. Does that mean giants really existed in this world?"
"According to ancient mythology, there was a race of giants called the Witch Tribe, transformed from the blood of Pangu, formidable and capable of moving mountains and filling seas. Legend has it that Huzhou Province is the sacred land of Lady Hou Tu, who was born from the Witch Tribe. Could this be a city of the Witch Tribe?"
"If it's related to Lady Hou Tu of the Witch Tribe, why is it a treasure left by Zhang Lingxian? Why can it only be opened by the Zhang Family bloodline?"
"I once met Lady Hou Tu," Wang Lan said. "She told me that after merging paths with the earth, she awoke only twice. The first time was because of Zhang Lingxian. He could have been the first to discover this ancient city."
The ancient city was grand but bereft of everything else besides a few items that could be preserved for a long time. There were no people, no clothing, no books, no texts. Yet they must have had a very special way of recording information.
Engraved upon the stele in the center of the ancient city were inscriptions containing information, but accessing this information required special methods. Rash attempts would not yield information and might even destroy the inscriptions.
"Hey, look over there," someone suddenly pointed toward the depths of the city and shouted, "There's light!"
Everyone looked up and indeed saw lights flickering. They hurried toward the source. They arrived at a vast square where, in the middle, stood a huge circular platform with a diameter of over 100 meters, shining and resplendent.
The stone slabs of the platform were inlaid with countless dazzling and colorful gems like white jade and colored glaze, reflecting brilliant lights under the sun.
Wang Lan suddenly moved. "Everyone, spread out."
They quickly dispersed. With a wave of Wang Lan's palm, dust billowed up from beneath their feet. To everyone's surprise, text appeared before them. The entire city was covered in inscriptions, which had made Wang Lan certain that its occupants didn't use a conventional written language. Yet, unexpectedly, near this mysterious platform, they found actual text.
After deciphering the text, the group realized all at once that these words were not left by the original inhabitants of the city but by Zhang Lingxian over 2,000 years ago.
Zhang Lingxian had reached the Immortal Realm in his later years and often traveled through the vastness with his soul. He knew that to ascend and become immortal, he had to find the Ascending Immortal Stage. Though he could traverse mountains and seas in an instant and had visited every mystical place in his search, all the Ascending Immortal Stages he found were damaged beyond use.
Once, he came to the plains of Zhangjiajie and stirred the divine consciousness of Lady Hou Tu. This allowed him to learn of this still-functional Ascending Immortal Stage. However, Lady Hou Tu informed him that the stage could only be used once, and for only one person to ascend. Zhang Lingxian shouted in excitement, proclaiming himself to be the last person in tens of millennia to achieve immortality.
Reading this, everyone's expressions fell. Although they were in front of the Ascending Immortal Stage, it could only facilitate the ascent of one individual. Since Zhang Lingxian had already ascended 2,000 years ago, the stage was now useless.
"Quick, protect this place!" Mr. Jin immediately realized the importance and shouted, then promptly reported to his superiors.
Wang Lan curiously examined the Ascending Immortal Stage. It didn't seem unusable to him. The array made of gems was intact, and it was clearly an energy-infusing array—activation just required an energy infusion.
Wang Lan tried to channel Star Power into the array. Instantly, the array lit up beautifully, casting a splendid, multicolored light into the sky.
"Wang Lan, what are you doing? Don't be rash!" Mr. Jin yelled anxiously.
"No, this array can be activated multiple times," Wang Lan became even more certain of his conjecture. "Xinyu, stay here. Even if something unexpected happens to me and I'm transported elsewhere, I can return through the Divine Might Space. I'm going to check it out through the array."
Jiang Xinyu knew that she and Wang Lan served as two gates across space. This allowed them to reunite instantly, even if separated by different times and spaces. Although she was nervous, she wasn't overly worried.
