AZI Volume 3 Chapter 50

"Hmm. At least I'm not made to walk for as long as I did the first time."

Emerging out of the tunnel, Long Hua and Tian Cheng arrive at the site of an abandoned city.

Much of the buildings in this city possesses a frame made from white stone—with panels of glass filling in the voids.

If one could restore the entirety of the city back to its original glory, it might have been a captivating sight to overlook from where Long Hua and Tian Cheng currently are, but in the present, most of these structures are damaged, and covered in molds.

And judging by the designs of these buildings, whatever civilization that was once here had leaned towards a taste that is between futuristic and ancient—something reminiscent of an alien civilization.

"…"

Raising his head, Long Hua looks upward.

Looming over the top of this city is the same crystal cluster that was seen in the arena, but the size of this one makes the first look like a joke.

"This city's structure… Makes no sense. What kind of place was this in the past?"

Just as Long Hua had asked this, Tian Cheng says—

"Master, behind us."

"Hm?"

Turning towards the direction that Tian Cheng is pointing at, Long Hua sees a sign posted on top of the tunnel that they had emerged from.

Some of the characters on this sign aren't recognizable, but the bits that Long Hua does recognize give him a hint on what word, or phrase these characters are supposed to form.

"Exit to the surface?"

Taking in the fact that the tunnel network that they had been in was meant to lead up to the surface—that is a desert, Long Hua is even more confused than before.

Assuming the denizens of this city were supposed to be able to head up to the surface, why was the tunnel made so difficult to navigate through?

"Hmm."

Thinking the same, Tian Cheng approaches what appears to be a computer terminal made from stone.

Pinned to the wall above this terminal is a shattered screen, and to the right of this terminal is a wide staircase that leads into the city.

"Master, if you will."

Looking to Long Hua, Tian Cheng gestures to the damaged terminal.

Realizing what she meant, Long Hua walks over to the terminal, and presses a hand onto it, while muttering—

"Tai Xuan."

Immediately, the shattered screen and terminal are covered in a hue of white light, and upon the light's dissipation, the two objects in question are restored.

Displayed on the restored screen are—

"…These odd shapes, are they all the different ways that the tunnel can be rearranged?"

"The codes next to these shapes, they seem to be command codes."

Tilting her head, Tian Cheng enters one of the codes that is written beside the rightmost shape.

*Guuuuuuu!* immediately, the sound of a tremor came from within the tunnel.

Judging by the noise—that is reminiscent of stones rubbing against one another, it's easy for Long Hua to guess that the entirety of the tunnel network might have just been rearranged in accordance with the command code that Tian Cheng had just entered.

Taking a step away from the terminal, Tian Cheng remarks—

"There's a high possibility that some misfortunate souls within the tunnel network may have just died."

"…As the cause of their deaths, you really shouldn't be saying that."

Ignoring Long Hua's reply, Tian Cheng says—

"This could mean that there may have been another functioning terminal somewhere."

"You mean to say that the platform we were on being flipped wasn't some sort of accident, and that someone actually hit the command codes to attempt to kill us?"

"Only a guess. Also… Those pillars that master had encountered in the desert, they might have been this civilization's sole means to reduce the burden that their machinery must go through when rearrangements become necessary."

"Being top heavy in certain areas makes it difficult for specific gears to move, so they sweep the excessive amount to somewhere else, is that it?"

Nodding her head, Tian Cheng replies—

"There's also the possibility that the tunnel itself may have been preprogramed to change its arrangements at set intervals. If that is the case, my previous thoughts of there being another functioning terminal can be dismissed."

"That also means to say that the denizens of this city, they aren't meant to go outside, and the tunnel itself is meant to be a way… To keep intruders from coming in? Were they trying to keep practitioners out? If so, I don't see the point of this. A powerful practitioner could easily tear through the sand, and descend from above."

Agreeing with Long Hua's analysis of the city's arrangements, Tian Cheng frowns in thought beneath the helmet.

"Hmm."

Turning in the direction of the city, Long Hua looks towards one of the buildings that stand out to him greatly.

This building is purposefully slanted at an angle, making it look like a blade that is just jutting out of the earth. And with this building being positioned in the very heart of this city, it might have been considered the most important part of this site.

At the same time, the tip of this blade-like building is pierced into the walls; granting it the possibility of being connected to another area.

"Guess we should head down, and take a look."

As Long Hua moves down the wide staircase, Tian Cheng follows suit.

The journey downwards wasn't anything eventful, but upon stepping onto the city streets—

"Hm?"

Constricting his eyes beneath the helmet, Long Hua detects the presence of spirit Qi looming a few hundred meters above his head.

"Up there, is it?"

Looking upwards at the crystal cluster—that is giving off an overwhelming amount of radiance, Long Hua sees a swirling mass of spirit Qi inside its body.

Following this, a magic circle manifests beneath the tip of the crystal cluster—to cover the entirety of the city.

The design of this magic circle consists of numerous clockfaces; and as the needles of these clockfaces turn counterclockwise, the damaged buildings are gradually restored.

"They seem to be welcoming us, master."

With the restoration of the buildings, humanoid figures began to manifest.

Judging by the design differences of these individuals' attires, they seem to belong to two different factions.

The first faction is made up of those dressed in different forms of full-body armor, while the second faction is formed of people dressed in archaic robes, the common attire of practitioners.

"Those dressed in armor seem to be Sinners in their Partial-Apotheosis states."

As soon as Tian Cheng says this, all individuals—regardless of their faction, turn their eyes towards their direction.

Raising a frown, Long Hua mutters—

"Not exactly the sort of welcome I was hoping for."

Not going to bother counting the number of enemies that there are, Long Hua can already tell that this is far more than what he can hope to handle on his own.