Chapter 474: The Floating City
Chapter 474: The Floating City
What kind of beings were Arcane Masters? In Zuo Meng’s memories, Aks had once explained this to him.
Arcane Masters were truth-seekers. Power was merely a side effect of their pursuit, never their true goal.
Zuo Meng stared at the sheep skin scroll in his hand, lost in thought. Strangely, his soul felt no shock upon reading this information, as if he’d always known the answer. Yet his memories showed no trace of such knowledge. He was certain he’d never experienced anything related in his previous “lives.”
“What is real?”
Zuo Meng set down the scroll. For the first time, he doubted this world’s reality. The system’s task now intrigued him—he realized it had been pushing him to see beyond this world from the start.
“Enough. Focus on the task.”
Using the scroll’s information, Zuo Meng employed his Morning Star-level power to analyze and perceive. This method surpassed Sword Saint-level techniques. Ordinary people couldn’t replicate it even with instructions, like handing starship blueprints to a caveman who’d only see kindling. Yet in an advanced civilization, those same blueprints would be priceless. Perception defined value.
“This might actually work…”
When Zuo Meng channeled the scroll’s energy into the system, new text appeared beneath his task:
Name: Aige
Note: Only one living person deserves this name—you.
Power: Morning Star (1,200 years)
Lifespan: 10 years, 2 days
Task: Ascend 30,000 meters. Your target awaits there.
A yellow exclamation mark materialized in his vision, game-like waypoints pinpointing the location. The system’s interface deepened Zuo Meng’s doubts. Could such things exist in the real world?
“Time to investigate.”
Without bidding farewell, Zuo Meng soared skyward. Flight came easily at his Morning Star level. While sky knights could fly in this world, their altitude and speed were limited. Reaching 30,000 meters required a Sword Saint’s domain—yet even those who managed it never found the Floating City. Mobile and cloaked in magic, the Arcane Masters’ fortress evaded all searchers. History showed aged Sword Saints fruitlessly chasing this legend. To the floating civilization below, they were just large ants.
Guided by the system’s marker, Zuo Meng flew half a day before reaching the thin, frigid air at 30,000 meters. The conditions would kill ordinary people and challenge knights, but meant nothing to him.
“This should be the spot.”
He paused midair, reaching through the clouds. His hand met nothing.
“Physical contact’s impossible.”
Zuo Meng understood now. Simple invisibility would’ve been discovered ages ago. The Arcane Masters operated on an entirely different plane—their spatial magic alone could crush the entire world below. Even nuclear-armed civilizations bound by physical laws couldn’t touch shadow-dwelling enemies.
“Let’s test the theory.”
No more hesitation. Zuo Meng unleashed his full power for the first time since awakening. Stellar phantoms swirled around him as space warped, gravity bending unnaturally.
*Crack.*
His vision shifted like a retuned radio. The clouds contorted, revealing a dark iron metropolis. The “sky” beneath his feet became bluestone pavement.
The Floating City.
Sought by generations of Sword Saints, found effortlessly by someone with Morning Star power and twelve centuries of lifespan—advantages no surface-dweller possessed.
Zuo Meng withdrew his energy, finding himself on an alien street. The transition felt surreal, like a buoyant cork transforming into an iron weight to glimpse the ocean depths.
“Greetings, great Arcane Master. Welcome to the Floating City.”
A tin-can-shaped figurine perched on a lamppost addressed him.
*Artificial lifeform?*
Zuo Meng studied the construct. It radiated minimal magic—crude spells requiring little energy yet granting startling intelligence. Identical figures stood on every tenth lamppost, all linked to some central terminal controlled by their Arcane Master creator.
“How may I serve you?”
“I seek someone named Aks.” Everything here fascinated Zuo Meng, but completing his system task came first. Aks was likely the quest NPC.
“Three wisdom coins for personnel search,” the figurine recited smoothly.
*Wisdom coins.* Zuo Meng fingered regular gold pieces—useless here.
“I’ll find him myself.”
Poverty constrained his options.
“We await your next patronage.”
The figurine bowed politely despite the rejected service, then stiffened back into an ordinary lamppost decoration.