📖 Chapter 930 - A City of Paper
"The Starfall Empire…" Wang Baole's breathing slightly quickened. His understanding of the Starfall Realm was far from that of the Chosen from large clans and factions. Now, he had seen the White Paper Cosmos, paper stars, and Black Paper Sea. Everything here was made of paper.
The paper human cutout in front of him, with a formidable cultivation base, said, “Welcome to the Starfall Empire.”
After connecting all the dots, he came to a faint realization. The Starfall Realm was just the name of a place, but the ruler of this place was the Starfall Empire. Its strength and foundation must be extremely deep, such that the entire Never-Ending Dao Domain had to acknowledge its existence. They couldn’t interfere with it by force, so they had to follow its rules.
‘Perhaps in the eyes of the Never-Ending Dao Domain, although the Starfall Empire is powerful in its own right, it’s also because it possesses a home ground advantage...’ As Wang Baole's thoughts raced, he began to yearn for the vastness and mystery of the Never-Ending Dao Domain.
‘I wonder when I'll be able to soar through the boundless skies and seas of the Never-Ending Dao Domain, just like Senior Brother!’ With such thoughts surging in his heart, Wang Baole's eyes revealed anticipation. He looked at the people from the Never-Ending Dao Domain who had arrived around him and greeted the paper human cutout. As the paper human cutout whose cultivation had reached an unbelievable level raised its right hand and waved gently, a vast teleportation force immediately spread in all directions.
Sensing the irresistible teleportation force, Wang Baole could not help but turn his head to look at the Black Paper Sea and the spirit boat on the shore. When he looked over, he saw the paper human cutout that had accompanied him walking down from the boat. It seemed to have sensed Wang Baole's gaze as it looked at him and nodded slightly.
Wang Baole nodded as well. Then his gaze shifted further away, to the sea. Looking at the endless expanse of black, he suddenly felt that… this Black Paper Sea seemed to be somewhat in disharmony with the rest of the Starfall Empire.
"Black paper, white paper…"
Muttering to himself, his vision blurred as the teleportation force around him activated. His figure became indistinct, and he vanished along with the rest of the Chosen.
All the paper human cutouts disappeared as well. In the blink of an eye, the entire shore was empty. When Wang Baole's consciousness recovered, he and the Chosen who had passed the first assessment had already appeared in a huge city!
To be precise, it was the northwestern corner of the city, on a huge public square surrounded by a dense crowd of paper human cutouts of varying sizes and ages.
Some were as big as giants, while some were small like infants. The old ones had paper beards on their chins, while the young ones looked like teenagers. Even though they were made of paper, they gave off a youthful vibe.
Their gazes were also different. There was curiosity, coldness, hostility, and also kindness.
At that moment, they all looked at the hundreds of people including Wang Baole. It seemed that in their eyes, Wang Baole and his group were all freaks. There were even some discussions that drifted with the wind.
"These outlanders are so strange. Their bodies are actually made of flesh and blood…"
"A body made of flesh and blood… Heavens, the Creator is truly miraculous. He can actually even do this!"
"I heard that most life forms outside are like this. Their evolution is not perfect."
"That's right, how ugly!"
The sounds of discussion fell into the ears of everyone, including Wang Baole. However, no one paid much attention to it. They were all observing their surroundings. After realizing that they were in a city, even though it was only a corner, their expressions soon changed as they spread their divine sense.
‘What a huge city!’ Wang Baole's pupils contracted slightly.
With his Divine Sense, he could sense the vastness of the city. It was almost the size of the entire Earth, and all the buildings were made of paper. As for the specific details, because they were gathered together, they were unable to look into it. However, with a quick scan, the foreign style still made Wang Baole very curious about this place.
As curiosity accumulated in his heart, Wang Baole and the others’ living arrangements were quickly settled by the paper human cutout cultivators from the Starfall Empire. They were arranged to stay at an inn not far from the public square. Everyone had their own room.
After settling them down, a paper human cutout cultivator calmly informed them that the second assessment would begin in three days. If they missed it, they would be disqualified. Furthermore, those who were eligible to participate were not allowed to kill each other before the assessment. Whoever made the first move would lose their eligibility. After that, it ignored them and turned to leave.
"There are no restrictions placed on us?"
"Everything here is paper, just as described in the clan records!"
"Three days is enough!" Seeing the paper human cutout leave, the eyes of all Chosen in the area shone with a strange light. Those who were familiar whispered to each other, then immediately dispersed.
Some chose to stay in the inn and meditate, but most left for the city. Some were even mysteriously discussing and researching something.
Wang Baole didn’t pay attention to the mysterious people. After some thought, he simply left the inn and wandered into this city of the Starfall Empire. He thought that since he was already here, he should take a good look at the place. After all, this world filled with paper had broadened his horizons[1].
‘I wonder if fire is feared in this place…’ Walking on the streets and looking at the bustling crowds of paper people, Wang Baole didn’t know why, but this thought appeared in his mind.
Realizing that his thoughts were dangerous, he quickly suppressed them and allowed himself to relax. Like a tourist, he wandered around the city. As he walked, he saw too many paper human cutouts and learned that the structure of the Starfall Empire was similar to other civilizations. Although he didn't have any local currency, he could still use Spirit Stones and Red Crystals here. There were also many shops, as well as restaurants.
The paper human cutouts needed food as well, but their food was also paper. The special thing was that the paper they used for food was actually transparent.
It was the same for the wine. It looked like water, but after Wang Baole curiously bought a bottle, he realized that it was empty, like gas. As for the various kinds of food made from special paper, even Wang Baole, who was not picky with food, chose to give up after multiple attempts.
However, it wasn't without any benefits. The first thing that shocked him was the cultivation level of the paper human cutouts from the Starfall Empire. The weakest paper human cutout that he saw was comparable to a Nascent Soul realm cultivator. It was like this even for infants.
This left him no choice but to guess that perhaps every paper human cutout here would have a Nascent Soul realm cultivation as their foundation the moment they were born in this world!
As for the Soul Conduit realm, Spirit Immortal realm, and even Planet realm… Wang Baole was dazzled as he walked, and his heart stirred. On one hand, the paper human cutouts’ cultivation was generally very high, and on the other hand, he was like a torch in the night, attracting the attention of countless paper human cutouts wherever he went.
Initially, Wang Baole was a bit uncomfortable but he soon got used to it. In his eyes, as the future Federation President, being used to getting attention was a basic quality.
Other than that, he also realized that there were many shops with Dharmic Artifacts and cultivation techniques in the city.
It was a pity that after buying a few cultivation techniques, Wang Baole realized that they were all like wordless Heavenly Books[2], completely blank. It was as if there was some law affecting them, preventing the technique from being displayed to his eyes.
In fact, that really was the case. In the shop he was in, an elderly paper human cutout who had sent away a few customers turned his head to look at Wang Baole and laughed.
"I knew that it was time for the passage to the outside world to open again, but you are still the first foreign cultivator to come to my shop in all these years."
"Due to our rules and the difference in Laws, you won't be able to see these cultivation technique slips. For example, the one in your hand is called the Crane Technique. Once you master it, you can change your own body structure and turn into a paper crane. It can multiply your speed a few folds. However, the prerequisite is that your body must be like ours."
Hearing the elder's words, Wang Baole immediately cupped his fists respectfully.
"Greetings, Senior. I'm sorry to hear that. It would be great if I could learn the cultivation techniques here." Wang Baole sighed.
"Throughout the ages, I have never heard of foreign cultivators learning the Starfall Empire's cultivation techniques on their own. Unless they are taught by someone, but… do you dare to learn?" Speaking to this point, the elder smiled.