novelraw Chapter 1615 - 1616: Guanshi Tower
Chapter 1615 - 1616: Guanshi Tower
The next day, the practice course outside the school didn’t have a change in schedule. Yawning, Feng Yuan took Xiao Ji to class. Little Ice Cream used the moment when Kong Qing was busy taking care of Pomiti and not paying attention to it to sneak away and follow Feng Yuan. Because Big Cat had to deal with matters in the virtual world today, Pomiti had to be taken care of by Kong Qing, which left her a bit flustered for the time being.
However, today’s course content baffled Feng Yuan. Looking at the ruins before him, he couldn’t help but ask Wu Dingwu,
"Why did the course content suddenly jump to ruins exploration? This shouldn’t be something you can handle at this point, should it?"
This is not something you can simply learn and be done with. If it were that easy, there wouldn’t be warnings against ordinary people casually entering unknown ruins. Qi Chen nodded in response to Feng Yuan’s query and said,
"I remember that Emerald Ruins incident. If it weren’t for the White Wolf Deity, we might not have..."
During that Emerald Ruins attack, if the White Wolf Deity hadn’t broken in from the inside, it might have caused serious damage to Maomu City. Qi Chen, having personally experienced that incident, was very wary of various dangerous ruins.
"I don’t know. My sister seemed to mention that we have a curriculum on ruins excavation, but it’s just for a basic understanding, plus she said it was something for next year, so I didn’t pay much attention to it."
Scratching his head, Wu Dingwu said in confusion. In fact, within the academy, many leaders were against moving this content forward abruptly, as they were unsure if doing so would affect the classroom effectiveness.
After all, many of the mechanisms within the ruins are not something you can necessarily dismantle just by understanding their structure. Without sufficient strength, even if you know what the inner structure is, you might not be able to dismantle it.
"Alright, since everyone is here, let’s start the class. See those ruins? They are modeled after the Shengjing Dynasty’s Guanshi Tower. Except for the internal space being different in size, everything else remains consistent with Guanshi Tower. Do you have a question?"
Noticing Feng Yuan raising his hand, Teacher Lu hesitated, then asked. He was genuinely worried Feng Yuan might stir up some trouble. Stepping forward, Feng Yuan asked while looking at the ruins’ entrance,
"If I remember correctly, the average danger rating of Guanshi Tower is at the Elite Level, and the actual danger level should be at the Rare Level."
Saying this, he glanced over his classmates, his meaning clear, and the other party smiled and said,
"Indeed, but the academy’s ruins can be adjusted."
"But doing so would lose its meaning. The technological characteristics of each dynasty in each era are quite different. If you casually lower the danger level, it will only make them negligent in the future. This approach..."
Staring at Teacher Lu, Feng Yuan said bluntly. The teacher was taken aback for a moment and then smiled slightly, saying,
"That’s correct. However, we’ve only halted the aggressive mechanisms inside by simulating damages. As for the rest, it’s fine to leave it for them to study. I won’t be specifically lecturing on decrypting the mechanisms of the Guanshi Tower ruins in this lesson. I hope you will listen to what I teach carefully, then crack more mechanisms in the next class. Of course, if you can enter Guanshi Terrace, there will be a mysterious reward awaiting you."
After saying this, Teacher Lu looked at Feng Yuan, who nodded and retreated into the crowd after a moment of silence. If it was just like this, he indeed didn’t think there was much of an issue.
It wasn’t until after class that Qi Chen found an opportunity to ask Dou Yanlan,
"Is there something special about the Guanshi Tower? Otherwise, why would the teacher do this?"
"Well, the Guanshi Tower is indeed unique."
Pinching her chin, Dou Yanlan said, glancing at Feng Yuan,
"I’m not very clear about the specifics, as these things weren’t part of my primary studies initially. He might know more about it."
"Huh? Guanshi Tower? You guys don’t know about it?"
Surprised, Feng Yuan looked at Dou Yanlan while feeding snacks to Xiao Ji. Seeing the two of them nodding, Feng Yuan thought for a moment and said,
"Hmm... How should I say this, Guanshi Tower is a special relic exclusive to the Shengjing Dynasty. Strictly speaking, the mechanisms in that ruin were not designed for outsiders. Instead, they were set up to locate what they called the Great Stone. However, the defenses, intended to prevent interference during deep meditation, fell into disarray after Guanshi Tower was abandoned due to lack of maintenance, resulting in various dangerous mechanisms."
Reminded of something, Feng Yuan shook his head and said,
"This is probably why the academy uses it as a simulated relic content. The strange mechanisms of Guanshi Tower originate from those initial defense setups combined with various coincidental factors, causing it to be highly random. But if one can see through the origins, they can solve it relatively easily, making it indeed suitable for teaching purposes."
Seeing Dou Yanlan in contemplation while Qi Chen still didn’t understand, Feng Yuan patted Xiao Ji’s head and said,
"Simply put, although the relics of Guanshi Tower are rated at Rare Level danger, the original setup was merely a defense layout. Thus, technically speaking, it can be dismantled. Of course, this doesn’t mean I have to intervene personally."
Hearing this, Qi Chen was taken aback and asked in surprise,
"But doesn’t the relic danger level indicate the minimum strength needed to break the mechanisms?"
"Usually, yes, because many factors contribute to the danger rating of a relic. Except for some extreme relics, most can be explained by this theory. But some particular relics differ, like Guanshi Tower, which is an exception. However, knowing this is enough; there’s no point in dedicating research to it. After all, inside the ruins, the higher your strength, the safer you are."
Spreading his hands, Feng Yuan said. These things Dou Yanlan hadn’t specifically studied, as a commander typically focuses on military research. Who would consider matters related to ruins excavation, naturally leading to no research on such things? Given the vastness of all knowledge combined, let alone her, even another person would find it hard to learn completely in a lifetime.
"Although Guanshi Tower has a relatively high overall rating, being made up of foundational mechanisms and various coincidences, it isn’t inherently at the Rare Level. So, weaknesses and flaws are bound to be present; the question is whether they can be found. If you can identify those weaknesses, you should be able to breach them."
Rubbing his chin, Feng Yuan said. This was also why he didn’t pursue further inquiries once he understood the situation because it wasn’t an unsolvable problem.
"Guanshi Terrace is the core of Guanshi Tower, the meditative location sought for the Great Stone. However, I still don’t know what the Great Stone actually is."
With a peculiar expression, Feng Yuan said, he genuinely didn’t understand what the Shengjing Dynasty built Guanshi Tower to find, at least he could affirm it wasn’t a Spirit Beast. Otherwise, he would have found some clues.
Beside him, Agunas slowly opened its eyes and said,
"Great Stone? That thing does have records, but according to the description, it’s rather peculiar. A miraculous gemstone capable of instantly transforming into a gigantic rock mountain, and it’s unrelated to Spirit Beasts. It seems abnormal in every way, though it might just be exaggerated in the accounts."
Having seen the information while organizing documents, Agunas once suspected it might know the item because it felt somewhat familiar, but thorough recollection failed to match it with anything definite, ultimately dismissing it as unreliable hearsay.
"A gemstone that can create rock mountains? If it’s unrelated to Spirit Beasts, it must be an external thing. But usually, those things would be limited, so it’s unlikely they’d allow such extensive searching."
Glancing at the ruins entrance, Feng Yuan said. Guanshi Towers were not just one or two; during the Shengjing Dynasty’s reign, such unique structures were built in every city. This resulted in determining whether a city was once under Shengjing Dynasty’s rule by checking for the existence of a Guanshi Tower.
Moreover, the intricate mechanisms within Guanshi Tower couldn’t be mimicked by other dynasties, indicating that Guanshi Tower was a relic unique to the Shengjing Dynasty. Of course, in modern times, with various technological tools, it’s possible to replicate those mechanisms within Guanshi Tower using finely detailed patterns carved in stone. However, they always felt something was lacking with these artificially reconstructed Guanshi Towers.