What appeared before Duan Chen and the others was not a school, but a somewhat desolate open space.
It didn't feel out of place here, as if no buildings had ever existed.
Nor did it match anything in this village town.
Bai Ye's heart filled with doubt, and he couldn't help but ask, "Does an elementary school building really exist here?"
Wang Zihao was somewhat displeased. His tone was particularly firm, "Buildings definitely exist here. I am extremely certain, confirmed, and absolute."
"My ancient texts are never wrong."
He had immense faith in his innate skill.
Duan Chen neither confirmed nor denied, but instead stepped into the desolate land before them.
His speed was so fast that Bai Ye and Wang Zihao didn't even have time to stop him.
Bai Ye smacked his thigh loudly and followed suit.
All three of them stepped onto the barren land, and nothing happened, as if it were just ordinary wasteland.
However, they all knew in their hearts that the building that should have been here had vanished. How could this place be ordinary?
"This is strange."
Duan Chen reached out and pressed his temples.
Frankly speaking, while his spiritual power recovery speed wasn't slow, constantly using his innate talent and pupil techniques here meant that even the fastest recovery couldn't keep up.
If this continued, the spiritual power within him would be depleted to a great extent.
"Wang Zihao is likely correct. A primary school did indeed exist here."
The Eye of Truth opened in an instant, and Duan Chen frowned.
He could see that there were no illusions here, nor was the environment concealed.
This made the situation even more perplexing.
Suddenly.
Duan Chen sensed something unusual in the flow of the air.
In that instant, he immediately closed the Eye of Truth and activated another one of his pupil techniques.
The Eye of God.
The Eye of God, surveying the entire scene from above.
An inorganic light flickered in Duan Chen's eyes, a torrent of luminescence flashing through them. He looked less like a living person and more like a highly intelligent machine existing in this place.
In that moment, Duan Chen's perspective was pulled back, and he observed everything from a divine vantage point high above.
Streams of light flowed through his gaze.
Here, here, here…
Something is wrong.
The Eye of God also consumed spiritual power at a rapid rate. Soon, Duan Chen felt his internal spiritual power reserves steadily depleting.
And at an accelerated pace.
He felt a sense of anxiety. A thought kept flashing through his mind, a flash of inspiration he couldn't quite grasp.
It always left a tiny thread, as if he could capture that fleeting spark of insight if he just held on for a few more seconds.
But his spiritual power reserves dwindled.
Duan Chen gritted his teeth, desperately squeezing every last drop of spiritual power from his reserves.
Finally, when he reached the limit he had set for himself, a sudden flash of inspiration struck his mind, and he was fortunate enough to capture this fleeting moment of enlightenment.
"I understand!"
Duan Chen roared with joy.
"I found it! I found what I was looking for!"
He immediately withdrew the Eye of God's perspective and switched back to his own eyes.
Duan Chen lunged forward, kicking aside the turf on the ground.
This turf was incredibly real. No one would have suspected that about eight to nine centimeters below the turf, it was completely detached from the soil here.
His toe exerted great force, like a shovel, forcefully flinging that piece of turf aside.
The turf, along with other pieces, flew out, revealing an arc.
It also revealed the lines underneath.
"What is this?"
Bai Ye's eyes were filled with shock. Wang Zihao stood beside him, rapidly recording the exposed lines.
Duan Chen turned to Bai Ye and called out, "Don't just stand there. Come help me. Together, we'll move all this turf."
"No problem."
Bai Ye immediately nodded, rolled up his sleeves, and got to work without a word.
Together, they moved all the turf that covered the desolate ground where the elementary school once stood, piling it onto the main road.
Revealing red lines covering the entire area.
And a large open space that was once an elementary school but was sunken eight to nine centimeters lower than other foundations.
"The Art of Deception!"
Wang Zihao exclaimed, his voice filled with a mixture of fear and awe.
Duan Chen's eyes also showed a grave expression.
Most importantly, these lines were not complete.
The lines existing beneath this elementary school were merely a part of a larger design. It was evident that these lines originated here, but neither their center nor their end point was located here.
"If I'm not mistaken," Wang Zihao's eyes flickered, a sign of his spiritual power rapidly depleting, "based on the lines I see here, to reveal the entire pattern, we would probably have to dig three feet deep throughout the entire village."
Extrapolating from the known to the unknown.
Seeing a small part to understand the whole.
From this, he could glimpse the general outline of the entire pattern, though the details were unclear.
Wang Zihao's words affirmed Duan Chen's own thoughts.
He said with a grave tone, "It seems I wasn't wrong. The person who drew this formation likely used the entire village as its foundation. The area beneath the entire village should consist of these lines."
"What kind of formation is this? And what kind of person could create something like this?"
Wang Zihao swallowed hard. Within his limited comprehension, the only thing he understood was that this formation was beyond his capabilities to resolve.
Even ten of him wouldn't be able to solve it.
"Can you tell what this formation does?"
Duan Chen didn't answer Wang Zihao's question, but instead asked him one.
Wang Zihao hesitated, then shook his head with regret.
"I'm sorry, Instructor. Perhaps my knowledge is shallow, but I truly cannot discern what this formation represents."
He had wanted to ask Duan Chen earlier, to see if Duan Chen's insight could reveal the purpose of this formation.
Duan Chen nodded, not particularly surprised by this answer.
As of now, his training had reached the fortieth sequence.
This represented that he had replicated forty other abilities.
Wang Zihao's abilities were naturally among them.
His sequence number was thirty-seventh.