The voice was shrill, and the man's face was pale and clean. The one appearing at the examination compound's entrance this time was no longer the examiner from before, but someone else in a different guise.
Not only had the announcer changed, but at some unknown point, even the examination compound had completely transformed into the outer walls of an imperial palace.
The palace walls towered into the clouds, majestic and imposing. The walls were covered in patterns and carvings, resplendent in gold and jade. Above them hung dozens of enormous banners; when they rose, they fluttered, and as they fluttered, boundless silver light and golden shadows surged forth.
A vast, overwhelming pressure rushed toward them. If the examination compound earlier had concealed danger without unleashing it, then the imperial palace now plainly told them: this was a Forbidden Ground.
Chen Fei walked amid the Heaven Opening Realm cultivators and entered through the palace gates.
The ground was paved with ancient trees a thousand years old, and a solemn feeling rose unbidden, even making one feel the urge to kneel and worship.
Every corner and every detail of the palace contained ingenious craftsmanship. Yet precisely because of this, the palace seemed somewhat unreal.
Speaking of palaces, let alone the Xuanling Domain, even in the Black Stone Domain, the palace in every race's main city was grand and magnificent. Based on each race's own aesthetic tastes, their styles varied greatly.
The palace in this strange world looked more like the beautiful fantasies of countless scholars who had failed the imperial examinations. What one sought but could not obtain caused the greatest pain, yet also inspired the deepest longing and imagination.
But in truth, real palaces were not always so wonderful, especially the palaces of the mortal world.
After walking for a