Chapter Thirteen: A World at a Standstill

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(Day 4)

Beyond the city gate stretched an immeasurably vast space. At first glance, it appeared as an endless starry sky, dotted with countless stars.

But upon closer inspection, the luminous points of light were arranged in precise, orderly patterns—far from a natural celestial scene.

Those were ships—one after another—filling the sky.

During the ancient pinnacle era of the Immortal Realm, astronomical fleets of metallic warships stood ready at all times, awaiting the opening of the realm’s barrier gates to launch expeditions into other worlds, delivering devastating blows to their enemies.

There were also vast caravans carrying countless supplies, poised to embark to other realms at any moment.

These hovering vessels were everywhere, occupying the boundless sky. Their appearance was somewhat peculiar. Although suspended in midair, they bore no resemblance to the grand steel starships of science fiction, which shimmer with mathematical elegance.

Instead, they looked exactly like ancient sailing ships as described in stereotypical cultivation fantasy novels, only crafted from metal and special spiritual wood.

Despite floating in a vacuum, the ships inexplicably still had masts and sails, etched with runes and formations whose purpose remained unclear.

Peering through a telescope at the star-like ships, Fang Zheng felt a twinge of emotion. “It seems that even in a cultivation world, not every cultivator is so exaggeratedly fast. Not everyone travels faster than light; transportation tools are still needed.”

“Logically, as a stranger outside the city gate, I would be treated as an invader and attacked. But inside the city, I shouldn’t be identified as an enemy so readily, right?”

After all, even in ancient frontier cities on Earth, there were inspection mechanisms but not outright attacks within the city walls.

Hesitating for a moment, Fang Zheng tried switching from spectator mode back to creative mode.

He waited nervously but saw no sign of the golden-armored puppets coming to attack, which eased his mind.

“Good, at least I’m not attacked immediately.”

“I should try to find someone with normal intelligence aboard these ships to communicate with, see if I can locate some office or something, maybe get a temporary ID card or the like.”

Looking over the inventory filled with blocks and various items—especially golden apples and potions—Fang Zheng felt reassured. “With infinite resources in creative mode, I should be considered extremely wealthy.”

“Though so far I’ve only obtained one ‘Vermilion Bird and White Tiger Law Bucket’ block native to this world, the golden apples and healing items should fetch some spiritual stones or currency if sold.”

“As long as I can sell them, I can buy things. If I can buy, then no matter how expensive, I can afford it. After all, resources are unlimited.”

The space beyond the city gate was absurdly vast, the sky like a cosmic abyss with no visible end. Countless metallic warships of various designs sprawled densely, filling the entire field of vision.

Even the smallest ships were as huge as mountains, with considerable distance between each vessel.

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After equipping his elytra wings and fireworks in creative mode, Fang Zheng flew for a good while before finally boarding the nearest ship.

Searching the ship’s deck, he spotted a tall figure dressed in black, with flowing white hair, seated cross-legged in a corner. Fang Zheng’s heart stirred with excitement.

“Finally, a person!”

He landed and cautiously approached, trying to be polite, whispering, “Um, hello.”

“Can you understand what I’m saying?”

The white-haired figure did not move.

Fang Zheng hesitated, then raised his voice slightly. “Uh, excuse me?”

Still, the figure remained motionless. Fang Zheng suddenly felt a chill.

He looked down at his blocky hand and wondered, “Could it be that although I can hear myself speak, I’m just talking to myself in my mind?”

“Maybe in the Minecraft world I crossed into, this blocky body doesn’t actually have the ability to speak?”

After pausing, Fang Zheng stepped forward anyway, thinking, “Regardless of whether I can speak or not, whether by arranging blocks into letters or other means, if they want to communicate, there are ways.”

Standing before the figure, he looked up. It was a man clad in black cultivation robes, radiant-faced with jade-like skin, possessing pure golden eyes that gave off an unearthly aura. Not a single pore was visible; his face was resolute, white hair flowing, nearly four meters tall.

He looked exactly like a cultivator from a cultivation novel.

Yet his face was expressionless, cold as forged iron. His eyes were fixed, unmoving, as he sat cross-legged with hands resting on his knees, gazing into the distance.

“Um, excuse me?” Fang Zheng waved his blocky hand in front of him, trying to attract the figure’s attention with gestures.

But it was useless. The man, resolute and white-haired, showed no sign of movement.

Even though Fang Zheng, a rather intimidating blocky figure, was right before him, the man didn’t even flicker his eyes.

Fang Zheng suddenly felt afraid. He tried harder to get his attention.

He took a grass block from his backpack and placed it on the deck in front of the figure, then lit a firework, but still no reaction.

“Could he be dead?”

Feeling uneasy, Fang Zheng left the figure and began searching the mountain-sized ship for others.

He succeeded, but also failed.

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Using spectator mode to peer through the ship's cabins, Fang Zheng found numerous figures.

Within the vast, mountain-sized vessel, there were spacious, luxuriously arranged cabins.

Inside different cabins, beings of various appearances and genders could be seen—some with horns, scales, tails, or even utterly non-humanoid lifeforms—standing, sitting, or performing tasks.

But the only common factor was that they were all motionless.

It was as if time had been frozen for them; not even the slightest movement was visible.

Each person seemed like a lifelike statue, trapped at some frozen moment.

Fang Zheng’s heart grew cold and his irritation mounted, dark thoughts crossing his mind.

He left the ship and continued flying with fireworks and elytra wings, spending most of the day reaching another nearby ship.

But the result was the same. People were aboard, along with unknown cargo. Fang Zheng even saw two finely dressed cultivators drinking tea and chatting, yet they too were frozen statues, the tea in their cups solid as crystal.

On the deck, gazing at the vast, countless fleet stretching as far as the eye could see, with some ships suddenly glowing and setting sail beyond the city gate into the distance, Fang Zheng shuddered.

“Are all these ships filled with these frozen dead?”

“What on earth is going on?”

Why, outside the city gate, had he just emerged from a hellish portal only seconds before, immediately attacked by a Vermilion Bird and White Tiger? Why, after escaping the seal and reaching the city wall, had golden-armored puppets come to attack?

And now, having finally entered the city, all the people he saw were motionless statues?

Boom!

A deep, thunderous roar suddenly echoed.

The source of this sudden sound was directly beneath Fang Zheng—on this very ship.