Chapter 231 - 147: Architects’ Exchange Conference
"Our main goal this time is to find a way to communicate with Chen Fan and try to learn something from him."
"So, I hope you'll get your attitude right. We're not here to compete with the Mortal Realm, but to hopefully advance together."
The old man looked seriously at the young man beside him. "Drop that flippant tone of yours. When you get the chance to meet Domain Lord Chen, you must not speak to him like that."
"I know."
The young man mumbled, "Of course I wouldn't say it to his face. But if I just mutter a thing or two under my breath, it's not like he can hear me, right?"
'He just felt a bit disgruntled.'
The old man was his grandfather.
He was an Architect of the younger generation in his family.
His talent was quite good, and originally, everyone in the family—from the Patriarch to the Elders—was proud of him. But ever since Chen Fan's rise to prominence, all they did was discuss how that Chen Fan had managed it. It made him feel a bit neglected, as if Chen Fan had stolen all his thunder.
That was why he couldn't help but grumble.
But he wasn't stupid enough to say such things to Chen Fan's face and make an enemy for his family for no reason.
Soon, the various factions arrived one by one at Mortal City.
...
"..."
Accompanied by Lame Monkey, Chen Fan walked through Mortal City. He had specially cleared an open area in preparation for this Architect's conference.
The Architect's conference.
There was no competition.
There was no contest, no ranking of first, second, or third place.
It was all about exchange.
This was the first time Chen Fan had seen other Architects construct buildings. He stopped in front of a group of four or five people. They were all Architects from various factions, but they seemed to be from the younger generation, as they weren't very old.
There was an ironclad rule in the Architect profession!
The older the Architect, the stronger they were.
This was a given.
After all, how many Building Blueprint design details could a young Architect memorize? And how much time would they have to comprehend them?
Of course, Chen Fan was an exception.
This was also the outside world's greatest source of confusion and bewilderment regarding Chen Fan.
"I'll go first!"
A young woman among the group of four or five seemed a bit nervous, but she still took a deep breath. She pulled an Arrow Tower Building Blueprint from her robes, quickly glanced over it one more time, then stuffed the Blueprint back inside her robes and stood in place, squeezing her eyes shut.
Her arms trembled slightly.
Soon, an architectural illusion of an Arrow Tower, composed of white lines, appeared before her. The Ghost Stones piled at her feet shattered one by one, turning into a viscous, white, milky fluid that surged toward the Arrow Tower Illusion.
The structure gradually solidified.
Until a few breaths later.
"CRACK!"
A crisp cracking sound rang out from within the architectural illusion. The Arrow Tower Illusion, which had not yet fully solidified, instantly shattered, dissipating into the air as Spiritual Qi.
"I failed again."
The young woman opened her eyes. Seeing the shattered Arrow Tower Illusion before her, she hung her head in disappointment.
"It's okay, it's okay."
A young man in a long robe next to her stepped forward and patted her on the shoulder comfortingly. "The Arrow Tower is indeed one of the harder white-grade buildings to construct. You just messed up the 17th Node. Just don't make the same mistake next time and you'll be fine."
"Pfft."
Chen Fan, who had just been quietly watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but chuckle when he saw this.
The scene reminded him of his past life.
In his previous life, during exams, there were always people who would pull their textbooks out for a quick review right before the bell rang—classic last-minute cramming. Then, when the starting bell rang, they'd grab their test papers and start writing furiously.
This young woman was a bit like that.
"What are you laughing at!"
Perhaps his laughter was a bit too sudden. The young man who was comforting the woman looked at Chen Fan with some anger. "You don't look very old either, so you must be a Low Level Architect. You think you could do any better?"
Anyone who could enter this venue today was either an Architect or their companion.
There were no outsiders.
"I can."
Chen Fan smiled and waved his hand. An Arrow Tower illusion made of white lines quickly appeared on the open ground and solidified in the blink of an eye. Within a single breath, a complete Arrow Tower had taken form.
"..."
"..."
The four young Architects who had been gathered together talking stared at the scene before them, all frozen in place, dumbfounded. It took them a long moment to recover.
"How is that possible!"
The young man was the first to react, his eyes filled with disbelief. Then he stared eagerly at Chen Fan. "Senior, could we ask you for some guidance?"
Although this person looked to be the same age as them, the skill he just displayed showed he was at least a Level 5 or Level 6 Architect. He was definitely their senior.
"Let's not call it guidance. We can just have an exchange."
Chen Fan smiled at the four young Architects. It was rare to see such straightforward people. He wondered which factions they were from; they all had an air of pure, childlike innocence about them.
"First, tell me how you went about constructing this Arrow Tower."
He looked at the young woman who had just failed.
"Senior..."
The young woman in the white dress timidly pulled an Arrow Tower Building Blueprint from her robes. "I just followed my master's method," she said. "I divided the Arrow Tower's architectural diagram into 37 Nodes and constructed it one Node at a time."
"What I mean is, you glanced at the Building Blueprint before you started, but then you put the Blueprint away and closed your eyes during the construction process. If you can't remember the Blueprint, why not look at it while you build?"
Chen Fan asked, a little confused.
'It's not like this is an exam.'
'Is there some rule about it being open-book or closed-book?'