"What the..."
Ye Feng was somewhat speechless because he had observed the situation around him and found that several people had already finished embroidering the pattern he had hesitated to continue, and some had even completed the next one...
"Are these people because they are in the City of Arcane... have they practiced this specifically before...?"
Ye Feng pondered for a moment, then understood, and immediately started embroidering as well.
"Hmm..."
Ye Feng was slightly surprised because the moment he finished embroidering the monster pattern, a strange scene appeared in his mind again.
It was a white staircase leading upwards... Looking up, he couldn't see the end... At the very top, there seemed to be a door... it was the "Heavenly Staircase" that Shen Yunyao had specifically mentioned to him when they were in the ancient ruins.
Ye Feng frowned slightly and continued to condense arcane energy into a fine needle, weaving it on the embroidery cloth. A creature resembling a goat slowly emerged, and his consciousness once again arrived at the white staircase he had just seen, taking a step upwards...
"There seems to be something at the top of the stairs... a strange sense of familiarity..."
Ye Feng frowned slightly, but his embroidery movements did not stop. As he embroidered, his consciousness kept moving up the white staircase... getting closer and closer to the top...
Time passed second by second. The arcane energy threads in Ye Feng's hands slowly wove through the embroidery cloth, revealing one strange pattern after another...
Unknowingly, Ye Feng's consciousness reached the very top of the white staircase. There was indeed a wooden door. There were no walls or any buildings around the door, and the area surrounding the door was faintly glowing white.
Ye Feng, as if driven by some unseen force, reached out and turned the doorknob, opening the door...
"Whoosh!"
A blinding white light shone out, causing Ye Feng to instinctively squint his eyes.
After the white light dissipated, Ye Feng found that behind the door was a space filled with ripples, like the surface of water. Within the rippling space, there was a subtle pattern...
"This... this is..."
After observing, Ye Feng's expression changed drastically because he realized that the subtle ripples in the space had formed the divine patterns that he and Xiao Xiao and Qiao Ying had discussed last night...
"Hey... candidate, what are you spacing out for? The exam is over, hand in your work!"
At this moment, a somewhat displeased male voice pulled Ye Feng back from his thoughts.
"Huh?"
Ye Feng came back to his senses and looked at the source of the voice with some confusion.
"What 'huh,' loosen your grip. You're holding it so tightly, how am I supposed to take your embroidery?!" the staff member said to Ye Feng impatiently.
"Oh~ My apologies..."
Ye Feng immediately released the embroidery in his hands. The pattern on it was clearly a white staircase. The light in the golden hall was quite bright, making it difficult to see if one wasn't looking closely.
"This... two hours have passed, time went by so quickly?"
Ye Feng scratched his head, feeling a bit dejected.
He had only been curiously exploring the white staircase... it felt like only a moment, but he hadn't expected two hours to have passed...
"This is terrible... I lost focus... I wonder what the approximate level of my embroidery is..."
Ye Feng looked around the hall, feeling somewhat downcast as he walked towards the exit. He didn't think this round of assessment would be like the previous ones, with few eliminations...
After all, only one more round of assessment remained before the young talents were finally selected...
As he walked towards the exit of the golden hall, Ye Feng was very vigilant.
He remembered that Shen Yunyao had told him that many years ago, someone had described seeing the "Heavenly Staircase" during their embroidery, which had caused the City of Arcane to mobilize a large number of experts to clash with their greatest ally, the Sea Restaurant... This had subsequently led to intense power struggles among major forces like the Mech City and the Adventurer's Guild...
Although Ye Feng didn't know what the final pattern was, he guessed that it was likely related to the "Heavenly Staircase" scenario, and his final embroidered pattern happened to be layers of white steps...
At this moment, Ye Feng was unaware that in a hidden corner of the golden hall, a woman in a light blue long dress was looking at Ye Feng with an expression of utter shock.
"He actually... embroidered the final pattern..."
...
"The clues to the shocking treasure left by the Flame Ranger... the rune array between the eighth and ninth floors of the Dawn Academy Library... and the embroidery just now... they all have the same divine pattern... this seems a bit too coincidental..."
Outside the golden hall, Ye Feng was walking, his head slightly lowered, murmuring to himself.
"Lin Dan Da, you did very well!"
At this moment, a familiar middle-aged male voice sounded, and it was Luo Ming who approached.
"Very well?"
Hearing this, Ye Feng's mood eased considerably, as he had been worried that his distraction would lead to a poor embroidery score.
"Yes!"
Luo Ming walked to Ye Feng's side and nodded. "To be honest, I'm also very surprised. The pattern you embroidered is definitely among the best of the candidates, even more advanced than mine... Perhaps only the Five Arcane Prodigies in their youth could compare to you..."
"Is that so..."
Ye Feng frowned slightly. "Senior Luo Ming, please follow me for a moment!"
...
Soon, Ye Feng led Luo Ming to a secluded spot.
"Senior Luo Ming, how many people in the City of Arcane can see through my disguise?" Ye Feng asked Luo Ming very seriously.
"This..."
Luo Ming stared at Ye Feng with a serious expression for a while. "I could see through it because I am naturally skilled in disguise and have spent a lot of time with you..."
"Not many people in the entire City of Arcane can see through your disguise. If the time is not particularly long, it's likely only people at the level of the Five Arcane Prodigies who can consistently see through your disguise..."
"Of course, the City Lord can definitely do it. Although her disguise skills are learned from me, she has long surpassed her teacher!"
Although Luo Ming didn't know why Ye Feng was asking this, he quickly explained to Ye Feng out of consideration for Shen Yunyao.
"Oh, okay~ Thank you!"
Ye Feng nodded, becoming even more vigilant.
"Zzzt~"
At this moment, a signal sound came from the walkie-talkie on Ye Feng's shoulder.
"Big brother, do you have time now?"
Xiao Xiao's voice followed closely.
"I just finished the third round of selection. Where are you?" Ye Feng pressed the walkie-talkie and spoke quickly. His expression was quite serious because he heard a hint of nervousness in Xiao Xiao's voice.
"Big brother, we are in the room at Tingfang Garden..."
Xiao Xiao's voice quickly came from the walkie-talkie again.
"You wait a moment, I'll be right there!"