Mr. Gong clearly realized this too. To avoid trouble, he manually wove a thin bamboo frame and placed the small notebook inside it, making it look like it wasn't written on bamboo slips or anything unusual.
After they finished viewing the first floor, they moved up to the second floor.
As the floors went higher, the items displayed by the various nations inside the building became rarer and more extraordinary.
By the time they reached the third floor, Elara saw the fruit that Mr. Yu had once told her about, the one that came from a "tree" shaped divine vein blessing from a certain nation.
Those fruits were indeed beautiful. The seed area even glowed faintly, looking very magical.
Many people were already lining up to buy them. The envoy from that nation had even turned the front area into a massive fruit stall.
Behind the fruit stall, several attendants were holding a large, finely carved plaque made from golden-threaded wood. The plaque had several large characters written on it. Divine Fruit. A gift from the divine vein. Only one hundred silver taels each. Just one hundred silver taels. You can get a divine vein's gift. Feel the blessing of the divine vein.
Elara paused. That sales pitch was actually impressive.
Mr. Yu was already smiling and asking someone to line up, planning to buy a few to try.
Besides the divine fruit, this floor had other similar items. Divine fireflies, divine herbs, divine cowhide, divine bamboo whips, divine outerwear, divine glass cups, and so on.
These items really did have some peculiar and unique functions. For example, the divine glass cup wasn't just pretty, it could refill itself with water every hour. However, the water had no special effects, it was just plain water.
Another example was the divine outerwear. It couldn't be melted by sunlight, burned by fire, or soaked by rain. Even craftsmen couldn't cut it apart to make anything else.
The divine bamboo whip couldn't be broken no matter what was used to strike it.
The divine cowhide had extreme flexibility and could never be cut. There was only one piece of it in existence.
In short, the divine vein gifts on this floor did carry divine qualities, but their usefulness was limited. Most were only helpful for small everyday functions.
By the fourth floor, there were fewer divine vein gifts, but the ones available were more powerful than those on the third floor.
For example, there was a piece that looked very ordinary, but it could suddenly release extremely high-temperature flames. The heat was so intense that it raised the temperature of the entire floor.
It was a major weapon.
But the downside was, it was uncontrollable. Once activated, it would automatically release flames every five minutes. No one could stop it until it completely ran out.
Because of this, a large area around the weapon was kept clear. Even the envoy from that country stayed alert around it, afraid he'd accidentally become well-done.
Even with its flaw, the weapon was still very powerful. That nation only had three of them. The one on display was only available for exchange with another major divine vein weapon of similar type.
Besides the fire weapon, there was also a flying scarf.
That scarf was as light as floating silk, seemingly made from thin gauze. Its color and patterns were breathtaking, far beyond the craftsmanship of the current era. It resembled the flowing ribbons behind goddesses in myth.
More importantly, the thin strip of gauze could float in the air without wind. If it wrapped around a living creature, it could lift the creature into the air, though the flight direction couldn't be controlled, which often led to accidents.
There were a few other divine vein gifts like this on the fourth floor, items with significant functions but clear flaws.
Elara examined each of them, had the System record everything in detail, and gained a deeper understanding of this world's divine vein gifts.
When they finally finished the fourth floor and headed toward the highest fifth floor, Elara had just reached the staircase when she suddenly met a pair of pure golden eyes.
She froze. It wasn't because those golden eyes were rare or beautiful. It was because, in that split second, she had the strange feeling, maybe just her imagination, that she saw herself from the 21st century, sitting in her corporate office, working.
Elara stepped back from the stair and stared into the golden eyes, tracing them to their owner.
It was a man with golden hair and golden eyes, but his features were purely of the Subhuman kind.
The man's features were so refined that they carried an almost divine aura. His skin was extremely fair, and he wore a simple light golden robe. The whole person radiated a calm and emotionless presence.
He stood quietly in the section where various nations displayed their divine vein gifts, like a human-shaped product. He allowed all the curious gazes and discussions around him without reacting, and his pure golden eyes were fixed only on her from afar.
Elara felt an odd sensation under his gaze. The image she had seen in his eyes just now of her modern self from the 21st century had vanished completely, so fast it seemed like an illusion.
She slightly furrowed her brows and met the gaze of the golden-eyed man without dodging.
Mr. Yu, who noticed something unusual nearby, looked over. When he saw Elara locking eyes with that golden-haired man in the distance, his brows furrowed slightly.
After thinking for a moment, he whispered,
"Golden hair and golden eyes... He should be that legendary living human-shaped divine vein gift."
...
A humanoid and living Divine Vein Gift? Could a Divine Vein Gift actually take the form of a living person?
Elara was very surprised. She carefully looked again at the golden-haired man in the distance.
No wonder he carried an indescribable divine aura. What she had just seen in his eyes, an image of her twenty-first-century self, was most likely not an illusion.
Elara frowned. Behind her, Gareth, who had also paused in astonishment after seeing the golden-haired man, stepped forward two steps and spoke softly:
"This Divine Vein Gift, his origins have long been considered mystical. Across the entire continent, he was once a figure spoken of in myths and legends. Stories about him have circulated for nearly a thousand years, yet now, few even know if he is god or human, where he first awakened, or which nation he came from. All that's known is that he occasionally appears in different parts of the world, his movements extremely mysterious. In many countries, he is even worshipped as a deity."
"He seems to possess a kind of divine ability. For example, right now, those nearby who are still looking at him curiously probably haven't seen his true form. They likely see him as some sort of object like other Divine Vein Gifts and are observing him out of interest."
Gareth glanced at Elara, who had been watched intently by the golden-eyed man. "He, hmm, it's said that only things he finds interesting can actually see his real body. Miss Bai may have something unusual about her that caught his attention. We are just benefiting from Miss Bai's presence, which is why we can see him as well. Otherwise, we wouldn't have realized such a divine being was standing right there."
Something unusual about her? Elara's frown deepened. She had quite a few oddities. Whether it was her soul from another world or the System, they were completely different from everyone else in this world.
Had this golden-haired Divine Vein Gift already discovered these oddities? Or did he just sense something off?
To Elara, that wasn't a good sign at all.
She was just about to ask whether this humanoid Divine Vein Gift was connected to any major power. If her secret were ever exposed, the consequences could be catastrophic.
Then she heard Mr. Yu, looking at the golden-haired man, continue, "The last time I heard about him was three hundred years ago. He appeared voluntarily at the Divine Attendant Palace. The people of the Divine Attendant Palace consider themselves servants of gods and they treated him as a partial embodiment of the Divine Vein. I heard that even a top-tier power like the Divine Attendant Palace had many people swear allegiance to him that year. But he seemed to vanish after just one day and the Palace returned to its normal state."
"After that, all the major powers across the continent, especially the top-level ones, started searching for him both openly and secretly. But he never reappeared and gradually faded back into legend."
"I didn't expect he would appear here today."
Hearing that this living Divine Vein Gift currently had little connection to the major forces of the continent, Elara felt slightly relieved.
However, her own abnormalities had likely already been noticed.
Just as she hesitated over whether to step forward and try to speak with the golden-haired man, hoping to probe and find a solution, she looked toward the stall in the distance. There was no longer any sign of the golden-haired man.
He had vanished into thin air, as if nothing had ever been there.
Elara closed her eyes and opened them again, confirming that he had truly disappeared.
Thinking about the modern image she had seen in his golden eyes, Elara called out to the System in her mind.
[Did you notice anything unusual just now?]
The System responded calmly: [No, Master. I didn't detect anything abnormal just now.]
[Also, Master, regarding this golden-haired humanoid Divine Vein Gift, there's no need to worry. I've already scanned all available information. Almost no powers on this continent have real ties to him. He has mostly remained a figure of legend, appearing and disappearing with no clear trace. He hasn't formed any causal connections with the world for nearly a thousand years. Even if he did discover your soul's secret, the chance of him exposing it is nearly zero.]
[Your soul was brought here by me and is bound to me. And I am also covered by the main System, which can even conceal things from the fundamental laws of this world. The main System wouldn't allow something like that to happen and would resolve it in advance. So rest assured, the chance of him discovering us is extremely low. At most, he might have sensed something superficial. If anything too abnormal occurs beyond this world's tolerance, the main System will warn us.]
Hearing the System speak with such certainty, Elara finally relaxed.
No one could have predicted such an unusual encounter.
But as long as her secret remained safe, everything else was manageable.
Mr. Yu and Gareth stared at the place where the golden-haired man had disappeared for a while. It was their first time encountering something so divine and otherworldly.
After confirming that the golden-haired humanoid spirit had completely disappeared, she withdrew her gaze and looked around at the still-unaware crowd. They all quietly buried this strange event deep in their hearts and followed Elara as she stepped toward the fifth floor.
The fifth floor was smaller than the fourth, but the level of noise and crowding was several times greater.
The reason was obvious. As soon as Elara and her companions stepped onto the fifth floor, they saw high-ranking officials and nobles from various countries gathered around the central display platform. They were looking toward the elevated spot at the front of the platform while excitedly talking about the item on display.
"I knew the appearance of Tiangong Pavilion at the Hundred Nations Banquet for third-tier countries had a purpose. Sure enough, they're once again recruiting those fated to unlock their mysterious mechanisms."
"I heard this is a unique recruitment method used by Tiangong Pavilion. Anyone who can successfully solve or complete the devices they present earns the qualification to be recruited into the Pavilion."
"Whoa, that's basically an instant rise to the top!"
Someone began to mock, "Heh, it's indeed a rise to the top, but if you know it's going up, then you should understand how difficult it is! Are the mechanisms made by Tiangong Pavilion something the average person can solve? In the past ten years, fewer than five disciples have been recruited through this method. Don't go thinking this is some shortcut."
"Hmph, instead of staring at those unsolvable devices, you'd be better off looking at the person sitting at the top. Even though there's a curtain blocking a clear view of the face, just judging from that figure and aura, the head of Tiangong Pavilion, who's famous across the continent, really is a stunning beauty."
Elara listened to the voices around her and followed their gaze past the many rare and exotic treasures on the platform, looking directly at the highest seat.
Behind the curtain at the very top, a deep blue figure was already seated.
It was a man, wearing a long robe of deep blue. His long hair, slightly flowing beside him, was also a deep shade of blue. Although his exact appearance wasn't visible, his posture and presence were clearly not ordinary.
Elara only glanced at him for a second before her gaze locked onto the mechanical device in front of him, which was moving on its own. Then her eyes widened slightly.
What did she see?
It was a fully handmade mechanical tricycle that looked extremely similar to a modern-day three-wheeled bicycle.