My basement connects to another world.

Chapter 28 Divine Arts

After waiting for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the animal skin curtain at the cave entrance was lifted from the outside.

It was the same young soldier from before. He nodded to Jiang Yuan and said, "Come with me."

Jiang Yuan got up and followed him out of the tree hole.

After bypassing the thick trunk of the central giant tree and passing several shorter canopy trees, we arrived at the large tree next to it, which was thicker than the surrounding trees.

The tree hollow is located two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) above the ground, with a staircase carved into the tree wall spiraling upwards, making it higher than other tree hollows in the tribe.

The young soldier stopped at the entrance of the cave, stepped aside, and gestured "please" to those inside.

Jiang Yuan went inside.

Priestess Muye sat behind the low table, her grey-blue eyes rising to fall on Jiang Yuan. "Sit."

Jiang Yuan sat down across from him at the low table.

"Young man, I've heard about your story," Priestess Twilight Leaf cut straight to the point. "You came from the forbidden area."

"Yes."

"You can produce food out of thin air?" The Dusk Leaf Priest's grey-blue eyes looked at him. "I've seen those things; they can't be produced in Moondwelling Valley."

As he spoke, he picked something up from the side of the low table and placed it on the table.

It's a wrapper for compressed biscuits.

Pressed flat, it was unfolded and laid out on the table, the colorful printed patterns standing out brightly in the warm orange light.

The back is printed with the ingredient list and expiration date, with rows of neatly arranged Chinese characters.

Priestess Muye tapped the line of Chinese characters with her withered fingers.

"This is not the common script used on the mainland, nor does it resemble the script of any demi-human race."

Jiang Yuan looked at the carefully unfolded wrapping paper and organized his words.

When he took out snacks at the campfire, I knew I couldn't hide it anymore.

"You have many questions to ask," Priestess Twilight retracted her finger, and said, "I also have some questions to ask you."

Jiang Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "You ask one question, and I'll ask one?"

Priest Twilight Leaf narrowed his grey-blue eyes slightly, then nodded. "Alright."

"What is a divine mark?" Jiang Yuan asked directly.

This was the second time he had asked; he wanted to know if the Frostclaw priest had any other insights.

Priestess Twilight Leaf answered without hesitation: "As the name suggests, it is a trace left by the gods."

It was exactly the same as what Hil said, and exactly the same as what Ug said.

"How did you make that judgment?" Jiang Yuan pressed.

"Naturally, it has been passed down from generation to generation." Priestess Twilight Leaf's tone was calm:

"When our ancestors emerged from the forbidden area, the divine marks were already there. It was the Moon Goddess's decree that we were to guard this valley."

"In other words, you also learned about this from other people, without any evidence or verification." Jiang Yuan looked into his eyes.

Priest Twilight Leaf frowned slightly. He remained silent for a moment before speaking in a low voice:

"I've verified it."

Jiang Yuan was slightly taken aback.

"Twenty years ago, I ventured alone into the depths of the Graycap Forest," said the Duskleaf Priest.

"We passed through the territories of many fourth-tier magical beasts, and there we saw divine marks. But they were different... there was a crack on them."

Jiang Yuan pressed further, "What crack?"

"A rift torn open, not large, just enough for one person to pass through."

Priest Muye's voice was calm, but Jiang Yuan noticed that his wrinkled hands trembled slightly.

"I saw outside through that crack."

The tree hollow was quiet for a few moments, with only the dim yellow light emitted by the amber moss.

"Outside?" Jiang Yuan asked. "What's outside?"

Priest Muye remained silent for a long time, so long that Jiang Yuan thought he wasn't going to answer.

"There's nothing outside." Priestess Twilight Leaf looked at him and repeated each word carefully:

"There is no land, no sky, no people, nothing at all. This valley is not sealed by divine marks, but rather hung on something by them."

"If the Divine Mark collapses, everything will fall down—all people, all trees, all magical beasts—they will all fall into that void."

A chill ran down Jiang Yuan's spine.

He thought this place was just a cage locked by divine marks, but in reality it was hanging on a frame.

Outside the shelf, however, lies a bottomless abyss!

What kind of world is this?

"You all know?" Jiang Yuan said in a deep voice.

"Only I know," said Priest Twilight Leaf. "I haven't told Ug, or anyone else in the tribe, about this."

"Why are you telling me?"

Priestess Muye did not answer directly, shifting her gaze from Jiang Yuan's face to the unfolded packaging of the compressed biscuit.

"Because I spent decades traversing the edges of all the areas marked by divine marks, confirming that this valley is completely disconnected from the outside world, and the only crack has become smaller and smaller, to the point that now you probably can't even stretch out your arm."

Therefore, you couldn't have obtained these things that don't belong here in Moondwelling Valley.

He paused here, then looked up at Jiang Yuan again:

"This means there is a world outside. But not the outside I see, but a real outside with land and sky. And before you, I thought there wasn't."

Jiang Yuan remained silent.

He realized why Priestess Twilight Leaf would reveal a secret she had kept hidden for decades to him on this issue, even though they were meeting for the first time.

For this old man, Jiang Yuan's very existence overturned the truth he had witnessed thirty years ago.

He had kept the secret for most of his life, only to discover that it was just the tip of the iceberg, and that there was a much deeper part beneath the surface that he had never even touched.

"Young man, it's my turn." Priestess Twilight Leaf tapped the wrapping paper again with her withered fingers. "Where did you get this food?"

This old man is not someone who can be easily fooled, but Jiang Yuan is unlikely to reveal the truth.

"I can't remember." He tried to sound as if he were recalling something unimportant.

"Every time I use that ability, my consciousness will be blurred for a moment, and when I come back to my senses, the thing is already in my hand."

After Jiang Yuan finished speaking, he was waiting for the priest to ask further questions. Unexpectedly, after hearing his response, the priest did not ask any further questions or doubts. Instead, he showed an expression of "I knew it."

"Your appearance in the forbidden area was no accident. It was the guidance of the moon goddess. Your encounter with Hilu in the cave was also no accident."

He paused for a moment, then concluded: "If I'm not mistaken, your ability is a divine art."

Divine magic? Jiang Yuan was stunned for a moment.

He said "I can't remember" because he was really out of options. The more he said, the more flaws he would reveal. But he didn't expect the other party to skip all the questioning and jump straight to the conclusion.

He didn't even need to put in the effort to justify himself; the other party filled in the logical gaps on their own and seemed completely convinced.

Priestess Muye explained, "The power bestowed by the gods is divine magic."

Is it related to God? So you just believed it... Jiang Yuan seized the opportunity to push the topic a step further:

"The ability you used in battle, was it divine magic?"