Chapter 51: The imperial city

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: The imperial city

Behind her, the servants finished their preparations and moved aside.

The guards took their assigned positions, with the two Foundation Establishment cultivators remaining closest to the carriage.

Zhao Lianyu followed Zhao Linger inside.

Outside, the remaining guards mounted their horses and formed around the carriage.

The spiritual beasts lowered their heads as the carriage formation slowly activated, releasing a faint hum that spread across the plaza.

Zhao Linger settled into her seat and looked through the carriage window at the Royal Palace one last time.

The golden roofs and crimson pillars were illuminated by the morning sunlight, while the familiar courtyards slowly disappeared behind them as the carriage began to move.

Before long, they reached the enormous palace gate.

The towering crimson doors opened slowly, revealing the Imperial City beyond as the carriage passed through the massive archway.

The first thing that greeted Zhao Linger was the enormous avenue stretching ahead of them.

It was far wider than the roads found in major cities across the kingdom, with enough space for dozens of carriages to travel side by side.

The avenue was paved with enormous slabs of pale stone fitted together precisely. A faint silver pattern ran through the stone itself, forming part of the city’s transportation formation.

Whenever a carriage passed over it, the pattern illuminated beneath its wheels before fading again.

But the road was only the beginning.

The buildings surrounding the avenue carried a style that was distinctly Great Yan.

Their foundations were constructed from dark-grey stone, while their upper structures were dominated by white walls, crimson pillars, and sweeping black roofs.

The corners of the roofs curved upward like the wings of enormous birds, each tip decorated with small golden bells that moved gently whenever spiritual wind passed through the streets.

Some buildings had three or four stories. Others rose ten, twenty, even thirty stories into the sky.

Massive wooden balconies wrapped around their upper floors, connected by narrow bridges.

Circular terraces extended from the sides of several towers, each surrounded by carved stone railings and planted with spiritual trees.

Long strips of red fabric bearing the emblems of different families and organizations hung between buildings, occasionally brushing against the walls when the wind changed direction.

One particularly enormous building caught Zhao Linger’s attention.

Its lower floors formed a broad rectangular structure, but the upper levels gradually narrowed until they became a tall octagonal tower.

Eight enormous golden pillars surrounded its highest floor, each carved with a different spiritual beast.

A circular formation slowly rotated above the roof, sending faint ripples of spiritual energy into the sky.

Far above the main road, several enormous platforms slowly moved between districts.

Each platform carried cultivators, merchants, and cargo.

Zhao Linger rested her arm against the carriage window, taking in the scenery as they passed one structure after another.

Merchants called out from their shops, while mortals moved among the crowds, carrying goods, delivering supplies, and tending to the countless businesses throughout the city.

Most of them worked as servants, shopkeepers, craftsmen, or laborers for the cultivators living here.

Servants hurried between buildings with trays, scrolls, and supplies, while cultivators in different robes traveled through the streets.

Royal guards occasionally passed by, keeping watch over the busy avenues.

After several breaths, the avenue began to widen even further.

The buildings ahead became taller and more elaborate, and the road gradually curved toward an enormous bridge.

The bridge was one of the most recognizable structures in this part of the Imperial City.

Its foundations were made from enormous blocks of white spiritual stone, while its railings were carved into the shapes of winding clouds.

Ten crimson pillars rose along each side, connected by golden chains that glowed faintly with formation energy.

At the center of the bridge stood four enormous statues of winged dragons.

Their bodies formed part of the bridge’s structure, with their heads extending outward over the road and their wings spreading above the passing carriages.

The carriage moved onto it.

Zhao Linger turned toward the window, staring intently downward.

Below the bridge was something that still seemed strange to her, even after so many years of living here.

A river of pure white essence flowed along a channel between the districts.

The Milky White River flowed slowly beneath the bridge, its enormous body winding between distant districts.

Thick clouds moved along its path, dense enough to resemble a river seen from above.

Thin strands occasionally broke away from the main current and drifted between the buildings.

Zhao Linger leaned closer to the window.

"It’s still beautiful as always. Every time I pass through this bridge, I’m captivated by the same sight."

Zhao Lianyu glanced outside.

"Indeed, it is beautiful, Princess."

Zhao Linger watched the white current disappear beneath the bridge.

"I wonder how this city was built here."

"It is simply a miracle."

Her words faded into the air as the carriage continued forward.

Then the perspective slowly began to pull away from the carriage.

The surrounding buildings began shrinking.

The towers that had seemed to reach into the heavens were now only part of a much larger landscape.

Their black roofs and white walls blended together into countless clusters stretching far beyond the bridge.

The avenue became a thin line.

Then another appeared beside it.

And another.

Roads stretched outward in every direction, connecting district after district until they formed an enormous network across the Imperial City.

Only then did the land beyond the city begin to come into view.

Far beyond the outermost districts, a mountain range stretched across the horizon.

From the ground, those mountains would have appeared enormous. Their peaks would have towered over ordinary cities, with forests covering their slopes and clouds gathering around their highest points.

From this distance, however, they looked surprisingly small.

They were little more than a series of dark ridges surrounding the distant horizon.

The Imperial City dwarfed them.

The view continued to expand as the surrounding forests became patches of green and rivers became thin silver lines.

Villages became barely visible specks scattered across the landscape.

Even entire cities that were sprawled across the region appeared to be little clusters of buildings beneath the enormous shadow of the Imperial City.

And then the true scale of the city became visible.

It was not a city built on a mountain or an empty plain.

It was an enormous world suspended above the heavens.

The Imperial City stretched across an almost unimaginable expanse of sky, its districts extending farther than the eye could easily follow.

Thousands upon thousands of buildings filled the space between enormous avenues, while countless towers rose from different parts of the city like pillars supporting the heavens.

Eventually, the carriage arrived at the outer edge of the Imperial City.

A massive sky wall stood before them, rising hundreds of meters into the heavens and stretching far beyond what Zhao Linger could see from the carriage.

The gate itself was several kilometers wide, with an absurdly massive door built into its center, large enough for countless carriages to pass through side by side.

The carriage continued toward it.

Guards stationed along the wall quickly recognized the Royal Family’s emblem and stepped aside, allowing them to pass without stopping.

Beyond the enormous gate, the road continued for some distance before gradually coming to an end.

Zhao Linger looked ahead.

There was no road beyond it.

Only open sky.

The two spiritual beasts continued forward without slowing.

One of their front hooves stepped beyond the edge of the stone road and landed directly on empty air.

A faint ripple spread beneath its hoof.

Zhao Linger’s eyes widened slightly, amazed by the sight.

Almost immediately, Zhao Lianyu and the two Foundation Establishment guards raised their hands.

Spiritual energy surged from their bodies, wrapping around the two beasts and the carriage.

The powerful spiritual energy of the Foundation Establishment Realm allowed them to stand and move freely in the air, forming an invisible path beneath the beasts’ hooves.

The beasts continued walking forward.

Their hooves landed on empty air as though an invisible road had been laid beneath them.

The other guards followed closely behind on horseback.

Their horses also stepped beyond the edge of the stone road and onto empty air, supported by the spiritual energy of the two Foundation Establishment guards.

The horses were unable to fly on their own, but with the spiritual energy carrying their weight, they could move through the sky as naturally as they would on solid ground.

After several steps, the two spiritual beasts suddenly accelerated.

The carriage shook slightly as they broke into a gallop, and the horses carrying the guards quickly followed.

Wind rushed past the windows.

The Imperial City quickly began to recede behind them, its enormous walls becoming smaller with every passing breath.

Zhao Linger turned toward the window and watched the city disappear into the distance.

The mountains far below seemed to move beneath them as the carriage sped through the sky, while layers of white clouds rushed past below.

The two spiritual beasts continued galloping through the air, their bodies wrapped in spiritual energy as they carried the carriage farther and farther away from the Imperial City, while the guards rode alongside them through the sky.

"I’m leaving the Imperial City!"

She immediately covered her mouth after saying it, as though she had only just realized how excited she sounded.

Her eyes, however, continued to shine as she watched the rapidly disappearing city.