Chapter 264 – Arriving in the Prefectural City of Clear River (1/2)

The cloud and mist surged, shooting across the sky with a small, white tail.

The gusts of wind blew into their faces and ruffled Li Qingshan and Xiao An’s clothes. The spring wind in the third month was still slightly chilly, but the warmth from the sun was truly intoxicating.

The landscape below them rapidly receded. Li Qingshan had been on aeroplanes in his past life, but it was impossible to compare the feeling of flight to sitting in an aircraft cabin.

Under Li Qingshan’s control, the cloud and mist suddenly rushed down towards a large lake. The crystal green lake hurtled towards his face. In the moment he was about to collide with the lake, he suddenly slowed down, kicking up a clear splash that landed on Li Qingshan’s face. He sped along the surface of the water, leaving behind a trail in the lake.

When he was about to crash into a hill, he suddenly pulled up, rushing towards the blue sky.

The surrounding scenery constantly changed. The cities, towns, and villages appeared before disappearing once again, while the mountains towered before flattening out.

During early spring, he took in all of the natural scenery that had yet to be destroyed by humanity.

For a moment, Li Qingshan felt that his mind had never been so open before.

Li Qingshan took out Milliped from the bug pouch to show the scenery of the sky to this guy who spent his entire life crawling around underground. As soon as Milliped came out, he shrank into a ball.

Li Qingshan laughed aloud, while Xiao An giggled.

His flight speed was not particularly fast. At least, it was not as fast as when Li Qingshan moved along the ground. However, the benefit was that there were no obstacles in the sky, so they could fly along a straight path.

Although there were five hundred kilometers between Jiaping city and Clear River city, covering that much distance in a single day was nothing difficult while flying.

They had set off in the afternoon. The sky above them gradually dimmed, lighting up with stars. In the end, it turned into a resplendent galaxy of stars.

The tiny cloud was like a tiny, lone island, hovering beneath the starry sky. Li Qingshan could not help but be shocked by the scenery around him, which he praised, “So beautiful!”

Xiao An nodded. Li Qingshan rubbed her head before taking out the mental map of the Green province. Taking a look, he said, “We’re almost there.”

The Clear river turned into a jade band glistening with starlight, leading to the very core of the entire Clear River prefecture. More and more boats began to appear on the river.

As the cloud sped along, a ball of fire suddenly lit up in the distant, gloomy horizon. It burned in a dazzling manner.

As Li Qingshan drew closer, he saw the fire split up into thousands of lights, which surprised him slightly.

But when he saw it with his own eyes, he felt like he had transmigrated back to his original world, arriving in a modern city towering with skyscrapers. Skyscrapers seemed to grow from the ground. There were plenty that towered above ten storeys, and their designs were extremely exquisite. The city was like a gigantic art gallery instead of the concrete jungles of modern times.

These traditional structures should not have been able to stand in such an imposing manner. In particular, there were a few buildings and pavilions of special design that even a non-professional like Li Qingshan felt did not conform to the principles of engineering, yet there they stood without any issues at all.

Li Qingshan immediately understood that this was the civil engineering techniques of mohism.

Now, this was a cultivator’s world. Their influence had already penetrated every corner of the world. They did not spend every single day flying around in the air and blasting one another with techniques.

Before the city, Li Qingshan dispersed the cloud and mist and walked over with Xiao An by foot. However, he still used the Glazed Mirror of Invisibility, concealing his body while withdrawing all of his aura. It was unlikely for him to run into the people of the Sect of Clouds and Rain in such a large city, but there was nothing wrong with being more careful.

On the ground, he discovered the city to be even more imposing. Just like Jiaping city, there were no city walls here either. If there really was a day when war erupted, the end result would be determined in the sky. City walls on the ground were just a small, earthen slope to the enemy.

There was even less of a reason to use city walls to guard against bandits and thugs. This was the supreme headquarters of the Hawkwolf Guard for the entire Clear River prefecture, with two commanders stationed here. Anyone who dared to make trouble here would be captured immediately and taken away.

Li Qingshan’s first destination was the headquarters of the Hawkwolf Guard. Originally, every single person who joined the Hawkwolf Guard would come to Clear River city to meet the two scarlet bronze commanders after a period of trial. It was basically a formality.

Qian Rongzhi and Diao Fei had already come to Clear River city before, but only Li Qingshan had not done so. Before he had entered secluded cultivation, Fang Enshang had specially reminded him to report there as soon as he arrived in Clear River city.

If he wanted to cultivate in the Academy of the Hundred Schools, this was crucial. He could not help but think about what had happened over a year ago, with the handsome “commander Hua” and the stern “old Wang”. He wondered how they would react when they saw him again.

And, with how late it was, the two of them probably were not in their office anymore. Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat. He sensed a spiritual pulse scan past him.

Li Qingshan immediately raised his vigilance, but he saw no one approaching him. He could not help but become rather perplexed.

Xiao An said, “This is a formation.”

“How do you know?”

“The Book of All said so.”

Li Qingshan was astonished. This was a formation that enveloped such a large city. That was equivalent to invisible city walls, guarding against Qi Practitioners that could actually threaten this place. However, he guessed that the formation was probably much more useful as a deterrent than whatever other purposes it could serve.