195 Purchase Industry Part 2 (1/2)

The group of five allowed themselves to be led by Sumano as they headed towards the center of the city. Saleen deliberately slowed down his footsteps to match Lex’s as the two of them took in the scenery around them.

Alchemy City was truly one of a kind. Never in his wildest dreams had Saleen envisioned a city so beautiful. The roads were practically seamless. The bricks used to build them had been cemented together using magic. Saleen also spotted storm drains located on both sides of the streets. Taking a closer look, a person could see the many drainage pipes that had been laid in the ground. The streets were so wide that even if carriages took up one side of the road, there would still be enough space for other modes of transport to pass through.

Tall buildings flanked both sides of the streets. Outside of these buildings stood beautifully sculpted statues and other intricate magical-patterned decorations. Saleen noticed that magic lamps were placed at one hundred meter intervals. Since it was still daytime, these magic lamps were not lit up yet. However, Saleen could imagine how spectacular the view of the city would be when night came and all the magic lamps lit up at once.

The buildings that flanked both sides of the roads were mostly shops that sold all kinds of goods and services. In fact, Saleen had spotted a few mage apprentices dismantling a five meter tall puppet when he peered through the glass window of one of the shops.

The equipment stores here were very different from those in other cities. They only specialized in the sale of certain types of equipment. For example, one of the shops Saleen passed by only sold armor. Since Alchemy City had four swordsman's camps, most of their business probably came from the swordmasters who needed to constantly update the quality of their weaponry. At the corner of the shop, Saleen saw a puppet approximately as tall as two people soliciting business from people from all walks of life. Decked fully in a tacky yellowish-orange magic armor, it looked quite ridiculous.

There were two lines written in magic ink on the glass windows of the shop. They read ”Dyneema’s Knight armor Forging Services – proven and tested for one thousand and five hundred years – safety guaranteed”. A magic potion had caused the colors of the words to constantly change, allowing them to stand out from the rest of the shops.

The status of knights might have deteriorated over the years, but the techniques for forging knight armor had been passed down for many generations and were still popular today. The way the slogan had been phrased would attract the patronage of many swordmasters to this shop.

Saleen looked up to see the sight of a grey, gloomy sky, meaning that it was going to rain very soon. However, the people on the streets did not seem to be too flustered by the sudden change in weather, although Saleen did see the silhouettes of them hurriedly walking, each of them draped in what seemed to be an apprentice robe.

Of course, in a city filled with many ridiculously tall buildings, there were bound to be a few low-rise ones too. Each of them had their own unique character, and judging by the materials used to build them, Saleen guessed that almost all of them had been built according to the standards of magic laboratories.

Even though they were much shorter than the average building here in Alchemy City, they were at least twenty meters in height. These buildings did not have more than five floors, and each of them had a space designated solely for carriage horses to rest.

If what Sumano said was true, Alchemy City would definitely be able to accommodate a population equivalent to that of Holy Rock City. It was such a waste to construct these enormous buildings for so few people.

Although both Alchemy City and Holy Rock City were huge, the latter only looked the part. However, it was still enough to leave tourists gobsmacked. On the other hand, Alchemy City was truly vast. With the exception of horse carriages, everything in here was a lot larger compared to that of other cities, from buildings to shops, to even the roads.

However, this type of vastness actually made people feel empty and depressed. Lonely, even, almost as though a person were alone in this city and had no one to reach out to.

Scary! Saleen thought as he shuddered at the thought of being alone with no one to turn to. He had gradually fallen in love with Alchemy City. Yet, there was always something about it that made him want to flee from the place without looking back.

Holy Rock City was a safe and clean place to live in, allowing people to live comfortably and freely without ever having to worry about their safety.

Law and order was maintained in Alchemy City too, but it lacked the warmth that was omnipresent in Holy Rock City. Everyone was treated the same here, almost as though they were machines. I guess that’s what you get when you decide to use magic to do everything for you, Saleen thought grimly.

Saleen gradually understood the differences between Holy Rock City and Alchemy City. The latter was just like a fully constructed puppet, intricately designed and flawlessly operating, allowing almost no room for error. On the other hand, Holy Rock City was like a fully constructed puppet that had come to life. There was actual communication, warmth, and the feeling that a person belonged.

To survive in Alchemy City, one needed to have a strong sense of self-control so that they would not become too depressed from the lack of human contact and warmth. Only then could that person truly benefit from staying in Alchemy City.

Saleen had wanted to visit the alchemy tower since long ago. Lex felt the same way. In fact, just looking at the building that towered over her made her feel all sorts of indescribable emotions.

It could not be considered a ”tower” in the traditional sense at all. From afar, it looked like a mountain that had been divided into six valleys. Among these smaller mountains, numerous rooms had been carved. The public square located in front of the tower was large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people.

The six edges of the tower had been constructed using pure metal and were engraved with magic texts. This seemingly ordinary design looked absolutely marvellous on the alchemy tower – shocking even. It looked to be about fifty stories tall. Although the top few floors appeared shorter than the others, they were each at least two hundred meters tall.

The six metal edges cut into the sky like a spear. There was even a bridge built on the ninth floor to improve accessibility for locals and foreigners alike.

Bridges like this were ancient, and had their own unique architectural style. Legend had it that during the second Wang Dynasty, the bridges built in the imperial capital had been at least dozens of miles long. It was so wide that even horse carriages could fit onto it.

Samuno was right. Alchemy City did not have any magic towers that were ten stories tall or above. However, this alchemy tower was easily one of the tallest buildings in all of the Myers Mainland. The churches in the Holy See could not even reach half of its height.

This was something that all of Alchemy City could be extremely proud of. Saleen could imagine how exhilarating it would be to observe the entire city from the top. Would he feel like he had the world under his feet?