Chapter 676 - 437: Shuyue City
About two hours later, relying on the Shrinking Earth Array to greatly reduce their journey, Wang Zhifan, Mieyue Long Dao along with Zhenxu and Huayangzi successfully arrived at the territory of Xuanzhou, undoubtedly at the core of it—Shuyue City.
Xuanzhou is an old stronghold of the Calamity Realm’s Confucian Sect, where aside from outsiders, nearly all are practitioners of Confucianism. The Confucian ethos is particularly strong here, with Shuyue City as its centerpiece.
At this moment, the four of them were flying high in the sky, gradually lowering their altitude. Below them, the magnificent and majestic Shuyue City of the Confucian Sect was revealing more and more of its form.
Its overall shape is square, symbolizing the Confucian ideal of "the gentleman is upright." The city’s architectural layout resembles a "book pavilion" and "peak mountain," perfectly combining the grandeur of literary aura with the awe-inspiring heights of mountains. This not only justifies the name "Shuyue" but also cleverly expresses the Confucian ideal of "ascending the book’s peak," which is quite unlike the style of Celestial Essence City that Wang Zhifan is more accustomed to.
"Martial Venerable, Mieyue, we should head straight to the Shuyue Pavilion, the tallest and most prominent book-like building in the central position,"
Leading the way on a breeze, the elder Daoist Zhenxu, seeing the two behind him reacting curiously upon reaching new territory, turned his head to guide and explain to them.
"Thank you for the guidance, Daoist,"
Wang Zhifan expressed his gratitude, diverting his eyes from admiring the city’s scenery below to focusing on the city’s central location.
There, a building shaped like a giant standing rolled bamboo scroll caught his attention. Not only because it is the tallest structure in Shuyue City, but also because, although it appears to be an ancient-style building, its cylindrical construction gave him a feeling reminiscent of skyscrapers from the Technology World, an intriguing déjà vu.
"It seems this is the first time both of you are visiting Shuyue City? You’d better seize this opportunity to savor its essence. The city’s qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting are of top quality in the Calamity Realm, with fine wines, exquisite tea, and delicate accessories being equally unrivaled..."
Flying beside Zhenxu using Sword Control, the plump Daoist Huayangzi followed up to introduce Wang Zhifan and his companion to the city’s features.
"Yes, we surely won’t miss this opportunity!"
Wang Zhifan nodded to him, then along with Mieyue Long Dao, who was quietly observing the various places below as they flew, they followed the two Daoists toward the grand Shuyue Pavilion.
As they got closer, they noticed that the Shuyue Pavilion was indeed extraordinarily tall, easily towering a hundred feet high, with its almost circular top spanning at least ten thousand square feet, truly deserving of the name Shuyue.
The four quickly landed on the top of the Shuyue Pavilion and found that this spacious area was already gathering a considerable number of people. Many of these individuals exuded extremely powerful auras, obviously super innate cultivators akin to the four of them.
"Are you the Sage of the North Sea? It’s an honor to see you today, your literary prowess truly dominates the North Sea!"
"Painting Mountain Immortal, you overpraise me! Compared to your pioneering of the Mountain Immortal Painting Path, what little skill I have is insignificant!"
"Not at all! Sage, you humble me too much!"
...
"Senior brother, is this the number one Confucian city in the Calamity Realm? Feels like it falls short compared to our Confucian Realm’s Book Abyss."
"Junior sister, you’d better refrain from saying such things. The Calamity Realm is also a territory our Confucian Sect must safeguard, not to mention the master is here now, don’t leave a poor impression on him..."
"Hmph! Senior brother, are you saying I can’t even speak the truth? It’s against the gentleman’s ethos!"
...
"Abbot, we have arrived, yet the Confucian Sect hasn’t arranged anyone to welcome us. What is the meaning of this? Are they ignoring us of the Buddhist Sect?"
"Faxin, pay it no mind. This is a major gathering with numerous attendees, and not just a few like us, it won’t hurt to wait a bit longer."
...
With just a casual listen, Wang Zhifan realized that the top platform of this building was teeming with experts from various factions. From reclusive great powers of the Barbaric Land to the specialists traveling from the Upper Three Realms, even several high monks from the generally non-cooperative Buddhist Sect had arrived, highlighting the immense influence of the Confucian master.
"Fan, why don’t we stroll around other places first? The Confucian Sect can’t attend to so many people all at once anyway,"
The young and beautiful Mieyue Long Dao suggested to Wang Zhifan at this moment, her inherent urge to shop surfacing.
"Let’s wait a bit longer... We have ample time for this trip, no need to rush,"
Wang Zhifan contemplated before rejecting Long Dao’s suggestion. The true reason being that he had already sensed the aura of a super innate Confucian approaching rapidly and didn’t want to miss out.
Sure enough, in just two breaths, a young, handsome, and charismatic super innate Confucian arrived at the top of the Shuyue Pavilion, accompanied by others, none other than Qingfeng, whom Wang Zhifan had met several days ago.
"Honored guests! Apologies for the wait! The Shuyue Pavilion has prepared accommodations for your rest; please follow our Sect’s attendants to your lodgings."
Upon his appearance, Qingfeng courteously addressed the platform’s assembly with a hint of apology and promptly dispatched several attendants to guide the awaiting guests.
Wang Zhifan’s attention scanned over these attendants, discovering that they were all very youthful, strikingly attractive, male and female Confucians, and not superficial in skill, as they all possessed high-level Innate Realm expertise, with some appearing to be at the precipice of the Innate Realm.