Chapter 98: Golden Dragon City
The distortion surrounding them gradually weakened, and solid ground returned beneath their feet.
Xingluo opened her eyes inside an enormous teleportation hall where dozens of formations covered the polished floor.
Pillars of light rose and vanished across different sections as travellers continuously arrived from distant cities or disappeared toward new destinations.
Officials stood beside every active formation, checking permits and recording arrivals before allowing people to leave. Soldiers patrolled the marked pathways, while workers moved sealed containers and heavy equipment away from the larger transport arrays.
Their group remained upon the platform until the silver light beneath them faded completely.
Professor Liang led them toward the nearest registration point, where a uniformed official accepted the transfer slip from his hand. The man examined the document, recorded their names inside a crystal register, then returned it after adding a stamped mark.
"Your arrival has been confirmed."
Professor Liang thanked him and continued toward the main exit.
The noise grew louder as they approached the enormous gates, formation pulses, conversations and the movement of hundreds of travellers blended together until they finally stepped outside.
Xingluo’s pace immediately slowed, a vast plaza stretched before the teleportation hall, crowded with travellers, merchants, soldiers and academy students moving between several enormous roads.
Beyond them rose countless buildings, some wide enough to occupy entire sections of the city while others extended high enough for their upper floors to disappear among the clouds.
Runic formations flowed across their surfaces, and suspended platforms connected several towers above the streets. Mana-powered vehicles travelled through different layers of the sky, following glowing routes that curved between the buildings without disrupting those below.
Professor Liang, Miao Tianhe and Ruan Mei continued forward without showing much reaction.
Xingluo remained near the entrance, her gaze moving between the distant towers, flying vehicles and the endless stream of people passing through the plaza.
Ruan Mei glanced back and gave a quiet chuckle. "It does not suit such a beautiful young lady to stare at the streets like a country bumpkin."
Xingluo puffed her cheeks. "I have never seen anything like this before."
"That much is obvious."
Xingluo immediately reached for her, but Ruan Mei stepped aside before she could catch the sleeve of her coat.
Professor Liang watched them with a faint smile. "You can continue fighting after we reach the academy."
Xingluo withdrew her hand and followed the others down the broad staircase leading into the plaza.
Wuxia floated beside her while quietly examining the people moving around them. His gaze remained upon several passing groups before shifting toward the roads farther ahead.
"Golden Dragon City truly deserves its place among the Seventy-Two Pillar Cities."
Xingluo looked toward him. "What did you notice?"
"Most of the people nearby have already reached the Fourth or Fifth Transition." Wuxia observed another group leaving the teleportation hall. "There are also several Sixth Transition experts and more than one person who has entered the Seventh."
Xingluo’s expression changed as she looked through the crowd again.
"How can you see that? My skill cannot inspect anyone more than fifty levels above me."
"My skills just do not follow the same restriction."
Wuxia nodded toward a man crossing the plaza in simple clothing.
"Even then, many people are wearing equipment that conceals their strength, some of it is similar to your armour, so I can only estimate what they are hiding."
Xingluo looked at the ordinary pedestrians around them with renewed caution. Many carried no visible weapons and wore nothing that separated them from the rest of the crowd, yet some were powerful enough to overwhelm everyone she had known in her former city.
Professor Liang continued introducing Golden Dragon City while leading them across the plaza.
Most of the explanation was directed toward Xingluo, since Ruan Mei had lived there for years and Miao Tianhe had visited repeatedly while accompanying his father on business.
"Golden Dragon City is one of the Human Alliance’s principal military and commercial centres," Professor Liang said. "The strength gathered here is far beyond what you encountered in Beichen, so do not judge anyone by appearance alone."
Xingluo glanced once more at the people passing them and gave a slow nod.
After seeing how casually Fourth and Fifth Transition Awakeners moved through the streets, she no longer needed much convincing.
Professor Liang continued speaking as they crossed the plaza.
"Even among the Seventy-Two Pillar Cities, Golden Dragon City consistently ranks within the top ten. Three forces are mainly responsible for that position."
Xingluo turned her attention away from the surrounding streets and listened more carefully.
"The first is the Golden Dragon Cavalry, one of the strongest mounted military legions in the Human Alliance. The second is the presence of two of humanity’s greatest academies: Golden Dragon University and Dragon Military University."
Professor Liang paused before adding the final name.
"The third is the Xiao family."
She did not yet know much about the cavalry, either university or the Xiao family, but one thing had already become obvious.
The waters of Golden Dragon City ran far deeper than those of Beichen.
Professor Liang led them farther across the plaza until they approached a man waiting beside one of the marked transport areas. He appeared to be around the professor’s age and wore a dark coat bearing a small military emblem near the collar.
The moment he noticed Professor Liang, a faint smile appeared across his face.
"Well, well. It has been a long time, Liang."
Professor Liang returned the smile. "You would have waited even longer if these juniors had not required my help, you already know I retired years ago."
His gaze moved briefly toward Xingluo, Ruan Mei and Miao Tianhe.
"I only came to complete their formalities and introduce them properl, once that is finished, I will return to my quiet retirement."
The man examined him for several seconds before releasing a sigh.
"You really have changed, who would have imagined that you would one day become a university professor?"
Professor Liang laughed softly. "People can change faster than the turn of a coin."
He glanced toward the transport platform behind the man. "Let us leave the past alone for now, this old man has travelled far enough and would prefer to sit down."
The man nodded and activated the terminal beside him, a low hum spread through the platform as a black mana-powered vehicle descended from above. Its doors opened along both sides, revealing wide seats arranged around a clean central aisle.
Everyone boarded without delay, Xingluo and Ruan Mei sat near one of the windows, while Miao Tianhe placed his travel bag beside the opposite seat. Professor Liang joined the man near the front as the doors closed behind them.
The vehicle rose smoothly from the plaza and entered one of the glowing aerial routes crossing the city.
Xingluo leaned slightly toward the window and the city extended beneath them in every direction towers, bridges, plazas and rivers passed far below, while countless vehicles moved through separate routes between the buildings.
She watched the city continue unfolding beyond the horizon and finally understood how little of the world she had seen before.
It really is a vast world.