Chapter 233: Life 73, Age 35, Martial Grandmaster Peak
Green Leaf City was located in the middle of a sprawling, ancient forest with trees that were over 100 meters tall and at least 20 meters in diameter. The forest canopy was so dense that hardly any light was able to reach the ground, creating an umbral environment where only small shrubs and mosses could survive.
However, there were no giant trees in Green Leaf City itself. Because of this, as we approached the city, the leaves and branches above us thinned out, and our surroundings began to take on an emerald-green hue. This created an odd terminator zone where dew drops were able to gather in the shadows of the trees but where an errant gust of wind could blow branches enough to let light poke through and burn them away. Because of this, the edge of the city had a persistent scent of petrichor.
Approaching the city, I couldn’t help but notice that it was surrounded by a wooden palisade, not a stone wall. Being made of a high-Rank wood, the strength of this palisade wasn’t much different from what would be expected of a stone wall made of comparable materials, but the problem was that wood was notoriously difficult to use in formations.
Setting up a grand defensive formation and channeling its energies through a wooden palisade would have been nearly impossible. The only reason I could think of for why they would use wood in their defenses despite this drawback was that the city lacked a strong formation specialist. Without anyone to set up a proper high-level formation, the city must have opted to just build fortifications from the most durable resource that was readily available, and being located in a forest, that was wood, not stone.
As we passed through the city gates, the canopy overhead disappeared, and we were bombarded with warm sunlight. While the buildings around us were made of wood, they were spaced out and painted in a variety of earth tones, making them feel connected to the surrounding forests, but also separate from it. I was almost as if we had exited a cave and stepped out into a bright green meadow.
As we walked, Young Master Wang told us a bit more about the place.
“Most sects prefer to recruit disciples in small towns, but the Verdant Forest Sect is a bit different. Green Leaf City is the capital of the Green Leaf Kingdom, the largest kingdom-level power under the sect’s aegis. As such, it’s a veritable metropolis.”
We passed by several shops and storefronts, and Young Master Wang gestured to him to make his point.
“In places where other sects do their recruiting, such as the famous South Gate City, everything is focused around preparing cultivators to enter the sect. Here, however, you can find a mix of stores catering to cultivators and mortals alike.”