Illuminating Chang'an

"This..."

Hearing the Grand Astrologer's tearful complaints, Li Shimin felt a headache coming on.

When he first learned of these things in the future world, he hadn't believed them either.

After all, it was simply too subversive to one's understanding of the world.

Now, expecting the court officials to accept these new concepts all at once was naturally just as difficult for them.

"The Earth is round, there is no doubt about it," Qin Ning smiled faintly.

The Grand Astrologer could not agree and continued to ask, "If that is truly the case, then why are we able to stand upon it without falling off?"

"This involves many concepts, such as gravity and the like. I can't explain it clearly to you right now. If you listen carefully in future classes, you will understand the principles behind it."

"No! This is false knowledge! Your Majesty, this old minister... this old minister refuses to learn it!" the Grand Astrologer declared.

"Pedantic!"

Hearing this, Li Shimin also grew somewhat angry.

Empress Zhangsun hurriedly intervened to mediate, "Your Majesty, when one first learns of these things, it is indeed a bit difficult to accept. You of all people should understand."

"How about this? Whether the Earth is round or not, I will just take you to see for yourselves."

At this moment, Qin Ning stood up.

"How will we see it?"

The three people present were all taken aback.

This included Li Shimin and Empress Zhangsun.

Although they knew Qin Ning was no mortal—not only could he travel back and forth between the Great Tang and the modern world, but he could also store away all sorts of objects with a mere wave of his hand.

However, since knowing Qin Ning, he had never actually taken them flying through the sky, so they tacitly assumed he did not possess such an ability.

"Buzz!"

Facing their curiosity, Qin Ning did not explain. With a wave of his hand, a curtain of light enveloped the three of them.

Following that, he took the three of them and, with a leap, disappeared from the ancient hall.

When they reappeared, they were already tens of thousands of feet in the high sky.

Looking down from this position, the entire Earth could be taken in at a glance.

All three were shocked, their faces filled with dumbfounded awe.

Especially the Grand Astrologer, whose legs had gone soft; he almost fainted on the spot.

"This, this, this..."

He stammered for a long time but couldn't form a complete sentence.

He was simply too shocked, to the point of completely losing his ability to speak.

"Young Master Qin, is... is this the Earth?"

Li Shimin was the first to react. He took a deep breath, appearing extremely excited.

He never expected that one day, he would be able to stand at such a height and personally look down upon the land beneath his feet.

Although he had seen globes more than once in the future world, the visual impact of actually flying outside the Earth and witnessing its entirety was completely different.

"Yes."

Qin Ning nodded.

Compared to the future generations, the Earth during the Great Tang era looked much more magnificent when viewed from outer space.

Primarily because this era did not yet have the pollution brought about by industry.

As his words fell, he waved his hand again, taking everyone and disappearing from the spot.

"Swish!"

When they reappeared, they arrived upon a barren expanse of land.

The Moon!

The moment their feet touched the ground, they could clearly feel that the gravity was vastly different.

"This is the moon. There is no Chang'e, nor is there a Moon Palace," Qin Ning spoke.

"This, this, this..."

The three were thoroughly dumbfounded, never having thought that one day they would personally stand upon the moon.

"Chang'e flying to the moon... is it really just a legend?" The Grand Astrologer took a deep breath.

If he couldn't accept the facts before, now, having personally visited the moon and seeing the desolate landscape here, he finally understood that the so-called mythological stories were nothing but fabricated legends.

"Swish!"

Qin Ning waved his hand again, bringing them back to the ancient hall.

It wasn't until a good while later that the three recovered from their shock.

Qin Ning looked at the Grand Astrologer, "Do you still have any disagreements with the knowledge you learned today?"

The Grand Astrologer didn't speak, only shaking his head repeatedly before finally saying, "Young Master... no, no, no, Lord Immortal, are you an immortal sent down by the Heavens to educate the subjects of my Great Tang?"

Hearing this, Qin Ning paused for a moment, then smiled, "You can understand it that way. Therefore, you must properly memorize the knowledge you learn from now on. This knowledge is priceless to you and to the entire Great Tang."

"Rest assured, Lord Immortal, this old minister... this old minister will definitely do his utmost to memorize this knowledge!"

He said this and was about to kneel and bow down to Qin Ning.

Qin Ning said, "Your Majesty already said yesterday that the Great Tang no longer needs to perform kneeling bows."

"My beloved minister, if you have nothing else, you may leave. Remember, do not casually mention today's events to others. Do not let theological theories sweep through my Great Tang; everyone must believe in science," Li Shimin instructed.

"Uh... Yes, Your Majesty!"

The Grand Astrologer was briefly taken aback, then nodded earnestly, and finally took his leave.

In the hall, only Qin Ning, Empress Zhangsun, and Li Shimin remained. He couldn't help but ask, "Young Master Qin, are you really a heavenly immortal descended to the mortal realm?"

After all, the things they had just experienced were far more bizarre than what he had seen and heard in the future world over the past few days.

"You can think so if you wish. Otherwise, why do you think I was able to converse with Elder Zeng and the others in the future generations?"

Qin Ning smiled faintly, "However, this is actually the result of cultivation, meaning I am an immortal cultivator. Besides me, Xiao Fei, Wang Er, and the others are now also considered immortal cultivators. But compared to me, their cultivation bases are still far too weak. Aside from strengthening their bodies and gaining a bit of cultivation, they can't even perform the most basic flight and still have to rely on the magical artifacts I gave them."

"C-Can... Can Guanyinbi and I also learn cultivation from you?" Li Shimin grew somewhat excited.

Hearing this, Qin Ning couldn't help but pause. "Want to learn cultivation... it's not impossible. Next time you go back, you can just find Xia Fei and the others to teach you. Moreover, the environment over there was personally improved by me. Only over there is it possible for you to truly raise your cultivation."

"Let's not talk about this anymore. For now, let's discuss the development of the Great Tang."

With that said, Qin Ning stood up, "Let's go take a look at Wang Yousheng's side. If nothing unexpected happens, Chang'an City should welcome some changes before dark tonight."

Saying so, he, along with Li Shimin and Empress Zhangsun, arrived outside the Taiji Palace, drove an off-road vehicle, and headed out.

In the morning, Qin Ning had already visited Wang Yousheng and his group.

Although the hydroelectric power station was still in the planning stage, the solar photovoltaic panels had basically already been laid out on an open field outside the city.

"Are they... installing streetlights?"

The vehicle drove slowly along the main streets of Chang'an City, attracting crowds of onlookers.

In the car, Empress Zhangsun noticed busy figures on both sides of the street, appearing to be installing streetlights.

Qin Ning smiled and nodded. "Yes, the solar panels have already been installed. Hydropower and wind power will be built in the future, but for now, the solar power alone should be enough to light up the entire city of Chang'an."