Three Blueprints

However, the messenger ran into a minor problem on the way to the Qinghe Sect.

Since he had never been to the Qinghe Sect and did not know the way, he got lost in the remote mountains and wilderness for several days, arriving rather late.

Fortunately, this gave Tong Jialiang’s uncle and aunt enough time to pack their luggage.

Inside the sect master’s cave dwelling at the Qinghe Sect, Han Shangyi fell into deep thought as he read his daughter’s letter.

He was not surprised that his own daughter wanted him to befriend, or even become dependent on, another sect. He was already used to her shamelessly favoring outsiders.

What truly made him feel as though he had been introduced to an entirely new world was the content of Han Weishu’s letter.

There was actually a sect where even ordinary disciples could use a Spirit-Gathering Array to cultivate in the training hall?

And where the sect elders gave the disciples lectures every day?

The monthly allowance of an ordinary disciple was ten times the yearly allowance of an elite disciple at the Qinghe Sect?!

The sect even provided a spiritually infused dinner every single day?!!

And there was a cultivation method that had allowed Han Weishu, despite possessing a Five-Element Spiritual Root, to break through directly from the first to the fifth level of Qi Refinement in just a few short months…

Han Shangyi fell into even deeper thought when he saw that Han Weishu had specifically instructed him not to spread the information about this cultivation method.

Could such a sect truly exist in the mortal world?

How could he possibly believe it?

Yet even if Han Weishu could deceive him about everything else, she could not fake her cultivation. He would be able to tell at a glance simply by meeting her in person.

And if this sect really possessed a method capable of allowing a cultivator with a Five-Element Spiritual Root to reach the fifth level of Qi Refinement in only a few months, then the other things no longer seemed quite so unbelievable.

Could it be…

Han Shangyi seemed to recall something and immediately took out his sect master’s seal.

After receiving Qin Jianghe’s letter, the Li imperial clan acted with great efficiency. They immediately summoned experienced craftsmen from the Ministry of Works to begin drafting the plans.

To make the design as detailed as possible, Li Zhouxuan also asked Liu Yunan for a topographical map of the area around Xiushui Village.

At first, Li Zhouxuan had only intended for them to produce a flat map marking the changes in terrain and the condition of the land in each location.

Who could have expected the Lingxian Sect to send back a miniature formation instead?

This formation had no other function. It simply reproduced, to a one-to-one scale, the appearance of the area where they intended to build the city. The size of the three-dimensional model could also be adjusted at will, shrinking down to the size of a palm at its smallest.

If necessary, parts of the formation could even be adjusted to provide a more realistic sensory experience. Those who entered the formation could touch the trees and soil within it, allowing them to judge the local climate, humidity, and various other geographical conditions.

Wasn’t this practically the same as conducting an on-site survey?

It made the officials and craftsmen of the Ministry of Works’ task immensely easier.

As a result, the design of the trade center progressed at astonishing speed. With such convenient tools at their disposal, the craftsmen of the Ministry of Works were able to pursue even greater precision and excellence in their work.

Through everyone’s careful and efficient efforts, the design plans were finally completed a month later.

Actually, it would be more accurate to say there were three sets of plans.

They were all part of a single overall design: one master plan and two supplementary plans.

The master plan outlined the city’s overall layout. The other two were somewhat more unusual, representing the craftsmen’s bold ideas.

Because the plans were being designed for the Lingxian Sect, the craftsmen had set aside some of their usual conventions and incorporated several ideas they considered extremely daring—though they believed immortals ought to be capable of accomplishing them.

One supplementary plan was for a mountain city, and the other was for an underground city.

Both were structural components of the main city. However, because they were relatively independent, they had been given separate plans explaining their various details.

After studying the terrain around Xiushui Village, the craftsmen of the Ministry of Works unanimously agreed that it would be unwise to make drastic changes to the original landscape. In their opinion, the area already possessed excellent feng shui.

Thus, they designed the city in a way that preserved the original landscape as much as possible.

One of the mountains within the designated area would be transformed directly into a mountain city. Thanks to its commanding position, its proximity to Xiushui Village—it was separated from the village by only a mountain stream—and its location at the center of the entire city, it was designed to serve as the city’s core.

Most of the administrative offices, as well as the city lord’s residence, would be located atop this mountain city.

As for the underground city, the craftsmen had come up with the idea after considering the emperor’s instructions that the city needed to accommodate a very large population and handle both a huge number of tourists and permanent residents.

They therefore devised a plan to develop the underground space within the original boundaries.

This would provide Xiushui Village with additional room for development, and the land around the village was also quite suitable for the purpose.

Furthermore, the underground city had been designed with a completely independent system for water supply, drainage, and air circulation.

If the Lingxian Sect found the design suitable, they could keep it. If they considered it inappropriate, they could simply leave it aside for the time being.

Before giving the plans to the Lingxian Sect, Li Zhouxuan had them reviewed by Ancestor Li of the Li imperial clan. Ancestor Li Zhanying approved of them.

Before long, the Lingxian Sect received the thick stack of plans sent by the Li imperial clan.

Liu Yunan and Qin Jianghe looked through them, though they were mostly just enjoying the spectacle. Many of the things inside were new to them as well. They had never realized that building a city required consideration of so many different factors.

Sure enough, building a city was entirely different from building a village or a town. This sort of work really did require experts.

After checking the plans against the catalog page by page and confirming that nothing was missing, Liu Yunan handed the designs over to Lin Xiao.

Ever since he had finished preparing all the formations required for the trade center, Lin Xiao had begun cultivating day and night.

Recently, the only matter he was concerned about was whether Senior Liao had emerged from Changming Mountain.

However, no news had come from Changming for a long time.

Senior Liao’s status in the system still showed that he was in secluded cultivation. There did not seem to be any problems, so Lin Xiao had no intention of disturbing him merely to check on his condition.

Lin Xiao had given Sun Yigao the magical treasures provided by the system during the celebratory banquet on the day Sun Yigao advanced to the Nascent Soul stage.

At the time, the other disciples had been green with envy. After all, these were unique magical treasures perfectly suited to The Primordial Essence Scripture’s Chapter of Benevolence!

Jiang Youfu was the sole exception.

Lin Xiao also explained to them that these treasures had only been born because he had achieved a breakthrough in his cultivation method and formed a unique lineage of his own. They had manifested in accordance with that cultivation method.

If they wanted treasures of their own, they could only study their cultivation methods properly and work hard.

Sect Master Lin never missed an opportunity to encourage his disciples to cultivate.

After obtaining the three magical treasures, Sun Yigao found himself unable to part with them. For the next month, aside from refining the pills required by the sect and attending classes, he spent all his remaining time in the Scripture Repository studying them.

Lin Xiao carefully examined the plans after receiving them.

Naturally, he also noticed the designs for the mountain city and underground city.

He had not expected the craftsmen employed by the imperial court to be so bold.

Originally, he had assumed that the plans he received would be rigorous and meticulous—concerned solely with avoiding mistakes and showing not the slightest trace of novelty.