I Cultivate in a Government Office

Chapter 148: Chapter 102: The City’s Attitude

The evening Flying Shuttle tore through the deepening twilight, leaving the familiar silhouette of Qianjiao County behind.

Yang Wenqing sat in the front row with the driver, his gaze habitually sweeping past the window. He had traveled this main road to Coral City back when he was a student. The scenery outside hadn’t changed, yet it always seemed to reflect his current state of mind.

Vice Director Gao was silent in the back seat, his fingers tapping unconsciously on his knee, betraying his inner tension. The trip was a hurried one. They were in such a rush because there was an expanded bureau meeting the next morning. Yang Wenqing had received the notice yesterday—he was to attend as well.

A little over ten minutes later, the Flying Shuttle smoothly merged onto the runic thoroughfare. Below, pale cyan guidance runes lit up in succession, stretching into the distant twilight. He felt a slight press into his seat as the scenery outside began to speed past.

Vast, neatly planned private Spirit Plant Manors lined both sides of the road, spreading out like a checkerboard into the distance. Some still maintained a traditional courtyard style, their ornate, upturned eaves hidden behind a faint protective mist.

Most, however, adopted a more efficient design: rows of standardized Spirit Plant sheds. Their roofs were laid with simple Rune Boards designed to absorb the essence of the sun and moon, and they reflected a dull sheen in the evening light.

These manors mostly belonged to the county’s prominent families or Commerce Associations, forming the economic capillaries of Qianjiao County. Yang Wenqing could even recognize a few that belonged to merchants who did business with the Four Seas Trading Company.

As the Flying Shuttle moved farther from the county seat’s central hub, the density of the manors began to decrease, though their individual size grew larger.

There were cultivation bases established on small hills, their slopes carved into distinct, ring-shaped terraces. Each level was shrouded in an earthy-yellow film of Spiritual Qi of varying thickness. There were also vast timber farms dedicated to producing the spirit wood used for low-grade Rune Paper, with automated wooden patrol kites gliding between the trees.

These industries scattered along the road were much like Qianjiao County itself: seemingly orderly and prosperous, but in reality, a patchwork of competing spheres of influence.

"The Garrison Points seem more densely packed than the last time I was here," Yang Wenqing suddenly said, his voice breaking the silence in the cabin. His gaze was fixed on the black, diamond-shaped metal bunkers lining both sides of the road.

He remembered them being spaced about fifteen kilometers apart, but now the distance felt much shorter. In some sections, he could even see the light from the slowly rotating reconnaissance Arrays atop the bunkers both ahead and behind him simultaneously. Figures of Government Soldiers in standard-issue spirit armor stood around the bunkers like statues, blending in with the cold metal structures and exuding a silent menace.

"The seas to the north and west have been turbulent," Vice Director Gao said, his tone part explanation, part sigh. "This road is an artery. We can’t afford any mistakes."

Yang Wenqing nodded silently. Normally, the Garrison Points were a guarantee of safety, but at this moment they felt like a metaphor, a reminder of the undercurrents and pressures lying just beneath the calm surface.

The Flying Shuttle sped onward, leaving behind the last landmark within Qianjiao County’s borders: a county-owned public demonstration field for spirit grain. Ahead lay the territory under the direct jurisdiction of Coral City.

The manors here were larger and more heavily protected joint-cultivation parks. Towering Spiritual Qi regulation towers dotted the landscape, providing stable Spiritual Qi rations to vast areas. Occasionally, armed patrol Flying Shuttles belonging to the city bureau or major Commerce Associations could be seen streaking past overhead at even greater speeds.

On the distant horizon, the brilliant lights of Coral City were already visible. It was an ocean of light formed by the convergence of architectural Spiritual Light, runic advertisements, and the glowing trails of public transport—vast and overwhelming.

In the borderlands where the city’s glow met the darkness of the wilds, he could faintly make out several massive, oddly-shaped silhouettes. They were perhaps city-owned strategic reserve warehouses, large-scale rune factories, or research institutes—behemoths far beyond the reach of any county-level power.

The Flying Shuttle began to decelerate, following the guidance signals it received as it glided toward the designated airspace above the city bureau headquarters. As it merged into one of Coral City’s traffic channels, more and more aircraft with multicolored, flashing navigation lights appeared around them, all gliding in an orderly fashion toward the vast ocean of light.

As the distance closed, the true face of Coral City unfolded layer by layer in the night, revealing a breathtaking magnificence and a strict, imposing order.

The city was backed by a massive mountain range called Qixia. Its districts were built up the mountainside, forming several distinct tiers that rose like an immense, brilliantly lit staircase.

The lowest and most expansive tier, nestled where the mountain’s base met the plains, housed large industrial rune parks, warehousing and logistics hubs, and the primary residential districts for ordinary citizens and low-rank Cultivators.

The buildings here were as dense as a forest, mostly consisting of standardized apartment blocks dozens of stories high and sturdy factory complexes. Their surfaces were covered in energy-saving runes and Protective Arrays, and the lights of countless homes shone from their windows.

Giant holographic advertisements leaped between buildings, promoting the latest runic devices or a Commerce Association’s special offers. The Spiritual Qi here was thin and impure, thick with the aura of mortal life and industrial creation. Yet, the immense vitality of the population was strangely connected to the earth’s ley lines, forming the city’s sturdiest foundation. It neutralized and bore the weight of the even more immense spiritual pressure emanating from the mountain range.

On the next tier up, the mountainside area, the building density dropped noticeably. The architecture grew more diverse and refined. This was home to the middle class, the headquarters for small and medium-sized Commerce Associations, various professional academies, municipal service agencies, and some branch offices of city defense and the Civil Affairs Bureau.