I Cultivate in a Government Office

Chapter 149: Chapter 102: The City’s Attitude

Here, you could see districts of townhouses with private courtyards, as well as office towers boasting more sophisticated designs. Large, public Spirit Gathering Array nodes began to appear, providing the area with a superior Spiritual Qi environment.

Further up, near the mountain’s upper reaches, clouds and mist swirled. The buildings grew sparser but more magnificent—this was the true core of power and wealth in Coral City.

The manors of the great families lay hidden amidst ancient trees and spiritual mists. Landmark buildings like the City Joint Council, the Court, the City Defense Bureau, and the core departments of the Civil Affairs Bureau were all situated here. They featured a design blending classical and modern architecture, with advanced runic arrays embedded within their ornate, upturned eaves, exuding a majestic and imposing aura.

The Spiritual Qi concentration there was significantly higher, and ordinary Flying Shuttles were forbidden from entering at will.

The peak of the Qixia Mountain Range, shrouded in the night’s clouds and mist, was a realm mortals could scarcely hope to reach.

One could faintly discern exquisite pavilions and towers built against sheer cliffs, with covered bridges arching over the sea of clouds, all suffused with the ethereal atmosphere of immortal legends. Most striking of all, at the very peak, a soft, stable pillar of pure white light stood silently, reaching to the heavens as if connecting to another world.

The pillar of light wasn’t blinding, yet it held an ineffable power of majesty and order. Even from a great distance, one could feel its immense, soul-cleansing aura. That was one of Coral City’s most important "National Divine Artifacts"—a major anchor point. It was the physical manifestation of law and principle in this land, as well as the central hub for gathering and regulating the entire city’s Spiritual Vein.

This was Coral City, the core of the island!

Yang Wenqing gazed out the window at the distinctly stratified city, like a divine staircase, his eyes involuntarily drawn to the summit. Back in his student days, he had always dreamed of the view from up there.

’Compared to the layout of Qianjiao County, this is the true grand stage,’ Yang Wenqing thought. ’Each tier represents a different level of power and its own rules of survival. The future of New Town that Vice Director Gao is fighting for, his resistance against the pressure from Director Zhang’s family... it will all ultimately come down to the games played in this city.’

"To Director Qi’s place," Vice Director Gao instructed the driver.

The driver acknowledged the order and immediately adjusted their course. The Flying Shuttle ascended slightly, not toward the main City Defense Bureau complex, but gliding toward the higher, cloud-shrouded region forbidden to ordinary shuttles.

A thought crossed Yang Wenqing’s mind.

’Director Qi? One of the vice directors of the municipal bureau? All the vice directors here are true heavyweights. The weakest among them is at the Late Entry Stage—an existence most people in Qianjiao County can only dream of becoming.’

’I never expected Vice Director Gao’s connections to reach this high.’

The Flying Shuttle was now operating with some special runic clearance. A faint golden authentication Spiritual Light shimmered across its hull. Instead of slowing, it climbed with even greater agility, quickly crossing the invisible boundary at the mountain’s waist.

A surveillance wave swept over the shuttle, and the faint golden Spiritual Light resonated in response. Immediately, several soft green guidance beams materialized in the seemingly empty air ahead, charting a temporary path for the Flying Shuttle.

The higher they climbed, the richer and purer the Spiritual Qi became; he could feel his body rejoice with every breath. The noise and lights of the city below quickly receded, replaced by the growing tranquility of the clouds and the faint silhouettes of buildings nestled among mountain rocks and ancient trees.

The Flying Shuttle finally descended slowly before a courtyard set on a platform jutting from a cliff. The courtyard had no high walls, only a low fence of white jade railings covered in glowing spiritual vines. The entrance was a natural gateway formed by two ancient, gnarled pines that coiled like dragons.

The courtyard ground was paved with smooth, warm-hued jade slabs. A Spiritual Spring trickled through a small pond. Several decorative rockeries of various shapes, though seemingly placed at random, were in fact secretly arranged to form a Spirit Gathering Array.

As soon as the Flying Shuttle stabilized, two mortal servants in simple blue robes, moving without a sound, were already standing respectfully to the side, waiting. Their eyes were clear and their demeanor proper, a sign of rigorous training. Although they couldn’t cultivate while serving in a place so rich in Spiritual Qi, they benefited greatly, allowing them to live long lives.

"Director Gao, please follow me," an older servant said, stepping forward with a calm voice.

The two followed the servant through the tranquil courtyard toward a standalone building in the rear. It was a perfectly round, silver tower about a hundred feet high. Its surface was seamless, marked only by countless silver runes so fine they were nearly imperceptible, pulsing as if the tower itself were breathing.

It was the product of incredibly advanced runic smithing and construction techniques. It stood in striking contrast to the classical courtyard around it, yet didn’t feel out of place in the slightest. Instead, it possessed a kind of timeless beauty.

The servant pressed lightly on a spot on the tower’s smooth wall. A section of the wall slid open without a sound, revealing a soft light within. As he stepped inside, the space opened up dramatically before Yang Wenqing.

The tower’s interior was a single, massive circular hall with a ceiling that soared all the way to the dome!

The hall floor was a single slab of deep blue crystal. A vast, starry cosmos seemed to be encased within it, countless points of light slowly rotating. It mirrored the dome high above, making it impossible to tell if one stood on the ground or on an inverted heaven.

In the center of the hall was a complex, three-dimensional runic array about ten feet in diameter. The array was composed of countless tiny, silver shuttles of light—pure energy projections. Merely standing beside it, Yang Wenqing could feel his own Spiritual Power being drawn in, its circulation quickening slightly. His perception of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi became sharper than ever before.

Surrounding the central runic array, seven or eight milky-white, translucent cocoons of light hovered at the hall’s edge. They floated about three feet off the ground, bobbing gently, and within each, one could vaguely make out the comfortable silhouette of a meditating figure.