Passing through the deep, slightly chilly tunnel beneath the city gate felt as though he had crossed an invisible boundary.
The world before him suddenly opened up, its clamor and vitality surging forth like a tidal wave.
The main street was broad enough for more than a dozen carriages to travel abreast. It was paved with a smoother, harder blue-black stone, flat as a mirror, stretching deep into the city. Buildings of every style stood in close succession on both sides. There were towering wooden pavilions more than ten stories high, with upturned eaves and carved brackets, majestic and imposing; exquisite halls built entirely from white jade, shimmering with light and faintly rippling with formations; and even more ancient, weighty stone storefronts, their lintels hung with every variety of signboard.
The streets teemed with people, shoulder brushing shoulder.
Unlike the official roads outside the city, where most travelers hurried along with weary faces, the pedestrians within the city were far more varied. There were extravagantly dressed young members of aristocratic clans, surrounded by attendants; mercenaries and adventurers carrying massive swords, their auras fierce and rugged; professionals dressed in alchemist robes or artifact refiner attire, their expressions focused; and, more than anyone else, ordinary cultivators in all manner of fitted garments and long robes, as well as countless mortals dressed plainly and scrambling to make a living.
The air was filled with a tangled blend of scents. Rich Spiritual Qi, the medicinal fragrance of countless pills, the metallic and mineral smell of artifact materials, the distinctive odor of demon beast pelts, the aroma of food, and the unique aura created by innumerable living beings gathered together... All of it intertwined, forming Flowing Cloud City's distinctive atmosphere—brimming with life while concealing turbulent undercurrents.
Lin Chen stood at the entrance to the street