In the eastern district, a cylindrical tower nearly a hundred meters tall rose from the earth, like a stairway leading from the mortal world to the heavens.
This was one of Capital City's landmarks, and its tallest building... the Myriad Phenomena Tower of the Great Liang Astronomical Bureau.
Li Mingyuan, a stargazer dressed in white robes, hurried over and took out the lustrous white Life Jade hanging from his belt.
He raised his Life Jade, and ripples suddenly spread through the empty space before him, as though some invisible force had torn an opening in the watery curtain of a waterfall.
This was the Bureau of Celestial Observation's warding formation. Only those carrying its special Life Jade could pass through.
There were many more such warding formations inside the Myriad Phenomena Tower. The number of floors one could access depended on the grade of one's Life Jade.
No sooner had Li Mingyuan entered than someone blocked his path.
It was a thin, small boy in white robes. The designs on his robes differed from Li Mingyuan's, with an additional bird-wing pattern outlined in gold thread on his chest.
Yet no Life Jade hung from the boy's sash.
"Lord Li, the Deputy Director requests your presence at the Starwatch Platform." The boy bowed to Li Mingyuan as he spoke, his face expressionless.
Li Mingyuan visibly froze.
Normally, someone of his rank would never meet the Deputy Director, a figure whose standing within the Bureau of Celestial Observation was second only to the Director's.
For the Deputy Director to send an attendant to wait for him today left him deeply uneasy. Had he somehow gotten tangled up in serious trouble...?
"Please lead the way."
Li Mingyuan cupped his hands in return and followed the boy upstairs.
His rank only permitted him to