Chapter 246: Transportation

Tang Nation has arrived.

Li Qi's spirits lifted!

He had been looking forward to Tang Nation for a long time!

Shaman God Mountain is quite peaceful inside, just like Shaman Dao itself; everyone does their own thing, not bothering each other, and only communicating when necessary.

Go with the natural flow, maintain the natural operating laws of the Universe, and that's good enough.

But the Human Dao is not like that.

What the Human Dao pursues is change.

Daily innovation, constantly seeking a better future every moment.

Li Qi held Shen Shuibi and murmured:

“The Human Dao is all-encompassing, its rules penetrate everywhere, it guides with benevolence and righteousness, restrains with laws and punishments, unifying the entire realm and bringing order to all people.”

The Dao of Reason and Dao Orthodoxy both have some Dao Orthodoxy lineages that follow the Human Dao, even at the cost of breaking with their original Dao Orthodoxy, which shows that the Human Dao is actually very attractive.

However, Li Qi had never seen it with his own eyes, so it was still difficult for him to understand.

The Human Dao he had witnessed in the past was more like a tyrannical Dao than a Human Dao.

Although grand and magnificent, it was merciless, crushing all dissenters with terrifying and unparalleled brute force, with no room for reason—either submit or die.

There was absolutely no other choice.

But he also knew that the Human Dao was far from that simple, which was why he wanted to see it with his own eyes.

Li Qi was studying at the Imperial Academy, and the Imperial Academy was located in Chang'an.

This was…

Chang'an.

The center of the Human Dao across all the myriad worlds and Boundless Outer Domain, the place where the Human Emperor resides.

“Li Qi…” At this moment, Shen Shuibi, in her rabbit form, spoke.

“Hmm? What's wrong, Shui Bi?” Li Qi asked.

Shen Shuibi's ears drooped, and she trembled all over, seemingly still not quite used to that address.

However, she quickly perked up and said, “Be careful. I haven't been here either… I'm not familiar with the Human Dao's territory, but Tang Nation is very overbearing and doesn't like to listen to people talk.”

“Don't worry, people from Honglu Temple will come to pick us up. Tang Nation won't let anything happen to us,” Li Qi nodded, comforting the rabbit, then stroked her fur and tugged her tail.

It really was very long when he pulled it out.

This made Shen Shuibi curl into a ball, not allowing him to continue his mischief.

And the Roc also gradually shrank its body, standing on the edge of its wing. Li Qi gradually saw the scenery before him begin to clear.

The high-altitude clouds dispersed, and the Roc's spatial pocket on its back completely hid itself, shrinking the whole to only a few meters in wingspan, just enough for Li Qi to stand on.

At this moment, the Roc spoke.

She said in a gentle female voice:

“Young Master, we came in a hurry, and there are no accompanying people. I will also have to go back to report to Grand Invoker later, so there might be four or five days where it's just the two of you in Chang'an… Be careful.”

“Senior, don't worry, I already knew about these things. It's only three or five days, it won't be a problem,” Li Qi smiled. He had known this for a long time.

It was normal; he didn't set off with the main group after preparing an envoy mission.

Instead, after snatching Shen Shuibi, he was afraid that the Ordained Invokers would hang him up and beat him when they returned, so he quickly left to seek refuge.

Coming to Tang Nation for study, even the Ordained Invokers couldn't say much, only glare at Li Qi.

Hearing this, the rabbit curled herself into a ball, head and tail tucked down, pretending to be just a ball of fur.

“It's good that Young Master has a plan in mind. We've arrived.” The Roc circled in the air, then slowly descended towards the ground.

The ground… was a metropolis.

Li Qi strained his eyes, but he couldn't find the boundary of Chang'an.

Just as Shaman God Mountain occupies tens of thousands of miles, although Chang'an's area isn't that exaggerated, it must easily reach ten thousand miles in circumference, right?

To be honest, Li Qi was a bit surprised. In his imagination, Chang'an should have been boundless.

But its area was much smaller than he had imagined.

Ten thousand miles across is roughly the size of Australia in his previous life.

That calculates to seven or eight million square kilometers, a bit less than China, and a bit more than the United States.

For a city to be so enormous was already terrifying.

But, he always felt something was missing?

As if seeing Li Qi's confusion, the Roc smiled and said, “Young Master, there's no need to doubt. Just like Shaman God Mountain in the world, Chang'an, located in the world, is merely the hub and the 'gateway'.”

A gateway?

Li Qi suddenly understood.

So that's how it is.

The Roc continued to fly downwards, breaking through the strong wind layer.

Right here, prosperity became evident.

All around were countless flying vehicles. Most of these flying vehicles could not break through the strong wind layer, but they were sufficient to soar here.

The flying vehicles had different characteristics. Some were flying mounts, exotic beasts, like Li Qi's.

Some were Spiritual Artifacts, such as common boats and carriages.

Others were huge public transportation facilities, like buses or urban light rail.

Lines resembling tracks, formed by spells, crisscrossed through here, strictly regulating the routes.

Flying also had its own roads, divided by latitude and longitude, with clear paths and tracks, numerous but not chaotic, each flying within its own designated area.

Li Qi was also like this. The Roc seemed to know the 'traffic rules' here, proceeding along a windless path constructed by spells. Such rules allowed so many flying vehicles to operate in an orderly manner!

The speed was not slow, and they wouldn't collide with others.

Li Qi could see that countless people here were even Mortals who had not entered the First Grade. Although they had cultivation, they had not entered the First Grade, yet they still rode the same public transportation as many First Grade people.

Some even bought their own flying vehicles.

Looking down from the sky, one could see countless rivers.

Truly, countless…

A massive river, perhaps eight hundred miles wide, traversed the entire Chang'an. From this giant river and canal, countless smaller rivers branched out, forming a network of waterways that spread throughout Chang'an.

These waterways also seemed to have been meticulously planned, ensuring sufficient penetration everywhere, becoming the city's second transportation network.

What a grand canal! The vast river flowed endlessly, its source unknown, its destination unknown, encompassing the earth and connecting to the boundless void.

One could only see the floating foam rushing, boundless to the south, without banks to the north, with lush reeds and water chestnuts. On it lived magnificent birds and exotic creatures, gathered in flocks. Countless people traveled by boat, or rode on turtles and tortoises, adorned with splendor and moving elegantly, draped in purple and red, coming and going on the river in rhythm.

Li Qi even saw many Dragons! These Dragons carried palaces on their backs, floating on the grand canal, with people drinking and enjoying themselves in the palaces, music drifting melodiously.

Besides water and air transportation, land transportation was also very developed.

On land, various types of vehicles, or other land-traveling Spiritual Artifacts and exotic beasts, were also present.

Following planned roads, these vehicles and Spiritual Artifact exotic beasts operated on the roads. Some could even reach certain take-off points, flying into the air or descending into the water.

There were also some aerial and waterborne transportation tools that could land on the ground, each with different procedures.

There were countless types of transportation tools alone, and hundreds of millions of people commuted within this city, yet they adhered to some strange and profound rules, making everything orderly, well-arranged, and not a single bit out of place.

This was just transportation.

The buildings below were even more astonishing.

Flying eaves lined up like mountains, long roads stretched far away.

Cloud-reaching pavilions stood tall, divine trees and Spiritual Plants were planted.

Ever-changing, with diverse forms and suitable functions, the yin light flowed north, the yang birds flew south.

Magnificent spiritual pillars, resplendent flowing camphor, hundreds of columns leaning in rows, thousands of dougong brackets supporting in succession!

Buildings of various forms were situated below. Some resembled residential towers, easily reaching several miles high, piercing the clouds, with many flying vehicles passing by them.

Roads would also extend from these residential towers, like overpasses made of rooftops, allowing vehicles from the ground below to drive up.

These sky bridges then connected to each other, forming a three-dimensional transportation network, but there were no pedestrians, only transportation vehicles.

Complex, yet orderly.

Through certain traffic rules, hundreds of millions of vehicles traversed this city, which was as large as Australia on Earth.

Li Qi suspected there was even underground transportation, because he could feel the constant surge of Qi within the earth veins.

In the Baiyue Area, this would be a warning of an earthquake, but here there was no movement at all.

This reminded him of the 'Earth Flow Vehicle' that Jing Yan had once mentioned to him.

A glimpse into the whole.

Just from these transportation systems, Li Qi could see the prosperity of Chang'an.

Prosperous, yet orderly and full of Life Qi.

Rules protected everyone, yet did not restrict anyone's freedom.

Rules prevent you from being harmed or harming others; within this scope, you are free.

Or one could say…

Rules brought freedom.

Shaman God Mountain established almost no rules, allowing all things to develop naturally, but the Mortals in the Baiyue Area had no freedom whatsoever; they were even still in a feudal era.

Because, without the restraint of rules, societal development stagnating is almost inevitable, but Shaman God Mountain doesn't care, because this is also part of natural.

A stone from a hundred million years ago is still a stone now.

Shaman God Mountain would not deliberately carve this stone into a tool; it would only do so when necessary.

“So that's it, so that's it,” Li Qi exclaimed.

He understood a part of it.

These rules constrained the strong, allowing the weak to gain a certain degree of freedom.

Law enforcement forces prevented other ordinary people from committing evil, stronger oversight forces restrained the law enforcement forces, and so on, layer by layer, upwards.

Up to the First Grades at the very top, they restrained themselves and served as the ultimate constraint for all these rules.

This layered system created the current social order.

Orderly, allowing everyone to achieve the maximum freedom possible without infringing on the freedom of others.

The boundaries of freedom were regulated; as long as you didn't infringe on the freedom of others, you were free.

Just like the traffic lanes here, as long as you don't affect other people driving, you can drive however you want.

That's why it's said that here, the rules that bind people, in turn, bring freedom.

This greatly promoted the generation of prosperity.

Soon, the Roc followed the aerial pathway, crossing hundreds of miles, and landed in a…

Parking lot?

He didn't know how to describe it, but in Li Qi's mind, this thing should be called a parking lot.

It covered a very large area, several tens of square kilometers.

Many exotic beasts, or Spiritual Artifacts that couldn't shrink, were parked here, with dedicated personnel patrolling and guarding them. Around them were also things similar to surveillance cameras, which were Spiritual Artifact eyes patrolling.

They were very conspicuous and would flash and glow; more than surveillance, they were like warnings.

Warning those with ill intentions, 'Be careful, there's surveillance here'.

Moreover, the surrounding architectural style was also very interesting.

No wonder when he was in the miniature heaven and earth 'Earth Oil Realm' in the past, it had that ancient yet modern appearance.

At that time, it was said that the Earth Oil Realm was governed by 'Human Dao evil methods'.

This place was the super invincible advanced enhanced version of the Earth Oil Realm.

The surrounding decor was quite ancient in style and charm, but beneath that ancient charm, it carried an incredibly advanced aura.

Just looking at the exterior, it truly gave the impression of: Jade pavilions shrouded in green curtains, embroidered screens obscuring cloud screens, morning dew purifying the steps, evening breeze cooling the woods.

But upon closer inspection, one could discover the advanced methods and measures hidden beneath this ancient charm.

In Tang Nation, everywhere one looked, there was nothing that wasn't a Spiritual Artifact!

Yes, not a single place wasn't.

The walls were, because advertisements were still playing on them, promoting Flying Swords.

The roads were, the road signs on them were dynamic, flashing to guide Li Qi out of the parking lot.

The flowerbeds by the road were too, because they were automatically watering, fertilizing, and loosening the soil.

Even the floor tiles on the ground were Spiritual Artifacts!

These floor tiles subtly formed a massive array, connecting the entire parking lot.

The fluctuations of various spell transmissions permeated the surroundings, just as radio waves permeate the entire Earth.

Everything seemed to be automated.

Aside from the aesthetics still retaining a certain classical Oriental charm, everything else truly reached a 'sci-fi' level.

Holding the rabbit, until they landed in a parking space in the parking lot, the Roc said, “Young Master, someone from Honglu Temple just communicated with me. He told us to stop here, and someone will come to greet us.”

“Communicated? When?” Li Qi was stunned.

“When entering or exiting Chang'an, you must go through a review. That's when they contacted me, but Grand Invoker doesn't like to be disturbed, so I couldn't reach you inside the spatial pocket, which is why I didn't say anything then.”

“I see. It's fine, it's normal for them to come pick me up anyway.” Li Qi nodded, stepping off the Roc's back.

Then, following the randomly changing road signs on the ground, he walked towards the outside of the parking lot.

Li Qi saw that as he moved, the nearby road signs also changed in real-time, adjusting their direction according to his path, constantly pointing towards the exit.

Indeed, a parking lot covering dozens of kilometers—if there were no signs, Cultivators might be fine, but Mortals would probably get lost and die in there.

After walking for a short while, Li Qi saw a group of people dressed in typical Tang Nation attire.

They were wearing… official robes.

There were six or seven people in total, with two leading the way.

Upon seeing Li Qi, they quickened their pace and came forward to greet him.

Then, they slightly cupped their hands, without much deference, and each said:

“Chen Wei, Assistant Director of the Banquets Office, Reception Department, Honglu Temple, Heavenly Dynasty.”

“Fang Yuanzheng, Regular Guest of the Protocol Department, Honglu Temple.”

“We have come to welcome the Young Master of Shaman God Mountain to the residence.”