Chapter 724 - 220: [Completely Different]
Chapter 220 [Completely Different] (8600 words)
West Platform City.
Situated at the Western Border of the Domain Realm, it is considered the largest city in the Western Border.
Beyond here, several thousand miles to the west, lies the Snow Cliff Pass.
Legend has it that tens of thousands of years ago, this was a vast desert, a sea of sand everywhere. However, tens of thousands of years ago, several Great Powers and a group of Array Masters gathered at the Immortal Platform and spent twenty years crafting an array that traverses the Domain Realm from east to west, capable of annually conveying the vapor from the Endless Sea at the eastern end to the Western Border...
Since then, the Western Border has been free from the threat of drought, and that endless sea of sand, after more than a hundred years of rainwater irrigation and nourishment, has gradually transformed into its present form: on the wilderness, green is no longer a rarity, the mountains and peaks are all covered in lush greenery.
With the rain, naturally, came the carving of river networks.
West Platform City is located in the central part of the Western Border, with two rivers flowing around the city like jade belts, meeting at a junction north of the city before branching off again.
At this moment, beside the northern wharf of West Platform City, beneath the towering city walls, stands a city gate as high as the clouds, acting as a water gate, through which a channel carved from the river flows into West Platform City.
By the wharf, boats and ships gather, their sails shadowing the sky like sun-blotting clouds.
However, they are not cargo ships; rather, the boats are full of elegant pleasure boats, some larger ones even have exquisite pavilions, with faint sounds of silk and bamboo music escaping from within.
Beside the wharf, an arch bridge several feet high spans the city’s river course, and on both sides of the arch bridge along the riverbanks, various teahouses and taverns line up one after another, their buildings soaring as high as clouds, their flags flapping in the wind like clouds.
At this moment, Chen Yan stands at the center of the high arch bridge, looking at the streets on both sides of the river, the endless stream of pedestrians in all kinds of attire. Buildings of various merchants on both sides claimed his fascination with their flying eaves and hanging platforms, some grand in scale, others showcasing exquisite craftsmanship, he couldn’t help but be enthralled and momentarily dazed.
It’s only his first day in the city, and to be precise, not even half a hour has passed.
Coming eastward from the Snow Cliff Pass, upon entering the territory of the Domain Realm, he traversed several thousand miles of wilderness, passing by a few villages and small towns, though sparsely populated.
In some places, there were vast fields of medicinal herbs and flowers, yet none tending them, as only Puppets were left to work, protected by an array on the perimeter—very much a hint of fully mechanized farming.
Not until he passed through a manor and inquired about the directions did he grasp the location of West Platform City’s hub, finally making his way to the largest city in the Western Border.
The moment he entered the city, Chen Yan was truly able to witness the grandeur of the Domain Realm for the first time.
Here, it’s so different from the Snow Cliff Pass, which was chiseled out of a mountain belly!
Beyond the city walls that stretch thirty meters high, all built of green jade stones, the fissures so tight not even a thin sheet of paper could slide through, faintly glimmering with flowing light from an array.
Chen Yan initially thought this was some kind of defensive array for the city walls, but upon closer inspection, he couldn’t help but sigh—it turns out this array had nothing to do with defense, it was simply used to gather the surrounding water vapor from the heavens and earth.
Using the water vapor to nourish the city, allowing this grand West Platform City, under the harsh Western Border climate, to use the water vapor to make the city’s climate and temperature more agreeable.
The architecture within the city was also unlike the "ancient style" Chen Yan imagined.
While the buildings certainly have an ancient vibe, their overall style differs from the historical period dramas Chen Yan has seen.
In ancient times of the real world, especially tall buildings were rare, presumed due to primitive technology, most constructions were primarily wood and stone, to put it plainly, a blend of masonry and timber.
Under such standards, in ancient Dragon Country, a building a few stories high would be a rare marvel.
Without concrete—cement, without metallurgical industries for smelting steel, it was impossible to produce reinforced structures.
Without these, the fundamental problem of supporting tall buildings couldn’t be solved: load-bearing.
Ancient buildings did have beams for load-bearing, but they were all wooden. Buildings, if too high, with a few more layers, would be unsustainable from below.
So, for taller and larger buildings, columns had to be used for support, which limited the height and structure of ancient edifices.
In this grand city of the Domain Realm, Chen Yan truly witnessed the differences between the so-called "Cultivation Civilization" and "Technological Civilization."
From the architecture, these buildings brimming with the ancient charm of flying eaves are certainly not low and cramped; they are tall, expansive, and imposing, like a rainbow across the sky, some towers even seeming to pierce the heavens, though still not as tall as modern skyscrapers—but clearly, it’s not because the Cultivation Civilization of the Domain Realm can’t build them, but they choose not to.
In terms of materials, the buildings, while appearing composed mainly of wood, supplemented by brick and stone.
Yet clearly, the wood is no ordinary wood, and the brick and stone are no ordinary brick and stone.
On top of that, those lofty structures all faintly reveal a flowing light from their arrays—even Chen Yan could roughly guess that the Cultivation Civilization of the Domain Realm probably uses arrays to solve many architectural challenges, charting a course completely different from the Technological Civilization.
So much so, that even this wharf, when Chen Yan first arrived here, he presumed it was mostly the transport hub of this West Platform City, a place for goods distribution.
But after observing for a while, he confirmed—it turns out there’s not a single boat on this wharf for transporting goods!