Rihanna felt like she had been transported to another different world. This Core City was huge! Maybe even bigger than those Mega-cities back on earth!
And it looked nothing like a city. There was a forest, mountains and hills, lakes and ponds, and even two rivers flowing through the city. The city itself looked like an entire country by itself. It was a massive piece of land, overflowing with flora and fauna, and large canopies of trees bordering the wide stone-block paved roads joining the four major clans to the Gavarnum Residence, and all other major buildings and Headquarters of all the Guilds.
Creepers and vines swung freely from these large trees, creating the largest man-made forest Rihanna had ever seen. It felt she was taking a walk through a reserved forest, with human settlements in places inside the forest. Only, the beasts were missing.
Like all other cities, even the Core City was surrounded by a very tall and wide wall made of a silver-white metal. But this wall had three layers - silver-white outer layer, blackish-green middle layer and orange-yellow inner layer. Though she had no idea what these ores and stones were, she was pretty sure the defense and offence capability of this wall would be top-notch.
Even from outside the wall, one could see four gigantic pillars at four corners of the city, so tall that the ends almost touched the sky. The pillars were very broad, and made from the same silver-white metal ore as used for the wall. Blocks of metals had been stacked one on top of the other, and the faces of the metal blocks were carved in an intricate pattern.
The patterns on each pillar were different, and they glowed strongly with different elemental lights.
"Those pillars are the symbolic-representation of each Clan. They have a very old history and significance and defines the Origin of each Clan. Those patterns denote the meaning behind each Clan's Beliefs and their Path of Cultivation and Evolution. It records every significant contribution made by the Clan in every Field, important events throughout history, and great Cultivators born or reared in the Clan."
Rihanna turned to glance at Ye Luo. The deep pride he held for belonging to one of the oldest and the second largest Major Clan was apparent in both his words and expressions. Rihanna wondered what it felt like - belonging to a significant part of history, an important part of an entire civilization. She could only relate it to the feeling she had for her country on earth. But then, a large part of history, and many techniques and skills were washed away by the rise and fall of different empires. What remained were the grains of sands which managed to pass through the sieves of time.
But the Clans in this world lasted for thousands of years, and every invention, discovery, technique, skill, research was carefully preserved throughout. It truly must feel like being a part of ongoing history.
The mercenary group had not followed, as the Core City did not allow mercenary groups and lone cultivators to enter. With Ye Luo accompanying them, it did not take much time to clear the checking at the Central gate, after which they were told to accompany a cultivator sent as guide from the Ye Clan. Large beasts were not allowed inside the city, thus they had to stop at one of the Beast Farms at the outskirts of the Ye Clan Territory and leave their Riding Beasts to the care of the farm.
There was a large main gate, and a stone-block paved path connected the gate to the Main Family Residence. But since they had to take a detour at the farm, they followed the narrower cobbled-stone paths winding their way all around the territory, connecting the different areas of the territory to the Main Residence.
"What is that tall pillar over there?"
"That's a dais.....it is not very tall, is it? These are the teleportation points connecting the Main Family to major places all over the lands. You need to have a special token to be able to access these teleportation points. And one can get such tokens only from the Main Family. Not many people have them."
"I think I can see more dais over there....how many teleportation points are there?"
"I am not sure since this is the first time I have come to the Core City branch. But I heard that there are ten such points scattered all over the territory. This helps in keeping the incoming or outgoing traffic smooth even during emergencies."
The forest would smoothly shift and blend into decorative gardens and lawns near the buildings, clearing the space all around, and allowing the people visiting these buildings to travel without the hassle of losing sight of the building amidst the dense trees. Floating markers hung in the air next to the paths, making it easier for the people to find the directions.
The two rivers had many tributaries, and they crisscrossed all over the territory, flowing in every direction. Large and flat leaf-shaped tools bobbed up and down on the water, waiting for the people who needed to ride them to the other side of the river. Flat stones also hung just above the ground, making floating bridges, connecting the two sides of these rivers.
"Woah! What are those buildings used for?"
Rihanna looked upwards to see what Artreya was pointing to, and her eyes widened in amazement. tiny islands floated above the ground at various heights. Some of them housed buildings, whereas the others were more of decorative pieces, with gardens and lakes and pavilions.
A particular collage of three island floating one above the other caught her eye. The one at the top was the smallest, and deep blue colored waterfall gushed out from the top of a hill on that land. The water fell from one island to the next, which were positioned like stairs, one below the other, and finally the water gushed down onto a large lake created on the ground. Even flowers and leaves floated down with the waters, and the lake below was full of colorful flowers glittering in the morning sun.
This was so much more spectacular than what she had seen in the Chen Clan. This signified how much wealth and power these Major Clans had accumulated through the millenniums.
"The Main Family Building is nearby. We'll not be allowed to go in, but we can see it from the edges. Do you want to check it out?"
Ye Luo was clearly excited even though he was trying to act serious and nonchalant. Rihanna was reminded of pilgrims visiting pilgrim sites, or tourists checking out historical monuments. Considering that this Main Family building was almost as old as the Clan itself, it almost did count as a pilgrimage place for him. Since they had nothing to do today anyway, they decided to follow him.
For once Fluffy was not snuggled in her embrace, instead he was accompanying Phantasm as she ran around checking out the new place. Artreya reminded Xioaguli to keep an eye on these two, as they didn't wish to create any problems in this territory.
The dense forest area turned sparse till it finally blended into a large, open lawn, bordered with gardens all around. In the middle of the open land, a lavish and wide building spread out on both sides of the wide path leading from the Main Gate to the Main Door of the residence. The building was built in five layers, with the ground layer being the widest.
Heavy stones and unknown metal were combined together to form the base of the building and also all the gigantic pillars upholding the entire structure. Large wooden and metal doors could be seen even from this distance - some were open while most were closed. The porch was very wide, and layered with many broad stairs, giving a gentle rise to the base of the entire structure. A very heavy and ancient aura surrounded the entire structure, making one feel overawed by its elegance and resonating power.
"Those metal discs floating around the top of the building....are they protection devices?"
"Both....offense and defense. Not sure....but there must be other arrays carved into them as well. Illusion must be a part of it as well."
"Hmmm...then what are those floating buildings at the back of the Main Residence?"
Five medium-sized islands were floating right at the back of the residence. Each one housed a lavish building on it, surrounded by gardens and fountains.
"The Main Family Clan is guarded by the Five Ancestor Elders. I think those are their residences."
"Isn't the building too large for just one family?"
Ye Luo scoffed at Artreya.
"The first two levels are all the different offices of the various departments related to the whole territory of the Clan, both here, and all over the Cetra Prefecture. The Third level is for all administration work related to all the different workshops and research centers of the Clan in different areas. It also contains the Hall of Convention where the monthly meetings and other events are held. The fourth level is wholly the residence area for all members of the Main Family. And the top most level is the residence of the Clan Head and his office."
For a moment Rihanna was surprised that he knew so much even though this was his first time visiting. Then she remembered that this was like a pilgrimage site for all Ye Clan members...such basic information must be available at all of the branch family libraries.
After a while of paying homage to a historical site, Ye Luo finally moved and the others followed, sighing inwardly. Though the structure was truly awe-inspiring, they couldn't feel the same pride and inspiration as he did, and were getting bored standing there, staring at blocks of stone and metal!
The cobbled-stone path winded through the man-made forest some more, and finally they reached yet another clearing, with small but beautiful cottages sprawling around beautiful gardens and springs. This was the Northern Guest Residence Area of the Clan's territory. There were four such areas, and looking at the hustle and bustle in this place, they were pretty sure the other places were all equally full. It seemed a lot of people had come over to give their blessings to the new couple.
"Will the wedding be held in the Main Residence?"
"No way. There are too many people....it will be too dangerous allowing so many strangers inside such an important area. I don't know where the event is going to be held, but I am sure they will be sending someone to guide us to the venue tomorrow."
Each branch had been allotted a separate cottage, and since Ye Luo was the only one from his branch, they had an entire cottage to themselves. This was good, as they could stay comfortably without the fear of revealing any of their secrets. Especially Rihanna.....in everyone's eyes, she was still a commoner after all.
"We can rest for now. I'll go around and find out where all we can go inside the territory. We can take a walk around to the places we are allowed to go to. Perhaps we can go to the library....and also to the Building of Tools and Weapons. Even if we cannot buy anything, we could simply take a look around.
Rihanna chuckled at the obvious look of excitement on Ye Luo's face, and he suddenly turned red in embarrassment. He scratched his head and laughed shyly.
"It's okay. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you. Who knows when you will be coming here again. Might as well make the best of this visit. Go on, we'll wait for you."
Ye Luo glanced at Rihanna and chuckled again, then went out. Artreya had already left to explore the inside of the cottage, and Xioaguli had tagged along, carrying Phantasm with him. Rihanna picked up Fluffy and went in search of her room. This place looked spectacular. She couldn't help wondering what kind of rituals and celebrations she was going to see the next day!