July 10th, 2029.
The Magic City — Shanghai.
Wang Xiao had spent more than a week scouring the Tibetan plateau for Aurora.
Now, standing above the Huangpu River in his old home, he found himself caught between the pulsing heartbeats of the city's two halves: Pudong and Puxi.
It was summer, and the river flowed unobscured by the typical mists, resembling a celestial deity that laid a clear, shimmering divide between the contrasting worlds of Pudong and Puxi.
To the east, Pudong was a forest of towering skyscrapers, each one clawing at the heavens in a show of modern might.
Turning westward, Puxi exuded a calmer presence, its aura tinged with the ancient, the air subtly perfumed with the scent of herbs and traditional medicines.
Shanghai, serving as the financial capital of the Dynasty, had undergone transformations both subtle and significant.
