Chapter 283: The Whole Nation Unites to Build the Immortal Palace

Since the state is going to help the Longyuan Immortal Sect establish its sect, it definitely won't be a small-scale scene; it must be serious, with several orders issued, and officials of Wu Du locally and personnel from other nearby cities all received the news.

"What? The capital plans to build a large-scale structure near the Longyuan Mountain Range?! We must halt all construction in the city, fully cooperate with the construction teams, and ensure it can be completed as soon as possible!"

Other cities are fine; they are far from the Longyuan Mountain Range and don't know about all this, but the Wu Du official knows the mountain's extraordinary nature.

Back then someone contracted the project, wanting to develop Longyuan Mountain into a scenic area, after all the scenery there is beautiful; if successful, they'd surely make a fortune, but what was the result?

Every member of the construction teams, without exception, encountered things science cannot explain; even the overall project head was badly frightened, thereafter he washed his hands of the matter, turned to other businesses, and to this day still keeps a household shrine, occasionally burning incense and praying.

Afterwards Longyuan Mountain became a forbidden zone, sealed off thereafter, and no outsiders were allowed to explore it.

Now the capital, however, plans to construct a large-scale structure nearby; what consequences will arise, the Wu Du official can hardly imagine, and immediately contacted his superiors.

Since these matters are being managed by Hua Tiancheng, they naturally were transferred to his hands.

"Superior, that mountain cannot be developed; previously many supernatural events occurred, and to this day many mysteries remain unsolved—if development is forced, bad things will likely happen."

The Wu Du official spoke tactfully; although he knew Longyuan Mountain was frightening, he didn't know that all this was due to numerous demonic causes.

Only mid-to-high level leaders of provincial capital cities were qualified to attend that meeting, and he was not within that scope.

Hua Tiancheng understood his worry: "Don't worry, we've already discussed it; nothing will go wrong, and if anything does, the capital will bear the responsibility alone. I will arrive in Wu Du shortly to coordinate everything; you just need to cooperate."

To show importance and respect for the Longyuan Immortal Sect, Hua Tiancheng led some members of the Cultivation Bureau to Wu Du; with him presiding, this would first speed up the project's progress.

Secondly, Longyuan Mountain is right in Wu Du, so they can conveniently send teams to continue contacting those great demons.

Upon hearing Hua Tiancheng's words, the Wu Du official's expression grew somewhat puzzled—what did he mean?

Have we discussed it?

With whom was it discussed?

He still wanted to keep asking, but the other side obviously had something to hide, only telling him to follow orders; the Wu Du official could do nothing else but nervously prepare everything, bracing for Hua Tiancheng's arrival.

Hua Tiancheng arrived in Wu Du; facing the regional head of the southwest area, all senior Wu Du officials came to the airport to greet him, daring not to be negligent.

It was heard that the capital valued him greatly, entrusted him with an important post, transferring Hua Tiancheng to direct a mysterious department, granting him great authority; all departments of the capital must obey his commands.

This newly established department is extremely mysterious, wielding great power; they only managed to learn this much about it, with nothing else known.

"Welcome, everyone, to Wu Du; I imagine you're weary from your journey, and I've prepared a banquet—let me first give you a warm reception to wash away the dust of travel."

Faced with the Wu Du official's warm invitation, Hua Tiancheng shook his head and refused: "Time is urgent; let's just discuss the engineering plan."

Completing the Longyuan Immortal Sect quickly would also benefit them greatly; at this moment Hua Tiancheng had no other thoughts, only wanting to speed up progress.

This attitude left the Wu Du officials bewildered—what kind of construction could cause such a high-ranking, influential figure like Hua Tiancheng to value it so much?

They could only cooperate fully, producing a map of Wu Du.

"Earlier we received orders and already sent personnel to survey, intending to construct a large-scale building on this plot."

Hua Tiancheng glanced at it and slightly furrowed his brow.

The Wu Du officials caught sight of his expression, their hearts involuntarily jumped—could it be dissatisfaction with their plan?

Just as they were about to speak, Hua Tiancheng took a pencil and directly drew a large circle on the map: "The scope is too small; it must be expanded, the entire area around the Longyuan Mountain Range must be included, this here included, all within the range."

Watching Hua Tiancheng's bold move, the Wu Du officials stared at each other, unable to help swallowing.

What on earth are they building?!

They actually intend to spend such a vast area.

You know, Wu Du's largest artificial park is only a few dozen hectares at most, yet Hua Tiancheng's single stroke expanded it by several times over the original basis!

Moreover, since this region is mountainous, Wu Du's earlier planning avoided large tracts of forest to facilitate construction and save costs.

Hua Tiancheng's meaning is that those places cannot be overlooked either; building in mountainous areas would likely be far more troublesome—excavating, designing the mountain body, surveying terrain, and assessing geological conditions are all massive undertakings, essentially trouble to the extreme.

"For now, roughly like this; the area must reach this figure, and as for subsequent detailed design plans, we'll refine them after the engineering designers and survey teams conduct on-site inspections."

The Wu Du officials opened their mouths, seeming to want to say something, but Hua Tiancheng's authority is too great to allow rebuttal, after all he represents the capital.

Carrying a belly full of questions and bewilderment, the entire Wu Du municipality sprang into action.

At the same time, engineers and survey teams from all over the country gathered in Wu Du, beginning site planning and drafting designs.

Because of these matters, the Wu Du official was busy everywhere, even more so feeling anxious and fearful, since the construction site planning lies extremely close to Longyuan Mountain.

He dreaded a repeat of similar past incidents, fearing that these engineers or survey teams might meet with mishap; now that Hua Tiancheng is stationed here, if things aren't handled well, his official hat may not be safe.

The Wu Du official even had several nights of nightmares, in which the construction crew encountered bad things near Longyuan Mountain.

He also had personnel closely monitor the teams' situations, reporting any hint of trouble,

But strangely, as the project progressed, these days have been completely calm, with nothing happening, truly bewildering.

The Wu Du official didn't know that the earlier project's problems arose because the developer wanted to turn Longyuan Mountain into a scenic spot—neither villagers nor demons were willing.

Now it's about establishing the Longyuan Immortal Sect, and the site is chosen near Longyuan Mountain, not on the mountain itself; villagers also previously informed the many great demons on the mountain about this.

Whether it's Ye Qin or the great demons, none objected to this, so the survey teams proceeded smoothly.

Wu Du officials were anxious, fearing any flaw in this massive project would make them hard to answer to superiors; meanwhile, the designers held their drawings and discussed many schemes with Hua Tiancheng.

This time the designers were hired from across the country, all prominent figures in the field; chief designer Li Jianhui, moreover, had participated in Olympic venues, forest parks, Spring Festival Gala architecture, museums, and many other large-scale constructions.

Even city landmarks, signature buildings—most are his work, showing his rich experience and credentials.

Yet such a team proposed many excellent design schemes, all of which Hua Tiancheng rejected; many outstanding designers ran to Li Jianhui to complain and vent.

"I truly can't continue working like this—I don't even know what kind of building Mr. Hua wants! Several plans have been rejected!"

"Yeah, these are what we painstakingly drafted after late nights; he doesn't give a reason—even as a regional head, this isn't right."

"When I worked on the Olympic venues before, I never felt this exhausted; I drafted plans overnight, my eyes turned red, and they were outright rejected—you are our venerable senior, please give us fair judgment."

Many designers surrounded Li Jianhui, chattering complaints.

Li Jianhui frowned slightly, looking at their design drawings; they were indeed good, and with his years of experience he could find no flaw, yet for some reason they were filtered out.

He hurriedly comforted everyone: "Don't rush, I'll first go ask what's really going on."

Li Jianhui took these drawings and found Hua Tiancheng.

"Director Hua, may I ask why these drawings were filtered out? You summoned us without explaining the situation in detail, only saying we need to build a large-scale structure; these drawings don't meet your expectations—what do you think would qualify?"

Actually, Hua Tiancheng was also greatly wronged; they had promised to help construct the Longyuan Immortal Sect, so the appearance certainly needed the Heavenly Pivot Sect Leader's approval, but sadly the drawings these designers provided didn't meet her standard, and were naturally sent back.

For secrecy, these design engineers were invited over, not knowing the government was assisting someone's construction; they thought they were merely planning some large-scale building.

Hua Tiancheng looked at the drawings in Li Jianhui's hands and didn't blame them for being filtered out; the modern feel was simply too strong, and he found it somewhat awkward.

"Let me put it this way: our building's appearance should emphasize an ethereal, illusory feeling."

Li Jianhui:???

His expression was somewhat complex: "Director Hua, your words are too abstract; could you be more specific?"

Hua Tiancheng took out his phone, pulled up a few pictures via Baidu—undoubtedly not ancient-style architecture, but aiming for an ethereal immortal aura.

"Do you see? That's the feeling we want—imagine, deep in the mountains and old forests, towering pavilions hidden among clouds and mist, like the secluded immortal sects in cultivation novels, transcendent and entering sainthood."

Li Jianhui beside him, hearing Hua Tiancheng's description, grew increasingly bewildered; the more he spoke, the more mystical it sounded, so those unaware might think they were listening to a story.

Seeing his bewildered look, Hua Tiancheng realized he'd said too much, quickly coughed a few times, and said, "In short, no modern stuff—we want to build in an ancient style."

Only then did Li Jianhui understand why those earlier designers' drawings had all been sent back: the style was wrong.

But why would the government want to construct such a building?

Moreover, the area is huge; the upfront investment can be said to be enormous. If it were meant as a scenic spot, that makes no sense—this place is too remote, and who knows how many years it would take to break even.

Choosing another site would be better and easier to build on; there's absolutely no need to do it here—it's pure effort with no reward.

Li Jianhui had reviewed the survey team's data feedback; since most of the area is mountainous with uneven terrain, although the designers' drawings were modernized, they also tried to reduce material and transportation costs as much as possible, making the construction period relatively short.

If we followed Hua Tiancheng's description and adopted ancient-style construction, whether in material or manpower, the upfront investment would reach a frightening figure, and the schedule would also be very long.

He hesitated before speaking: "But this would probably entail an astronomical cost."

Hua Tiancheng was very generous: "No problem—funding isn't an issue; this is a red‑header project from above! Just go ahead and design it, following the feeling I described earlier—nothing is a problem, and we must use the finest appearance and drawings."

Li Jianhui relayed this news to the other designers, and everyone immediately erupted in an uproar.

Although they were puzzled as to why the government would spend so lavishly on such a building, they still obeyed the orders.

Soon, with Li Jianhui's help, the new drawings were rushed out, delivered to Hua Tiancheng's hands, and even simulated the actual effect after completion.

Looking at the pictures of the magnificent, splendid buildings nestled among the green mountains, revealing a mysterious corner, they resembled a celestial palace of the Nine Heavens—truly holy to the utmost, inspiring longing.

Hua Tiancheng quickly nodded, showing an expression of uncontainable joy: "That's exactly the feeling we want."

He promptly sent the drawings to Chongxu Zhenren, who soon replied that this set of drawings was feasible.

After the drawings were finalized, the chief engineers began working through the night to nail down the details; because the building occupies a vast area, they divided it into fifteen zones altogether.

To guarantee progress, each zone would have several senior, experienced engineers supervising to ensure the plan was flawless.

Hua Tiancheng repeatedly warned that there could be no oversight; otherwise, responsibility would be pursued, and anyone involved could not escape.

Given how seriously the capital takes this, no one below dares to cut corners or produce shoddy "tofu-dreg" engineering to deceive.

Since it's for the Longyuan Immortal Sect's construction, the building materials are the nation's top‑grade; Hua Tiancheng again issued notices to all regions, ordering all building materials to be shipped to Wu Du, and the local authorities must comply!

All construction is halted; for building supplies, Wu Du must be given nationwide priority!

Besides that, to ensure the building could be completed as soon as possible, the government offered generous terms, calling for workers to come; workers from all over the country, seeing such high wages, were eager and flocked to Wu Du.

Near the Longyuan Mountain Range there used to be several highways and mountain roads leading outward, but now they've all been sealed—only freight trucks transporting materials may pass; all other vehicles are forbidden entry.

Under these measures, the real‑estate developers and building contractors in the cities around Wu Du are practically wailing in misery.

Earlier the state had wanted to build training halls, requisitioning quite a bit of good land; that was fine, so they planned to develop the few remaining plots they held—who would have thought building materials would also be short? Fortunately, they had stockpiled some beforehand.

Those with deep pockets could spend more time and effort transporting goods across provinces—it wasn't impossible.

But now the Wu Du situation has arisen again!

The superior's red‑header document clearly stipulates that all high‑end, top‑grade transport materials must be given nationwide priority to Wu Du; anyone who violates it will be pursued for criminal liability, and previously private deals are now impossible.

Although black‑market prices still had a fair amount of high‑end building materials circulating, now even money can't buy them, because the state has stepped in to control things—no matter how bold one is, nobody dares to flout the ban and oppose the nation.

"No way! Earlier, building training halls all over the country was fine, and I agree that strengthening the people's bodies is a beneficial public project—but why suddenly erect a large building in Wu Du?!"

"Everything happened too suddenly; many of our site's laborers have quit and rushed to Wu Du, so now the construction site can't even get started."

"Don't even mention it—I'm in the same boat: workers are scarce, materials are short, everything's lacking; what development could there be? Might as well drink the northwest wind."

"When will days like this ever end? We really need to think of a solution."

"There's simply no way—just a while ago I heard there was a batch of material on the black market, everyone was scrambling for it, heads cracked and blood flowing; but yesterday it got seized, and the people privately selling the material were straight taken to the Bureau for tea."

"Is it really that serious?"

"Indeed, all the high‑end materials are being supplied to Wu Du over there—they might as well be building a heavenly palace!"

Many developers gathered together to vent furiously, nonstop complaining that during this period nobody could make money, any project would be delayed, and they were practically losing big.

They also tried to protest to the authorities, but there was no way—who would dare defy an order from the capital?

In fact, it's not only these developers who are affected; the local economy also takes a hit, with many construction facilities delayed—some meant for attracting investment—so naturally merchants' move‑in dates get pushed back, bringing a chain of consequences.

It even directly impacted the GDP economy of the entire Xia dynasty.

But the officials also have no recourse; the present suffering is only temporary, while future development is what truly matters!

Resources from across the country continually flowed into Wu Du, soon being poured into construction; the might of the state machine is terrifying—such massive inputs of manpower and material are aimed at completing the immortal sect in the shortest possible time.

Residents living around the Longyuan Mountain Range often hear rumbling noises not far off—all from the construction crews blasting away; they originally wanted to join the excitement and see what kind of building was going up.

But it's a pity that, because the place is remote and the mountain roads and highways have all been sealed off, there's simply no way to get there; though curious, they cannot know.

"Who knows what they're even building."

"I heard it's a scenic area?"

"Who builds a scenic area deep in the mountains and old forests? I don't think so."

"If it's not a scenic area, then what is it, for the authorities to kick up such a fuss?"

"Who knows? Maybe we'll find out once it's built."

Many people discussed the commotion in Wu Du at length, but alas, aside from the core figures, nobody knows what this is actually about. (End of chapter)