Chapter 710: A Thousand Sails

Hearing that they had arrived, Tang Zhao hurriedly lowered his head and immediately saw the scenery below.

It was, unexpectedly, a massive city.

What a huge city!

The largest city Tang Zhao had ever seen was Zhongtian Prefecture; Zhongtian Prefecture had a population of nearly one million, with tall city walls, a wide moat, and buildings standing row upon row...

Even in the Central Plains, Zhongtian Prefecture was not inferior to any provincial capital, only slightly behind Jingcheng and a few auxiliary capitals.

But compared to this city, Zhongtian Prefecture was probably just a small town.

Looking at the densely packed buildings, the impossibly high city walls, the wide and busy roads, and a large lake in the city that could almost contain the entirety of Zhongtian Prefecture, Tang Zhao guessed in his heart:

Just how many people are in this city?

Ten million?

Twenty million?

It couldn't be over a hundred million, could it?

Is this the kind of super-metropolis that Chen Zong said only existed in his hometown?

However... is the Sun Court a city?

Tang Zhao found it hard to imagine; in his mind, the Sun Court might be a mountain, or a palace, or perhaps an otherworldly fairyland like the former Baiyujing, or something else that exceeded his imagination.

It would not be strange for the Sun Court to be any kind of marvelous existence, but it would be strange if it were plain and unremarkable.

Yes, such a large city is rare, but isn't it still just a city?

In such a large city, with so many people living there, they can't all be Sword Guests, right? Most of them must just be commoners, right?

In other words, do tens of millions of mortals live around the three Sword Immortals?

It is the Qianxian after all; the Sword Immortals are quite approachable. It is completely different from Baiyujing, which floats in the sky.

If there was anything different about this city, it was that straight, thin, and tall buildings stood in every direction within the city, looking like high towers, or flagpoles, and even more like fingers pointing toward the sky. Looking down at a glance, they were very eye-catching.

Those types of buildings looked more like watchtowers for a military camp; they might have some function, but they shouldn't be for living in.

Then, where are the places where the Sword Immortals are stationed...

Tang Zhao looked toward the center of the city—usually, the city lord is in the very center.

He saw a magnificent palace, with golden roofs and giant wooden pillars, the top seemingly shrouded in faint Yuna, fitting all his imaginations of grand architecture.

But that was just a single palace, not a palace complex; it was like the main hall where an emperor holds court, yet there was no sign of the Jinyuan, inner palaces, or imperial gardens behind it. At most, there was a tiny Huayuan behind the palace, which looked like a mere speck of Luse from the sky, with no ponds, no water pavilions, and seemingly one or two small structures, but it was not even as good as the private Huayuan of a wealthy family in any ordinary county.

This... are the Sword Immortals this approachable? Only willing to build official buildings, and just making do with their own homes?

Guiyuanshi smiled and said, "This is the main city of Qianjin City—Qianfancheng."

Qianjin City is not just one city; it is the sum of the Human World's forces in the Suiyu, possessing countless cities, and is one of the Six Great Factions of the Suiyu. It sounds like there are six others just as powerful, but in terms of strength, it is likely the strongest. This is because the Human World's forces are not just the forces of the current Great Jin, but the forces that have been dispatched to the Qianxian generation after generation for thousands of years since the birth of the Sword Domain; they left behind city after city, organization after organization, and fortress after fortress, which together constitute Qianjin City.

Among them, some sacrificed their lives and were buried in foreign lands, some left to establish their own sects, and some rebelled and fell into becoming demons, but even more people are persisting, inheriting, and multiplying; those cities are proof, proving that generation after generation of heroes of the Human World are still guarding the Human World to this day, and are still moving forward!

Qianjin City, Qianfancheng, a thousand sails racing forward!

However, although Qianjin City is the head of the Six Great Factions, it has not attained a superior status and cannot command the other factions. Moreover, because Qianjin City has spanned many generations, each generation has its own organization, and there are various branches, with significant barriers between them; although there is the main city of Qianfancheng, its cohesion is not strong in ordinary times. Many large cities are still in a state of "obeying orders but not summons."

Therefore, the Sun Court, which stands above all factions, logically shouldn't be directly stationed in Qianjin City, right?

"Do the three Sword Immortals live in Qianfancheng?"

Guiyuanshi pointed to the sky and said, "There—"

Tang Zhao looked up and saw a bright sun.

The sun was at its zenith, the Sunlight was brilliant; it was the only sun in the ten-thousand-mile clear sky.

"This sun... is this sun any different from the sun in other places?"

The Suiyu has a sun, and the sun of the Suiyu looks no different from the sun of the Human World; at least, Tang Zhao had never noticed a problem before.

Could it be that only the sun here is not a sun, but... the Sun Court?

Guiyuanshi said, "The sun here is the same as the sun of the Suiyu. Both are the Momentum of the Sun Court."

Tang Zhao let out an "Ah?" and said, "This sun is a Sword Image? Then what about the sun of the Human World?"

Guiyuanshi said, "The sun of the Human World is the sun, but it is no longer the sun it once was. Perhaps one day in the future, the sun of the Human World will also become a Momentum. It is just that the current Sun Court is not enough to replace the real sun. They can only hover in the Suiyu. The Suiyu is a man-made world, and the sun of the Suiyu is also a man-made sun; this is also reasonable."

Tang Zhao looked at the sun again; he was able to look directly at the sun, but he really couldn't tell that this was a different sun from the one in the Human World. At most, he had a shadow of doubt in his heart, and when he looked again, he felt this sun was a bit too... energetic?

It seemed to be constantly changing. This reminded him of the Lamp with the three characters "Sun Court" written on it.

A sun gathered from three Sword Images, he could tell at a glance when it was in a Lamp, so why couldn't he tell when it was magnified ten million times and hung in the sky?

Tang Zhao asked, "Is the power of the Sword Immortals not enough to replace the sun? Does it have to be a Sword Saint?"

Guiyuanshi said, "A Sword Saint cannot do it either. I am a Sword Saint, and I have not replaced the earth, nor can I replace it. One must continue to cultivate; to reach that point is probably a long way off."

Tang Zhao felt slightly lost, but also slightly relieved: although he respected all the Sword Saints and Sword Immortals, he always felt that it was not good to let them control all the phenomena of the world. It is best for nature to belong to nature and the Human World to belong to the Human World. The sun has been shining properly for hundreds of millions of years, and the Human World has also had all things in Growth, with birds singing and flowers fragrant; why should it be replaced by humans?

Even if they are noble sages with the intention to actively treat the Human World kindly, the result may not be better than the ignorant, heartless, and impartial celestial phenomena. Not to mention that the strong are not sages.

He asked again, "This sun is the Momentum of the Sun Court... which Sun Sword's Sword Image is it?"

Guiyuanshi said, "It is not the Sword Image of any one sword, but a great Momentum. It is the Momentum woven together by the four Sun Swords, the four Pillars, none of which can be missing."

Tang Zhao remembered what Caiyungui had said; the Sun Court had four Pillars. At that time, he naturally thought that the Suiyu was a large platform, and the four swords turned into four pillars supporting it from below, just like the four legs of a table. But the real situation was probably not so concrete; now it seems that the four Sun Swords are holding up the sun in the sky. If one were missing, the sun would fall, and the Suiyu would probably fall into eternal night, right?

Guiyuanshi continued, "Over a hundred years ago, the Sun Court was only high above and did not manifest before the people of the Suiyu, only sending envoys to walk everywhere, or summoning the leaders of various factions to have an audience at the Court. Since the fall of the Jinwu Sword, the Sun Court's connection with the Qianxian has become increasingly close. In recent years, the situation at the Qianxian has deteriorated, and various places in the Suiyu have gradually become unable to bear the burden, no longer allowing for the previous loose, individual fighting. All major factions have begun to integrate, first cooperating, then forming alliances, and in the future, they may even further unite into one. After several inspections, the Sun Court finally decided to establish the Zhaoyangdian in Qianjin City as a permanent deliberative court. The permanent envoys of the Sun Court work here, and on every ninth day, several Sword Immortals take turns sitting in the hall."

He pointed to the great hall and said, "Today is when the Six Dragon Sword is here to see you."

Tang Zhao nodded, feeling slightly nervous in his heart, but also a little regretful; he actually wanted to see the Yanggu Sword more.

In this way, the Qianxian will soon have a real Imperial Court, right? This is also good; since there is a powerful external threat, it is naturally better to unite than to divide. In order to resist the tyrannical Heavenly Demons, all Sword Guests will sooner or later gather under one banner, just as the Suiyu will sooner or later be pieced back together...

Yes, the Suiyu will be restored; he said so.

The holy carriage drove all the way to the front of the great hall before descending.

In the initial stage of the descent, it seemed that no one noticed that there was an extra carriage in the sky, until a certain critical point, when the carriage suddenly crossed a boundary between the virtual and the real, appearing above the Sun Court.

In an instant, a commotion occurred in the Zhaoyangdian; several strong men carrying swords gathered from all directions in a tense and orderly manner, but in the blink of an eye, they recognized Guiyuanshi's carriage and obviously relaxed.

Following this, most of the people retreated, and in an instant, they vanished without a trace, with not a hint of where they might be hiding. The remaining people formed ranks, setting up an honor guard to welcome the Sword Saint.

Tang Zhao saw that these people, who were equivalent to guards, were all Sword Heroes, and none of them were very old; they looked to be only twenty or thirty years old. Even if their cultivation had reached a level that kept them looking young, they themselves should not be old. Although such a display was to be expected for guards in a place of such importance, he was still somewhat shocked in his heart, thinking: Is this the scene from those stories where in the later stages "so-and-so are as common as dogs, and so-and-so walk the streets everywhere"?

The carriage descended, and Han Shengyuan stepped out first, standing by the side of the carriage; having arrived here, he was also a member of the Sun Court and part of the welcoming ceremony.

Tang Zhao glanced at Guiyuanshi and stood up, but he did not step down.

He had come following Guiyuanshi, so he had to follow Guiyuanshi's pace. Guiyuanshi was not getting off the carriage yet because the ceremony to welcome him had not yet been completed.

Kun Sword was a Sword Saint, not someone who could be welcomed by a few Sword Heroes.

In truth, Guiyuanshi was not a person who cared much for etiquette. For instance, when he went to the lower realm, he and Han Shengyuan had even sought out the Gaoyuan Marquis all by themselves, being as low-key as could be. But since he had landed openly on the plaza in front of Zhaoyangdian this time, rather than entering the rear hall directly, it meant he required the formal etiquette to be followed; what should be there must be there, otherwise it would be a discourtesy from the Sun Court.

As for why he made this choice, it was naturally because this was Tang Zhao's first public appearance. Upon coming up, he would not only face three Sword Immortals but the entire Sun Court; a sloppy first appearance would cause people to look down on this junior who had come from the lower realm. Since Guiyuanshi was acting as Tang Zhao's guide, he naturally would not allow this and had to hold up the scene for him.

After only a moment, they heard someone laugh and say: "The Emperor has finally returned! Hahaha, and you have brought this little friend along, truly a person of outstanding talent!"

Amidst the laughter, the Six Dragon Sword arrived.