The Dawn of the New World

It took their group a little more than 3 hours to reach the walking city.

It was situated on the back of a behemoth beast called 'Heran'. It looked like a close relative of the long-necked sauropods back from earth, only much bigger. It was several tens of kilometer long with a neck that reached all the way into the lower atmosphere, with its head occasionally above a layer of clouds. (Img in authors note)

These were part of a rare type of beasts that were owned by powerful families and institutions for many different occasions ranging from War or to simple transport missions for important people or materials over a long distance.

Each beast had its own special ability but they had a few things in common.

For one, they never rested. They didn't need to. They never slept or haad to lay down. They were like machines that could go centuries on one trip if need be.

Secondly, they all had an extremely high physical defense with skin thick enough that could ward off the most deadly attacks.

They had a natural defense system in the shape of an area of effect all around them which could completely suppress the cultivation of anyone below Saint Realm, turning them into mere mortals.

Only by the permission of their master would normal cultivators be able to use their Qi.

Hao Xuan had heard a lot about these beasts several times but seeing it in person was completely different.

Even the tallest peak could barely hide the majestic body of this beast. At first glance, it resembled a statue carved out of a god mountain, unmoving and uncaring.

Upon sensing Hao Xuan's party get close, it lowered its gigantic head which was decorated by a gold helmet. It touched the ground and created a bridge for them to get the city on its back.

Hao Xuan didn't need to ask how it knew they were with the academy, there were probably a hundred ways. Maybe it could feel their badges or maybe someone was controlling it but it didn't matter right now.

"So big! W-Will it eat us?" Salome muttered with wide-eyes as his mouth fell open.

He was but a mortal so seeing something like this was really a shock for him. Fortis was on his head instead of Hao Xuan's. He suddenly got up and waved his tentacles in the air like he was trying to grab it.

But then he paused and looked back at Hao Xuan with a confused expression, "Food?" he asked as his tentacles slowly started expanding. Within a couple of seconds, they had grown to more than fifty meters and were getting longer and thicker.

Hao Xuan got startled and quickly smacked him on the top of his squishy head while looking around warily, "NO! Don't eat the walking city, okay?! That is home, not food!"

Fortis unwittingly retracted his tentacles back down to a few inches.

Thankfully no one saw that happen because they were at the very back.

Salome was hesitant so Hao Xuan just picked him up like a baby and carried him kicking and screaming.

It took them over 5 minutes to reach the gate of the city which was guarded by just one person.

He waited until everyone was present before speaking up.

"Oh, took you guys a while," the 20-something-year-old mumbled lazily. He pointed towards the path on the left, "Follow this path until you see a clearing. There are two dorms there, one for men and one for women. Take any room that has a circular sign outside it, that means its vacant. All the other buildings you see are locked and off-limits."

"You can cultivate normally but any attacks above the Origin level will be automatically canceled. There are many formations active throughout the city so be careful. There's water available but you'll have to cook the food yourselves. No one will do things for you here. If you are injured go to the temple of light and someone will heal you there."

As soon as he finished talking, the groups started walking down the left path which moved along the outskirts of this majestic city. From where they stood it looked like 80% of the buildings were around the front while the remaining few ones were at the back where there was even a small forest.

Hao Xuan, Henrik and Ceni's groups were near the back and when they passed by the guard, he stepped forward and blocked them.

He looked at Ceni and gave a professional bow.

"Princess, Lord Dai Zhi has set aside a room for you in the temple, please follow me," he spoke humbly as if talking to a superior.

Even in front of all the other royals he didn't take such a tone but he was like a scared kitten standing in front of Ceni.

Hao Xuan gave them one glance and looked away, walking down the path with Salome and Henrik when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He stopped and turned around to see the guard looking at him with a smile.

"Are you the second guardian?"

Hao Xuan frowned slightly and pushed his hand away.

"Yeah."

"Lord Dai Zhi has also set aside a building for you, please follow me as well," he said with such a fake smile that it looked like he was making fun of Hao Xuan.

****

Authors Notes:

Walkling city: https://urlzs.com/eC84K

full link: https://i.pinimg..com/564x/ed/e0/09/ede009748b8061860553659e2d017862.jpg