Chapter 275: Chapter 231: Cloud-top Flying Boat

In this day and age, to become the highest leader of a city, the person serving as the City Lord must not only be appointed by the ruler of the kingdom, but must also be a Cultivator with an extraordinary level of cultivation.

The City Lord of Dongwu City was named Li Dingtian. Now fifty-five years old, he had been a cultivation genius renowned throughout the Imperial Capital in his youth.

He reached the Third Order at a very young age.

Currently, no one knew the specific stage of his Third-Order cultivation, save for the emperor of the Chu Kingdom and other officials of the City Lord rank.

However, everyone knew that to be appointed by the Chu Kingdom’s emperor as the City Lord of Dongwu City, his cultivation had to be the absolute strongest in the city.

Ten years ago, before Li Dingtian arrived to serve as its City Lord, Dongwu City’s situation was not nearly as peaceful as it is today.

Back then, the sheer number of Mutant Beasts roaming the outskirts of Dongwu City was a major headache for passing merchant caravans.

The large number of Mutant Beasts wandering the vicinity of Dongwu City posed a grave security threat to them.

It forced them to avoid stopping in Dongwu City to rest, heading directly to other cities instead.

As merchant caravans reduced their trips to Dongwu City, over time, the city’s economy suffered a major blow.

The income of the city’s residents dropped sharply, and daily necessities became increasingly scarce.

If this situation continued, it was only a matter of time before civil unrest erupted in Dongwu City.

Just as the crisis was about to erupt, when Dongwu City had reached its most dangerous moment.

Appointed by the emperor, Li Dingtian arrived in Dongwu City to take up his new post, bringing his entire family aboard the "Cloud-top Flying Boat," a Flying Spiritual Artifact bestowed by the emperor.

After becoming the City Lord of Dongwu City, the exceptionally powerful Li Dingtian immediately took decisive, thunderous action.

He, along with the City Defense General commanding the Dongwu City Guards, led a host of Guards and recruited Cultivator volunteers in a campaign to purge the many vicious Mutant Beasts roaming the city’s perimeter.

After a three-month-long purge, the Mutant Beasts around Dongwu City were either dead or had fled, completely transforming the security situation overnight.

After that, Dongwu City’s trade routes stabilized. The merchant caravans that had once bypassed the city began to resume their habit of stopping there to rest and recuperate.

Merchant caravans carrying a wide array of goods came to Dongwu City, bringing various products to the city, which gradually became prosperous.

For the residents of Dongwu City who had lived through those difficult times, this City Lord was their great savior! Thus, they respected him immensely.

Lin Li glanced around and saw that all the passersby had stopped in their tracks to look up at the distant sky. He followed their gaze and looked up as well.

A massive Tower Ship, its banners unfurled, pierced through the cottony clouds. It flew in from the horizon, passed over the northern part of the city, and headed toward the location of the Dongwu City Lord’s Mansion.

This was the second time Lin Li had encountered a flying Tower Ship since arriving in this world.

The first Tower Ship he had encountered was about seventy to eighty meters long, twenty-five to twenty-six meters wide, and roughly sixteen to seventeen meters high.

The vessel the City Lord of Dongwu City was on... ’No, that’s not right. Its name is the Cloud-top Flying Boat.’

Lin Li recalled the first Cloud-top Flying Boat he had encountered and mentally compared it with the one before his eyes.

He found that the Cloud-top Flying Boat the City Lord of Dongwu City was aboard was relatively smaller.

It was only about one-third the size of the first Cloud-top Flying Boat he had encountered.

...

In the Chu Kingdom, officials who served as City Lords had to travel to the Imperial Capital every two years to report to the emperor.

A few days ago, after finishing his report to the emperor in the Imperial Capital, Li Dingtian hadn’t stayed long, immediately boarding the Cloud-top Flying Boat to return to Dongwu City.

If reporting to the emperor in the Imperial Capital had not been a mandatory duty for every City Lord, he would not have left Dongwu City.

After all, he was Dongwu City’s greatest combat power. Once he left, the entire city’s security level would drop by a significant degree.

The Cloud-top Flying Boat flew from north to south, arriving at the heart of Dongwu City in no time.

A massive shadow suddenly appeared over the square in front of the City Lord’s Mansion. A moment later, the enormous Cloud-top Flying Boat descended from the sky, dropping from several hundred meters to about fifty or sixty meters.

WHOOSH...

As the Cloud-top Flying Boat descended, the downdraft it created swept in all directions, and the Guards on duty in front of the City Lord’s Mansion couldn’t help but squint against the dust it kicked up.

The Cloud-top Flying Boat did not land directly on the ground. When it reached a height of fifty to sixty meters, it stopped its descent and hovered in mid-air.

At that moment, several figures leaped from the deck of the Cloud-top Flying Boat, coming to a stop in mid-air.

To be able to stand in mid-air without the aid of a Flying Spiritual Artifact or a Flying Superpower meant that these figures were all Third-Order Cultivators.

"This trip to the Imperial Capital to report to His Majesty has been tiring for all of us. Go home and get some proper rest," Li Dingtian said to his subordinates.

"Yes, sir." They were all subordinates who had followed Li Dingtian for many years and said no more pleasantries. They cupped their fists and replied in unison, then flew off toward their own homes.

After watching his subordinates depart, Li Dingtian gestured toward the nearby Cloud-top Flying Boat. The massive vessel then began to shrink at a rate visible to the naked eye.

In less than ten seconds,

the Cloud-top Flying Boat, which could carry dozens of people, had shrunk into a palm-sized boat, like a child’s toy.

The shrunken Cloud-top Flying Boat flew swiftly toward Li Dingtian, landing in his palm.

Then, a faint, almost invisible golden Spiritual Light flashed across the surface of the black ring on Li Dingtian’s right middle finger.

It vanished. The shrunken Cloud-top Flying Boat in Li Dingtian’s palm disappeared into thin air.

’It’s a Storage Ring.’

Anyone with a discerning eye watching this scene would have instantly recognized the ring on Li Dingtian’s hand as a rare Storage Ring.

After stowing the Cloud-top Flying Boat, Li Dingtian turned and flew toward the City Lord’s Mansion.

After he landed, the Guards on duty at the entrance of the City Lord’s Mansion tightened their grip on their long spears and greeted Li Dingtian respectfully.

"Welcome back, Lord City Lord."

"Mm. Thank you for your hard work." Li Dingtian nodded to the Guards who greeted him, then walked into the City Lord’s Mansion.

"Dad, you’re back!"

Just as Li Dingtian stepped into the City Lord’s Mansion, a tall, handsome young man of about twenty-five or twenty-six approached, his face lit with pleasant surprise as he looked at Li Dingtian.

Li Dingtian nodded at his son, then walked toward his study.

A good deal of official business had piled up during his absence in the Imperial Capital to report to the emperor, and he needed to deal with it promptly.

When Li Mo saw his father heading for the study, he knew he was going to handle official business.

So, he immediately followed and asked curiously, "Dad, how did you get back so soon? According to the original itinerary, you weren’t supposed to be home until the day after tomorrow!"

"For certain reasons, I reported to His Majesty ahead of schedule, so my return journey was moved up as well." Li Dingtian briefly explained why he was home early, but didn’t go into detail.

Seeing that his father wasn’t going into detail, Li Mo didn’t dare ask more. He nodded and was about to go about his own business.

Just then, Li Dingtian stopped, turning to his son who was about to leave. "Where are your mother and your sister?"

The arrival of the Cloud-top Flying Boat at the square in front of the City Lord’s Mansion had been quite a commotion.

Normally, his wife, Zhao Xin, and his daughter, Li Qian, should have come out with his son to welcome him.

But only his son had come out to welcome him. This meant that his wife and daughter were clearly not in the City Lord’s Mansion.

...