568: Chapter 569 A Familiar Return of the Swallows, Under Heaven, All is One, No Different Colors

The year 658 of the Great Ming Calendar.

The Capital.

An auspicious snow had just cleared, leaving the entire city wrapped in silver. Unlike centuries ago, the Capital was no longer just a collection of low-rise buildings with gray walls and yellow tiles; instead, it was filled with magnificent towers that soared into the clouds.

These skyscrapers were not the cold piles of reinforced concrete and glass curtain walls found in later generations, but were instead filled with Eastern charm and spirit.

Giant flying eaves and bracket sets were constructed from high-strength carbon nanotube composite Materials, stretching toward the horizon. They served both as mechanical structures and aesthetic expressions of tension.

The exterior walls of the buildings utilized a bio-based smart material called 'Glazed Gold.' Under the sunlight, it displayed traditional tones like vermilion, indigo, and mysterious black, and could automatically adjust temperature and humidity according to the seasons and weather, even breathing in Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi like a living being.

In mid-air, invisible magnetic tracks wove into a net. Streamlined 'Cloud Chariots' shuttled silently between the buildings. They looked like miniature versions of painted pleasure boats or sedan chairs, with faint blue flames flickering at their bases—the glow of anti-gravity arrays in operation, moving in an orderly fashion like fish playing among coral reefs.

Lu Chen wore a well-tailored set of black casual clothes. The material looked like top-tier Song Brocade, but it was actually a Fusion of nano-protection technology, making it resistant to water, fire, dust, and grime.

He strolled along the busiest 'Chang'an Street' in the Capital, looking at this scene that was both familiar and yet completely different. A sense of displacement, as if from another lifetime, welled up in his heart.

The year 2025 from his memory, filled with anxiety, conflict, concrete, and the smell of exhaust, had long since vanished in this timeline.

There were no harsh LED signs here; they were replaced by soft holographic projections.

“Tongrentang—Mars Spiritual Plant Counter, New Arrival Today.”

“Great Ming Royal Bank—Helping Your Wealth Reach the Universe.”

“Shenji Security—Giving You the Security of Home.”

Those signs used the elegant and fluid calligraphy of the Yan or Liu styles, flowing with light and color in the air, decorating this megacity like a marketplace in the Heavenly Palace.

Lu Chen took out a 'Communication Jade Slip' as thin as a cicada's wing from his sleeve—this was the most common personal terminal in the Great Ming today.

A flash of light appeared on the surface of the Jade Slip, and a light screen unfolded before his eyes. What jumped out was not a celebrity's scandal or news of war, but:

“Early Rice Yield per Mu in Yinghuo Prefecture, Mars Province Reaches New High; Agricultural Research Institute Deserves Great Credit”

“Atlantic Ocean Undersea Vacuum Tunnel Fully Connected; Capital to London in Just Two Hours”

“Royal Academy of Sciences Announces: Taiyi Divine Needle Combined with Nano-Robots Has Completely Conquered Late-Stage Cancer”

Lu Chen's finger lightly swiped across the light screen, a gratified smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

“This is the world I wanted.”

He put away the Jade Slip and strolled into a roadside teahouse named 'Sihai Pavilion'.

As soon as he entered, the steaming aroma of tea greeted him. The teahouse was already packed, and a storyteller was striking his gavel, telling the epic tale of 'The Great Ancestor Angrily Sinking the British Isles'.

Lu Chen found a corner by the window and sat down.

“Guest, how many in your party?” The waiter, with a white towel draped over his shoulder, greeted him warmly.

“One,” Lu Chen said calmly. “A pot of Pre-Rain Longjing.”

“Right away! Please have a seat!”

Lu Chen observed the surrounding diners.

“Have you heard?” A young man who still showed Western ancestry held his teacup, took a sip, and sighed. “The museums over in our West Sea Province dug up some more things. It’s said that hundreds of years ago, that area was divided into dozens of tiny countries, fighting every day over tiny bits of land. They didn't even bathe; they were quite barbaric.”

His companion opposite him nodded with a look of disdain: “Isn't that the truth? I've looked through my genealogy; my ancestors were apparently some kind of 'French' nobility. Tsk tsk, thinking about it now is really embarrassing. Back then, they didn't even know how to use chopsticks and ate with their hands. Fortunately, the Great Ancestor Emperor was divinely civil and martially brilliant, unifying the script and the roads, saving us from that ignorance.”

“Indeed.”

“It’s better to be a citizen of Great Ming. The Saint's teachings, a land of rites and music. I went to Mars to visit relatives a few days ago, and the environment there is managed even better than Earth. I heard it's all thanks to Taichu.”

“Of course, Taichu is a divine object, a blessing from the Imperial Family.”

Listening to these conversations, the smile on Lu Chen's lips grew deeper.

In this world, the concept of 'nations' had long since vanished, leaving only the various provinces of Great Ming.

There were no longer any so-called 'racial' barriers.

After centuries of bloodline Fusion, cultural cleansing, and universal education, there was only one kind of person on Earth—the Great Ming person.

The so-called 'blonde hair and blue eyes' were now merely seen as recessive genetic traits, just as some people are tall and others are short; it didn't represent any cultural or political meaning.

Their names were Han names, their language was Mandarin, and their belief was in honoring Heaven and ancestors, and the investigation of things to attain knowledge.

That barrier of 'those not of our kind' had long been completely worn away in the long river of history.

“Guest, your tea.”

The waiter came over with the tea tray, his movements smooth and fluid.

Lu Chen picked up the teacup and gently blew away the floating foam. Outside the window, maglev Cloud Chariots glided by silently without stirring up a single speck of dust.

On the street, two patrollers in Flying Fish Robes were helping an elderly person cross the road. Surrounding pedestrians and vehicles stopped one after another, waiting quietly. No one honked to rush them, and no one tried to cut ahead.

By the roadside, two children accidentally bumped into each other.

The parents of both children stepped forward immediately, but they bowed to each other, saying 'my apologies' and 'lack of discipline,' then had the children apologize to each other and shake hands to make up.

Etiquette was no longer a slogan on the lips, but a way of life integrated into their very marrow.

Lu Chen finished his cup of tea, his mood more relaxed than ever before.

“Waiter, the bill.”

“Certainly, that will be fifty.”

Lu Chen took out his Jade Slip and brought up the payment interface.

A complex and majestic golden Dragon pattern appeared on the screen—it was the exclusive mark of Imperial privilege and the highest-level payment account.

“Beep—”

When the waiter's scanner passed over that Dragon pattern, the machine emitted an extremely pleasant Phoenix cry, and a flash of purple Qi crossed the screen.

The waiter froze for a moment, and then his pupils suddenly constricted.

Although he had never seen the Emperor, he had been trained and knew what this mark signified—this was a level of authority held only by core members of the Imperial Family, or even the legendary 'Old Ancestor' who lived on the Kunlun Immortal Mountain!

The waiter's legs instantly went a bit weak, but he did not shout or panic.

The etiquette carved into his bones allowed him to make the most appropriate reaction instantly.

He stepped back half a pace, crossed his hands over his chest, and performed a deep, standard hand-clasping salute, bending his waist ninety degrees. His voice was kept extremely low, filled with awe: “Please take care, Noble One.”

The surrounding diners did not notice this scene; everyone was enjoying their own peace.

Lu Chen nodded slightly, put away his Jade Slip, and turned to walk out of the teahouse.

Just as he stepped out, a clear breeze brushed past.

He looked up at the sky.

It was currently high noon.

A massive, streamlined silver-white spaceship was rising into the air from the distant 'Daxing Interstellar Spaceport'.

Its tail ejected deep blue ion flames, piercing the sky and flying toward the white sun above the heavens.

That was the 'Star' civilian passenger spaceship; today's destination was Guanghan Prefecture on the Moon.

On the ship's hull, the bright red Sun-Moon Dragon Flag shone brilliantly in the sunlight.

Lu Chen looked at that flag and this prosperous and orderly golden age, his heart filled with a myriad of emotions.

“This is the empire I built.”

“This is the future I once promised to this world.”

“No conflict, no hunger, no bullying from foreign races.”

“Everyone is like a Dragon, eternal peace for all generations.”

Just then, that familiar voice suddenly rang in his ear.

It wasn't through the Jade Slip, but resonated directly within the depths of his Sea of Consciousness.

“Master.” Taichu No. 1's voice carried a hint of human-like teasing. “Over at Kunlun, the banquet is already prepared. Consort Yin says that if you continue your incognito tour and don't return, she's going to use that jar of 'Drunken Immortal Brew' you've cherished for five hundred years to water the flowers.”

Hearing this, the corner of Lu Chen's mouth couldn't help but twitch.

“This spendthrift woman...”

He shook his head, but his eyes were full of doting laughter.

“Understood, I'm returning now.”

Lu Chen took one last look at this world filled with the breath of life and his figure flickered slightly.

In the next second, he vanished into thin air from the bustling Chang'an Street, leaving behind only a faint scent of tea that lingered in the wind for a long time.

The prosperity of the golden age remained, while the god who created this era had returned to the depths of the cloud-shrouded mountains.