Chapter 246: The Great Hall Unveiled

“Alright, that’s it for today’s meeting! All department managers, feel free to call anytime if you have any issues!”

Zhu Qiang glanced at his watch.

Recently, all those massive machines working in Mingsha City had started sparking. For a whole month now, besides the small wall of Mingsha Academy, Lutai at Oasis 4 had officially begun construction! Moreover, to build Lutai, Mingsha Tourism had even cleared a road with a heavy-duty bulldozer along the repaired wall south of the City Gate. Now, various transport vehicles could deliver whatever was needed to Oasis 4 without passing through the gate.

Next, he planned to inspect the small wall at Mingsha Academy. After a month of round-the-clock work, the wall was nearing completion. Once it was finished, the Qing Brick Avenue that separated the Academy into north and south campuses would no longer require any enclosures.

Ding-a-ling.

Coincidentally, just as Zhu Qiang announced the end of the meeting, his phone rang.

After a brief nod to the person next to him, Zhu Qiang stood up and answered the call.

“General Zhu, what’s up?”

The call was from Luo Peng.

“General Zhu, Brother Hao just called me to say that the Grand Lecture Hall—Mingsha Academy’s iconic building—has been completed. We’re to take over the remaining work. He’ll be heading to Taiyi Hospital next!”

In the next moment, Luo Peng’s voice came through the phone.

“What? The Grand Lecture Hall is finished?”

At that, Zhu Qiang couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement.

After all, the last time he met Xu Hao was when Xu Hao handed over the blueprints for Lutai. Since then, everyone had been busy in their own tasks, barely meeting, handling everything by phone! Not to mention that the Grand Lecture Hall, situated right at the center of Mingsha Academy’s north campus, had taken Xu Hao the longest time to complete among all individual structures. They’d never seen him devote so much time to one building.

Including the foundation work, it took well over two months!

What does two months mean? Even the Qingming Scroll was only halfway finished.

“Mm-hmm!”

“Alright, wait for me by the small City Gate. We’ll go together.”

Coming back to focus, Zhu Qiang quickly said.

“Okay.”

Thus, half an hour later, Zhu Qiang and Luo Peng arrived at Mingsha Academy’s north campus. They walked for another ten minutes until, right as they were nearing the center of the campus, both abruptly halted.

“This…”

Standing there, they could vaguely make out the eaves of the Grand Lecture Hall. If not for the walls already surrounding it, they’d probably see the entire structure.

“General Zhu, do you feel it?”

Snapping back to reality,

Luo Peng couldn’t help but ask.

“I do feel it!”

Zhu Qiang nodded instinctively.

He knew exactly what Luo Peng meant. Overall, the Grand Lecture Hall wasn’t particularly tall among Mingsha City’s standalone buildings, yet for some reason, it exuded an almost oppressive and sacred aura!

It was as if the hall wasn’t merely a tourist attraction but a sanctified site.

Come to think of it,

even the Demon-Locking Tower hadn’t evoked such a feeling when they first saw it.

“Let’s go take a closer look!”

After a brief pause, Luo Peng instinctively adjusted his collar before heading toward the enclosed courtyard.

Once the other buildings were finished, those towering walls would eventually be dismantled. In the end, Mingsha Academy’s north campus would center around the Grand Lecture Hall, presented as a landscaped scenic area for all visitors. Step by step, the closer they got to the hall, the stronger that inexplicable sensation became. It peaked the moment they reached the entrance and beheld the hall in person.

Especially Luo Peng, whose legs inexplicably went weak, as if he had an overwhelming urge to kneel in worship.

The Grand Lecture Hall spanned roughly eleven bays in width and five or six in depth, standing with its platform at over thirty meters tall. Dozens of columns supported the entire structure, which featured a double-eaved, hip-roof design. Massive ornaments graced both ends of the roof, and carved beasts sat at the corners of the eaves.

Its eaves were adorned with dense dougong, while both interior and exterior beams were decorated with vibrant paintings. The upper parts of the windows and doors were inlaid with diamond patterns, and below, relief carvings of cloud dragons were displayed. At the joints, gilded copper leaves etched with dragon motifs were affixed.

Inside, far off, a lectern was installed with four paired displays on either side, representing the treasures of the Elephant, Horned, Crane, and Incense Pavilion.

Before the hall stood an expansive platform showcasing a sundial, a jia liang each, a pair of bronze turtles, a pair of bronze cranes, and eighteen bronze tripods.

Below, a three-tiered, ancient, austere bluestone base further imbued the hall with a profound sense of history. Surrounding it were many ancient pines and a sizeable pond, complete with floating water lilies, lotuses, and several pale golden koi.

Of course,

none of that was the most important. At that moment, a faint, mystical mist was beginning to rise around the hall, making the entire structure and its foundation appear as if suspended in a fairyland—a truly surreal sight!

And it was precisely this effect that stirred in Luo Peng an irresistible urge to kneel in reverence.

“You guys made it?”

Just then, Xu Hao, having spotted the two, approached and greeted them.

Strangely enough, as Xu Hao came up beside them, the oppressive feeling that had weighed on Zhu Qiang and Luo Peng seemed to lessen considerably.

“Brother Hao, you really can’t be serious…”

Seeing Xu Hao, Zhu Qiang immediately blurted out.

At that moment,

he wasn’t quite sure what words could describe the Grand Lecture Hall. In fact, Zhu Qiang had almost deemed it Mingsha City’s finest structure.

Anyone seeing Jixia Academy’s Grand Lecture Hall for the first time would have this reaction. Imagine the state of overseas and local tourists before the hall—it’s almost certain someone would prostrate themselves in awe, incense burners and all.

Jixia Academy was destined to be exalted to new heights.

“I mean, Brother Hao, how did you pull this off? If this weren’t Mingsha Academy, I’d honestly think I’d stumbled into some ancient immortal’s retreat! Look at that ‘divine aura’—no TV show can capture it as vividly as this!”

Beside him, Luo Peng couldn’t help but ask,

“An immortal’s retreat? Seriously, there’s no such thing as immortals in this world. You have to believe in science! That ‘divine aura’ is nothing more than the dry ice mist devices I set up around the base to mimic it!”

Xu Hao smiled.

But as he spoke, Xu Hao turned away, deliberately avoiding Luo Peng’s gaze.

It wasn’t really about the dry ice mist device—it worked, but its true success was due to him spending an entire month, day and night, studying that book left behind by Daoist Master, Self-Cultivation.

By the fifteenth day, Xu Hao had completed all the requirements on the first thirty-two pages. However, just as he planned to test it, he realized that creating effective talismans also required meeting conditions from the first thirty-six pages, so he delayed another ten days.

Until this morning, when the mist slowly began to rise, Xu Hao felt a surge of accomplishment mingled with deep self-doubt.

Was it an unexplainable scientific phenomenon or a secret Daoist method? No one could answer that.

No matter how you looked at it, combining some Kunlun Mountain jade with talismans shouldn’t produce carbon dioxide. Yet somehow, the gas emerged!

It defied all logic! Still, Xu Hao eventually came to accept it all.

After all, he had traversed worlds—what couldn’t he accept? The world is vast; wonders abound! Just because you’ve never encountered something doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

In short, anything that defies explanation can simply be chalked up to science not being advanced enough. Someday, when science reaches a certain level, it will surely explain these phenomena.

Or perhaps, the knowledge contained in Daoist Master’s two books is simply ahead of its time—with the science of the future eventually catching up.

“So it was the dry ice mist device after all!”

At these words, Zhu Qiang and Luo Peng exchanged looks, their doubts easing just a bit.

“Mm-hmm!”

“Brother Hao, then…”

“Jixia Academy’s centerpiece is this Grand Lecture Hall. Once it’s done, the rest of the constructions will be a breeze. You two stick around for the next couple of days to oversee things—I need to head over to Taiyi Hospital! After that, there’s the Zhaixing Pavilion to set up!”

Speaking of serious matters, Xu Hao continued,

“At Taiyi Hospital, they’re going to build six consultation halls. Each hall represents a different traditional medical school, so it’s no small feat.”