everlasting immortal firmament
Ten days!
A titanic upheaval took place in the land of the living. After ten days were up, Essence Genesis would carry out a great cleansing. Countless experts waited for the time of the great cleansing to arrive.
Soaring Palace Hall’s plaza now teemed with sovereigns and sect masters from various major factions in the land of the living. However, most of them were now marquises of the Han Heavenly Dynasty. Apart from the initial four first-class marquises, the rest held titles below that rank.
Everyone had zither puppets before them. They listened to the reports coming from all over the world.
Gu Hai’s incarnation used the blessings to form a large screen of light, displaying the scene at Essence Genesis Hall for everyone to see.
Gu Hai stood in Soaring Palace Hall’s plaza, accompanied by his civil and military officers. The various faction leaders of the land of the living watched. A group of people from various nether realm factions also stood on one side.
The factions from the nether realm had not participated in the United Rule Meet, so their feelings were not as intense, and they harbored suspicions. However, the Han Heavenly Dynasty had sent messengers to invite them as guests and brought them to the land of the living to provide the nether realm factions a way to understand what was happening in the land of the living.
Few faction leaders came in person; most sent important envoys.
Crossing into the land of the living from Everlasting Nether Capital left them all deeply impressed by the grandeur of the Han Heavenly Dynasty.
The zither puppet messaging system also showed the nether realm’s various major factions how far behind they were. The zither puppets could send messages all over the world. The factions that had arrived earlier had also sent people to other places to gather information.
Right now, everyone was waiting for something to happen at Essence Genesis Hall.
“Your Holy Eminence, besides the Myriad Age Daoist Sect and Deity Seizing Hall—two other major factions—in the land of the living, sixty percent of the remaining territory has joined either my Han Nation or the Yan Nation,” Sima Changkong explained.
“Sixty percent? Then there is still forty percent?” Gu Hai said, frowning.
“Yes. Most sovereigns have great pride. It would be impossible for all of them to be willing to submit. Some faction leaders are stubbornly holding out, waiting for Essence Genesis’s judgment. Some faction leaders would rather dissolve their nations or sects than submit to anyone,” Sima Changkong explained.
“Those who establish nations have the ambition to carve out a piece of land for themselves. However, circumstances have forced our hands. By failing to be decisive and reach the peak, they have lost the right to carve out a piece of land for themselves. We have already done all that we can. It is up to them whether they want it or not,” Gu Hai said.
“Yes!” Sima Changkong nodded.
Just then, the doors to Essence Genesis Hall opened on the screen manifested by Gu Hai’s incarnation using blessings.
Creak!
As the doors swung open, Essence Genesis stepped out of Essence Genesis Hall. He had a golden dragon coiled around his left arm, and his expression remained as cold as ever. This coldness sent chills down the spines of many nether realm faction leaders.
Essence Genesis stood in the plaza of Essence Genesis Hall, sweeping his gaze slowly across the entire world.
Although most blessings had flowed towards the Yan Nation and the Han Nation, numerous factions still held on—royal dynasties, lower-tier sects, imperial dynasties, middle-tier sects. They clung to a glimmer of hope as if waiting for a miracle.
“Do you think you can hide and cower while keeping your blessings in your capitals and sects? That’s not going to work,” Essence Genesis sneered.
His mocking words instantly spread through all the blessings cloud seas, reaching the ears of hiding sovereigns and sect masters.
“It’s useless. As long as blessings exist, there is a connection between you and them. Fortunately, I can find this connection!” Essence Genesis’s eyes turned icy.
With those words, the Essence Genesis Pennant flew out once more.
Rumble…!
A vast amount of primal chaos sword qi surged forth from the Essence Genesis Pennant. As Essence Genesis surveyed the world, he seemed to lock on to targets across the land.
“Go!” Essence Genesis issued a cold command.
Boom!
The immense cluster of primal chaos sword qi pierced through the clouds and swarmed all over the world like the tide rushing in.
The sight sent a chill through the hearts of many former sovereigns and sect masters in Borderless Heavenly Capital. They had seen the same scene ten days ago. This was how forty-two major factions had been destroyed.
The cluster of primal chaos sword qi flew to the places that still had a blessings cloud sea.
Boom!
The palaces and main halls of those places immediately shattered, obliterated.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The primal chaos sword qi rushed out of the blessings cloud seas, shooting in all directions, apparently having sensed the locations of the sovereigns and sect masters connected to the blessings.
Some headed for forests, some headed for desolate deserts, and some headed for rivers, lakes, or seas.
“Argh!”
“Argh!”
“Argh!”
Horrified, miserable shrieks rose in various places.
Boom!
The primal chaos sword qi killed all the hiding sovereigns and sect masters.
Rumble…!
All those blessings cloud seas immediately scattered; not a trace remained.
Essence Genesis washed the world in blood with just one move?
Now, blessings cloud seas existed in only four places in the land of the living: the Yan Heavenly Dynasty, the Myriad Age Daoist Sect, Deity Seizing Hall, and the Han Heavenly Dynasty.
The other nations and sects—be they royal dynasties, imperial dynasties, lower-tier sects, or middle-tier sects—had all disbanded. None had been spared; Essence Genesis had washed them in blood.
The land of the living’s faction leaders at the Soaring Palace Hall’s plaza listened to reports coming from their zither puppets. They were all news of various faction leaders’ deaths and the scattering of blessings cloud seas.
After a quick consolidation, everyone understood that all the stubborn holdouts had been washed in blood.
All the faction leaders from the land of the living inhaled sharply. Simultaneously, gratitude flashed in their eyes as they looked at Gu Hai.
Although they had been forced to join the Han Heavenly Dynasty, the faction leaders did not resent Gu Hai, as he had provided them with refuge. Although they were no longer sovereigns or sect masters, they had not lost their previous authority.
Gu Hai knew how to use people and dared to use them. He gave great authority to those with capabilities who had sincerely submitted to him. There was even the potential for promotion. The one who had truly forced them to lose their nations and sects was Essence Genesis.
Now, these faction leaders from the land of the living were the Han Heavenly Dynasty’s officials and nobility.
The factions from the nether realm witnessed this for themselves. They all gasped at Essence Genesis’s viciousness.
Of course, the nether realm factions still had to investigate the truth of this. However, they already had a rough understanding from the information pouring in from the nearby zither puppets. There was no mistaking this matter.
In the scene, Essence Genesis looked around the world, his eyes as cold as before.
Suddenly, he looked towards Borderless Heavenly Capital and Great Desolate City.
“Gu Hai, Ba, I will destroy all the factions that have not submitted twenty days later. Do your best to capture the territory in the land of the living. If there is anyone resisting that you cannot handle quickly, just take note of them and leave them to me. I will destroy them all in one go,” Essence Genesis said seriously.
Essence Genesis acknowledged that Gu Hai and Ba were helping him, so he was relatively polite when he spoke to the two.
“Alright!” Gu Hai nodded.
Simultaneously, at Divine Flame Hall’s entrance in Great Desolate City, Ba also nodded. “Alright!”
Essence Genesis surveyed the land of the living with satisfaction. Then he turned away and ambled back into Essence Genesis Hall.
Creak!
The doors to Essence Genesis Hall closed.
Now that it was over, Gu Hai dismissed the screen.
However, the countless experts’ hearts in the surroundings could not calm down for a long time.
This was especially so for the nether realm factions. Many people suddenly felt disappointed and despondent.
How can it be like this? I worked so hard to build up a legacy, but I have to give it away?
“Our dear officials!” Gu Hai looked at the various faction leaders from the land of the living who had submitted to him.
“Your Holy Eminence!” the various faction leaders saluted respectfully.
“During this time, Chen Tianshan has full authority over the dispatch of officials. I hope that everyone will cooperate fully,” Gu Hai said solemnly.
“Yes! Your Holy Eminence, rest assured! We officials will cooperate fully!” everyone immediately declared.
“Next, Sima Changkong will take charge of the masterless territory. He shall mobilize troops to capture these places. He may consider everyone’s previous status and ask you to help mediate. Please cooperate with him!” Gu Hai added.
“We will! We officials will cooperate!” everyone responded.
All that was left in the land of the living was to finish up.
There were still many scattered factions within those destroyed nations and sects. Hence, these territories would not be easy to capture. They might not capture even half of these territories after a year and a half. However, the Han Heavenly Dynasty operated methodically; it would capture as much as it could.
This was a busy period. Besides some territories that had to be claimed with soldiers, most of the world did not require the use of force. After all, the Han Nation had experienced a sudden massive expansion of territory. It did not even have time to manage these territories; how could it have the time and effort to spare for anything else?
The surrender of the various factions also resulted in an overflowing blessings cloud sea for the Han Heavenly Dynasty.
With the accumulation of surging blessings, the incarnations of Gu Hai and his officials grew. There were even countless dragon roars coming from the depths of the blessings cloud sea, as though it would birth many little golden blessings dragons.
Gu Hai asked Long Wanyu what was going on, but she did not know, either.
“Friends from the nether realm, you have seen the situation in the land of the living. I will open public access to Yinyang Valley for five days. You can travel through it at will during these five days. If you do not wish to return, you can get the Embroidered Uniform Guards to deliver a letter for you. You can also return on your own. We will not accompany you any longer!” Gu Hai said.
“Yes! Many thanks, Han Heavenly Emperor!”
“Many thanks, Han Heavenly Emperor!”
…
The people from the nether realm factions expressed their gratitude.
When Gu Hai previously sent people to invite them over, they thought Gu Hai was going to play a trick on them, wanting to snatch their factions. However, they now discovered that Gu Hai did not have to use force. Whether to surrender or not would be completely voluntary.
All the nether realm faction leaders immediately revealed bitter expressions.
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Yin Tiger Deity Hall, the Heavenly Demon Holy Land, the nether realm:
The Black Soul Reaper returned to Yin Tiger Deity Hall and reported the situation in Underground Blood City to Bai Zizai.
Bai Zizai, the White Soul Reaper, and the Divine Scorpion Heavenly Demon frowned slightly.
“The Nine Cauldron Deity Seizing Curse? So, it was them?” Bai Zizai said with an unsightly expression.
“Milord, I recall that the Azure Dragon Prime’s strength was the most formidable among the four commanders of the animal spirit races during the ancient war, right?” the White Soul Reaper said while frowning.
“That’s right. At the Azure Dragon Prime’s peak, he had fought Jiangchen. Although he could not match Jiangchen, he could escape safely. He was the strongest of the animal spirits. However, he suddenly fell unconscious for no apparent reason one day. Chaos broke out among the animal spirits. When I went to investigate, I could not figure out why. The Azure Dragon Prime remained unconscious, unaware of his surroundings. He eventually woke up for some reason. However, the animal spirits had already lost momentum, and his vitality had been greatly damaged. Before he died, he said he had lost consciousness because of the Nine Cauldron Deity Seizing Curse. So, it is this Nine Cauldron Deity Seizing Curse?” Bai Zizai said with a sullen expression.
“Even the Azure Dragon Prime could not survive it. Surely, Gu Hai can’t, right?” the Black Soul Reaper said with anticipation.
Bai Zizai narrowed his eyes as he paced in Yin Tiger Deity Hall.