Everlasting Immortal FirmamentEverlasting Immortal Firmament
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
In a restricted zone shrouded in dense fog in Borderless Heavenly Capital, the Han Imperial Dynasty’s ruler and officials gathered around a vast valley with intricate talisman scripts drawn all over it.
Four bodies were seated in the valley: Lifespan Dongfang, Lifespan Nangong, Lifespan Beiming, and Lifespan Chunshen. They sat like statues, each facing a different direction.
“Is everything ready?” Gu Hai asked the Unborn Man.
“Yes, Your Reverence!”
“Then let’s begin,” Gu Hai commanded.
“Yes!” The Unborn Man nodded.
Stretching out his hand, he released black energy and white energy. A mere flick of his wrist funneled these energies into the talisman scripts in the valley.
The talisman scripts came alive, pulsing and drawing some form of energy from the world. This energy flowed into the four lifespan cultivators’ bodies.
Buzz!
The four bodies immediately emitted beams of black-and-white light that shot towards the center of the valley.
Boom!
The four beams of light collided at the center, creating ripples in space. Then, a Taiji Yinyang fish diagram suddenly appeared at the point of impact.
The spatial ripples spread out when the Taiji Yinyang fishes appeared, as if a hole had been torn in space.
The Yinyang fishes continuously grew until they were over three kilometers long, covering the entire valley.
The radiant light gradually dimmed, leaving only a Taiji Yinyang fish pond with a diameter of over three kilometers slowly swirling. Black energy and white energy hovered above the pond, separated by a three-kilometer-wide barrier of light between the Yin fish and the Yang fish, like a tear in the void.
“Your Reverence, the passageway is now open. This three-kilometer-wide light barrier serves as the entrance and exit,” the Unborn Man announced solemnly.
“Only slightly over three kilometers?” Gu Hai frowned slightly.
Gu Hai had initially thought that the passageway would be large enough to span Borderless Heavenly Capital, allowing it to exist half in the land of the living and half in the nether realm, thereby ruling both worlds.
Now, this was only slightly over three kilometers? How could something this small serve to control two realms?
“Your Reverence, I apologize for my inability,” the Unborn Man promptly responded.
After a moment of silence, Gu Hai let out a soft sigh. “We expected too much; you’ve already done very well.”
“Thank you, Your Reverence!” The Unborn Man nodded.
Gu Hai nodded back and took the lead, stepping into the Yinyang fish pond. Although the pond seemed to contain flowing liquid, walking on it felt as steady as on solid ground.
He crossed the light barrier with one step and instantly arrived in the nether realm—a valley identical to the land of the living in Borderless Heavenly Capital, even featuring its own light barrier.
“Step through the light barrier from the land of the living to arrive here, and step back through it to return. These are fixed transit points, Your Reverence,” the Unborn Man explained with a smile.
Gu Hai tried it out with some people. The three-kilometer diameter was sufficient for any army to shuttle back and forth.
His true body returned to the land of the living, while the skeleton Gu Hai entered the nether realm.
Since he could not manage both realms with Borderless Heavenly Capital, he would rule them separately. One Gu Hai would govern the land of the living, and the other would govern the nether realm.
The nether realm already boasted a plethora of structures—a massive city was rising from the ground.
“Let’s call this entrance Yinyang Valley. It will be a restricted area of the Han Imperial Dynasty. No one is allowed near it without permission,” the skeleton Gu Hai instructed.
“Yes!” the officials responded in unison.
“Your Reverence, shall we establish a new city here? A secondary capital for the Han Imperial Dynasty in the nether realm? Please name it,” Chen Tianshan asked earnestly.
“This place is near Myriad Bone Sinister Mountain, but naturally, this secondary capital should not limit itself to just the skeleton race. Let it be a place where our Han Nation can thrive eternally. We’ll call it Everlasting Nether Capital,” Gu Hai declared.
“Yes! Everlasting Nether Capital, the secondary capital in the nether realm!” the officials echoed.
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Back in the land of the living, Gu Hai’s true body waved.
Outside Borderless Heavenly Capital, the earth roiled once more as the dragon vein emerged with a roar at Gu Hai’s summons. A colossal dragon head appeared, looking up at Gu Hai’s true body.
Gu Hai’s true body extended a hand and tapped the dragon vein’s forehead.
The dragon vein seemed to understand everything, as it suddenly reared its head to the sky and roared again.
“Roar!”
A golden aura then emanated from the dragon vein. The golden aura lingered and coalesced, forming a three-kilometer-long golden dragon clone.
Mo Yike, standing next to Gu Hai’s true body, marveled, “Your Reverence, are you creating a clone of the dragon vein using its energy?”
Gu Hai’s true body nodded. “Originally, we had hoped that the passageway would be large enough to allow the dragon vein to travel between the two realms. However, the passageway is too small for that. Thus, we have no other choice. We must establish a secondary capital, and nothing can be left out.”
“Yes!” Mo Yike nodded with a furrowed brow.
“Your Reverence, do you think the Unborn Man did this on purpose?” Sima Changkong whispered from the side.
Gu Hai shook his head. “Let it be. The Unborn Man has already done this much; we won’t ask for more.”
“But...” Sima Changkong’s brows knitted slightly.
“The Unborn Man has merit in the Han Nation and has committed no crimes against us. We must treat him sincerely, even if he has his own agenda. For enemies, deception is fine, but among our own, accusations without evidence are unacceptable. Also, if an official is unwilling, we should not force him. This applies to everyone!” Gu Hai said firmly.
“Yes!” Mo Yike and Sima Changkong responded.
Despite their lingering doubts about the Unborn Man, they felt reassured by Gu Hai’s partiality towards his own people. They figured that if Gu Hai could be so lenient with the Unborn Man, he would be equally accommodating with them.
“Roar!”
Forming a three-kilometer-long clone seemed to have drained the dragon vein significantly. It immediately sank into the ground to absorb the energy of the land.
When Gu Hai waved, the three-kilometer-long dragon vein clone flew above Borderless Heavenly Capital and entered the light barrier.
In the nether realm, the skeleton Gu Hai caught the flying dragon vein clone with a wave of his hand.
“Roar!”
The three-kilometer-long dragon vein clone quickly entered the ground and moved around. Surging Spiritual Energy rushed in from all directions.
“The dragon vein has been established, but it needs blessings,” the skeleton Gu Hai said.
Back in the land of the living, Gu Hai’s true body waved.
“Roar!”
The golden blessings dragon roared. Just like the dragon vein earlier, it released some of its essence, which became a golden blessings dragon clone.
This golden blessings dragon clone carried a tenth of the blessings from the land of the living’s blessings cloud sea into the nether realm.
Boom!
Over the skies of Everlasting Nether Capital, a three-kilometer-long golden blessings dragon soared up, absorbing copious blessings to empower itself.
While the Han Imperial Dynasty might be lacking in other aspects, it outshone all in the land of the living when it came to blessings. Even with a tenth of its blessings diverted to the nether realm, its blessings cloud sea was still comparable to that of a weaker imperial dynasty there.
Beneath lay the dragon vein coursing through the land, while above shimmered the golden glow of blessings. Everlasting Nether Capital instantly exuded the grandeur befitting an imperial capital.
With a quick decision on its layout, the Han Imperial Dynasty’s artisans began construction. Almost immediately, the palace in the nether realm took shape, its foundational pillars thrust into the ground.
“Your Reverence, this will be the palace. What shall we name it?” an official in charge of the construction inquired.
“Yang rises towards the heavens, while Yin grounds the earth. Let’s call this Ground Control Palace!” Gu Hai said.
“Yes!” the officials answered in unison.
Thus was born the fledgling Everlasting Nether Capital, the Han Nation’s secondary capital in the nether realm.
Additional forces joined the initial troops sent previously, summoned from the land of the living by Mo Yike.
Chen Tianshan brought in large numbers of administrative talents.
The Nation Suppression Army, while still maintaining order in the land of the living, also embarked on territorial expansion in the nether realm.
Gao Xianzhi, the Mosquito Daoist, Mo Yike, Long Shenying, and Kong Xuan led the group of Upper Heavenly Palace Realm ex-sovereigns and ex-sect masters to expand the Han Nation’s territory.
Forces like the Divine Demon Army, the skeleton race, the black tortoise race, and the dragon race flexed their muscles in the nether realm. Strategic manipulation was almost unnecessary. The information gathered by the Blood Uniform Guard over the years was more than enough for an immediate siege.
There were few formidable factions in the northern nether realm. Initially, the most powerful was the Myriad Bone Sinister Mountain.
The emergence of the Han Imperial Dynasty was simply overpowering.
Was it hard to conquer cities? Not at all! A single unparalleled expert could break the ghost city’s barriers with just a clap of their hands and vanquish all experts in the city with another palm strike. So, what was there to fight?
The stick, then the carrot!
“Starting today, this city belongs to the Han Nation. Any ghost who refuses to submit can come and try himself against me!” bellowed a general from the Divine Demon Army.
“Our Han Imperial Dynasty cherishes its people. We have just entered the nether realm, so we offer one year of tax exemption. Other than that, everything remains the same. Our troops won’t take even a thread from you, and we’ll build a Spiritual-Energy-gathering ritual array in the city for free,” a civil official reassured the citizens.
Under Mo Yike’s coordination, the Han Nation’s army flowed like a heavenly river, overwhelming all directions.
In just one month, Everlasting Nether Capital had the atmosphere of a major city.
Ground Control Palace’s assembly hall:
Mo Yike reported respectfully, “Your Reverence, as of today, our Han Imperial Dynasty has captured a hundred cities in the nether realm.”
“We are aware. During this time, the dragon vein has been absorbing endless energy from the land and is now over thirty kilometers long.” Sitting on the throne in Ground Control Palace, Gu Hai nodded contentedly.
Mo Yike frowned slightly. “The nether realm has a complex mixture of ghost races. It feels a bit strange here.”
“In the nether realm ghost cities, there’s quite a mix of ghost races! There are souls of those who died in the land of the living; there are ghosts born in the nether realm. Some can reincarnate early, and others are stuck in the cycle for a long time. It can be a bit chaotic! My beloved official Mo, take your time to adapt!” Gu Hai said, smiling.
“Yes!” Mo Yike nodded.
“Chen Tianshan, begin registering the ghosts of the Han Imperial Dynasty,” Gu Hai ordered.
“Understood,” Chen Tianshan said as he stepped forward.
Then he added, “Your Reverence, some of our officials have seen the ghostly soul bodies of relatives and friends in some ghost cities. They are afraid.”
“Afraid? No, they should be elated. We want the people of the Han Nation to know that they have the nation’s protection from birth to death. Even if they die for their country, we can find their loyal souls in the nether realm and reward them handsomely. Regardless of whether they want to reincarnate or cultivate as ghosts, we will give them the best rewards. These are the military honors they deserve. Be it in life or death, these are theirs alone; no one can snatch their honors away, and no one can replace them. Those who died wronged deaths can also seek their vengeance in the courts of the nether realm!” Gu Hai declared solemnly.
The officials’ faces evinced a mix of awe and admiration. “Your Reverence is wise!”
The expansion of territory in the nether realm would inevitably unite the hearts of all the soldiers, citizens, and officials of the Han Imperial Dynasty, forming an unbreakable whole.