Chapter 1263: The Outer World May Be Fraught With Peril
“Ah? Why?” Lu Yang was puzzled.
What puzzled him even more was that these words sounded familiar, as though someone had just said the same thing.
“How would you assess the Battle of Zhongshan Commandery?”
“Number one in all of history.”
From the past to the present, in terms of scale and intensity, the Battle of Zhongshan Commandery was indisputably ranked at the very top.
“If it weren’t for the barrier forged from the power of national fortune, what do you think the consequences of that battle would have been?”
Lu Yang was taken aback. This was a question he hadn’t considered. A shiver ran down his spine. Without a doubt, it would have been a catastrophic battle that plunged living beings into abject misery!
The battle between the Everlasting Immortal Fairy and Hui Doudou offered a glimpse of how devastating such a clash could be. They had fought all the way from the Demon Region to the Spiritless Land and back again. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they had traversed heaven and earth.
The Battle of Zhongshan Commandery had been even larger in scale. Without the barrier to contain it, wherever the battle reached would have been reduced to a scene of carnage.
“Yao Sheng was merely a puppet crafted by the mastermind, which goes to show that the mastermind’s true abilities would be even greater.
“The Battle of Zhongshan Commandery depleted more than half of the national fortune amassed over the years. If I were to face the true mastermind in battle, this cultivation world would be utterly annihilated.
“This world cannot contain a battle of such magnitude. Our battlefield will have to be outside the Box World.”
~~~
At Incarceration Peak, the inmates were stunned by the newspaper’s contents after they were assigned the task of printing it. The Great Qian and Great Yu factions called a temporary truce.
“They’re going to undo the World Seal?”
The Midheaven Emperor-Lord’s gaze flickered with envy. Everything he had done was aimed at removing the seal and venturing beyond to see the world outside.
Great. Now, just when the seal is about to be removed, I am locked away.
“What kind of luck is this?” The Midheaven Emperor-Lord didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry.
“Look on the bright side. Back when Yao Sheng barged into the immortal palace, he told us that the clue to the Epoch Dao Fruit was in the Dao-Seeking Sect and that his goal of undoing the seal aligned with ours,” the Fate Arbiter consoled him.
“At least we’re luckier than that Yao Sheng. We’ll still get to witness the removal of the seal. He can’t even live to see it.”
“Fair enough.” The Midheaven Emperor-Lord nodded.
~~~
With the release of the new edition of Cultivation Weekly, the entire cultivation world buzzed with discussion.
“The Four Ancient Immortals have appeared? And they’re going to remove the World Seal?!”
The Four Ancient Immortals were synonymous with antiquity and mystery. In the three hundred thousand years since the end of the ancient era, countless people had searched tirelessly for their traces, and all had failed.
Only the Heaven Mandate Immortal had made an appearance after Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou passed their tribulations.
They hadn’t expected the other three immortals to appear all at once!
“But what does removing the seal on Box World mean? Where is the Box World?” Mortals and the vast majority of cultivators had never in their lives left their own commanderies or provinces and had no idea what the world truly looked like.
As they wondered, the text on the newspaper shifted, forming a translucent cube with labels on each of its six faces, indicating Great Xia, the Demon Region, the East Sea, and so on.
They felt as though the clouds had been dispelled, allowing them to see the sun. So this is the true shape of the world. Judging by what the newspaper says, the world map is about to become even bigger?
“I thought the world was already huge enough. I never imagined there’s a world beyond it.”
“But this doesn’t really have much to do with us, right?”
What truly stunned them was the emergence of the Four Ancient Immortals.
Those cultivators aware of the world’s true appearance and ancient history, especially those capable of traversing the void and journeying through the universe with their physical bodies, were beside themselves with excitement and elation.
There were plenty who spent a fortune, reserving entire restaurants and brothels. Upon hearing the news, some patrons of brothels burst straight out of their rooms to find their friends in neighboring rooms and discuss it with them fervently.
The clan ancestors, who had remained quiet and still for so long, grew restless and began to entertain thoughts of exploring the world outside.
“Who would have thought? To think we’d live to see the day the Box World opens!”
“It’s said that the Great Era is upon us, restoring the ways of ancient times. This must be a sign of its arrival!”
“What exactly is it like outside?”
“Hard to say. The outer world may be fraught with peril.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Think about it. This world of ours is only so large, but look at the number of cultivators, half-immortals, and immortals it has produced.
“According to ancient texts, the outer world is vast and boundless, so there must be far more cultivators. Perhaps we’ll run into Fusion cultivators everywhere!”
“In my view, when the seal is finally undone, we should venture to the outer world together, so that we can look out for one another.”
“Makes sense.”
“The imperial court will definitely send an expeditionary team to survey the outer world. Unfortunately, we’re not court officials; otherwise, we’d be far safer.”
“It’s still best to pray to the Four Ancient Immortals that we don’t run into cultivators far stronger than us out there.”
The Luodi Merchant Guild seized the opportunity by promptly launching an “Outer World Exploration Personal Accident Insurance.”
~~~
The Xia Emperor, Abbot Mingyu, Zhu Tian, the Old Dragon Emperor, and the retired Snow Emperor, representing the five major factions, convened for a detailed discussion on the seal removal.
Behind them were Jiang Ping’an, the Epoch Immortal, Jiang Lianyi, Ao Ling, and the Nine-Layers Immortal, but they were all hands-off leaders with only a cursory understanding of their factions’ inner workings. When it came to discussing the finer details, the administrators actually managing these factions had to step in.
The Snow Emperor’s appearance took the other four by surprise. None of them had ever heard of a Snow Emperor in the Extreme North.
“Snow Emperor, are you the ruler of the Extreme North?”
The Snow Emperor sighed. He had barely enjoyed a couple of days of retirement before the Nine-Layers Immortal summoned him to this meeting. “Not entirely. Where I come from, everyone thinks I’m a legend, not a real person.”
“Then...”
“But don’t worry. I’m the strongest fighter in the Extreme North. Once this meeting is over, I’ll make sure the decisions are implemented. If any of those youngsters don’t believe me, I won’t mind showing them what it means when the Snow Emperor manifests himself.”
In his youth, the Snow Emperor had been unbeatable in the Extreme North. Only after becoming a half-immortal did he mellow out and keep a lower profile.
The others exchanged glances, but with the Snow Emperor having made himself so clear, there seemed to be no need to worry about the Extreme North cultivators being uncooperative.
The Xia Emperor was the first to speak. “Once the Spiritless Land is lifted, countless cultivators will undoubtedly rush to venture outside. That won’t do; it would be impossible to manage. I suggest we establish a massive array that can verify cultivators’ identities and inspect their belongings. Anyone entering or leaving the world must pass through this array.”
However, the Xia Emperor’s proposal caused visible embarrassment among those present, especially the Old Dragon Emperor and the Snow Emperor.
“Why is no one speaking?”
“Uh, I don’t think we have registered the identities of cultivators in our territories.”
The prerequisite for verifying identities was knowing who the cultivators were, but clearly neither the East Sea nor the Extreme North had that kind of information.
The situation in the Demon Region was slightly better, but even Zhu Tian hadn’t fully compiled a record of all the demons.
“So the first thing we need to do is register every cultivator’s identity and issue identification documents?” The Xia Emperor sighed.
The Snow Emperor thought of an idea. “Actually, there’s a way to save time.”
“What way?”
“We could ask Senior Epoch Immortal to stop time. When we go door to door to register identities, we let each person move freely while we record their information, then freeze them again once we’re done. This way, it wouldn’t take even a second to register all the mortals and cultivators in the world, let alone just the cultivators.”