Chapter 1326 – FiftyYears
Ye Qingyu wanted to slay the Sky Emperor and root out the real problem.
He did not expect that the Immortal Empire would not find any trace of the Sky Emperor over the next fifty years, nor did they manage to find out where the sovereigns of the past who were loyal to the Sky Emperor were. It was as though the Sky Emperor and his cronies had completely vanished from the face of the earth. He even tried using his Light Emperor Detection Technique to track them down but to no avail.
Fifty years passed by in the blink of an eye in the Dark Realm.
For martial artists cultivating the martial way, fifty years felt like the blink of an eye.
However, the Vast Thousand Domains and the Dark Realm underwent significant changes over those fifty years.
The power of the ancient earth civilization rapidly developed with the support of Ye Qingyu—this was especially true in terms of the weaponry developed from the earth's civilization techniques, which were constantly evolving at the speed of light. The Earth Province and Fire Province were now the origin of the earth's civilization and all sorts of new weaponry were constantly being sent from these provinces to the military.
The new army of the Immortal Empire in the Dark Realm slowly took shape. They had left the Great Wall on many occasions to battle the Invaders and had achieved stunning results. Ye Qingyu had also fully gained control over the Alliance of Domains of the Vast Thousand Domains, while the Heaven Wasteland Domain continued its meteoric rise, and the weapons crafted from the Earth's technology reigned supreme.
The Immortal Empire became very influential.
The battle outside the Great Wall never stopped.
Over the past fifty years, the Invaders had not stopped their attacks against the Immortal Empire and they showed no signs of stopping. The Invaders started by fielding cannon-fodder fifty years ago, but now, Quasi-emperor level Invaders were often sighted on the battlefield, so the overall scale of the battle had intensified.
However, the threat that they posed to the civilization of the martial way had diminished.
The reform and reorganization that Immortal God Emperor Ye Qingyu had forced upon the Immortal Empire's army had paid off. They were now able to head out of the city to battle the Invaders as equals, and they had even managed to pull off remarkable military exploits after the troops went as far as dozens of thousands kilometers deep into the Chaos district. On several occasions, they also managed to push the battleline back several thousand kilometers.
Billions of Invaders had perished on the land toward the western part of the Great Wall over the past fifty years.
However, the Immortal Empire also had its share of casualties.
White bones piled up like mountains, which resembled snow-capped mountains from a distance. The rivers had been dyed completely red a long time ago, and even the clouds that hung in the sky above the battlefield were tinted bright red.
The area spanning ten thousand kilometers from the western part of the Great Wall had become the land of the dead.
Battle drums were constantly heard booming in the distance and the military flags fluttered in the wind like dragons.
No matter how many Invaders were slain, there were always more of them, and the blood of the heroes was constantly shed out on the battlefield.
The battle continued unceasingly.
However, to the east of the Great Wall, the Dark Realm and the Vast Thousand Domains had entered a peaceful and golden age.
The new Guardan Royal City had taken over command of the ten main battalions, including the new armies of Fire Province and Earth Province. So Ye Qingyu had more than twenty million elite soldiers under him just in the Dark Realm alone, and if he were to include his forces in the Vast Thousand Domains, including the Heaven Wasteland Domain, the Dragon Human Empire, and the other major domains, he would have an army of several hundred million. It wasn't an exaggeration to claim that the Immortal Empire had reached a glorious stage that couldn't be equaled by anyone, both in the past and in the future.
The five divine generals and the spirit monkey battle pet Sun Wukong had to admit that the Immortal Empire was starting to show shades of the Divine Light Court at its peak.
But there was no record of Immortal God Emperor Ye Qingyu battling over the past fifty years.
It was as though no one was worthy of being attacked by him.
No one knew how much more powerful Ye Qingyu had become over the past fifty years, but everyone was absolutely sure that after fifty years, the Great Emperor Ye Qingyu was undeniably the most powerful person in the world. Even as time passed and the abundance of spiritual qi in the word surged resulting in the emergence of many famous and peerless talents, there wasn't a single person who dared to challenge the Great Emperor Ye Qingyu.
Great Emperor Ye Qingyu seemed to be like a divine god who lived high above in the Nine Heavens, looking down on and ruling over the entire world.
Many prodigies emerged from the Immortal Empire.
The Emperor of Darkness, Song Xiaojun, and the Empress of the Heaven Wasteland Empire, Yu Xiaoxing, emerged as the most remarkable ladies of their time. These two unsurpassed beauties had hundreds of heroic and outstanding men worshipping at their feet. It was hard to imagine that these two remarkable ladies could emerge from the same generation. Many people were curious to know more about the love stories between these two women and the Great Emperor Ye Qingyu, but unfortunately, there was nothing to back these rumors up.
Empress Shui Xiu had gone into seclusion but the upper echelons of the empire and the Guardan Royal City all knew about her existence. Shui Xiu had always treated Ye Qingyu like her master and she had indeed learned a lot from him. Many people were secretly astounded by how powerful she was, and this was also a testament of Ye Qingyu's current cultivation.
The empress had always remained in the Snow Capital, the imperial city of the Heaven Wasteland Empire, over the past fifty years, and kept a low profile.
Gu Ming from the Seven Fingers Race also joined the Heaven Wasteland Empire. He held a high position within the military headquarters and completely transformed these military men, who once used to be addicted to gambling. At the same time, he was working hard to revive the Seven Fingers Race and fortunately, his efforts paid off and he found a child who was part of the Seven Fingers Race's bloodline. The child had probably been separated from the rest of the race, so this was definitely good news to both Shui Xiu and Ge Ming since it meant that the Seven Fingers Race would be able to live on.
Ever since Ye Qingyu created countless spatial corridors that connected the Dark Realm and the Vast Thousand Domains, these two different worlds were no longer completely cut-off from each other. Moreover, the arrival of spatial teleportation formations that were developed from a combination of both teleportation technologies from both the formation martial way and the Earth's civilization meant that trade between these two worlds started to flourish.
The Heaven Wasteland Empire was definitely safe now that Empress Shui Xiu stood guard over the empire and Ye Qingyu had reinstalled the defensive formations over the Snow Capital. So even if the Sky Emperor and his cronies were to stage a comeback, it would be impossible for them to break past the defenses of the empire within a short period of time.
Thus, there was no need for the five divine generals and the spirit monkey battle pet Sun Wukong to remain in the Snow Capital.
Talented men must not be kept idle, and thus, Ye Qingyu summoned them back to the military.
These men used to be peerless divine generals, and after countless reincarnation cycles, they were matchless in terms of individual abilities and directing military affairs. And so, they assumed six of the ten supreme commander positions that made up the main military strength of the Immortal Empire and became Ye Qingyu's trusted men.
Unfortunately, they used to be Martial Emperors in the past but they were unable to return to their peak strength. It was as though their strength had been sealed. They were probably as strong as the Martial Emperors of the past era, but there was still a small gap between their current strength and what they used to have.
There was also another supreme expert on the martial way, and that was none other than Yan Xingtian from the Heaven Devastator Demon Sect. He had opened a new Dao system in the Clear River Domain and overturned the traditional custom of the Heaven Devastator Demon Sect that only allowed room for one successor in each generation to take in large amounts of disciples. His sect was now matchless within the Clear River Domain and his influence extended across the entire Vast Thousand Domains. After all, Yan Xingtian's cultivation was also extremely astounding.
The times had changed and talented men and women emerged from each generation.
Talented young men and women continued to emerge even while those from the older generation were still amongst the living.
Fifty years wasn't considered a long period of time to the experts of the formation martial way, and all of Ye Qingyu's acquaintances were still alive. Even Qin Lan and the others were flourishing because they were cultivating the martial way and had taken the pills that Ye Qingyu had given them to change their body constitution. Xiao Cao, Xiao Qing, and the other girls from the Ye residence also grew up to be female prodigies of the Heaven Wasteland Empire with many suitors.
The elderly doctor Li Shizhen continued to practice medicine and moved elusively throughout the domains. He was even occasionally spotted in the Dark Realm. His grand ambition was to taste all the herbs available before publishing his findings in a "Medical Classic" and combine the medical skills of both the formation martial way and the Earth's civilization to create a new medicinal doctrine.
Ye Qingyu was fully supportive of his plan and he supported him in whatever way he could.
The prodigies who used to compete with Ye Qingyu in the past were now creating legends of their own. The princess and the crown prince of Black Demon Abyss, the successor of the Dragon Tiger Sect of the Heaven Wasteland Domain, the [Matchless Blade King] Qin Zhishui, Lin Baiyi, and the others were recognized as heroes in their own right.
The princess of Black Demon Abyss had also accompanied Ye Qingyu to the home of the Phoenix Race. After pouring through the classical records stored at the home of the Phoenix Race, he became more certain that he could revive the Celestial Phoenix Maiden. But he did not act immediately because Liu Shaji had yet to be fully resurrected at the Gate of Life and Death where the Ferryman of the Netherworld had been standing guard.
Ye Qingyu had gone back to visit on several occasions and saw that the tree was still giving life to the White Lotus Immortal Sword, and Liu Shaji's aura became more and more evident. Flowers had also started to bloom on the tree. According to the Ferryman of the Netherworld and Old Fish, there wasn't a problem with the process, but it would take time for Liu Shaji to be completely resurrected.
He wanted to use the same method and draw on the power from the parasol tree to resurrect the Celestial Phoenix Maiden after Liu Shaji had truly come back to life but he did not wish to undertake this risk before Liu Shaji was fully resurrected.
Ye Qingyu spent most of his time over the past fifty years standing guard over the Immortal Dojo in the Ancient Sky Dragon Domain.
He planted a twig from the World Tree into the core spirit vein of the Sky Dragon Mountain Range. This spirit vein was almost dried up but it still contained some power. Thus, he hoped to be able to draw on this power to grow a tiny World Tree and use the vitality from the World Tree to transform and extend the lifespan of the Ancient Sky Dragon Domain.
This was merely an experiment.
And fifty years later, the results of his experiment were not particularly clear.
Ye Qingyu had also met Bai Yuqing once over the past fifty years.
Bai Yuqing seemed to have put her past grudges aside when she received news of Jiang Xiaohan's death and spent her time traveling the world. Her movements were as elusive as an otherworldly Immortal. She didn't seem to show any intention of rejuvenating the White Jade Capital but rather, she continued to roam the world alone.
The Immortal Dojo had taken in almost a million disciples and had around onne hhundred thousand disciples who managed to make great strides in their cultivation.
The elderly man who didn't seem to have much longer to live ended up living on with determination and progressed to the 18th Spirit Spring stage. He enjoyed a longer lifespan but still looked extremely old. He was determined to achieve 100 Spirit Springs just as Ye Qingyu had done and vowed not to progress to Bitter Sea stage until he had achieved this feat.
The young man of the Brute Race had decided to train his body, and his progress seemed slower than the elderly man's. But he never gave up.
He spent his time observing the progress and cultivation of the disciples and gained a better understanding of the "people".
His cultivation continued to progress silently at a rate that could not be described in words.
During the 100th year of the Immortal Empire, Ye Qingyu left the Ancient Sky Dragon Domain and headed toward the Central City of the Fire Province within the Dark Realm.
After one hundred years of accumulation, [Quasi-emperor Xiaofei] was finally about to make an attempt to progress to the Martial Emperor realm and Ye Qingyu was heading over to protect him.
"[Quasi-emperor Xiaofei] will encounter issues when he attempts to reach the Martial Emperor realm."
He used his Light Emperor Detection Technique and detected some bad omens.
