Fort Continent, Cerulean Wave City.
The grand duke’s residence had been completely renovated, adding several layers on top of its original height. The city was turned into a massive construction site from the inside out as all the city gates were removed and new buildings were erected. The new airship port had just started operating, but a bigger one was already planned out.
There were groups of people everywhere measuring and marking plots of land. It would seem that the land here was rising in price almost every minute.
The radiant sun’s arrival completely changed the environment on Fort Continent. It was now one of the best environments in terms of weather and for cultivation. It was also home to one of the biggest mixed-race cities where everyone was equal—Cerulean Wave City. That was why Qianye had picked this place as the capital of the Evernight Dynasty and the base of the Evernight Council.
Every expert wanted a piece of land here, so it was only natural that the price would skyrocket.
Qianye glanced down at the busy city from the top floor of the grand duke’s residence. He said to Nighteye, “At this rate, the lake will soon become a part of the city interior!”
Nighteye chuckled at the lame joke. Neither of them would’ve imagined that Qianye’s joke would become a reality in the near future.
The Sacred Mountain leaped out from the void at this point and several figures flew down toward the duke’s residence.
Qianye said with a laugh, “The Sacred Mountain makes traveling so easy.”
Nighteye sighed. “The Sacred Mountain of Evernight is being used as a transport. The dead supremes might be rolling in their graves.”
Qianye laughed. “There will be a lot more semi-dimensional weapons like the Sacred Mountain in the future.”
“Says who?”
“Anwen.”
“This fellow, does he even have time?”
“God knows. He said his calculator can do several decades’ worth of work every year.”
“He’s moved here, right?”
A group of people appeared on the platform. Qianye was just about to head over to greet them when he sensed something. He told them to wait for him as he flickered up into the void above.
There was a small boat in the void, and on it was a man.
Qianye entered the boat and bowed. “Prince Greensun.”
Zhang Boqian turned around and sized Qianye up from head to toe. “Not bad! Xitang didn’t pick the wrong person. If I hadn’t seen you, I would have never imagined such a realm exists.”
Zhang Boqian pointed at the boat, saying, “This is the Elder Monarch’s boat. He once brought me to the Eastern Sea on it. Alas, now the boat is still here, but the person is gone. I can only imagine how happy he would be if he were to see all of this.”
Without waiting for Qianye to reply, the man continued, “Then again, the situation today would never happen if he were alive. It must be fate.”
“Is there really such a thing as fate?” Qianye asked.
“Zining’s group might have an answer once they crack all the profundities of the art passed down from the Immortal Heavens.”
Qianye nodded. “Are you leaving?”
Zhang Boqian said slowly, “I want to head over to the Immortal Heaven and see how powerful their experts are. I also want to meet the enemies that can give the dao court trouble. After I leave, I’ll hope you can take care of the remaining Zhang clan members.”
With that, Zhang Boqian sent a document flying toward Qianye. “This is the list of people heading to the Immortal Heaven.”
This was a list of the moving aristocracy. Qianye was rather surprised as he picked it up. “The Zhao, Bai, and Li are all moving?”
“Zhao and Li want to see the ancestral lands. I think the Bai clan is looking for a fresh start. Zhao Jundu asked me to tell you that his path to the heavenly monarch realm lies in the Immortal Heaven. He asks that you not miss him.”
Qianye nodded and put the list away.
Zhang Boqian said nothing more. He simply waved his hand and drove away into the depths of the void.
Qianye watched him until the boat was no longer visible before returning to the grand duke's residence.
Anwen was the first to step forward. He passed Qianye a stack of paper, saying, "This is my proposed plan for the future, please take a look."
Qianye flipped through the documents, but there was so much information that he didn't know how to evaluate them.
Constructing a calculation machine based on divination was all fine and good, but the price involved blurred his eyes. He felt that there was something wrong with the numbers, a couple of extra digits for instance.
Seeing Qianye's expression, Anwen tried to explain, "Don't worry, Your Majesty, we're only in the early phases. We won't overdraft funding until much later.'
Qianye's expression turned dark.
The next step after the calculator had been constructed was to analyze the divination arts. The top priority among the short-term missions was to adjust the positions of the remaining continents. They would need to use a number of continents to block the raging firestorms while optimizing living conditions for the others below.
This was a grand undertaking.
The second priority was to use the void continent as a blueprint to construct gigantic transport vessels, or rather, transport continents. They would be able to transport a hundred million people at a time.
The third…
Qianye wasn't paying attention anymore. The only thing he could think of right now was: "Where will we get the money?"
Qianye gave it further thought, but that was the only thing that came to mind.
Anwen's answer was: "The council of course!"
"Where will the council get so much money?"
"That's their problem," Anwen replied righteously.
Qianye inhaled deeply, suppressing the chaos energy that was about to erupt. He then beckoned Lord Riverglance over. The man was currently in charge of the council's internal operations. He duly passed Qianye two documents containing the council's plans.
The first was to explore and excavate minerals in the new world and the Great Maelstrom. They had hardly scratched the surface in these two places. The peace between the two factions had given rise to the possibility of a fully dedicated exploration team.
"Regarding the exploration of the new world and the Great Maelstrom, the upcoming calculation machine will afford us the power to survive there. We will soon have the power to explore those places."
The second priority was to establish two academies. One of them would promote Anwen's research methodology and system. The other would be the expanded version of the Divination Pavilion.
Once these academies had been formed, the entire Evernight World would change within a hundred years.
Finally, the Empire would have to pick candidates for their new Emperor as the Radiant Emperor had fallen. The princes and princesses were not strong enough, and most of them needed to travel to the new world. Hence, two candidates were proposed after considering the Imperial bloodline. One of them was Lord Riverglance, and the other was, quite surprisingly, Qianye.
Qianye naturally wouldn’t consider the throne and thus Lord Riverglance became the next Emperor. The human Empire’s territory now stretched five continents. The demonkin and the vampire race gave up one continent each as compensation.
The werewolves and the arachne each contributed one continent to Qianye’s own territory, adding to the existing Fort Continent. The Evernight Council’s direct subordinate forces and the Imperial Guard would all be stationed here, under Nighteye’s supervision. If any single race wanted to revolt, Qianye would only need to dispatch an airship fleet to suppress them.
Now that the humans had gained new territories and an extended life span, they were sure to expand rapidly. This would cement their power in the Evernight World. The dark races would focus the next thousand years on breaking through the fetters of their bloodline, and they required the humans’ help in this regard.
Hence, a new power structure was formed in the Evernight World.
Qianye was greatly satisfied with Lord Riverglance’s report.
The Spider Queen’s voice rang out in the air. “The new air fortress, Apocalypse City, is ready to begin construction. We’re only waiting for the radiant sun to leave.”
“Apocalypse City?” Qianye didn’t remember seeing such a plan.
“Yes, it’s the latest upgraded semi-dimensional weapon. It’s also the final version. It will serve as your personal ride, an unprecedented air fortress and one that will never appear again!”
“Where is it? Let me see.
“Very well, I’ll come and pick you up tomorrow at this hour.” The Spider Queen left.
Qianye was a bit puzzled. Where did this Apocalypse City pop up from?”
At noon the next day, the Spider Queen led Qianye and Nighteye into her own airship. The group then traveled half a day until they were before an enormous entity.
Qianye could think with his behind and still tell who this flubberball was.
The giant void whale was roaring furiously, “Don’t even think about tricking me again! I’ve grown so thin after helping you guys move 3 continents. Now you want to build a city on my back?! Dream on!”
A young girl was hovering in front of the creature. “We didn’t lie to you!”
She looked extremely sweet, but her petite body was emitting a terrifying suppressive might. Even the whale’s bellows couldn’t do anything to Zhuji.
“The formulas are wrong!”
“They’re not wrong.” Zhuji’s smile was like a blossoming flower. She grabbed Anwen, who was hiding in the distance, and placed him before the whale. “Explain it to his elderly grace.”
“This is the seventh time now!” Anwen protested, but a slap on the back of his head dispelled any dissent he might have had.
An obedient Anwen displayed a formula made up of tens of thousands of numbers, spanning several square meters.
The void whale glanced over with its several hundred eyes, studying the numbers from various angles.
Anwen waited patiently.
Finally, the void whale said unwillingly, “Fine, this seems correct.”
“Of course it is. No one in the entire Evernight World suspects my mathematical prowess.” However, Anwen’s current formula was completely different from the past six versions he had shown the whale. Even the demonkin himself had no idea what those numbers meant.
Who would understand a bunch of random numbers and symbols?
“Okay, your job’s done now.” Zhuji picked up Anwen and tossed him several thousand meters away.
She then said to the void whale, “Look, building a city on your back is not a burden for you at all. There are a lot of benefits even!”
“What kind of benefits?”
“You’ll have an entire city of people working for you, and you can peek at their lives. You won’t be bored anymore.”
“Hmm… makes sense.” The whale seemed thoughtful.
“Also, you will grow even bigger in the future. The city will remain the same size, so you won’t even feel it.”
“You’re right.”
Qianye wanted to plant his face into his palm. The whale had lived too long in the Eastern Sea; it probably had no idea that cities could expand.
The whale actually remembered something. “There’s nothing out in the void. What do I eat to grow bigger?”
“You don’t need to worry about that!” Zhuji immediately replied. “There will be so many people in the city. They’ll make sure to feed you. All you have to do is open your mouth when the time comes!”
The whale’s eyes lit up. “Really?!”
Little Zhuji was startled, but she had always been cheeky and bold. “Of course!”
“Deal!” The whale immediately became agreeable.
Having reached a deal, the void whale seemed rather satisfied and emotional. “Back when I was lying in the Eastern Sea, it was so difficult to get a full meal. My mouth is in the north, but the crafty little fish moved to the south. All I could do was open my mouth as wide as possible and hope for some stray fish to enter.”
Qianye now had an idea why the whale had grown so big.
So this Apocalypse City was a city that would be built upon the back of the void whale, and Zhuji had already settled the matter.
One year later.
Qianye was standing on the tall platform overlooking Cerulean Wave City. The little dots on the lake were ships shuttling across the waters.
The radiant sun was long gone at this point, and Evernight was thriving. The new expeditionary army had just entered the new world. Things had been going smoothly.
The vendetta between the two factions still remained in the hearts of many people, but the peace and prosperity might just be able to replace those memories of hatred after a few generations.
Qianye thought back to his life emotionally. “My path is for all life to have a place where they belong.”
His mental realm had reached a state of fulfillment at this point.
The loud laughter from behind ruined the mood entirely.
Song Zining said from afar, “What’s this about belonging and life? All you want is to spend your days with Nighteye and not have to work.”
Qianye was furious. “You talk too much! Get to cooking!”
“It’s done.”
“So fast?”
“Who do you think I am? Cooking a meal is nothing to me.”
Qianye glanced into the house and saw a table full of dishes. Feeling much better, he called out to Nighteye and took his seat at the table.
Nighteye looked rather lazy and slow with her bulging belly.
Song Zining sat down after washing his hands. “I’ve been cultivating the Three Thousand Flying Leaves Art for three decades. Is this how I must use it?”
Qianye placed a fish in front of Nighteye. “Can’t help it, that's the only way anyone can keep an eye on a dozen stoves.”
Song Zining snorted. He then glanced at Nighteye’s belly, asking, “How many more months?”
“Three months, more or less.”
“That’s pretty soon. I should prepare a present.”
Nighteye chuckled. “You don’t need to prepare anything special. You’ll be the child’s teacher when he comes out.”
Song Zining’s expression shifted drastically. “Absolutely not.”
Qianye didn’t force him. “Why are you being so polite today? Is there anything you need?”
Song Zining rubbed his hands. “I have a presumptuous favor to ask.”
“Since it’s presumptuous, we can just stop right here.” Qianye was alternating between wolfing down his food and adding more to Nighteye’s bowl.
“At least listen to what I have to say.”
“Tell me the benefits first.”
“What benefits do you want?”
Qianye pointed at Nighteye’s belly. “Be my child’s tutor for eighteen years.”
“No!” Song Zining jumped to his feet.
“Fine, let’s go back to eating.” Qianye didn’t mind.
Song Zining remained restless. “Fine, I’ll agree to that as long as you agree to help me.”
“You give me your word first and then I’ll listen to your request before deciding whether or not I want to help you.”
The terms were so lousy that Song Zining could only gnash his teeth. After a moment of internal conflict, he said, “Sigh, curiosity is my greatest weakness! I agree to your terms!”
Qianye’s eyes lit up. He revealed an evil smile, saying, “Now, what do you want?”
Song Zining had been waiting for this moment all along. He moved in closer and asked, “What’s next in the Art of Heaven’s Mystery after the Pillars of Time?”
Qianye remained silent.
Song Zining edged closer, his face full of anticipation.
Qianye said with a radiant smile, “Guess!”
…
THE END
