Qianye placed his hand on the engine, merging his consciousness with the Martyr’s Palace and slowly mobilizing the heart’s power according to the Pointer Monarch’s instructions. The palace began to tremble slightly and a rippling glow appeared on the surface of its bones. Boundless void origin power converged into the area, almost as though it would form a tempest.
Bluemoon was shocked. She gazed at Qianye’s back, lost in unknown thoughts.
Qianye once again confirmed the coordinates. The Martyr’s Palace sped up and rose into the skies, and then flickered out of existence.
The Martyr’s Palace jumped out of the void moments later. Qianye arrived at the side of the vessel and found that they had arrived in an unfamiliar land. This land was fairly elevated with the ocean bordering its front. Two precipitous mountain ranges ran along either side of it, stretching into the unknown and forming a natural coastline. The entire region was a highland—the surrounding mountains were covered in white snow with strong winds blowing through constantly. Additionally, Qianye could see strands of black roaming around its summit.
That was void origin power, energy so dense that it was already tangible. From Qianye’s altitude and with his superior vision, he could see hundreds of kilometers away. Being visible at such a range spoke volumes about the intensity of the void origin power there.
Such dense void origin power meant that the space around the mountaintops wasn’t stable. There would often be turbulent flows of origin power or even void tempests. The force field walls surrounding the continent might also vanish for no reason. Even though such lapses were brief, it would expose people to the void environment. Apart from heavenly monarchs and great dark monarchs, no one had ever managed to live freely in the void without external protection.
Ordinary airships wouldn’t even dare to get close to such an environment, let alone pass through it. The steep mountains below and the turbulent void above protected this piece of land, keeping it hidden from public eyes. Only an expert like the Pointer Monarch, who could freely roam the void, would be able to explore such a place.
Qianye jumped up onto the roof of the Martyr’s Palace and observed the surroundings. He discovered that this was a vast piece of land spanning almost a thousand kilometers in diameter. It was completely uninhabited but full of vitality. The melting snow on the mountaintops flowed down as streams. These creeks converged into small rivers, several of which then came together to form a larger one. The rivers eventually formed three giant rivers that flowed into the raging Eastern Sea.
Rivers meant fertile plains, grasslands, forests, and life. There were several lakes and valleys scattered across the central region of this highland. There was one closer to the sea that was adorned in deep verdant shades, a scenery seen only on the southern side of the empire. There was a crescent lake at the center of the valley with steamy mist lingering on its surface—it was almost like an immortal realm.
The entire land was enough to fit three imperial provinces. In the eyes of the ambitious, this was a great location to build a clan. Perhaps due to the ferocity of void origin power on the mountain ranges, the energy around the flatlands was much thinner than in the neutral lands. It was only a bit denser than the empire’s and would allow ordinary people to barely survive here.
As for cultivation, experts naturally had places to go to. The void origin power on the mountain ranges was so dense that it was tangible and the supply was endless. It was just that absorbing void origin power required a powerful constitution, and not many people in the entire world could do it.
Following tens of thousands of years of saturation in void origin power, there was simply no telling how much mineral these mountains would produce. At the very least, there had to be vast amounts of black stone and extremely rich deposits of black crystal.
Calculating in terms of void origin power and minerals, this land could be the foundation of an emperor.
Qianye drove the Martyr’s Palace toward the misty valley and steered it into gradual descent. After walking out of the vessel’s protection, he could sense a warm, inexplicably comfortable breeze in his face.
“So comfortable.” Bluemoon walked out from behind Qianye.
The weather in this valley was vastly different, with evidently higher temperatures and humidity. The valley floor was carpeted in lush grass, and there was a small grove growing along a hillside. It could be said that the scenery here was like a painting.
Qianye came to the lake and tested it out. The lake-water was warm, meaning that there was either a hot-spring or magma flow under the ground. The lake was inhabited by a type of white fish. Judging from how active they were, there was no doubt that these arm-sized fish were plump and delicious.
This would be an extremely comfortable place to live.
Not far from the valley stood the cliffs overlooking the sea. The cliffs here were hundreds of meters above sea-level and made up of precipitous walls. The waves would produce thunderous roars as they crashed onto the rocks, their peaks almost reaching the top of the sea cliff.
On one side was the gentle, southern scenery, while on the other was the majesty of the boundless sea. The best scenery in the world couldn’t be better than this.
Bluemoon was finding it hard to move about since, at the moment, she was only slightly more powerful than an ordinary person. She was being flown about by Qianye for the most part and had gotten dizzy in just a short while. Even so, she had nothing but praises for this land.
According to the Pointer Monarch’s records, the sea in front of them was the Eastern Sea. This unique landscape was located in its northern corner. The Pointer Monarch’s theory was that this independent landmass had collided with the Eastern Sea Continent during the fall of the Void Valley Star and merged with it to form this impressive spectacle.
Due to its distance from the other continents and the division of the Eastern Sea, the Pointer Monarch named this place the Northern Continent.
The name, Northern Continent, was meaningfully chosen. A province could house an aristocratic family, several of them could serve as the foundation of a major clan, and a continent was a stairway to heaven. If a scheming person were to report this matter back to the empire, the Pointer Monarch would be charged for treason just because of this name.
But whether it was called Northern Continent or Northern Province, none of this had anything to do with Qianye. Eastern Sea was the first place he had come to after arriving in the neutral lands. If they had arrived at this place in the very beginning, all the changes that followed might not have occurred. Nighteye might still be with him, along with Zhuji and the old man. They could’ve lived on this beautiful land for several decades or even their whole lives. That wouldn’t be so bad.
Unfortunately, it was all too late. Besides, Qianye couldn’t tell whether it would be considered happiness or selfishness to have Nighteye give up her seat on the sacred mountain and live a simple life with him.
He sighed lightly at the thought of this.
At this point, Bluemoon bowed to Qianye and said, “Sire Qianye, this land is a heaven-bestowed estate! If you’re willing, our Highbeard tribe will help you with all that we have to establish a massive power here. Before long, you’ll be able to contend with the likes of Spider Emperor and the Moonlight Demons. You can even establish a nation here should you desire!”
Qianye shook his head. “I have no interest in hegemony, but this really is a good place. It won’t be so bad to live here.”
Inwardly frustrated, Bluemoon said hurriedly, “That won’t do! That’s too much of a waste. Besides, with your peerless talents and the dragonship in your hands, how can you settle for obscurity? Even if you don’t desire power and riches, you must want to leave a lasting legacy in this world, right?”
Qianye refused still. Bluemoon urged him tirelessly, citing everything from business to upholding righteousness in the land; she had never been so eloquent before.
“Sire, since you have the power to do so, why won’t you build up some benefits for people like me who follow you? Your family and brothers might not be willing to settle for mediocrity. They must want better lives and to escape the oppression of those above them. It’s always better to expect from oneself than others. If you want the people around you to be free from oppression, the only thing you can do is ascend to the top. After reaching the apex, there won’t be anyone to bully your friends and family. You can also, in passing, take care of subordinates like us who risk our lives for you.”
Qianye asked with a spurious smile, “You said so many things, but in the end, you just want to leave, right?”
“No, of course not,” Bluemoon hurriedly denied. She calmed herself a bit before continuing, “I don’t know where we are right now, but I have a feeling that there’s a terrifying existence in the ocean. I felt my hair stand on end while standing near the sea just now. If we’re going to ship materials, we definitely cannot do it by sea, but by air. Only the dragonship can bring in enough people and materials to construct a base of operations. So, even if I leave, there’s no way I can covet your land.”
This did make sense, but her little emotional fluctuations couldn’t escape Qianye’s notice.
Hence, Qianye did not comment on her words. He merely said, “We can talk about this later. You stay here for the time being, don’t go about randomly. I’ll be leaving to handle some matters and will only return a while later.”
Bluemoon wanted to say something but stopped herself, knowing that objecting would be useless. Qianye left Bluemoon in the valley with enough resources, weapons, and fuel for survival. Afterward, he flew the Martyr’s Palace out of the mountain range.
Qianye flew for an entire two days along the borders of the Eastern Sea and finally arrived in the Southern Wilderness. Qianye parked the dragonship high in the air above the ocean and descended to the ground on his own. There, he went to the nearest city and took an airship to Southern Blue.
Before heading into the Earth Dragon’s lair, Qianye had told little Zhuji to hide inside the Black Grove. The environment there was suitable for her—with her terrifying talents, she would likely mature without a problem even if Qianye were to never return.
Now that Qianye had returned with great bounties, he naturally came to pick Zhuji up.
Puffing out clouds of steam, the hissing airship completed a rough landing at the airship port. Many passengers couldn’t help but curse as they were caught off guard and thrown to the floor. The airship staff weren’t about to take any of that—they cursed back immediately and looked like they were about to get rough.
Most of the passengers were fierce hunters and mercenaries—how could they be willing to submit? Chaos descended upon the cabin, and they would’ve started fighting if not for the narrow space.
At this point, an explosive roar came from the front of the airship. “Whoever dares to cause trouble on my airship, I’ll cut their balls off and feed them to the turtles!”
This wasn’t a simple threat. Even Qianye could feel his ears buzzing, not to mention the other passengers. Everyone in the cabin collapsed in droves, including the staff, but the sailors all wore expressions of relief since they knew about their captain’s move.
Qianye became quite an eyesore, now that he was the only one sitting quite fine.
