The tenth Divine Mountain.
Ye Zichen stood in the air and gazed down upon it. Even now, he couldn’t quite believe it: a tenth Divine Mountain had really appeared before him just like that.
According to that one-armed Outsider expert, the First Era’s Master of the Stars had prepared it for them as their new residence. It was also a generous gift for Ye Zichen, compensation for taking the fleeing Outsiders in.
To tell the truth, this gift wasn’t just generous; it was over the top.
But it also let Ye Zichen witness the First Era’s Master of the Star’s power for himself. But more than that, he was aware that despite the First Era’s Master of the Star’s power, he’d never been able to stop the Enders’ invasion of his era. This showed just how strong they really were.
“Ye-zi, this mountain will belong to us going forward.” Yang Jian sighed and flew over. The Great Sage and Pu Jingwan soon followed. They stood together at the foot of the mountain. It was larger in scale than even the Central Divine Mountain. A million sounded like a lot, but even if they housed all the Outsiders here, the mountain would seem rather empty.
“Star Master Ye, we’ve gotten everything in order,” said the one-armed Outsider.
Although this Divine Mountain was brand new to the Third Era, it was in fact a Divine Mountain of the First Era.
It already had cities, residences, and everything else a Divine Mountain needed. That made it easy for the wounded Outsider experts to find a place to nurse their wounds in peace.
“Sorry to trouble you. Also, I’m afraid I still don’t know what to call you.” Ye Zichen turned to him and cupped his fist.
“I am Lang Qinghai. I was once the First Era’s Master of the Star’s subordinate, his Ninth Elder,” said the Outsider, serious as could be.
“Brother Lang.” Ye Zichen and his friends nodded. “Brother Lang, your wounds…”
“No need to concern yourself!” Lang Qinghai laughed, as if it didn’t matter in the slightest. In reality, his wounds were worse than his companions’, but as the experts’ commander, he needed to explain the situation to Ye Zichen clearly. That was why he pushed through despite his injuries, and why he’d yet to make any effort to heal himself.
“These little injuries are nothing at all. I’m more concerned about my brothers. Their wounds are all very serious, and it will be difficult to heal them with medicines alone. I’ll have to trouble you to arrange for physicians to come to their aid. Many of their wounds simply cannot wait.”
“Of course. Please, be at ease, Brother Lang.” Ye Zichen nodded, then gazed down at the towering, yet still somewhat barren Divine Mountain. “As you can see, this mountain is still rather empty. Perhaps…”
“Of course.” Lang Qinghai said, “This was intended as a gift for you, as well as a place to house my brothers in arms. If you wish to relocate your people and bring them here, we naturally won’t refuse. Besides, a great war is warning. If all of our allies live on the same divine mountain, it’ll be easier to coordinate our movements.”
“Our allies…” Ye Zichen chuckled. He’d actually been planning to move the Upheaval Alliance here.
After all, the Central Divine Mountain was Zhou Wu’s territory. In the past, it was worth building there to keep an eye on the Xiao Family, but not long ago, the Lightning Emperor had left, taking his surviving clansmen with him to seek refuge amongst the Nine Li. There was no longer any point in leaving the Alliance there.
Besides, Zhou Wu was eyeing both them and the Profound Pavilion hungrily.
Furthermore, he’d just heard through the group chat that Zhou Wu already knew that Ye Zichen owned this new divine mountain, and that the God Emperor was not pleased.
His forces remaining on the Central Divine Mountain would have to be extremely cautious going forward. Better to simply move the base here.
It would be even better if the Profound Pavilion was willing to relocate too.
As for the rest of their alliance, it wasn’t feasible for the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan to uproot themselves, and the other great emperors all had their own territories to protect, too. There was no way they’d migrate here.
But fortunately, the mountain was huge: there was more than enough extra space to reserve residences for the allies and their subordinates.
“Great Sage, in a bit, how about you contact Fairy Zi Xia? Have her bring her clan up here. Although it might not seem as safe as staying on the Northern Divine Mountain, our people will take up residence here permanently. Furthermore, the mountain’s natural resources are abundant. If they occupy prime real estate now, it’ll be good for their future development.”
The Great Sage nodded. Even if Ye Zichen hadn’t suggested it, he would have invited the Zi Clan to live here.
Zi Xia was currently in the Northern Divine Mountain’s Innocence City, but he wanted her with him. Only then would he feel safe.
Suddenly, Ye Zichen hesitated and turned towards Lang Qinghai.
“Brother Lang, actually, there’s something I don’t quite understand!”
“Star Master Ye, please go right ahead,” said Lang Qinghai. “I can’t tell you what I don’t know, but so long as I can answer, I have no secrets from you.”
“You might not believe me even if I say this, but if we added up the Third Era’s ruler-level experts, including those in the Yao and Demon Realms, I’m afraid the total would be less than a hundred thousand, and imperial-level experts are less than one in a hundred even among that already small group. You are just a portion of the Outside’s forces, but your ranks include a million rulers. Even with foundations like that, you couldn’t stop the Enders. How is my Third Era supposed to…”
Ye Zichen still had to ask, even if he really didn’t want to!
It was just, this thought had been lingering in his mind all this time. He really didn’t understand. Why did the Outsider Master of the Stars have such confidence in the Third Era’s odds of overcoming this calamity? Why would he bet everything on him?
“I’d planned to discuss this with you too.” As he spoke, Lan Qinghai flipped his hand and revealed a bag of holding. When he opened it, it was packed with countless flashing, glittering spatial rings. “This is the entirety of the First Era’s resources, packed into six thousand of our largest spatial rings.”
“Wah!” Pu Jingwan was, at heart, a money grubber. Hereyes lit up, and she rubbed her hands together and muttered under her breath, as if calculating the treasures’ worth.
Ye Zichen and the others were frozen in place.
All of the First Era’s resources were right here!
“Brother Lang, you…”
Lang Qinghai picked up the bag of holding and placed it in Ye Zichen’s hands, then closed his fingers around it. “The Minister of the Left entrusted these resources to me. According to him, the Master of the Stars said I absolutely must deliver them to you. The hope of the entire First Era now rests squarely on your shoulders. This is the only thing we can do for you.”
Before Ye Zichen could say anything, Lang Qinghai took out two more spatial rings. “Although they look like a million rulers, their actual strength isn’t as high as it looks. They’re actually just relatively talented diviners. As for why they became rulers, well, the answer is hidden in these spatial rings. As for why the Master of the Stars is willing to stake it all on you, that secret is hidden inside as well.”
Lang Qinghai wanted to place these rings into Ye Zichen’s hands as well, but then he noticed that Ye Zichen only had one arm. He gave them to the Great Sage instead, then said, “The Master of the Stars told me to tell you to reach an understanding with that person as soon as possible, or you’ll run out of time. Also, he said to make good of the divine artifact he sent you earlier, the one that adjusts the flow of time.” With that, Lang Qinghai took a few steps backward and bowed deeply. “Star Master Ye, the First Era is now in your hands!”
