“It’s just too difficult to cultivate,” said Meng Chuan with a sigh. “He needs to figure out five different elemental Intents and fuse them into the will of Samsara.”
“Since he has chosen, he can’t change for the next three years. This is Archean Mountain’s rule,” said Liu Qiyue. “Besides, you said that we wouldn’t interfere with his choices. Let him choose himself. It’s most important that he likes it.”
“The path of a Godfiend is ultimately up to the individual,” said Meng Chuan. “Of course, he has to choose what he likes.”
“I hope An’er can master it,” said Liu Qiyue.
Meng Chuan was looking forward to it.
Could his son master it?
Time passed.
The entire world operated as usual. Meng Chuan continued his daily 12-hour underground reconnaissance. When he returned home exhausted, he would paint. Painting was the best way for Meng Chuan to relax. His wife would usually accompany him as she read dossiers or practiced her calligraphy. Thankfully, at Meng Chuan’s level, he didn’t need much sleep. He could take it even if he didn’t sleep for a few months. However, Meng Chuan would still sleep for four hours a day so that he would be in high spirits the next day.
He only had two hours to practice his saber. Of course, once one achieved Saber Dao, the effects of diligent training decreased greatly. One would need to ponder for insights to continue improving.
“Ah Chuan, it’s too tiring like this for you.” When Liu Qiyue saw this, her heart ached for her husband. “If you patrol for ten hours a day, wouldn’t that be almost the same? You can relax a lot more too.”
“I can be extravagant enough to paint every day. I can completely recover the next day. I can last for 12 hours. Furthermore, if I cut my patrol time by two hours, I will kill fewer demon monarchs. Since I have such abilities, I should do my best,” said Meng Chuan. Maintaining the Divine Eye of Lightning for 12 hours was his limit. He maintained the divine power through sheer willpower; it was a form of tempering his will. He would probably injure his Essence Soul if he tried to maintain his divine power for longer than 12 hours. Meng Chuan wasn’t so rash enough to do such a thing.
In the blink of an eye, winter came.
Archean Mountain.
Qin Wu and Luo Tang stood side by side. Archean Mountain Lord and Elder Yi stood by the side of the two Supremacies.
“Despite knowing it’s right, this decision is really difficult to make,” said Qin Wu.
“We have already done our best. Two World Island has decided to do it much earlier than we did,” said Luo Tang. “We also knew that this day would eventually come. It only came earlier than we expected.”
“Yes.” Qin Wu said, “It’s earlier than we expected. This is a war between two worlds. It’s impossible for everything to go as we planned.”
Archean Mountain Lord and Elder Yi listened silently.
“Pass the order.” Supremacy Qin instructed, “Pass the order to all prefecture cities in the Great Zhou Dynasty.”
“Yes,” said Archean Mountain Lord and Elder Yi respectfully.
Moments later, hundreds of avian demon monarchs flew out of Archean Mountain and rushed in all directions.
That night, Meng Chuan was painting while Liu Qiyue leisurely flipped through dossiers.
Swoosh.
An avian demon monarch landed and transformed into a lanky youth. He bowed respectfully outside the study. “Marquis Eastcalm.”
“Oh?” Liu Qiyue walked to the corridor.
The lanky youth handed an envelope respectfully. “These are orders personally issued by the two Supremacies.” The envelope flew towards Liu Qiyue.
Liu Qiyue—who was standing in the corridor outside the study-reached out to receive it in surprise. When she opened the envelope, there was a thick stack of paper. Clearly, there was a lot of content. The lanky youth flew up, quickly disappearing into the night sky. An order issued by the two Supremacies? Did something major happen? Meng Chuan walked out of the study in puzzlement, only to find his wife’s face filled with shock.
“Take a look.” Liu Qiyue handed the first letter to Meng Chuan and continued reading the remaining papers.
Chapter 271 - The World is In Turmoil
“In Jiang State, other than Xuan River Prefecture City and Changfeng Prefecture City, all other prefecture cities and county cities are to be abandoned?” Meng Chuan looked at the contents of the letter in disbelief.
“Has the situation deteriorated to this stage?” Meng Chuan read the contents.
Archean Mountain was abandoning all the county cities and almost all the prefecture cities in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Liu Qiyue read two letters carefully. After a simple flip through the thick stack of papers, she raised her head and said, “Ah Chuan, giving up on many counties and prefectures has huge implications. These letters are the core execution plan. More detailed plans will be delivered soon.”
“What about the residents of prefecture and county cities if we are giving so many up?” Meng Chuan asked. “In total, there are more than 20 million residents in Jiang Sate’s prefecture and county cities.”
“It’s written here,” said Liu Qiyue. “From now on, there will only be three large cities left in Jiang State. They will be Jiang State Capital, that’s in the center. Xuan River City in the south and Changfeng City in the north. Jiang State Capital will expand once again and include the surrounding towns outside the city… It will form a large city and have a population of 20 million.
“The plans for Xuan River City and Changfeng City are less grand. They will be cities with populations of just over ten million. The residents of northern prefecture and county cities will be relocated to Changfeng City. Those in southern prefecture and county cities will be relocated to Xuan River City soon. Also, more than five million people will migrate to Jiang State Capital’s outer city.” Liu Qiyue handed the two letters to Meng Chuan.
Meng Chuan read the highly detailed plan that documented the migration process.
The migration plan sounded simple, but in truth, it wasn’t easy to deal with many aspects such as building a city, providing housing and food for the migrants. The letter only had a rough introduction.
“The world is in turmoil,” said Meng Chuan with a sigh. “For such a large-scale migration, just the supply of food is extremely difficult. According to the plan, there are many solutions to ensure the supply of food. Even if we encounter any trouble, Regis Godfiends will be carrying grotto-heaven treasures to transport food. Even places that would be very difficult to migrate from will be fine. The commoners will enter grotto-heaven treasures during the migration.”
Liu Qiyue said, “There is a limited number of grotto-heaven treasures. They will only be used on the areas that are most difficult to migrate from.”
“For Changfeng City and Xuan River City, the original city will be called the inner city, and an area spanning 75 kilometers will be built around it as an outer city.” Meng Chuan looked at it and said, “Thankfully, Godfiends can build a city quickly.” The plans were multifaceted and well-thought-out.
Most of the Great Zhou Dynasty’s population had to migrate, and cities needed to be built. It sounded unbelievable, but according to the various plans, it was indeed possible. Meng Chuan had the Grotto-Heaven Magic Bead, so he knew very well that he could help a million people from a prefecture city migrate. However, it would be slightly troublesome to enter and exit the Grotto-Heaven Magic Bead as it required quite a bit of time.
“Did it mention how Wu State’s population will be relocated?” asked Meng Chuan. Eastcalm Prefecture City was their hometown. More than half of their clansmen lived in Eastcalm Prefecture City.
“Attached at the back is the future layout of all 23 of the Great Zhou Dynasty’s states.” Liu Qiyue flipped to the back. “Wu State will also have three cities left. The south will have the current Wu State Capital. Eastcalm City will be in the middle of Wu State, and the north will have Chu An City.”
“Eastcalm Prefecture City will remain?” Meng Chuan nodded slightly.
“Archean Mountain’s plans usually designate three cities that are located in three different regions of a state. This can minimize the migration distance,” said Liu Qiyue. “In each state, there are usually two or three prefecture cities that will usually be chosen to be one of the migration destinations. Archean Mountain tried their best to choose the hometowns of Marquis and Regis Godfiends. It’s understandable. In the future, these large cities will probably be guarded by Marquis Godfiends. These Marquis Godfiends will naturally do their best to guard their hometowns.”
Meng Chuan nodded. He took the remaining letter and quickly skimmed through it. He shook his head gently. “Is the situation really that bad? The Great Zhou Dynasty’s situation is clearly improving. I’ve been clearing out underground demon lairs.”
“There’s no need to doubt the mark on this letter.” Liu Qiyue shook her head. “However, we have to confirm such a huge matter.”
“I’ll make a trip to Archean Mountain tomorrow to deliver my spoils of war. I can also ask in passing,” said Meng Chuan.
Liu Qiyue nodded. “Ask why Archean Mountain is making such a decision? Even Black Sand Dynasty is abandoning their prefecture and county cities according to what’s written here.”
“Yes.” Meng Chuan nodded.
The Black Sand Dynasty was in the best situation among the three great dynasties, so why were they abandoning most of their cities as well? Previously, they had been defending with all their might. Now that they had abandoned them, there was probably a more profound reason.
That night, all the various states’ guardians received Archean Mountain’s orders. Everyone was shocked, and they also sent letters to Archean Mountain to confirm.
Meng Chuan and his wife didn’t sleep the entire night. From the decisions made by Archean Mountain and Black Sand Grotto-Heaven, they sensed danger approaching
The next morning, Meng Chuan continued his underground reconnaissance as usual. He traveled at an extremely high speed at a depth of 31 kilometers underground. He kept his Divine Eye of Lightning open as he sensed his surroundings.
He continued flying as he carried out reconnaissance, from morning to afternoon.
Whoosh.
Meng Chuan flew under Gu Mountain Prefecture City.
Gu Mountain Prefecture City was also one of the many prefecture cities that Wu State would abandon. It could barely be considered in the center of Wu State, but its geographical location was not as central as Eastcalm Prefecture City! Furthermore, more than half of the Meng family lived in Eastcalm Prefecture City. If Meng Chuan and his wife could choose, they would also choose Eastcalm Prefecture City as one of the remaining cities. This made it easier for the surrounding prefecture cities and county cities to migrate.
Gu Mountain Prefecture City was where he and his wife had stayed for many years, the place where they had their children. It would become a barren city in the future.
“What? We’re not allowed to complete the transaction?”
There were many people gathered outside Gu Mountain Prefecture City’s government office.
“We have already signed a contract. We are willing parties. We will pay the necessary taxes, so why can’t we complete the transaction?” Many people were standing anxiously outside the government office. They were prepared to conduct a property transaction today.
The transaction of houses had to be done through the government. One reason was to pay taxes, and the second was to determine who the owner of the house was. If this wasn’t done through the government, they would not be protected by the laws of the Imperial Court.
“Everyone.” Finally, an official came out as guards protected him. The official laughed loudly and said, “Everyone, don’t worry. We have just received the Imperial Court’s orders From now on, all property transactions will stop. As for when it will revive, we will have to wait for the Imperial Court’s new orders.”
“The Imperial Court’s orders?” The people looked at each other.
W
If the local officials were to stop them, there was still a way to get around them. Many of them had some background, but if the Imperial Court directly gave orders, it would be troublesome.
“Transactions are forbidden?”
“We are not allowed to sell our houses? This bastard owes my master 500 taels of silver. We can only get him to repay his debt with his house. Why can’t we do the transaction?”
All the county and prefecture cities in the Great Zhou Dynasty were immediately prohibited from completing any property transactions.
That evening.
After carrying out his daily reconnaissance, Meng Chuan arrived at Archean Mountain. It was still Archean Mountain Lord who received him.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Within a vast grotto-heaven, Meng Chuan and Archean Mountain Lord stood there as batches of demon monarch corpses appeared one after another beside them. Soon, more than 1,000 demon monarch corpses were left in an open space. There were also large amounts of weapons and artifacts.
“This was collected recently,” said Meng Chuan. He then looked at Archean Mountain Lord. “Mountain Lord, were the orders from last night authentic?”
“Of course.” Archean Mountain Lord nodded. “Who can forge Archean Mountain orders?” “After all, this matter has too many implications,” Meng Chuan asked. “What exactly happened to cause Archean Mountain and Black Sand Grotto-Heaven to give such orders?”
Archean Mountain Lord had a complicated expression. He looked at Meng Chuan and said, “The final battle between demons and humans is coming!”
Chapter 272 - Constructing the City
“The final battle?” Meng Chuan’s heart palpitated.
“This news can’t be kept secret for long. It’s even possible that the demons will take the initiative to spread the news in the human world, causing everyone to panic.” Archean Mountain Lord sneered. “More humans will probably pledge allegiance to the demons. More humans will also join the Skydemon Sect.”
“What happened?” asked Meng Chuan.
Archean Mountain Lord said, “It’s already known throughout the Demon Realm. The Demon Realm’s three Imperial Lords have gathered all fourth Firmament demon monarchs to participate in a drawing of lots, regardless of their identity or background. Even the Imperial Lords’ personal disciples aren’t exempt. Three out of ten will be chosen. The greater demon monarchs that are drawn will have to participate in the battle against the humans.”
Meng Chuan’s expression changed slightly.
“In total, 605 greater demon monarchs were selected. These greater demon monarchs are temporarily residing in the Imperial Lord’s palace. They are unable to communicate with the outside world because the demons wish to keep it a secret as much as possible.” Archean Mountain Lord sneered. “But we humans have our ways. Now, our Great Zhou Dynasty and the Black Sand Dynasty have abandoned many prefecture and county cities. The demons should realize that the news has been leaked. Therefore, if I didn’t guess wrongly, the demons will likely take the initiative to spread the news since it can’t be kept under wraps,” said Archean Mountain Lord.
As Meng Chuan marveled at the humans’ infiltration of the Demon Realm, he felt immense pressure.
“Do all 605 fourth Firmament demon monarchs have the means to infiltrate the human world?” Meng Chuan asked. “Only large city passes and super-large city passes allow passage to fourth Firmament demon monarchs.”
“Since they have mobilized the army, they have full confidence that they can enter the human world,” said Archean Mountain Lord. “There are too many major city passes. There are seven in the Great Zhou Dynasty. There are 19 major city passes in the world. As long as one is destroyed, they can enter.”
“There are more than 600 of them. Including the fourth Firmament demon monarchs that have sneaked in these past few years, the human world will have about 700 fourth Firmament dem
on monarchs!” Meng Chuan’s expression changed.
“Not only that.” Archean Mountain Lord said, “Even fourth Firmament demon monarchs are forced to enter the battlefield. I’m afraid that ordinary demon monarchs will also be mobilized on a large scale. There will probably be more than a million ordinary demon monarchs.”
“More than a million ordinary demon monarchs?” Meng Chuan’s face turned pale. There were only tens of thousands of Godfiends in the human world. Humans had done their best to protect them and not let them fight in risky battles. If they fought, they would probably be wiped out quickly. “The lives of mortal demons are as cheap as ants. They might surge in through the various World Entrances located in the seas,” said Archean Mountain Lord calmly. “For the demons, they can always mobilize demon monarchs on a large scale again if they lose this battle. As for us humans, this is the final battle. If we can’t withstand it, humanity will be finished…”
“Can we survive this?” Meng Chuan looked at Archean Mountain Lord.
“Since we chose to build large cities, we have the confidence to defend them.” Archean Mountain Lord looked at Meng Chuan. “If not, wouldn’t it be easier to abandon everything else and simply defend the state capitals?”
Meng Chuan nodded slightly.
In states like Wu State, Jiang State, and Qian State, there would be three large cities with massive populations. In the sparsely-populated states, they would have two large cities each. If one built a large city, they naturally had to allocate forces to defend it.
“About 700 fourth Firmament demon monarchs will be in the human world when they are mobilized. We are in the open while they are in the dark,” said Meng Chuan. “They can gather their strength and attack the Great Zhou Dynasty together. As for our Godfiends, even though there have been many born over the past ten years, Archean Mountain only has 73 Marquis Godfiends. They have to be spread out to guard the cities.”
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