Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Ever since the Demon Beast Dynasty reigned the universe, all the united universal countries had regarded the Empyreal Terminus Sector as the center of their government.

The Demon Beast Dynasty, the Star Ocean Imperium, the Star Ocean Republic, and the Imperium of True Human Beings—None of them was an exception.

Any schemer who was ambitious enough to control all the stars in the universe would consider the Empyreal Terminus Sector as an ultimate goal that they had to conquer too.

The Empyreal Terminus Sector was not a particularly prosperous world hundreds of thousands of years ago.

In terms of the location in the three-dimensional universe, it was not exactly at the very center of the cosmos where the stars were densest either.

However, the three-dimensional space in this particular world boasted very mysterious features. Folds, gaps, and stable wormholes were all over the void in the place.

From the four-dimensional perspective, the travelers from other worlds could jump to the Empyreal Terminus Sector with the minimal consumption of energy, and people of the Empyreal Terminus Sector could also leave for any part of the universe easily through the ubiquitous folds of space.

Such a feature made the Empyreal Terminus Sector an intersection of all the worlds in the entire universe and a location of strategic importance that all the generals fought over. It was also why every united country chose the place as the capital.

For the people who jumped to the Empyreal Terminus Sector through a wormhole for the first time, they were often shocked by the texture of the world that was as cold as metals.

In the past forty thousand years, from the Demon Beast Dynasty to the Imperium of True Human Beings, the metals and minerals of hundreds of worlds under the control of mankind had been shipped to the Empyreal Terminus Sector incessantly to perform high modifications on the main planet of the Sector, gradually transforming the planet into an indestructible iron fortress.

It was the highest symbol of mankind’s modification on the universe at their own will.

When travelers entered the atmosphere from the port at the peripheral orbit of the planet on the sightseeing vertical platform, they would see the continuous, crowded metal buildings shining under the sunlight. All the architecture demonstrated the ambitions, desires, and recklessness with their most bizarre shapes and most glamorous colors.

Except for the royal palace and the manors of some nobles, little green could be found in the capital. However, the air circulated tubes that were everywhere were releasing fresh air that contained all kinds of microelements that were beneficial for the physical and mental health so that the hundred billion people living on the planet like bugs would not go mad from suffocation.

The travelers who visited the capital for the first time, after being shocked by the metal buildings—some like lions, some like giant eggs, some like fiends, and some even like short pants—would immediately be awed by the second splendor, which was the gaps on the ground that were tens of thousands of meters deep into the ground. They were like enormous gorges that connected each other and scarred the land.

Legends had it that at the last years of the Star Ocean Imperium ten thousand years ago, the Supreme Emperor and the Mad Armageddon had such a world-blighting battle on the main planet of the Empyreal Terminus Sector that even the planet was blown up into halves by their unbelievable strength.

That, of course, was just a tale. However strong a human being might be, it was impossible to blow up an enormous planet, which would have violated the conservation of spiritual energy.

But it was an undeniable fact that the crust of the planet was riddled with holes and the seismic areas, which had long hibernated, were activated, resulting in violent changes in the tectonic plates that ripped the interconnected gaps. Perhaps… it was the limit of mankind’s combat ability.

In the ten thousand years after the Star Ocean Imperium’s destruction, the lucky survivors repaired the broken planet carefully and arduously.

They discovered, to their surprise, the mother lodes hidden deep inside the gaps and the enormous geothermal energy contained in the underground magma. So, they simply established vast underground cities in the gaps thousands of meters deep that were blown out by the Supreme Emperor and the Mad Armageddon. Living and thriving in those places, they expanded the living space of the capital by multiple times.

Naturally, the noble families would never live below the ground, where it was dark, soggy, and hot. With the sea level of the capital as a baseline, it was a distinctive distribution graph of the social classes of the Imperium of True Human Beings from thousands of meters into the ground all the way upward.

The hominoids and the slave workers at the bottom level all lived tens of thousands of meters into the ground, making their living by operating the geothermal factories and providing energy for the entire planet. Several thousand meters into the ground, it was the residence of the miners and purification workers, and there were also farmlands where the underground crops were grown. On the ground lived tremendous low-level Immortal Cultivators and part of the wealthy hominoids. Those hominoids often had blood connections with the Immortal Cultivators and were privileged to see the sunlight of the capital only because of the protection of the Immortal Cultivators. They were on the highest floor of the pyramid of the hominoid class. They were also responsible for businesses in the capital.

As for the noble families and the magnates, they mostly lived on the twelve satellites of the Empyreal Terminus. Except for the two natural satellites, the other ten were all artificial super space stations. It was said that the most beautiful, extravagant paradises on earth were inside them.

In the thousand years since the Imperium of True Human Beings was established, the capital had been run in such a hierarchical but orderly mode.

It was a shame that as the rules of Immortal Cultivators set up by Blackstar the Great gradually collapsed and the Imperium set off to sunset, the capital had slowly lost the glory of the past too.

As more and more worlds were merged into the Imperium, the Imperium grew simply too huge. As the heart of the Imperium, the Empyreal Terminus Sector was bloated too.

In only the past five hundred years, the population of the capital had been increased by ten times. Also, in order to maintain the governance that was getting more and more chaotic and complicated, the bureaus and the offices of the local worlds in the capital were expanding ten times faster than the growth of the population. The resources of the Imperial Terminus Sector themselves were far from enough to support such a gigantic population and the consumption of the daily training of so many Immortal Cultivators. The ecological chain was on the verge of collapse every year. As a result, the capital had to count on the blood transmission from the neighboring worlds.

When the total population of the Empyreal Terminus Sector surpassed eighty billion according to the official census, the residents of other worlds were strictly forbidden to enter the capital randomly. Not just the hominoids, even the Immortal Cultivators in the Refinement Stage would find it barely possible to apply for a permanent residence certificate in the capital.

But the capital remained a land of hope and dreams. No matter how it was forbidden, nothing could stop the poor lads who had nothing but their ambitions to crowd into the place.

Now, the total population of the capital by the official census was a hundred and twenty billion, but many demographers and economists estimated that the actual population was at least two hundred billion. Most of the illegal entrants lurked at the bottommost parts of the chasms of thousands of meters deep like ants. Even if ten thousand statisticians of the Divinity Transformation Stage were blessed by the authorities, it would still be impossible to figure out the actual population.

Such a huge population resulted in the vulnerability of the resource supply of the Empyreal Terminus Sector. If the external worlds stopped the blood transmission for one day, a riot would be raised in the capital. If it stopped for three days, the capital might completely collapse.

Also, as the population surpassed the tipping point, a powerful chaotic effect was caused too, giving birth to many lawless gray if not dark areas. Although the bottom of the underground gaps was only ten thousand meters away from the nominal highest authority of the Imperium, even the Immortal Cultivators in the Nascent Soul Stage and the Divinity Transformation Stage would hesitate to visit those murky places. Countless people abided by the unspoken rules on the most glorious and sacred planet of the Imperium, living like half a human and half a ghost.

Perhaps it was exactly what the four Kurfürst families wanted to see.

Keeping the Imperial too powerful wouldn’t do them any good. A bloated, weak, and filthy capital as it was right now was a paradise for the adventurers, a stage for the ambitious schemers, and a dinner table for the noble families to carve the sea of stars!

It was a pity that a new force had appeared out of nowhere and intended to barge into the paradise, stomp on the stage, and smash the dinner table!

The news that Lei Chenghu had escaped from the Godly Might Prison with abundant political criminals and the entire Godly Might Fleet had spread to the noble lords in the Council of Elders two days ago.

What was even more terrifying than Lei Chenghu’s escape was—based on what and with whose help was he able to escape?

And what did the force want by helping Lei Chenghu escape?

The questions kissed the elders’ throats softly like poisoned daggers.

The elders, although knowing that Lei Chenghu had returned to the Third Battle Area, could do nothing about him.

Lei Chenghu was a famous expert on defenses in the Imperium. When he held the Black Wind battlefront in the recent hundred years, the army of the Covenant Alliance was never able to trespass.

The Third Battle Area was also the most important focus in the frontline. Lei Chenghu had dedicated his lifelong wisdom and spent tremendous resources shipped from the rear to build the place into an impenetrable stronghold.

Even if the four Kurfürst families were to mobilize all their forces to attack the Third Battle Area, they might not be capable of annihilating the Astounding Thunder Fleet in a short time. Also, by doing that, they would be raising a civil war in the Imperium. None of the four Kurfürst families could shoulder such a consequence.

Besides, Lei Chenghu would not be waiting for their attacks in the Third Battle Area either.

A fleet was not a planet. It could wander about in the universe fast and randomly. Unless the enemy wanted it too, it would be barely possible to locate a fleet in the vast sea of stars for a decisive battle!

It was exactly the situation right now.

Before the Council of Elders realized what was going on, Lei Chenghu had cut off all the communications between the Third Battle Area and the outside world. Of course, all the space gates in the Third Battle Area were shut down too.

The Third Battle Area became a dark, immeasurable world of mists.

Heated arguments burst out in the Council of Elders because nobody wanted their own fleet to jump into the place, scattered, to be butchered.

They could only cut off all the resource supplies to the Third Battle Area, hoping that they could strand Lei Chenghu or force him to negotiate.

But even the most idiotic people could tell that Lei Chenghu would not wait to be killed. The resources he had in his hands were enough to launch a shocking, suicide attack!

Translator’s Note: The author’s acknowledgment: the Imperium’s capital is inspired by Trantor in Foundation, Isaac Asimov’s great work.