Chapter 367: The Limit of the Imperial Dynasty

Chapter 367: The Limit of the Imperial Dynasty

The depths of the You Mo Realm are unfathomable.

Gu Qingfeng naturally wouldn't be overconfident.

Even though his current strength makes him unmatched among Empire Aspirants, he still has no confidence in facing a true Emperor.

Gu Qingfeng believes.

The You Mo Realm.

Must have Emperor-level reserves.

Before he achieves true Emperor-level strength, Gu Qingfeng naturally won't risk delving deeper.

After all, he is not the same as he was before.

Countless eyes are secretly watching him.

If he enters the You Mo Realm, Gu Qingfeng has no doubt that the demons will send a powerful figure to intercept him.

Therefore.

Even though he knows the Imperial Venerable Ancient Land has the Nine Lives Immortal Grass, Gu Qingfeng has no intention of entering for the time being.

However—

Since the You Mo Realm can have the Nine Lives Immortal Grass, the Ancient Realm might have it as well.

There are many forbidden zones in the world.

Like the Primordial Ancient Land, which can nurture the Eternal Life Immortal Herb, it's possible that other immortal herbs can also be nurtured.

Subsequently.

Gu Qingfeng quietly left.

At the same time.

In the imperial court.

Gu Yang received Gu Qingfeng's message and was immediately filled with excitement.

"Excellent, Lu Zhen has been eliminated, and Gu Yue Province is now in the hands of our Divine Martial Empire!"

Gu Yang couldn't help but be thrilled.

A province!

Vast and boundless.

Don't be fooled by the name "province" in the Nine Provinces; compared to the 108 provinces of the Eastern Domain, they are incomparable.

Not to mention a province.

Even a commandery in the Eastern Domain is much larger than the Nine Provinces.

Now.

Gu Yue Province is under the control of the Divine Martial Empire.

This way.

Gu Yang no longer has to worry about territorial issues.

Next.

He only needs to arrange for people to take control of Gu Yue Province, and then the Divine Martial Empire can enter a period of explosive growth.

"Advancing to an Imperial Dynasty!"

"It's right before us—"

Gu Yang took a deep breath and then summoned someone.

The person who arrived was an elderly man, with white temples but a straight back, sharp eyes, and a dignified and stern face. He bowed to Gu Yang.

"Minister Liang Jin, I pay my respects to Your Majesty!"

"Minister Liang, you may rise!"

Gu Yang looked at the man before him and smiled slightly.

Liang Jin!

A great scholar of the previous dynasty, he later joined the Divine Martial Empire.

Originally just a minor official, his outstanding performance in office led to his exceptional promotion, and he is now the chief minister of the empire.

Gu Yang has a very high opinion of Liang Jin's abilities.

The prosperity and stability of the Divine Martial Empire over the years are closely tied to him.

"Bring a seat!"

As Gu Yang spoke, a eunuch immediately brought a chair, and Liang Jin bowed again.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"Today, I have summoned you because the Supreme Emperor has already slain Lu Zhen of the Xingchen Imperial Court. According to the agreement among the various forces in the Eastern Domain, Gu Yue Province now belongs to the Divine Martial Empire.

What are your thoughts on this matter?"

Gu Yang got straight to the point without much ado.

Liang Jin's expression changed slightly, and he soon smiled.

"Gu Yue Province is a top-tier province, and its territory being under the control of our Divine Martial Empire is a great fortune for the nation!"

"However—"

"According to this old minister's understanding, the Xingchen Imperial Court sacrificed the masses, and only one in ten people in Gu Yue Province survived. Although the Evil Spirits have been eliminated, there are still many lingering issues.

Most importantly, the hearts of the people are restless, and winning their support is the top priority!"

Liang Jin paused.

"Therefore, this old minister suggests that Your Majesty send the Heaven Patrol Guard to Gu Yue Province to maintain order and stabilize the people, then reduce taxes to win their hearts—"

Liang Jin openly shared his thoughts and subsequent plans.

Gu Yang nodded frequently as he listened.

It must be said.

Liang Jin's methods align with what Gu Yang had in mind.

In the end.

Gu Yang made the final decision to follow Liang Jin's suggestions and arranged for a batch of officials to immediately head to Gu Yue Province to expand the territory.

The current Gu Yue Province is in a state of disarray, and everything needs to be rebuilt from scratch.

The arrangement of officials is crucial.

When Gu Yang issued the decree, the imperial court quickly dispatched personnel to Gu Yue Province to officially take over the province.

The other Eastern Domain forces watched with envy.

"Securing Gu Yue Province has further solidified the Divine Martial Empire's foundation. It won't be long before they ascend to the status of an imperial court!"

"I remember the Divine Martial Empire was founded less than a century ago, and now they have a chance to become an imperial court. This speed is truly astonishing—"

Looking at any imperial court in the Eastern Domain, each one has accumulated for thousands, or even tens of thousands of years, before they had the opportunity to ascend step by step.

After all, the ascension to an imperial court is not a simple matter.

Without a long period of accumulation, it is no easy feat to reach this level.

However.

Some cultivators understood the situation.

The Divine Martial Empire's rapid progress ultimately stems from the Gu family.

After all, with such a top-tier powerhouse, directly pushing a domain to the status of an imperial court is not an impossible task.

With the Divine Martial Empire taking over Gu Yue Province, it took only three months for the restless hearts of the people to gradually stabilize.

Then.

Gu Yang ordered the arrangement for a portion of the Nine Provinces' populace to move to Gu Yue Province, while also establishing teleportation arrays between the two regions.

As for the martial sects.

In fact.

Without needing Gu Yang's order, numerous martial sects from the Nine Provinces took the initiative to volunteer, eager to expand into Gu Yue Province and help stabilize the situation for the court.

Fortunately.

Gu Yue Province had recently faced great calamities. Even though the people's hearts were now settled, the region remained in chaos.

Therefore, Gu Yang waved his hand and agreed to all the requests from the martial sects.

...

Iron Sword Sect.

The sect master, Lü Ying, spoke solemnly, "The court has already agreed to our Iron Sword Sect's request, but we have been operating in Blood Mountain Prefecture for many years. Are we truly going to leave?"

"Iron Sword Sect must leave if it wants to grow stronger!"

Jiandao Ren shook his head slightly, his eyes sharp and focused.

"Blood Mountain Prefecture is too small!"

"Moreover, with the court's authority now dominating the Nine Provinces and various martial forces standing tall, the true growth space for the Iron Sword Sect is limited. To grow further, we must seek new paths.

Currently, Gu Yue Province is in chaos, but this also means opportunities!"

"Back when the Xingchen Imperial Court performed the blood sacrifice, countless sects were destroyed, and many celestial caves and blessed lands became ownerless!"

"If the Iron Sword Sect can occupy one of these celestial caves or blessed lands, we can establish a foothold in Gu Yue Province and aspire to even greater heights!"

Jiandao Ren paused, then continued.

"You should also understand that with our talents, if we don't have other opportunities, the Divine Transformation Realm will be our limit. Aspiring to the Palace of Dao Realm is nothing but a luxury!"

Jiandao Ren's words.

Left Lü Ying in silence.

He knew very well that what the other said was true.

Currently, within the Iron Sword Sect, only Lü Ying and Jiandao Ren had reached the Divine Transformation Realm, thanks to the sect's contributions and the court's rewards.

However.

The Iron Sword Sect had reached its limit.

Without other opportunities, it was difficult to progress further.

Up to this point.

Lü Ying had reached the third level of the Divine Transformation Realm, while Jiandao Ren had reached the ninth level.

Despite their rapid breakthroughs, both had expended a great deal of resources to barely reach these levels.

If Jiandao Ren had a slight chance to enter the Palace of Dao Realm, Lü Ying knew that without other opportunities, he had no real hope of further breakthroughs.

With this thought in mind.

Lü Ying took a deep breath. "Supreme Elder's words are very wise!"

"Make the necessary arrangements. This journey to Gu Yue Province is uncertain. A chaotic province will not be easy for the Iron Sword Sect to establish a foothold and assist the court in stabilizing the situation!"

Jiandao Ren stood with his hands behind his back, a trace of melancholy in his eyes.

The roots of the Iron Sword Sect were in Blood Mountain Prefecture, but now they had to relocate the entire sect. It was impossible for Jiandao Ren to have no feelings about it.

However.

Jiandao Ren also understood.

The Iron Sword Sect must change.

Otherwise.

One day.

The Iron Sword Sect will fade into obscurity.

Having witnessed the vastness of the Ancient Realm and the brilliance of cultivation, Jiandao Ren was naturally unwilling to stop here.

Other sects might have the resources to send only a portion of their elite to Gu Yue Province to expand, but the Iron Sword Sect could not afford that luxury.

With shallow foundations, the sect must mobilize all its strength.

Moreover.

Throughout the Nine Provinces.

Most sects were like the Iron Sword Sect, or even worse.

Those with the resources to manage both fronts were few and far between.

...

The Iron Sword Sect's situation was a microcosm of the Nine Provinces' sects.

With the court's decree, the entire realm was shaken.

Many sects poured all their resources into Gu Yue Province, hoping to secure a better future.

Wu Prefecture.

Within the Divine Martial Sect.

All the sect's high-ranking members gathered.

Decades had passed, but time had not left any marks on Gu Yun; instead, he seemed to have grown younger.

Three years ago, he broke through the shackles of the Divine Transformation Realm, advancing his cultivation to the Palace of Dao Realm.

Cultivators of the Palace of Dao Realm have a lifespan of six thousand years.

Given Gu Yun's age, it was impossible for him to show any signs of aging.

Although it is true that breaking through in cultivation does not truly reverse the aging process, maintaining one's original appearance or even looking a bit younger is not a significant issue.

"The imperial court has now taken control of Gu Yue Province. Many sects and martial arts schools across the Nine States have already requested to go there, and our Divine Martial Sect must not fall behind!"

"However... the foundation of the Divine Martial Sect is still in Wu Province, and the sect's base cannot be abandoned. Therefore, I believe that we should send an elder with some disciples to establish a foothold in Gu Yue Province!"

Gu Yun's words lit up the eyes of all the sect elders.

Everyone could hear the implications in Gu Yun's words and the benefits hidden behind them.

If they could lead the sect's disciples to Gu Yue Province to expand their territory, the rewards would far surpass those of staying within the sect.

Immediately, many elders began to volunteer themselves.

Gu Yun raised his hand to interrupt them.

"This mission will be led by Elder Yue Feng. With Elder Yue's cultivation at the sixth level of the Divine Transformation Realm, he is on par with the leaders of many sects across the Nine States.

"Gu Yue Province is currently facing a great calamity, with only a fraction of its cultivators remaining, and the number of powerful cultivators has drastically decreased. With Elder Yue's strength, he should have no problem establishing a foothold for the sect."

"I will do my utmost and will not let the sect down!" Yue Feng stood up, his face filled with excitement, and immediately accepted the mission.

The other elders looked on with envy and jealousy.

They too wanted to go to Gu Yue Province.

But there was no way around it.

Among all the elders, Yue Feng's strength ranked in the top three.

More importantly, Yue Feng was Gu Yun's trusted confidant.

Now that Gu Yun had given the order personally, no one else could refuse, even if they had other thoughts.

Within the Divine Martial Sect, Gu Yun's word was law.

As the only cultivator of the Palace of Dao Realm in the entire sect, Gu Yun had absolute authority.

To put it bluntly, Gu Yun was now the most powerful cultivator in the history of the Divine Martial Sect.

Even the founder of the Divine Martial Sect, the Martial Ancestor, did not match Gu Yun in strength. The founder had only reached the ninth level of the Divine Transformation Realm before his demise, while Gu Yun had broken through the constraints of the Divine Transformation Realm and advanced to the Palace of Dao Realm.

This clearly demonstrated the immense prestige Gu Yun held within the sect.

---

"Your Majesty, all the sects across the Nine States are now heading to Gu Yue Province one after another!"

In the imperial study, Gu Yi presented the intelligence gathered by the Imperial Guards to Gu Yang.

Gu Yang glanced over it and smiled.

"Good. With these sects heading to Gu Yue Province, the court can more quickly gain control over the entire province!"

Gu Yue Province was vast.

So vast that it was not easy for the imperial court to manage every aspect of it.

Therefore, Gu Yang deliberately spread news about Gu Yue Province, aiming to make these sects volunteer their services to help the court stabilize the situation using their strength.

Events unfolded as Gu Yang had anticipated.

Upon learning about Gu Yue Province, the various sects could not contain their excitement and began to request permission to go there.

Thus, Gu Yang took the opportunity to agree to all their requests with a wave of his hand.

Gu Yang was not particularly worried that these sects would act insincerely or deliberately disrupt the court's plans.

The authority of the Divine Martial Empire was deeply ingrained in the hearts of the people. Even if these sects were given ten times the courage, they would not dare to oppose the court.

Now, with a large number of sects heading to Gu Yue Province, the situation in the province gradually stabilized.

Gu Yang could clearly feel the slow but steady rise in the empire's fortune. The sixth-rank green lotus, which symbolized the empire's fortune, was becoming increasingly solid, almost as if it were about to become tangible.

Gu Yang understood.

This indicated that the fortune of the Divine Martial Empire had reached the peak of what a kingdom could achieve and was waiting for a transformative opportunity.

Once the final transformation of the fortune was complete, the Divine Martial Empire would officially ascend to the status of an imperial dynasty.

According to Gu Yang, this would not take long.

At the shortest, it would take three to five years.

At the longest, it would take ten to twenty years.

The Divine Martial Empire would certainly ascend to the status of an imperial dynasty.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end