Chapter 1144 - A Prelude to a Legend
The Royal City of the Guardians was not an actual city.
It was the collective name of the Dark Realm's core residential area.
This area sprawled on for millions of kilometers and it was a great basin that was surrounded by shattered peaks. From above, these shattered peaks naturally formed a huge city wall and this was how it came to be known as the Royal City. The Guardians' camp decided to capitalize on this natural barrier and built garrisons there and many intellectual races lived within the city. A large majority of them were Alien Dark Ones and they were considered to be very lowly. They toiled as hard as oxen to serve the lofty Guardians.
After journeying for three days and nights, the airship finally arrived at the outskirts of the Royal City.
There was a multitude of dark beasts that lived outside the natural mountainous city walls and the area outside the Royal City was a primitive, barren, and terrifying wasteland.
As they headed toward the Royal City, Ye Qingyu observed that there was a huge population of dark beasts and they were made up of a variety of complex species, as many as the stars in the sky. They were primitive, brutal and even more terrifying than the Guardians' camp, but because they lacked an intellectual creature to mobilize and unite them, they each fought their own battles. Their kings and sovereigns would each reign over a certain territory and divided the area amongst themselves, so they lived rather harmoniously.
He looked toward the distance from the airship.
He couldn't help but gasp in admiration when he saw the natural city walls that surrounded Royal City. These shattered peaks were lofty and towering and stood erect at a ninety-degree angle from the ground, completely preventing the dark beasts that prowled outside from entering. This was a natural protective barrier around the city that kept the citizens who lived in the area around Royal City.
This geographical phenomenon couldn't have formed naturally.
Ye Qingyu speculated that this geographical feature was probably deliberately created by the ancient Great Emperors who joined forces to form the Dark Realm in order to protect the lives of those who resided in the city.
Outside, dusk was starting to fall and he took in the scene, full of emotion.
He looked up at the sky and through the black fog and mist, he could see the beautiful starry sky. As the stars twinkled, he couldn't help but remember the theories that he saw on the hard disks that [The Beginning] had given him.
According to the ancient civilization on Earth, ever star in the sky represented a different world that was just like the world that the formation martial artists lived in. Based on this theory, the domains throughout the Vast Thousand Domains might just possibly be different individual planets. The Domain Gates that connected the various domains together were known as Stargates in their civilization.
Those who used to live on Earth had used the Stargates to travel from planet to planet and established the Star Empire, conquering large swathes of the galaxy and ruled over countless planets. If he were to explain using the example of the Vast Thousand Domains founded by formation martial artists, it was as though they had used the Domain Gates formed by a Formation Martial Emperor on a galaxy somewhere far away.
If different domains were actually different planets, then the Heaven Wasteland Domain should be known as Heaven Wasteland Star, Clear River Domain as Clear River Star, and the various other domains known as Dragon Human Star, Heavenly Dragon Ancient Star, and so on. Were these the actual names of these domains?
Had the formation martial artists been traveling through different planets as they moved across different domains?
The different theories of the two different civilizations could very well be referring to the same thing.
In fact, he thought that the theories made by scientists on the ancient civilization on Earth had a clearer explanation and seemed more logical. These theories managed to logically explain the various natural phenomena occurring in the universe and this gave him a new perspective of this universe.
Obviously, he would need to find an opportunity to validate those theories.
If the theories on Earth proved to be true, then this would greatly benefit his martial way. He would have to seriously think about how he should approach his method of becoming Emperor since every Martial Emperor would have to find their own unique path that belonged to them. Thus, he had an inkling that his own Emperor Path might just be related to the theories on Earth.
"Lord Zhang Longcheng, we're here," Linghu Buxiu said with a smile.
He noticed that Ye Qingyu was deep in thought and assumed that he was contemplating how he was going to establish his position at Royal City.
"Oh?" Ye Qingyu nodded. "We're finally here."
Royal City was not as heavily guarded as he had initially assumed, but the airship still had to be examined by the garrison stationed along the natural city wall. The entire process wasn't very complicated but was instead, rather simple. The checks seemed to be just a formality and the guards stationed at the garrison were the Heavenly Guards formed by the Guardians and not the Sinners Army that were truly powerful.
Then, the airship continued its path into the city.
The area closest to the natural city wall was where the Alien Dark Ones resided, just like the situation at Central City of Luoshen Ridge. This area was relatively barren and remote with harsh living conditions. It was also the area where the weakest and lowliest of tribes amongst the Alien Dark Ones resided. The closer they got to the center of Royal City, the better the conditions were. This was like a radiation circle that started from the Central City and grew outwards in a series of rings.
They continued flying for another six hours before they finally arrived at the Central City of Royal CIty.
The checks that had to be conducted before they could enter Central City were more stringent.
They were only allowed to enter after their travel permits and identity were verified.
Arrangements were made for Ye Qingyu to stay temporarily at an inn since it was already the middle of the night and Nie Tiankong was so busy that his schedule was completely packed. He would only formally receive Ye Qingyu when he managed to find time to do so.
"Lord Zhang Longcheng, Lord Nie Tiankong is incredibly busy recently, but he has been looking forward to your arrival," Linghu Buxiu said to Ye Qingyu as he bid him farewell. He only said this because he was afraid that Ye Qingyu would feel insulted.
He had stationed ten guards at the inn who were ordered to obey Ye Qingyu.
"Ha ha, no problem. I'm well aware of his predicament, so I wouldn't dare to complain," Ye Qingyu sent Linghu Buxiu off with a smile. "Brother Linghu Buxiu, this journey must have been hard on you, I'll be sure to express my gratitude in the future."
"Ha ha, you're welcome."
Then, Linghu Buxiu left.
Ye Qingyu retired to his room to rest.
After he closed the door to his room, he went to the windowsill.
His room was on the sixth floor of the inn and it was relatively high above ground so he could admire the surrounding streets and take in the night view when he opened the windows.
The Central CIty of the Guardians' was naturally much livelier than Luoshen Ridge.
It was already deep into the night and there was a curfew imposed on Central City, so other than the guards patrolling the area, there wasn't anyone else on the streets, neither could he see many lamps along the streets, so everything was pitch black. Naturally, with his sharp vision, he was able to see that Central City was extremely big but it was definitely not as bustling as Heaven Connect City, Sunrise City, or the other major cities in the Vast Thousand Domains. It was not as beautiful nor as polished as those cities, but was instead rougher and coarser. It was clear that the founders of this city had spent a lot of effort into city planning. The buildings were all constructed from the same type of rock and if they ever went to war, all these buildings could be used as fortifications.
As he stood in front of the windowsill, purple qi swirled in his eyes.
He boldly observed the qi within Central City and could tell that there were experts from the qi in this city.
Since he had already mastered the [Eyes of the Void] and at his current cultivation realm, Ye Qingyu was able to see everything except for Martial Emperors. Even a Quasi-emperor that could mask his aura would not be able to escape his detection.
Soon, this world split into black and white in his vision. There were rays of colorful light pillars that shot into the sky right in the middle of those two colors, like rays of flaming divine pillars that rose from the ground to the heavens. They were exceptionally eye-catching in this world that was only split into black or white and these light pillars were all of varying strengths. Each light pillars' flame and power of laws in their Dao essences represented a different Quasi-emperor martial expert who cultivated distinct techniques.
He took a quick glance and saw close to a hundred such light pillars in his field of vision.
This meant that there were at least a hundred Quasi-emperors in Central City.
He was astonished by the number of Quasi-emperors present.
"I knew that Royal City was where most of the strongest experts of the Dark Realm gathered, but the fact that there are almost a hundred Quasi-emperors here is still an astonishing number. If I take into account the other Quasi-emperors who remain hidden in the various territories of Central City and the Quasi-emperors of the Sinners Army who are not present, there might be almost a thousand Quasi-emperors throughout the Dark Realm.
Ye Qingyu was completely stunned as he recalled his [Eyes of the Void].
This figure was way more than he had been expecting.
A single Quasi-emperor was enough to rule over a patch of the world over at the Vast Thousand Domains and could cause an unknown sect to rise and stand amongst the ranks of the world's major forces, but at the Dark Realm, the area that a Quasi-emperor could rule over was significantly smaller due to the population size. The number of Quasi-emperors showed how terrifyingly powerful the Guardians' camp was and they were so mighty that it could take one's breath away.
"They seem so incredibly powerful but yet, is still not enough to protect them from the Invaders?"
Ye Qingyu had discussed the current situation with Wang Jianru and the female Sword Immortal had been very pessimistic. She thought that if the Invaders launched a large-scale attack within a thousand years, the Dark Realm and the Vast Thousand Domains would be completely helpless to stop them and would be left in ruins in the shortest possible time. These areas would become hell on earth and all races, living creatures and plants would be destroyed.
She made these comments despite knowing that there could be a Martial Emperor standing guard at Royal City.
Ye Qingyu mulled over this and felt a chill run down his spine.
He had already taken note of the light pillars he saw in the void earlier, and the aura and color of each light pillar presented a different martial way and strength, so he would definitely recognize them if he encountered these Quasi-emperors in the future. Moreover, after observing the flaming light pillars today, he could know his enemy as well as himself, and this was the ability of the mysterious technique he used earlier.
He closed the window and started to cultivate in self-isolation.
At the same time, many influential Quasi-emperors across Royal City looked up at the sky in shock and rage.
They had all sensed someone secretly spying on them earlier, but when they wanted to counterattack in their anger, they realized that they were unable to pinpoint the source of this spy and to their surprise, they could not stop this strange power. The aura of this spy seemed very unfamiliar, so did this mean that a new expert had arrived at Royal City, or had an Emperor-level expert just emerged?
A hidden but huge shockwave was already rippling through the top experts of Royal City that night.
These experts didn't know that a legend was about to be born in the Dark Realm.