A surge of spatial energy shot out from the newly upgraded Space Module of Guixu, transforming into ripples of space that spread outward.
These spatial ripples expanded rapidly, continuously resonating with the Space Modules of the surrounding floating cities.
One, two... one hundred and seventy-two. Once all the floating cities had completed their spatial resonance, Guixu led the entire floating city fleet—the new Land of the Undead—in a spatial transition, arriving just over ten thousand kilometers outside the Universe Daoist Academy.
Indeed, the new Land of the Undead was not a traditional world, but a brand-new concept of a "world" composed of floating cities of various shapes and sizes.
Chen Xu's insights into the World Dao principles had allowed him to develop a brand-new world magic array. As long as this array was engraved on each floating city and tuned to the same frequency, the cities would harmonize under the power of the world, effectively merging into a single world.
However, it was not a flat world, but a vertical one.
It was somewhat similar to the model of the Eighteen Levels of Hell or the Thirty-Three Heavens.
Each level of Hell, or each tier of Heaven, was a floating city.
The true spirit of each floating city served as the Heavenly Dao of that particular layer, governing everything within it.
As for Guixu, it was a rather special existence. This particular floating city stood independently outside the new Land of the Undead, serving a role equivalent to the Dao principle layer of other normal worlds.
One could also call it a super-administrator, responsible for managing all the other floating cities, allocating their permissions, and partitioning their resident races.
Chen Xu's Phase 1 goal was actually a whopping 365 floating cities.
Unfortunately, even with all the mages of Gandalf's civilization working overtime, sacrificing sleep, entertainment, and everything else just to meet the deadline, they had only managed to produce a little over a hundred and sixty floating cities in five years.
And that was even with the support of the artisans from the Undead Heavenly Crafts.
Fortunately, Chen Xu was no villain. He didn't pull any scoundrel moves like forcing Gandalf to advance the funds for the project. Instead, he paid half upfront and half upon completion, settling the bill individually for each floating city.
With over a hundred floating cities completed, the Eternal Heart civilization had risen to the very front ranks of the myriad worlds, far outstripping other mage civilizations.
The Arcane Truth and Secret Rune civilizations, which had once been in the same tier as Eternal Heart, were now left far behind.
Controlling the entire new Land of the Undead for a spatial transition took a considerable amount of time.
Taking advantage of this free time, Chen Xu connected to the Undead Network to see if there was any fun gossip, and perhaps do a bit of digging to see if he had missed any major events during his five years of seclusion.
As soon as he opened the forum, the very first hot post he saw was related to the Eternal Heart, the contractor for the floating cities.
【Latest News! The mages of the Arcane Truth and Secret Rune civilizations have held their third referendum. The pro-merger faction still holds the upper hand, and mages are petitioning en masse to join the Eternal Heart!】
The person involved in the second hot post was also someone Chen Xu recognized.
【The Great Sage is once again selling dining slots to the public! For just one hundred million Divine Power Crystals, you can secure an opportunity to have dinner with a Dao Lord, an incarnation of truth!】
“Heh.”
Chen Xu couldn't help but chuckle. What on earth had happened over the last five years to reduce the Great Sage to such a pitiful state?
A dignified Unique-tier expert and former grand teacher of the myriad worlds had actually resorted to selling dining slots. Was this even proper?
Still, a price of one hundred million Divine Power Crystals was truly extravagant. Surely no sucker would actually buy it? Yet, even Chen Xu was starting to feel a bit tempted.
After all, making a hundred million just for eating a meal—hey, earning a living is nothing to be ashamed of.
Then, Chen Xu shut down the Undead Network. Guixu had completed its spatial transition, and a familiar aura had already appeared not far away.
Chen Xu took a step forward, and a spatial gate naturally opened at his toes, spreading along the surface of his body.
“Fellow Daoist Li, long time no see.”
“Hahaha, Fellow Daoist Chen, long time no see! I have missed you greatly!”
A spatial transition was a massive event; the spatial fluctuations at both the starting point and the destination were bound to be immense.
Li Taiji had sensed these fluctuations earlier. Guessing it might be Chen Xu, he had come out in advance to wait.
It turned out to be Chen Xu indeed. Seeing these hundred-plus floating cities linked together like a unified world was truly an eye-opening method.
If, five years ago, Chen Xu had merely been a junior with excellent talent, decent strength, and good luck in Li Taiji's eyes, then now, judging by what Chen Xu was displaying, he no longer looked like a newcomer who had just stepped into the Unique Rank. Instead, he resembled a master of long standing.
However, what Li Taiji cared about most right now was still his disciples.
Thus, with a wave of his right hand, Li Taiji summoned the black-and-white Taiji Map from his sleeve. It unfurled directly across the Cosmic Sea, transforming into a black-and-white carpet that led straight to the Universe Daoist Academy.
“Fellow Daoist Chen, please.”
Seeing this, Chen Xu was slightly taken aback.
My goodness, using a Dao artifact like the Taiji Map as a carpet? This level of reception is truly luxurious.
“Ahem, Fellow Daoist Li, please.”
Chen Xu didn't stand on ceremony either. He stepped directly onto the Taiji Map and walked alongside Li Taiji toward the Universe Daoist Academy.
Along the way, Chen Xu asked if anything major had happened recently.
“Major events? Well, let me think. The Great Sage establishing the Church of Truth probably counts as one. Other than that, there don't seem to be any major events involving those at the Dao Lord level.”
Li Taiji pondered for a moment but could only think of that one.
“The Church of Truth? Why would the Great Sage think of starting a church? Does he want to cultivate the Divine Dao too? Or is he just annoyed with the Lord of Heaven and created a church to compete with Heaven?”
Li Taiji shook his head.
“I am not sure about that. Since the end of the world, I have only associated with a few Dao Lords from the Martial and Immortal Dao factions. As for the Great Sage, I have no idea what he is thinking.”
“Oh, right, there is one more thing.”
Li Taiji suddenly remembered something.
“Fellow Daoist Chen, do you know about the Black Tortoise Dao Lord's arrangements for his clansmen?”
“The Black Tortoise's clansmen? Those turtles? Yes, I know. I settled them all in a floating realm, giving their entire turtle clan a whole realm to use. The Black Tortoise even gave me one of his shed shells as a token of appreciation.”
“Uh, and besides that?”
“Besides that? What else is there?”
“Did Fellow Daoist Black Tortoise not tell you about Blue Star? Sometime ago, Blue Star—the world you were born in—produced a martial arts prodigy. He was born with a Heavenly Martial Bone, Mutated Pupils, and a water-attribute destiny, which is truly extraordinary. Attracted by the aura of the martial bone, I cast my gaze down to take a look, only to find that almost everyone on Blue Star is carrying a member of the turtle clan around as a pet.”
Oh, so it was about that.
“Oh, that matter. Yes, I know about it.”
In truth, this wasn't the Black Tortoise's doing, but rather the work of the job-holders on Blue Star.
Strictly speaking, it should be attributed to Miracle.
Miracle, the core of the network, was constantly uploading skills to the Undead Network. After the turtle clan migrated to the new Land of the Undead, it had specifically developed a brand-new summoning and covenant skill dedicated to summoning turtles.
This skill was somehow discovered by a certain transcendent on Blue Star, and it quickly spread through word of mouth.
The job-holders on Blue Star knew about the relationship between the Undead Network and Chen Xu, and since the summoned turtles carried a dense necrotic aura, they had absolutely no reservations.
After all, spending just a tiny amount of energy to form a covenant with a spiritual turtle that possessed decent strength, an impressive lineage, and a wealth of extraordinary knowledge was a bargain no matter how they looked at it.
As for the turtles, the summoning ritual carried a rich necrotic aura and even a faint trace of Chen Xu's presence, making it even more impossible for them to refuse.
Just like that, the turtle clan became widespread on Blue Star, becoming a pet that nearly everyone owned.
Because of this, they had even developed quite a few spiritual turtle tactics and battle formations that coordinated with the turtles.
Chen Xu couldn't be bothered to interfere with this. As long as it was below the level of a Dao Lord, he would let the transcendents of Blue Star mess around as they pleased.
Soon, the two arrived at the Universe Daoist Academy.
The entire academy was currently bustling with noise and excitement. The rich aromas of various delicacies wafted straight into Chen Xu's nose, causing him, who hadn't eaten a proper meal in a long time, to swallow his saliva involuntarily.
“Haha, Fellow Daoist Chen, please follow me. The feast has been waiting for you, our guest of honor.”
Li Taiji led the way, but he saw Chen Xu shake his head.
“No rush, Fellow Daoist Li. A feast this grand is still missing some people. Why don't we heal your disciples first and then enjoy the banquet together? Wouldn't that be far more delightful?”
“Fellow Daoist Chen, this...”
“Fellow Daoist Li, lead the way.”
“Very well!”
Li Taiji didn't stand on ceremony any longer and directly led Chen Xu to the secret realm where his disciples were sealed.
Chen Xu took a look and realized that only the disciples of the Universe Daoist Academy were present, while those from the other Martial Dao factions were missing. Thus, he spoke up.
“Fellow Daoist Li, go and inform the other Martial Dao Lords. If they trust me, they can send their disciples here, and I will heal them all together.”
“Understood.”
Li Taiji immediately sent messages to the other Martial Dao Lords.
Chen Xu didn't wait either. With a flick of his finger, a hideous demonic face manifested in the air above the secret realm.
In the next instant, the demonic face opened its massive maw, drawing out the Corruption Dao principles from the bodies of the disciples below and inhaling them.
Before long, the martial artists, who had exhibited signs of corruption just moments ago, returned to normal and gradually regained consciousness.
“Ugh, my head hurts... feels like I've been asleep for ages.”
“My muscles! Why have my muscles atrophied so much?!”
Seeing his disciples wake up, Li Taiji finally let out a sigh of relief. He turned to Chen Xu, cupped his hands, and was about to bow deeply.
Chen Xu quickly stopped him.
“Fellow Daoist Li, there is no need for such formalities between us.”
“Hahaha, excellent! Fellow Daoist Chen, from this day forward, if you ever have need of this old man's fists, you need only say the word, and I will lend you their full strength!”
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