Everlasting Immortal Firmament

Soaring Palace Hall, Borderless Heavenly Capital:

The civil and military officials respectfully stood in two columns in the assembly hall. Gu Hai, wearing black imperial robes with golden embroidery and a crown, sat on the throne. He rested his arms on the throne’s armrests and looked down at the officials.

Soaring Palace Hall was quiet.

The officials’ attention was on the four people standing in the center of the hall. Two wore golden imperial robes, and two wore purple Daoist robes. Each of them held a tray with some scrolls and a seal on it.

“The Eight Desolate Imperial Dynasty is willing to dissolve the nation and join the Han Heavenly Dynasty. I hope the Han Heavenly Emperor will graciously permit this!”

“The Melodious River Water Sect is willing to dissolve the nation and join the Han Heavenly Dynasty. I hope the Han Heavenly Emperor will graciously permit this!”

“The Six Harmonies Imperial Dynasty is willing to dissolve the nation and join the Han Heavenly Dynasty. I hope the Han Heavenly Emperor will graciously permit this!”

“The Treasured Elephant Sect is willing to dissolve the nation and join the Han Heavenly Dynasty. I hope the Han Heavenly Emperor will graciously permit this!”

The four faction leaders shouted in unison. Holding the trays, they bowed respectfully to Gu Hai.

This was a sacred moment, unlike the past conquests of factions. These four individuals would serve as a benchmark, a beacon for all major factions throughout the world to see.

The officials were solemn, but Gu Hai was grave. He even stood up from the throne and paced towards the four faction leaders.

“We are deeply honored that the four of you have chosen to join the Han Heavenly Dynasty, putting the welfare of your people first. We accept your surrender letters, and from this day forth, your people will become the people of the Han Nation. As for the four of you, you shall be enfeoffed as the Eight Desolate Marquis First Class, the River Water Marquis First Class, the Six Harmonies Marquis First Class, and the Treasured Elephant Marquis First Class. We hope you will work hand in hand with us to create an era of peace and prosperity for the Han Nation!” Gu Hai said with a slight bow to the four faction leaders.

Gu Hai genuinely appreciated these four individuals. Their willingness to be the first to come forward demonstrated their absolute sincerity. This would make the process of integrating the territories of their factions much smoother, ensuring the well-being of their people.

Moreover, with their entry, the Han Heavenly Dynasty gained several hundred more cities, which would naturally further prosper the Han Nation.

Hence, Gu Hai immediately made them first-class marquises. There were three grades of marquises: first class, second class, and third class. Being a first-class marquis was just one step away from becoming a duke.

In the Han Heavenly Dynasty, with countless matters related to both the land of the living and the nether realm, there would be numerous opportunities for them to gain merit. With their exceptional strength and talent, a promotion to duke was possible.

Gu Hai received the four official letters. Simultaneously, a light flashed in the eyes of Gu Hai’s incarnation in the blessings cloud sea.

“Roar!”

A dragon roar spread from the depths of the blessings cloud sea through the Han Heavenly Dynasty. At the same time, the golden blessings dragons of the four factions—in their capitals or their main altars—moaned before scattering.

The blessings churned as they quickly poured towards the Han Heavenly Dynasty.

“Congratulations, Eight Desolate Marquis, River Water Marquis, Six Harmonies Marquis, and Treasured Elephant Marquis!” the officials congratulated the four.

Gu Hai then addressed them again with words of gratitude for their allegiance.

When the four first arrived, they had harbored some reservations. However, after their official induction into the Han Heavenly Dynasty, those reservations disappeared completely.

Gu Hai’s warm reception was already the best reward.

Although they still felt reluctant, given the circumstances, joining the Han Heavenly Dynasty was already the best outcome. Either they gave up their nation and blessings cultivation, or Essence Genesis would hunt them down.

Furthermore, the Han Heavenly Dynasty had a group of consummate Upper Heavenly Palace Realm cultivators. What was there for them to be arrogant about?

The world had changed. Now, the group standing at the peak was no longer content to remain in isolation. Who could resist when the powerful fought? Having a backer in times of turmoil was also good.

After the installation, Gu Hai hosted the banquet to welcome the four new marquises. In a harmonious and respectful atmosphere, he discussed with the four new marquises how to integrate the four factions. The four new marquises fully cooperated.

In less than a day, the four new marquises led many Han Nation officials to the four factions to take in the hundreds of cities.

From this day forth, the Han Heavenly Dynasty was busy once more.

Sima Changchang had been called back from the nether realm to assist Chen Tianshan in absorbing the various cities.

Amid the celebration in the Han Heavenly Dynasty, only Chen Tianshan showed a bitter expression as he sought an audience with Gu Hai.

“Your Holy Eminence, what should we do? The people this official recruited are insufficient!” Chen Tianshan said in distress.

“Reassign the officials of the four factions to other locations and grant them official positions. That will help ease the administrative burden,” Gu Hai said with a smile.

“This official knows this, but it is still not enough. Although we can scatter the officials of the four factions and deploy them in other cities, we still need trusted men from our Han Nation. However, this official does not have enough time. Our Han Nation has conducted countless extra imperial examinations already, but it is still not fast enough. Our Han Nation is developing too quickly. We have not even fully dealt with the cities we previously captured, and now this? The four factions are just the beginning. There will be many more later on. There’s just not enough manpower,” Chen Tianshan said with a bitter smile.

“The Han Nation is indeed developing too quickly.” Gu Hai nodded.

“This official is incompetent, unable to recruit more talents to serve the Han Nation loyally. This resulted in the Han Nation being limited during this time of great opportunity!” Chen Tianshan confessed in embarrassment.

“You are not to blame. This was the same for many heavenly dynasties in history. They could not expand territory quickly, having to gather talents and earn their loyalty. The latter is the crucial part. The Han Heavenly Dynasty’s rapid development has resulted in a manpower shortage. This is normal. However, we already have a solution!” Gu Hai smiled.

“Oh? There is a solution?” Chen Tianshan said, bewildered.

Gu Hai flung out his sleeves, and the two vanished from their places with a flash, entering the Gu’s Immortal Firmament.

A vast plaza, the Gu’s Immortal Firmament:

At this moment, millions of people stood in a dense crowd in front of the plaza. They all wore scholarly robes, standing there respectfully.

When Gu Hai appeared, the leader of these scholarly-robed people, someone who seemed like an official, quickly stepped forward.

“Salutations, Heavenly Lord!” the officials saluted respectfully.

“Salutations, Heavenly Lord!” The millions of scholars immediately bowed respectfully.

“This is?” Chen Tianshan said in confusion.

“We anticipated that the Han Nation’s development would result in a manpower shortage. One day outside is ten years in the Gu’s Immortal Firmament. We have already had someone spread the governance Dao and search for talents all around, people who are wise, sincere, and loyal. All these people were earmarked for use. This is the first batch. There are three million two hundred thousand scholars here, all with at least one hundred years of experience in managing cities and the military. Do you think these people will be enough? If not, there’s still a second batch and a third batch!” Gu Hai smiled.

“This…this…this…!” Chen Tianshan burst into tears of joy.

During these days, Chen Tianshan had been troubled over the issue of recruiting management talent, plenty of his hair turning white. Initially, he thought this problem was insoluble, but it turned out to be nothing before the emperor. The emperor had already thought of a countermeasure long ago.

“Your Holy Eminence is wise. This incompetent official has worried for nothing!” Chen Tianshan smiled.

“One day outside is ten years inside. Send people in to carry out a short training for these three million two hundred thousand scholars, then split and deploy them according to their categories,” Gu Hai instructed.

“Yes! Yes! This official will not let down Your Holy Eminence’s expectations!” Chen Tianshan said excitedly.

The three million two hundred thousand scholars on the plaza became animated. Clearly, they had been looking forward to the so-called “immortal realm.” Our world is Heavenly Lord’s world. There is still an immortal realm outside of our small world. Heavenly Lord has a vast legacy in the immortal realm. Now, he is picking talents to ascend to the immortal realm?

All the scholars were raring to go, desiring to perform well later.

Chen Tianshan left and promptly returned with a large group of officials to help manage the three million two hundred thousand scholars. Then, he sent these scholars out of the Gu’s Immortal Firmament in a continuous stream to various cities in the Han Nation.

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News of the Eight Desolate Imperial Dynasty, the Six Harmonies Imperial Dynasty, the Melodious River Water Sect, and the Treasured Elephant Sect joining the Han Heavenly Dynasty soon reached the ears of the various major factions of the Divine Continent.

It was not just these four factions. Five factions had joined the Yan Heavenly Dynasty.

Countless faction leaders immediately showed furious expressions.

“A bunch of cowards! What is there to be afraid of? To think they are sovereigns of imperial dynasties. If a sovereign does not have the ambition to create their own nation, what kind of sovereign are they?”

“How can I just give away my legacy? Even if I die, I will not let others benefit!”

…

Various voices of dissent rang out all over the world. There was even a surge of resistance against the Myriad Age Daoist Sect.

Of course, these were just empty words. No one dared to head over and challenge the Myriad Age Daoist Sect.

Regardless of the popular sentiment, more factions became willing to join the Han Nation or the Yan Nation after a few factions had taken the initiative.

Ten days was not very long. Essence Genesis would start a massacre on the eleventh day.

Joining either of the two nations early would result in the greatest benefits in ranks for them.

Gu Hai and Ba did not pressure anyone. Those who were willing could come, while those who were unwilling were left alone. They already found it difficult to deal with the many factions showing up to submit to them. How could they have time to deal with factions that resisted?

The Han Nation was providing a place of refuge to save them. If they did not know what was good for them, they could only blame themselves.

The Yan Heavenly Dynasty had the accumulations of the Yan [old] Heavenly Dynasty. While assimilating the factions was challenging for it, it could still handle them.

However, the Han Heavenly Dynasty utterly confused the countless factions of the world. After all, the Han Nation had only been established for a few decades—including the time it was a royal dynasty. In fact, it had only just advanced to a heavenly dynasty.

Where did Gu Hai find so many management talents? This was uncanny. Furthermore, they all seemed skilled and not pressed to their limits.

Imperial dynasties and middle-tier sects continuously joined the Han Nation and the Yan Nation. Some of the masters of royal dynasties and lower-tier sects knew the truth of the matter despite not having attended the United Rule Meet. Essence Genesis had already sent a message to all the faction leaders; were they going to try to resist?

The imperial dynasties and the middle-tier sects had given in. There was no way for these royal dynasties and lower-tier sects to defend themselves. They had not even been qualified to participate in the United Rule Meet.

The Han Nation’s Embroidered Uniform Guards were near various royal dynasties and lower-tier sects. When the Embroidered Uniform Guards made contact, many of the small factions chose to join the Han Heavenly Dynasty.

The Han Heavenly Dynasty and the Yan Heavenly Dynasty were extremely humane. They did not snatch the wealth of any faction that submitted to them. This was one of the important reasons the various major factions were willing to submit.

Over ten days, a massive upheaval took place across the Divine Continent. Besides a few stubborn holdouts, many factions had already decided on a side to pledge their loyalty to.

Blessings churned and flowed towards Great Desolate City and Borderless Heavenly Capital.

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