Everlasting Immortal Firmament

Book 02 Chapter 108: Li Shenji

Installing the officials took four hours. Of course, the ones being installed were just the important officials. There was no need to install the minor officials during this ceremony.

When Gu Hai reached the end of the installation, he carefully furled up the golden silk scroll used to petition heaven. Then, he slowly climbed down the altar while holding the golden silk scroll with one hand and the Heaven Suppressing Divine Imperial Seal with the other.

Then, Gu Hai walked towards the Soaring Palace Hall at a measured pace.

The various officials followed behind Gu Hai and slowly entered the palace hall.

The majestic palace hall was more than thirty meters tall and was very spacious inside. There was a high platform at the north position. Gu Hai climbed the steps up the platform, where a gold throne with dragons carved on it waited; it looked extremely exquisite.

The master of ceremonies from earlier brought over the installation edict and placed it on a table by the side.

Gu Hai raised the Heaven Suppressing Divine Imperial Seal and carefully stamped the edict.

Boom!

The Heaven Suppressing Divine Imperial Seal’s stamp meant that this installation was effective from here on.

Gu Hai looked at the officials standing in two lines along the two sides of the palace hall as he slowly sat on the throne.

“Salutations, my emperor! Long live my emperor! May my emperor live for ten thousand years!” the many officials greeted.

——

Outside an extremely magnificent palace hall in the Divine Continent:

Long Wanqing and Venerable Liu Nian came out of that palace hall.

“Venerable, what a horrible attitude Grandfather has towards this,” Long Wanqing said with a complicated expression.

“Hall Master, His Holy Eminence will make a judgment. Just wait patiently,” Venerable Liu Nian counseled with a bitter smile. He had just exited the palace hall; how could he dare to say anything? If he did, the Qian Heavenly Emperor would hear it clearly.

“Gu Hai should have established his nation already, right? I wonder if it is a mundane nation or a dynasty?” Long Wanqing said with a frown.

“A mundane nation? Haha! I think Gu Hai would not be interested in that. He must have petitioned heaven and earth to establish a royal dynasty. However, Gu Hai’s current accumulation is too shallow. Even if it is a royal dynasty, it will be the weakest royal dynasty!” Venerable Liu Nian smiled bitterly.

“The weakest royal dynasty?” Long Wanqing frowned.

“The weakest, so weak that it would be like an ordinary mundane nation. How much territory does he have? How many citizens are there? How many experts does he have? Given its strength, not to mention a royal dynasty, even a simple animal spirit tribe can annihilate it if Gu Hai is not there. Any of the stronger mundane nations can topple Gu Hai’s royal dynasty. Gu Hai could gain this opportunity only in a desolate and poor land like the Thousand Islands Sea,” Venerable Liu Nian explained with a bitter smile.

“At least it is a royal dynasty.” Long Wanqing shook her head.

The two then slowly left the palace hall’s entrance.

However, two voices rang out in the palace hall.

“Your Holy Eminence, here is the report from the Thousand Islands Sea. This one pertains to Gu Hai!” an extremely respectful voice said.

The palace hall was silent for a while before a dignified voice commented, “Gu Hai? This is quite interesting!”

The Qian Heavenly Emperor’s voice rang out. “Where is Li Shenji now?”

“Since Your Holy Eminence deposed him, he has been wandering the world. Recently, he seemed to be fishing for tortoise in the Northern Sea,” an extremely respectful voice replied.

The Qian Heavenly Emperor’s voice rang out again. “Fishing for tortoise? Humph! Send him a verbal order from us to reorganize the Divine Strategy Battalion in three months!”

“Yes!”

——

Dark clouds covered a vast sea to the north of the Thousand Islands Sea.

Boom!

A loud sound rang out as a huge wave soared into the sky, tossing out many whales.

A gigantic creature emerged from the sea amid lightning and thunder. It was a tortoise about one thousand six hundred meters tall. The sea churned and flowed in reverse, appearing to heed the tortoise’s call.

“Roar!”

The gigantic tortoise roared, causing seawater to soar up and envelop a figure.

Boom!

A loud sound rang out from inside the water as a purple-robed man shot out of it.

The purple-robed man held a golden tortoise shell in one hand while he launched a palm strike with the other.

The palm strike sent out a one-thousand-six-hundred-meter-tall manifested palm that pressed down, apparently trying to flatten and suppress the entire sea as it neared the gigantic tortoise.

“Roar!”

Boom!

The gigantic tortoise threw a palm strike as well. When the two attacks clashed, the resulting shockwaves kicked up an overwhelming storm. The chaotic winds developed into four tornadoes that frantically sucked up the seawater.

“Hahahahaha! Miao Chen, I’ll keep this Golden Black Tortoise Shell for now. My words still stand. If you are willing to submit to me, I’ll return this Golden Black Tortoise Shell! Hahaha!” The purple man soared into the sky and fled into the distance.

“Li Shenji! You bandit! Stand still! Roar!” Miao Chen, the gigantic tortoise, quickly gave chase. The surging sea seemed to heed its command, charging into the sky with it.

The purple-robed man turned his head with a proud expression in his eyes as he launched another palm strike.

Boom!

The human’s and tortoise’s attacks met, causing the two to be pushed apart.

A flying ship hid amid the clouds in the sky.

Bang!

Li Shenji landed on the flying ship and said, “Quickly leave!”

“Yes!” an attendant on the flying ship answered.

Whoosh!

The flying ship immediately turned into a beam of light and flew far away.

“Li Shenji, you shameless vile fellow! Roar!” Miao Chen, the gigantic tortoise, reared its head and roared.

Seawater shot up in the surroundings, sending countless fish flying up and falling back down.

Rumble…!

After a while, the sea settled as Miao Chen, the gigantic tortoise, calmed down.

Buzz!

Miao Chen’s figure trembled, turning into a man in embroidered robes looking coldly in Li Shenji’s direction.

A group of Miao Chen’s subordinates appeared, standing behind him respectfully.

“Elder Miao, this subordinate is incapable. Unexpectedly, Li Shenji was so treacherous. To think that he came for the prime’s golden armor!” a subordinate said with an unsightly expression.

Miao Chen stared into the distance with a sullen expression. “The prime might have fallen, but the prime’s remains should not be profaned like that. No matter who it is, anyone who dares to profane the prime’s golden armor must die!”

“Li Shenji left already. What should we do now?”

“Guard the sea palace. I can sense the location of the prime’s golden armor. He can’t run away! Humph!” Miao Chen glowered.

“Yes!”

Whoosh!

Miao Chen took a step forward, and his figure trembled, shooting forward into the distance.

——

On the flying ship:

Li Shenji examined a golden piece of shell in his hand.

Li Shenji looked somewhat similar to Li Haoran. Although he was Li Haoran’s uncle, he seemed younger. He had long arms and a skinny figure like a youth in his twenties. However, there was a malicious cast to his eyes.

“Clan Head, is this the Golden Black Tortoise Shell?” one of Li Shenji’s subordinates asked out of curiosity as he looked at the golden piece of shell in Li Shenji’s hand.

“Back when the Black Tortoise Prime suddenly suffered the wrath of heaven, his entire body shattered. This is just a shattered piece of its shell. The Black Tortoise Prime? Ha! Back then, it went against heaven, together with Old Mister Guan Qi. Unfortunately, they failed. The heavenly wrath struck down Old Mister Guan Qi, and the Heavenly Go Pavilion nearly got eradicated. Naturally, his accomplices would not have a good fate. The Black Tortoise Prime? The Black Tortoise Prime? It was previously rumored that its shell had the strongest defense. The strongest defense? So what? Didn’t it still shatter before heaven’s wrath?” Li Shenji sneered.

Li Shenji gently waved while holding the Golden Black Tortoise Shell.

Whoosh!

Clouds suddenly gathered in the vicinity.

“Oh? Not bad. This piece of tortoise shell can call winds and summon the rain, possessing the power of clouds and rain?” Li Shenji said in surprise.

“Clan Head, I heard that after the Black Tortoise Prime fell eight centuries ago, the snake races and tortoise races suffered from calamities. Many of their experts scattered all over the Divine Continent and were captured to become guardian beasts at some sects.”

“Humph! The winner is king, and the loser is evil. It is already pretty good that they got to survive. This Miao Chen lives in the Northern Sea in isolation, not willing to enter the Divine Continent? Is he that stubborn? However, that does not matter. I will take my time subduing him!” A golden glint flashed in Li Shenji’s eyes.

“Oh, right, didn’t Haoran leave the capital?” Li Shenji asked.

“Yes! He took the initiative to apply to go to the Thousand Islands Sea. He said that he wanted to protect Long Wanqing!” That subordinate nodded.

“Long Wanqing? The Elite Hall Master? The Thousand Islands Sea? Foolish! How stupid!” Li Shenji said with narrowed eyes.

“Ah?”

“Doesn’t he know about Long Xiaoyue’s—the previous Elite Hall Master’s—death? There is more to it than meets the eye, yet he dares to get involved? Furthermore, the Thousand Islands Sea? The Thousand Islands Sea? Although there are only mediocre sects there, doesn’t he know that the Thousand Islands Sea used to be the Heavenly Go Pavilion’s territory? That is a place that suffered heaven’s wrath, a taboo land. Old Mister Guan Qi might have died; however, that old monster definitely had countless schemes. Any single one of them could have dire consequences, irrecoverable. Humph!” Li Shenji said coldly.

“Ah? What should we do, then?”

“Quickly send a letter to him. Tell him to get back here immediately. He should not get involved in the situation in the Thousand Islands Sea!” Li Shenji said coldly.

“Ah? Yes! This subordinate will immediately return and send the message!”

“Speaking of the Thousand Islands Sea, there seems to be a black tortoise in the Thousand Islands Sea, right?” Li Shenji said with a frown.

[TL Note: The black tortoise here does not simply refer to a black-colored tortoise. It is a mythical creature known as the god of the north sky. It is a tortoise/turtle entwined with a snake. It might be known as the Xuanwu in other novels. Here is a Wikipedia entry about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Tortoise.]

“Yes. However, this black tortoise already split itself. The black tortoise is a combination of a tortoise and a snake. This black tortoise separated its tortoise body and snake body. They seemed to fight each other frequently for resources, wanting to evolve into a dragon.”

“Evolve into a dragon? Haha! When the Black Tortoise Prime was still alive, which black tortoise wanted to evolve into a dragon? A dragon was a dragon, and a black tortoise was a black tortoise. The power of a black tortoise is no weaker than that of a dragon!” Li Shenji sneered.

“This subordinate does not understand.”

“There is no confusion here. When the Black Tortoise Prime died, heaven destroyed the black tortoise race’s deity. When a race’s deity is destroyed, that race can only decline. It would take tens of thousands of years for a new deity to be born. Haha! The black tortoises are already starting to abandon their race? Truly an unstoppable decline!” Li Shenji said coldly.

——

Whoosh!

The flying ship flew quickly. Ten days later, it finally reached land.

Soon, the flying ship landed in the middle of a palace complex.

At this moment, many people knelt outside the palaces, wearing mourning clothes and crying.

“Uncle! Please take revenge for First Brother!”

“Uncle, my first brother died a miserable death!”

“Clan Head! A vile person caused Haoran to die! He died a miserable death!”

“Clan Head, please take revenge for Haoran!”

Sorrowful cries came from outside Li Shenji’s flying ship.

On the flying ship, Li Shenji’s pupils constricted suddenly. Then, he saw a rudimentary coffin amid the group of people kneeling and crying sorrowfully.