Chapter 419 - 190: Forging True Skill Upon the Homeland, Slaying 3-5 Sin-slaying Divine Monarchs, Who Dares Tread Upon My Domain!?

Chapter 419: Chapter 190: Forging True Skill Upon the Homeland, Slaying 3-5 Sin-slaying Divine Monarchs, Who Dares Tread Upon My Domain!?

Jiangyin Prefecture, Prefecture Yamen.

Deep within.

Inside a hall of the yamen stood a massive sand table, on which were depicted mountain ranges, rivers, lakes, and the names of prefectures and counties.

Floating above this sand table were the words "Jiangyin Prefecture."

Just then, on the part of the sand table representing the lower reaches of the eight-thousand-mile East Canghai, wisps of Qi Mechanism suddenly appeared over a county town nestled against a mountain crisscrossed with ravines. The wisps then coalesced into an extremely faint, ethereal gateway.

The entire sand table immediately began to tremble slightly, humming in alarm.

"This is..."

"A Realm Gate is about to be born!?"

An official from the Prefecture Yamen guarding the sand table heard the commotion and hurried over. When he saw the scene, his eyes narrowed. He immediately turned and left to report to the upper levels.

A moment later, two figures—one stout, one thin—hurriedly arrived.

"How many years has it been since this Guardian Map, which depicts the state of Jiangyin Prefecture, has shown any activity?"

The first to arrive was a stout, middle-aged man wearing a Prefect’s Robe. He had a prosperous look but an approachable air. Seeing the sight, his brows knitted tightly in worry.

"A Realm Gate is opening during my tenure? And it’s not some fleeting mirage, but is slowly coalescing and about to stabilize!"

"Anning County, the Earth Dragon Cave..."

"To think that a Realm Gate Spirit Land would appear in the territory under my jurisdiction."

"I just don’t know... which Celestial Universe it connects to, or if war will erupt and bring devastation to the people."

The Guardian Map.

This was a Spirit Map found in the Official Residence of every vassal town and state mansion across the Great Xuan Territory. It was established when the Government Office was first founded.

It depicted the myriad landscapes of the states and counties, like a grand, dynamic map.

Its fundamental purpose was to detect Realm Gates, a function personally established hundreds of years ago by an early Great Xuan Venerable.

Similarly, the Northern Garrison Commands stationed in various regions, along with their Commanders-in-Chief and Imperial Guard Cavalry, roamed the lands to detect the aura of the Outer Dao. They were to patch up any security holes and strictly prevent any incursion from the Outer Dao.

The man who had just spoken was none other than Jiangyin Prefect Hu Mao, who oversaw the prefecture’s political affairs. He was one of the Three Heads of the Prefecture City, a position of great power and influence.

The man standing beside him, dressed in a Prison Guard Eagle Suit with a saber at his waist and a cold, stern expression, was Yann Song, the Director of the Jiangyin Garrison Command. After hearing the Prefect’s words, he spoke up immediately:

"According to protocol, whenever a Realm Gate opens within a prefecture, we are to muster the Government Soldiers of the Prefecture City and summon all the Grandmasters within the prefecture’s borders. We must do everything in our power to annihilate the beings that emerge from it!"

"Otherwise, if those Outer Dao beings manage to exert their influence on our world and expand the Realm Gate..."

"It could lead to a county or even a whole region being completely swallowed by another Celestial Universe, wiped from the map of Great Xuan!"

A Realm Gate was essentially a channel connecting two Celestial Universes.

However, because this one was located within the Great Xuan Territory, any beings from other Outer Dao heavens would be suppressed upon entry.

By the same token, Grandmasters from Great Xuan, or even Titled Martial Saints, would be similarly constrained if they entered a foreign domain.

But if Outer Dao beings were to have a significant impact—by causing widespread slaughter, abducting the populace, plundering faith, and so on...

...then that "constraint" would begin to fail within that small area, a failure that would spread and grow, from a single location to a county, then to a prefecture, and beyond...

It was said that before the Great Xuan, a dynasty fell because a Realm Gate became unbalanced. Another Celestial Universe invested heavily, continuously sending reinforcements until the situation spiraled out of control.

In the end, numerous Titled Martial Saints and Outer Dao experts fought and died there, transforming the area into an ancient battlefield that affected several prefectures!

And it had all started with just a small gateway.

Therefore, from that time onward, all matters concerning Realm Gates were treated with the utmost importance!

Some Outer Daos, though their motives were impure and they sought to expand their influence, would at least reason with you.

But others...

...represented a fundamental, irreconcilable conflict.

If they were allowed to make inroads, it would result in the deaths of hundreds of thousands, even millions. This was an outcome no prefecture or county could tolerate, and they had to be met with full vigilance.

"I will immediately inform General Luo Daocheng and ask him to personally lead the Government Soldiers, dispatching warships straight to Jiangyin. I’ll also have the officials from the Mansion Courtyard bring along those talented youths who are aspiring to the Prefecture Examination," Yann Song, Director of the Garrison Command, said in a grave tone.

But Hu Mao’s expression was grim:

"Since ancient times, whenever a Realm Gate opens, once the initial situation stabilizes and reaches a stalemate, powers with Titled Martial Dao experts or even Pseudo-Martial Saints will inevitably turn their gaze this way."

"Here in Cangzhou, there are numerous Noble Clans. Some Half-Step True Sects are still searching for a suitable headquarters. Now, a Realm Gate just happens to open near Anning County. It’s bound to attract covetous eyes."

"The struggle to control and guard a Realm Gate always kicks up a huge fight."

"I wonder, this time..."

"...which ’Supreme Emperor’ we’ll end up with looming over our Jiangyin Prefecture, a place that hasn’t seen a Martial Saint in years."

Yann Song shook his head.

"There’s nothing to be done about it."

"Every Realm Gate is a massive threat. Without a Titled Level or Pseudo-Martial Saint Level Great Martial Artist standing guard, the consequences would be unimaginable if a being from the Upper Three Realms were to infiltrate."

"Look on the bright side. We might get a Local Tyrant lording over us... but at least we’ll be much safer."

"Still, it’s easy to foresee that in Jiangyin Prefecture’s future, the current power structures—the Six Great Mountains of the island schools, the Thirty-Six Professions, the Jiangyin Nine Lords..."

"...all these powerful factions are about to be reshuffled."

...

Anning County.

"What?"

"Master... you’re not joking, are you?"

"You’re saying that a Realm Gate is about to open, unavoidably, in the five-hundred-mile Earth Dragon Cave right next to my hometown?"