“Is the sky high nine layers? The Upper City claims its peak.

The Lower City, thirty-nine, who dares ascend the Ladder of Green Clouds?”

This verse, widely recited throughout Youguo, encapsulates the fervent yearning of the common folk for the Upper City. Youguo, blessed by Heaven, considers the Upper City the abode of its elite. The most prosperous metropolis rests upon the shell of a colossal turtle, forever circling the nation’s borders as a guardian patrol. Those dwelling in the Lower City, however, are afforded but two glimpses a year, straining their necks for a sight. Naturally, they aspire to climb, to stand above others. Yet, the paths to the Upper City have always been few. The competition for the position of City Lord in each major settlement is beyond fierce. Years ago, the Upper City was a dream for this youth as well. Today, he treads upon it. The shattered walls, the wounded and fallen carnivores, mirror the desire he harbored when he first departed this land. But is it truly enough? Mothers bereft of sons, brothers losing siblings, the most prodigious talents extinguished in their prime… What sorrow they endured today, what was its origin? Historical records are silent, that era deliberately expunged. The turtle beast, bearing the bloodline of Ba Xia, seemingly materialized within this nation, inexplicably manipulated by the You Court, inexplicably designated the sacred protective beast. Inexplicably, Youguo, the land of ‘heavenly’ favor, adopted the sacred turtle as its totem. Many years prior, this was a fertile land blessed with harmonious winds and rains, a truly favored domain… Who orchestrated all this? Who manipulated this tragedy, spanning nearly a century? Yin Guan harbored suspicions, yet lacked proof, unable to confirm. Until today, when Zhao Che’s words offered validation. Now, everything became clear. Why Zhao Cang, with his cultivation, could command the giant turtle approaching the power of a Cave Truth realm being. Why this colossal turtle, whose sheer physical might neared the peak of the Divine Arrival realm, still possessed such muddled divine intelligence. It was because, from beginning to end, this giant turtle was merely a pet beast raised here by a powerful figure from Jingguo, not a naturally born, free entity. Zhao Cang merely held the key, delivered by the giant turtle’s true master. It was with this key that he usurped Youguo’s power, reducing the Country Lord to a puppet and monopolizing court affairs. And why could Zheng Chaoyang, hindered by the Heaven-Man barrier for decades, finally achieve a breakthrough last year? It was merely the aid provided by Jingguo to preserve Zhao Cang’s life. There is a saying: “It takes a thousand days to become a thief, but never a thousand days to guard against one.” Jingguo would never dispatch a Cave Truth realm expert solely for the safety of one Zhao Cang. From a theoretical standpoint, Youguo, with its Divine Arrival level strength, could entirely contend… Thus, reviewing the entire situation in Youguo, it’s not difficult to see that Zhao Cang had indeed exploited his existing resources to the utmost, making maximum effort. His singular miscalculation was that he himself was not a Divine Arrival realm cultivator. He fundamentally failed to comprehend the combat prowess a genius at Yin Guan’s level could possess. The disparity between Divine Arrival realm cultivators can be as vast as the ocean abyss! Had he truly grasped Yin Guan’s strength, he would have understood the futility of his resistance. The optimal choice would have been to abandon everything in Youguo and flee to the ends of the earth. But perhaps… he simply couldn’t relinquish years of meticulous planning. Moreover, having abandoned everything, with his operations rendered worthless, who would protect him? How could he escape the pursuit of Hell’s No Door, a path to hell with no entry? He had made extensive preparations, appealing to public sentiment, national identity, and personal emotion, operating on multiple fronts. Had he faced another, perhaps Zhao Che would have truly yielded… But he faced, after all, Yin Guan. He faced a master who had pushed the minor art of curse techniques to a realm akin to divinity. He faced a man who, finding no path forward, had carved one out himself. The Upper City, yearned for by countless Youguo citizens, regarded as a celestial realm, he could now dismantle with a flick of his wrist. How could he be constrained by the limitations of ordinary men? In the year 3921 of the Dao Calendar, on the twenty-fifth day of May. The Youguo Country Lord was dead, the Country Minister deceased, the Great General executed, the nation brought to the brink of ruin. On this day, Yin Guan quietly observed the sunset for a while, and listened to the laments. As the Coroner, Wang Xin, contentedly crawled out of his coffin, Yin Guan descended through the air, landing beside Bian Cheng Wang. His gaze calm, he looked at the giant turtle before him and spoke, “The Jingguo expert is rushing here. We cannot kill it today. Let us go.” Jiang Wang, of course, had overheard the entire conversation between Yin Guan and Zhao Che. Therefore, he fully comprehended why Yin Guan halted at this juncture. Although this colossal turtle beast possessed confused divine intelligence, it offered significant potential in battle—given sufficient time, their combined efforts might have been enough to slay it. Alas, time was not a luxury they possessed. Bian Cheng Wang’s image, naturally, did not sigh. Thus, Jiang Wang merely gave a cool “hmm” before walking away side by side with Yin Guan. In less than three breaths, Hell’s No Door, which had stirred up a bloody storm in Youguo, vanished without a trace. Leaving behind only bewildered Youguo military and civilians, and the slumbering giant turtle beast. Approximately two quarters of an hour later, a white rainbow pierced the long sky, descending directly upon the skies above Youguo. From within the white rainbow emerged a beautiful woman in palace attire. Her demeanor was dignified, her power like the sea. With a single glance, nobility emanated from her. She was none other than the True Person of the Jingguo Imperial Family, Ji Yan Yue! She hovered high in the vault of heaven, her terrifying might pressing down, as if forcing the entire sky lower by several degrees. The giant turtle beast, hitherto sleeping heavily, suddenly awoke, stirring massive amounts of vital energy, appearing agitated. But it quickly recognized something within that familiar power and lay down honestly, expressing submission. One after another, the Youguo officials, who had stepped forward to direct the military and civilians in rebuilding order, witnessing this scene, all knelt upon the ground, calling out “Upper Envoy.” They themselves had been unaware of the relationship between Jingguo and the sacred protector beast; that was a secret known only to the Country Minister. However, Youguo had always regarded Jingguo as a superior nation. Though not formally affiliated with the Dao, they had always been respectful, their tribute uninterrupted. At this time, with no leadership and the populace in panic, seeing a True Person from the superior nation naturally prompted prostration. The Country Lord and Country Minister, now deceased, the Great General, whose whereabouts were unknown, the Bear Tablet Army warriors who had fainted, the shattered city walls, and these kneeling officials—none garnered more than a passing glance from Ji Yan Yue. She simply observed the giant turtle closely, confirming it had not sustained any fatal injuries, before finally lowering her heart and casually inquiring, “Who did this?” “Reporting to the Upper Envoy, it was Hell’s No Door.” Teng Bai, responsible for the Upper City’s defense, stepped forward at this time and said, “All Ten Yanluos came, led by King Qin Guang, Yin Guan, the former City Lord of the twenty-seven cities in the Lower City three years ago.” When Hell’s No Door rampaged through the Upper City, he had immediately gone into hiding. Upon the descent of the Jingguo True Person, he had immediately stepped forward to report. One could say he was a very efficient individual. With two simple sentences, the matter was clearly explained. He spoke no unnecessary words. Ji Yan Yue nodded slightly, while simultaneously probing the giant turtle’s sea of consciousness, saying, “Interested in being Country Lord?” Teng Bai, who had never even been able to enter the top three positions in the Youguo military, was for a time greatly overjoyed. He immediately prostrated himself on the ground, “Little King greets the Upper Envoy! Once Little King has tidied the palace, I humbly request the Upper Envoy to preside over my coronation!” When Hell’s No Door descended, he judged that Zhao Cang and Zheng Chaoyang were absolutely no match, and decisively hid to avoid battle. Upon hearing Zhao Che admit the relationship between the turtle beast and Jingguo, and seeing the True Person Ji Yan Yue descend, he judged that Ji Yan Yue would support a new ruling class, and decisively stepped forward to express loyalty. He was highly satisfied with his judgment and decisiveness. At this moment, requesting Ji Yan Yue to preside over his coronation was both an expression of submission and an assurance that the interests of the superior nation would absolutely not be harmed. Simultaneously, he was leveraging the might of the Great Jing central empire to endorse his authority. Thereafter, as the new monarch enfeoffed by Jingguo, who within Youguo would dare disobey? “Uh, coronation…” Ji Yan Yue found it slightly amusing, casually saying, “Very well.” But at this moment, the giant turtle’s eyes, large as houses, suddenly turned entirely ink-green. In an instant, it became frantic, then wanted to rise up and tear and bite. A kind of terror had descended! Ji Yan Yue casually pressed down with her virtual hand, immediately pressing it down firmly. Simultaneously, she lifted her eyes to look towards a long, narrow black gap that had just appeared in the sky, like a colossal vertical pupil, confronting her. And from within that vertical pupil, violent lightning actually intertwined into a pillar of light, pressing down head-on! This was the Thousand Tribulations Eye! Yin Guan, who had experienced life and death several times in the Near Sea archipelago, who had snatched a treasure left by the Wanxian Palace from the jaws of tigers, surrounded by forces like the Fishing Sea Tower and Ba Angle Island… Used it here. Rumble rumble! The entire sky darkened. The illusory lightning had condensed into substance, as if a weapon from an extraterrestrial deity, chiseling through the world’s barrier and descending. This was an attack of terror that absolutely surpassed the Divine Arrival realm, possessing completely rule-level destructive power. The lightning gathered into patterns, containing countless possibilities of explosion. But a True Person is a True Person after all. Even in the era when the Nine Great Immortal Palaces dominated the world, it was unheard of that any immortal treasure could allow an existence below the True Person realm to challenge a True Person. Ji Yan Yue flipped her right palm, and a bronze palace lamp soared up. The lamp wick lightly shook, and between the virtual and real, five-colored flames spread out in the sky into a sea of fire. Flowers bloomed like brocade, the fierce fire like a spring. It bore the entire lightning pillar, without missing a single trace. Then, the five-colored flames rolled, and everything vanished like smoke and clouds. The countless tribulation possibilities contained within the Thousand Tribulations Eye were dissolved before they could even explode, at the level of rules, not allowed to occur. This, then, was a True Person of the contemporary era! The sky dome also healed, as if nothing had ever happened. The backhand left by Yin Guan didn’t even touch the corner of Ji Yan Yue’s clothes, proving futile and without merit. But at this moment, the ink-green color in the turtle beast’s eyes suddenly peeled away like wallpaper, peeling from its pupils. It floated in the air and folded once, transforming into a clear virtual shadow, suspended in the air. Long hair, handsome face, facing the wind with pride. It was indeed Yin Guan. He had no aura, nor was he agile, for this was merely a lingering segment of a shadow. With his long hair fluttering, he spoke, “Mysterious Jingguo expert, I respectfully, on behalf of myself, and on behalf of King Qin Guang of Hell’s No Door, salute you. I still do not know who you are, but I will know. Perhaps you also did not know who I was before, but you should remember now. I do not know why you orchestrated all this, and I do not wish to know. In your long life, this may be but an insignificant challenge. But please, you must remember, this challenge will ensure your life is no longer long. We will meet again. Believe that day is not far.” Then, his voice scattered, the light and shadow also dissipated, leaving the space between heaven and earth empty. Ji Yan Yue raised her hand and lightly pointed, pursuing the indistinct traces, unleashing a portion of her power, but gaining little, unable to fully capture them. She then raised the corners of her mouth and said, “Interesting.” Teng Bai, who had just gained the highest authority in Youguo, after witnessing this scene, suddenly felt somewhat bewildered. It was at this moment that he retrospectively realized what he had overlooked. The corpses of the Country Lord and Country Minister lay before him, yet he had actually forgotten how they had died. After Zhao Che admitted the relationship between the protector sacred beast and Jingguo, and the True Person Ji Yan Yue appeared, the Jingguo side would certainly support a new proxy to maintain the old order. This point was not difficult to judge. Then, were the others truly not as shrewd as he was? Or perhaps, they simply valued their lives more? He felt a faint chill down his spine, suddenly unsure whether this was good fortune or misfortune. In a private room of a wine house somewhere. Yin Guan, seated opposite Jiang Wang, suddenly spurted out a mouthful of fresh blood. The droplets of blood suspended in the air were lightly wiped away by Jiang Wang, their existence erased, preventing them from landing on his face. Traces of blood still lingered at the corner of Yin Guan’s mouth, yet he laughed, “Marquis Wu An, your skill is good. You reacted even to this.” Jiang Wang felt a mixture of anger and amusement, “You clearly know it’s impossible to harm a contemporary True Person, so why did you have to provoke her face-to-face again?” Yin Guan said indifferently, “Although I cannot harm her, she has already harmed me. By virtue of this one harm, we have established a connection. I will curse her for a long time—cursing a True Person is a very difficult task, but I have enough patience.” It was originally a move to lay out the groundwork for future struggles. Therefore, even mobilizing a rare treasure could be considered worthwhile. However, given Yin Guan’s character, he would absolutely not disclose matters concerning life and death struggles to others. Unless… Jiang Wang leaned back vigilantly, creating distance, “The matter of the Jingguo True Person is inconvenient for me to intervene in. It will cause conflict between the two countries.” “Marquis Wu An, of course, it’s not convenient for you.” Yin Guan said with a light laugh, “King Bian Cheng, it is convenient.” Jiang Wang said very clearly, “I will not join Hell’s No Door. Our paths are different.” “Who can force you? I said, you may come and go freely.” Yin Guan said this, as if only just remembering something. He flipped his hand and produced an exquisitely carved square small jade box, placed it on the table, and pushed it over, “Right, this is your reward for this action.” “No need.” Marquis Jiang was not a greedy person. He shook his head and refused, saying, “I didn’t do much. Consider this trip as returning a favor to you. Afterwards, we are even.” “The rule of our Hell’s No Door is that whatever is invested must yield a return. You don’t owe me a favor, and I don’t like meaningless things like favors.” Yin Guan said calmly, “Why don’t you open it and take a look?” Marquis Wu An, being in a high position and having seen much, smiled lightly. While casually using a finger to pry open the jade box, he said faintly, “You have your principles, and I have mine. No matter what, this was me helping you with this matter in my capacity as King Bian Cheng last time. Afterwards…” The jade box opened, and inside quietly lay a jade stone. An oval jade stone, flowing with colorful light, like an eye. Almost immediately, a piece of information leaped into Jiang Wang’s heart—An Eye See Immortal Canon! The four words “Another expert, please” were finally swallowed back into his throat.