"I never expected to find the two of them this time," said Tong Huang. "Back in Yizhou, they mysteriously disappeared. Our spies in the Hall of Calamity searched thoroughly but couldn't locate a single trace. I didn't expect them to be found again—especially not within the territory of the Japanese pirates."
These two troublemakers, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, had been watched by Yi Tianxing all along. He never let down his guard. Who knew they would just vanish without a word? It now seemed likely they had simply left Yizhou. And still, it was the spies of the Hall of Calamity who managed to find them again.
"Ever since we discovered the ninja assassins, we've been closely monitoring the region," Tong Huang continued. "Using the Void Trains, we swiftly scouted the surrounding areas, charting a complete map of the Vast Sea Realm. That's how we stumbled upon their traces. The real surprise, though, was spotting signs of Japanese ninja on that land."
The Void Train was a rare treasure of the world. In recent years, floating trains crafted with levitation stones had been used within the Great Yi Dynasty to link regions and transport guests. With such networks in place, the Void Train had become available for other uses—not idle, but instead repurposed to explore the surroundings beyond Great Yi's borders, constantly absorbing more human populations from isolated lands.
After all, the native population of the Great Yi had largely become official citizens. Yet for expansion, the Great Yi Dynasty's need for people was insatiable. The Void Trains journeyed across remote islands and lands. Whenever they encountered human communities, they stopped. Official representatives onboard explained the benefits of Great Yi and even distributed flyers along the way—a massive PR campaign.
Every day, countless families boarded these Void Trains, headed for a better life. Upon arrival, they were registered, given Heavenly ID Cards, and assigned homes by the Ministry of Households across the fairy cities. Each immortal city was built to accommodate over a million residents, yet initially only about 300–400 thousand people were moved in, leaving plenty of room to absorb more. As the empire continued expanding and founding new cities, the original settlers were sometimes relocated again.
To ease this, the empire offered generous migration incentives. As a result, the population of the Great Yi continued to grow rapidly every day.
This initiative had never stopped.
In contrast to the stability of the Great Yi, human populations elsewhere were constantly under threat. Sudden massacres were still frequent. Each fallen soul was a deep loss to the human race. Through the Void Trains, many who might have died elsewhere were preserved.
A day or two might seem trivial.
But accumulated over time, the saved population numbers were staggering.
At the same time, the Void Trains served as Great Yi's means to explore the unknown. The Vast Sea Realm had always been a key target of this exploration.
At present, the newly charted area of the Vast Sea Realm was two to three times the size of Great Yi. All of this mapping was being secretly handled by the Hall of Calamity. And it was during one of these missions that they encountered a new continent.
This new landmass was not smaller than Xuezhou, and there they discovered not only large numbers of humans but also people resembling ninjas, who had developed and multiplied on that land.
"Child Emperor, continue. What else do we know about that land?" Yi Tianxing asked with a nod.
"According to intelligence from the spies aboard the Void Train," Tong Huang replied, "the continent is vast. It hosts not only Japanese and our Huaxia people, but also various non-human races. Most notably, the Japanese have established a Fortune Dynasty called the Great Serpent Dynasty, ruled by a man named Oda Nobunaga. They worship the Yamata no Orochi, an eight-headed serpent, and have appointed it as the national beast totem."
"This dynasty is incredibly chaotic. Ninjutsu is their primary cultivation path. Within their borders, demons and humans live together, resulting in a confusing, mixed society. They hold ninja in the highest regard, consider pirates as nobility, and treat Huaxia people as an inferior caste—beating, humiliating, and even massacring them at will."
"Chen Sheng and Wu Guang are currently in the Great Serpent Dynasty. They've already gathered a sizable following. I suspect they're preparing to rebel again. Should we step in and help them?"
Tong Huang looked puzzled while discussing the pair. Wherever they went, chaos followed. Constantly scheming rebellion, dreaming of restoring old titles—but always failing to establish lasting power. They simply couldn't stay calm or build steadily.
"The Great Serpent Dynasty uses the Yamata no Orochi as its totem. No doubt it's a dynasty founded by pirates," Yi Tianxing said calmly. "And Oda Nobunaga… he's no ordinary man."
Indeed, Oda Nobunaga was one of Japan's most famous historical rulers. Originally a daimyo of Owari Province, he gained fame by defeating Imagawa Yoshimoto at the Battle of Okehazama, then entered Kyoto under the pretext of supporting the last Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, and declared his slogan: "Unify the World by Force". Through tactical use of firearms, separation of soldiers and farmers, promotion of trade, and modernization policies, he transformed Japan's political core and made the Oda Clan the strongest power of the Warring States period.
His rise was legendary.
And now, in a post-multiverse-fusion world, he was even more formidable. He had founded a new Fortune Dynasty—the Great Serpent Dynasty.
The exact circumstances remained unclear. After all, the Void Trains didn't linger long—they merely picked up refugees, and most information came from those they rescued.
"As for Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, their fate seems to prevent them from dying easily," Yi Tianxing said with a wry smile. "They'll definitely stir up trouble wherever they go. Let them. Their disruption of the Great Serpent Dynasty may not be a bad thing, especially since we're not yet ready to attack it directly."
"Understood, Your Majesty," Tong Huang nodded.
"Keep gathering intel. The domain map of the Vast Sea Realm must be completed as soon as possible," Yi Tianxing instructed. "It will be crucial for future expansion."
"After the New Year, arrange for Mao Sui to be dispatched to Kirin Island and Phoenix Mountain," he added.
With that, Jia Xu and the others bowed and withdrew.
After the Lantern Festival, Mao Sui set off with a delegation toward the homelands of the Kirin and Phoenix clans.
Meanwhile, the coastal fairy cities saw massive military reinforcements. Bounty hunters from across the land gathered. The Great Yi Dynasty itself entered a state of cultivation frenzy. Everyone knew the looming threats. Strength was the only path to survival.
Time passed quietly.
A full year went by in the blink of an eye.
The calendar turned to the twelfth year of the Eternal Era.
In this year, the Great Yi Dynasty ceased expansion and focused entirely on internal development. Every immortal city concentrated on land reclamation, food production, planting spiritual herbs, and establishing medical gardens.
Every month brought noticeable changes.
Even ordinary citizens experienced great transformations in their cultivation. Flooded with resources, many who had average talent still broke through to the Life Aperture Realm, and the gifted among them reached the Life Map Realm—even if their diagrams were plain, it was still an enormous leap forward.
The military's power had grown even more dramatically.
Even the weakest soldier was now at the Life Map Realm—equivalent to a third-tier cultivator. The most talented were close to breaking into the Dharma Image Realm.
The entire national strength of Great Yi had exploded upward.
One year without war had brought incredible results. The impact was immeasurable.
And then, Mao Sui returned from his diplomatic mission to the Kirin and Phoenix clans—not with treaties, but with two marriage agreements. In return, the two clans promised to restrain beast and avian races from attacking the Great Yi.
This eliminated a major threat, granting Great Yi precious time and peace to develop.
After a year of effort, the Great Yi Dynasty had become a fortress of unshakable strength.