Chapter 2355: Urgent Report from Shen State

The capital of Shen State, the royal palace.

From the moment he woke up, King He Chunhua of Shen felt his right eyelid twitching incessantly, and even after practicing qi circulation several times, he could not calm it.

A twitching right eye foretells disaster—this is certainly not a good omen.

Before dawn, he faced east and practiced breathing exercises for about half an hour, cultivating a secret art called the "Ascending Yang Technique," until the sun rose and its light blazed forth after more than ten breaths; then he forcibly drew in several strands of solar true fire into his meridians, carefully guiding and absorbing it, before finally sealing the practice with the technique's closing formula.

In recent years, the concentration of heavenly and earthly spiritual energy has risen, causing spiritual techniques and divine abilities to flourish like a spring, with many ancient divine powers returning in abundance; He Chunhua also carefully selected several to practice, combining them with spiritual elixirs and secret medicines, resulting in extremely rapid cultivation progress.

Though nearing fifty, his appearance and spirit are instead more youthful than seven or eight years ago, resembling someone in their early thirties, handsome and graceful, yet bearing the dignified aura of a sovereign.

Under the influence of medicinal substances, Queen Ying Chan has also joined the ranks of cultivators—her skin is rosy and infantile, not to mention, the white hair at her temples has turned black, and the fine lines around her eyes and neck have vanished, bringing her great joy.

After finishing his practice and just changing into a new set of robes, an urgent report arrived from the northwest.

"Report! Abnormal conditions have appeared in the Panlong Wasteland and the Red Cliff Road!"

Upon hearing the four words "Panlong Wasteland," He Chunhua's heart gave a sudden jolt, and he snatched up the urgent report to examine it.

The Panlong Wasteland remains the northwestern border of Shen State; these past years it has basically been peaceful and undisturbed. As Shen State rapidly grew strong, it avoided provoking other small states, and they, in turn, thanked heaven and earth—who would dare provoke it?

The reason it is called a "wasteland" is that the rising concentration of spiritual energy has brought rapid environmental improvement: the Panlong Desert has grown grass, gained water, and the barren land has donned a green mantle, so it has now reverted to its original name, "wasteland."

Yet this urgent report states that the northwestern, northern, and northeastern parts of the wasteland have inexplicably turned black!

One must know that the desert's transformation into wasteland has not been long; although grass and flowers now grow on the surface, the subsurface remains relatively barren. The Panlong Wasteland's soil is still somewhat inferior to that of other regions, and to this day it has not become fertile black earth.

But the blackening of these wasteland areas is advancing at a visible speed, even faster than a human's walking pace!

The original sandy and gravelly soil of the wasteland is being devoured by black earth; at their boundary, hissing green smoke rises, and sometimes the sand even churns like a boiling water surface before erupting skyward in a jet of flame.

Surface vegetation and structures remain largely unaffected for now—grass roots still grow, flowers still bloom.

However, the blackened land is not fertile humus; someone who grabbed a sample observed it had a faint burnt and rancid oil smell, not only slightly pungent but prolonged exposure causing dizziness.

Moreover, the black earth is prone to hardening—strike it with a hammer and it will crack into chunks.

As a former governor of Heishuicheng, He Chunhua had never before witnessed such a phenomenon.

The urgent report also included the opinion of the local mountain and marsh spirits, namely that the Hu Yang tree demon had determined this was caused by the invasion of some powerful force into the wasteland!

He Chunhua knew that the Panlong Desert region was deeply sinister—the local mountain and marsh spirits could not only not control it, but could not even extend their perception into it, making it a vast, black-hole-like existence.

Now, an external force dares to invade and occupy the Panlong Wasteland? He Chunhua could only find it utterly bewildering.

He had suffered two setbacks in the ancient city of Panlong, and thus knew this ancient city was tightly fused with the Great Square Vessel.

What kind of existence is the Great Square Vessel? Even the incarnations of the Fallen Heaven have been swallowed by it!

"Which force, so blind and reckless?"

The second part of the report states that the Red Cliff Trade Route has been cut off.

Cut off?

The segment of the Red Cliff Trade Route within Shen State's borders has basically been covered by black earth; countless people have seen, on certain mornings, a colossal ancient city suddenly rise upon this road!

The city walls are archaic, and the buildings visible at first glance resemble ancient elegance—exquisitely beautiful, rarely seen in the present age.

Furthermore, its occupied area is roughly twice that of the expanded Heishuicheng, and in the morning and evening mists it appears like a fairyland.

This abruptly appearing ancient city immediately attracted nearby adventurers.

Yet every person who entered that ancient city never returned.

Not a single survivor.

The reason it is said to have blocked the Red Cliff Trade Route is that within the ancient city, many demons have emerged—hideous in appearance, powerful in cultivation, frequently launching indiscriminate attacks on passing merchants and travelers, requiring no provocation whatsoever!

They devour people, and there are often witnesses to their cannibalism.

This matter quickly caused panic in Heishuicheng.

The Heishuicheng authorities also expressed their intention to negotiate and negotiate with the ancient city, but as of the time this urgent report was sent, the ancient city had given no response whatsoever.

At the end of the letter, Heishuicheng appealed to the capital for aid.

"What on earth is this?" He Chunhua fell into deep thought.

The mysteriously blackened wasteland, the sudden appearance of the ancient city, and the man-eating demons within it—this manifestation of supernatural power is indeed beyond the capacity of Heishuicheng's local officials to resist.

He Chunhua sensed the ill intent of the incoming force.

What is the opposing side coming for? Is it hostile toward Shen State, or is it aimed at the entity existing upon the Panlong Wasteland?

Ancient city, ancient city… he pondered long, then suddenly ordered someone to retrieve reports from two or three years ago concerning the northwest region.

By royal decree, the officials of the Diligence Treasury immediately began a frantic search, and after great effort they unearthed three entries:

Shen State's western territories, the Wasteland of Wuzhou and the State of Chongning, were mysteriously destroyed five years ago.

Wuzhou, as a city with a population of nearly one hundred thousand, collapsed overnight, its inhabitants nearly all perished.

Chongning State, several times larger than Wuzhou, also failed to withstand three to five days, with half the city crushed to rubble.

There is also a document concerning Shaocheng.

This city suffered a great calamity a few months ago, when an ancient city suddenly sprang up from nowhere beside it; the city lord and officials were all devoured by the demons that emerged from within the ancient city. Afterwards, Shaocheng was forcibly sealed—entry permitted, exit forbidden—and only passing avian demons would occasionally glance down from high above.

Outside observers speculated that Shaocheng's civilians had been enslaved by this suddenly appearing ancient city, hence they called it a "ghost city."

Shaocheng lies several hundred li from the Panlong Wasteland; He Chunhua also had people monitor it, for it is a domain of Ling Mountain, and Ling Mountain would likely intervene in such anomalies.

Who would have thought—his own territory now also hosts this strange ancient city.

Wherever it passes, it leaves behind a barren wasteland.

No matter why it has come, it will bring no good to Shen State.

Thinking this, He Chunhua could no longer sit still; he quickened his pace toward the Temple of the Fallen Heaven.

He is already the ruler of a state, with no need to secretly appease the gods. The Fallen Heaven has become Shen State's chief deity, enshrined in a temple within the palace near the western gate after its expansion, occupying a vast area and beautifully adorned.

At this moment, mist and vapor swirl within the temple, lending the deity's half-closed eyes a solemn and dignified countenance.

This is the largest temple to the Fallen Heaven in the capital, located near the western gate of the expanded palace, open to the public two days each month—so on those days, commoners are permitted to enter the palace to worship the deity, resulting in crowds and clouds of incense.

Thanks to reader Kan Yunqi_bE for the reward~~