Chapter 2019

The Great Ming world.

Within the imperial palace.

Zhu Youjian felt a chilling unease stir in his heart; suddenly he rose to his feet, wanting to find the source of this feeling, yet he thought himself utterly irrational.

After all, nothing had happened—how could one simply act on intuition to seek out a cause?

Though he thought this, the urgency in his heart grew stronger.

He sat down again, gazing at the memorials, but could no longer calm his mind.

"Could something major have happened?"

Zhu Youjian's head throbbed.

Land consolidation, consecutive years of drought, and raids by barbarians beyond the passes had already left him overwhelmed.

If more troubles arose, the Great Ming might collapse in his hands overnight.

And at this moment.

Beyond the passes.

On the earth, veins of earth-energy rose, transforming into living beings—some in the form of true dragons, others as bixi…

Each had a unique form, all extraordinary.

But unlike the mythical beasts of legend, these creatures now bore black scales and crimson eyes, like ferocious monsters.

Upon their emergence, one black dragon opened its mouth and swallowed thousands of people from a tribe, turning them into blood food.

"The Eternal Heaven is enraged!"

"What are we to do now!"

The tribes beyond the passes, having thrived greatly since Chongzhen's ascension due to his baffling missteps, had seen their lives improve considerably.

Yet they never imagined that monstrous beasts had emerged from beneath the earth, swallowing entire tribes in a single bite.

This was utterly brutal.

If they had a choice, they would rather face the Ming army at its peak than confront these horrors.

Against the Ming army, one could still fight or surrender.

Against these demonic things, there was absolutely no chance of survival.

The tribes looked to the sky and saw the colossal dragons and bixi, their bodies like mountains, immense beyond measure, their mouths like gates to hell—each swallow could devour thousands, even tens of thousands.

The black dragon had swallowed only thousands just now—not because it could not consume more, but because that tribe had no more than that many people.

As they panicked, they saw a bixi lower its head and open its mouth toward another tribe.

Instantly, countless black dots shot into the air and vanished.

At this moment, all those beyond the passes were frozen in terror.

Anyone with a functioning mind knew those black dots must have been cattle, horses, humans—living beings.

These sudden apparitions clearly intended to exterminate all life in this world!

"Run!"

At this moment, whether nobles or herders, all abandoned their livelihoods, leapt onto horses, and fled in panic.

In an instant, all beyond the passes descended into chaos.

The capital.

Above the sky, azure and yellow energy appeared; the next moment, a luminous gate spanning heaven and earth opened, and an imperial carriage, pulled by several jiao dragons, entered the airspace above the capital.

The jiao dragons' aura was terrifying—upon their appearance, the capital's citizens fell to their knees, gazing upward in horror.

This was already the result of Zhu Yuanzhang's deliberate restraint.

Otherwise, the power of these Jin Xian-level beings would have been unbearable for ordinary mortals.

Upon the imperial carriage sat none other than Zhu Yuanzhang.

Behind the carriage, Zhu Youjian and Zhu Wushi followed, observing a world repository.

Suddenly.

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed: "Indeed, many changes have arisen. Beyond the passes, numerous ferocious beasts have reached the Pretender Saint realm."

Zhu Youjian was puzzled: "If they are Pretender Saints, even swallowing this entire world would be effortless—why haven't they acted yet?"

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression turned grave; he sneered: "They're waiting for us to appear. These beasts' target is surely us. Watch closely—they've already positioned their true forms beyond this world, sealing it off."

Zhu Youjian and Zhu Wushi were stunned.

They never imagined that merely receiving a mundane small world would bring them face-to-face with a world-ending demon's trap.

PS: Thank you to Wang Guangyu's donation, thank you, great patron.