Chapter 943

Wuguo was a picture of peace and harmony.

Pei Feng presided over the imperial capital, with a host of ministers assisting him; all borders had been pacified, so the nation's fortunes naturally rose day by day.

Military affairs, governance, and people's livelihood—all officials, high and low, performed their duties, and the administration ran rather smoothly.

The tremendous upheaval of heaven and earth continued, with new Divine Manifestation Realm cultivators constantly appearing among the populace.

Pei Feng expanded the Heavenly Martial Secret Guard's establishment, enhancing their operational efficiency; whenever a new Divine Manifestation Realm cultivator appeared, the Secret Guard would immediately arrive, ordering them to join the Heavenly Martial Army and be incorporated into Wuguo's forces.

As long as the new Divine Manifestation Realm cultivators caused no trouble, Wuguo remained peaceful throughout.

Plus Wu Tie's state policies, having inherited the vast treasury of the pre‑flame era, Wuguo lacked no provisions; taxes were repeatedly cut across the realm, especially the formerly heavy corvée, which had been largely replaced by various engineering puppets forged by the great iron.

Thus, within just a few months, according to data relayed by local officials, essentially all married women of child‑bearing age in every prefecture, county, town and village were pregnant; many new couples formed, and it was clear that Wuguo would soon face a baby boom over the next two or three years.

The birth of vast numbers of infants would greatly bolster Wuguo's population base, strengthening the nation's fundamental strength.

Especially, according to secret feedback from senior officials in various locales, the infants conceived during the heaven‑and‑earth upheaval possessed terrifyingly strong talent.

Who knows how it happened, but while still in the womb they already possessed the Chonglou Realm!

They were fragile, extremely fragile—just as fragile as any normal fetus of previous years—but the thirty‑three Chonglou shackles within their bodies were extraordinarily clear and were breaking open on their own.

In other words, once these fetuses are born safely, they will directly possess the Chonglou Realm cultivation level; some exceptionally gifted infants could even directly attain the tenth, twentieth, or thirtieth heaven of Chonglou Realm and beyond.

The heavenly and earthly seal weakened, and the infants' talent increased.

It is evident that, in the future, the cultivation speed of this newborn generation will become astonishingly rapid, and among them will emerge even more Divine Manifestation Realm masters at an accelerated pace.

The greedy gods, having readily complied, accelerated the 'propagation' of humanity according to the plan proposed by Huanwu.

To reap the leeks, one must naturally fatten them up, increasing their number and improving their quality, so that harvesting them becomes all the more satisfying and gratifying.

Upon receiving these reports, Pei Feng unconsciously tightened the work schedule.

She, together with Xuan Yin and others, supervised and urged the surrendered wisdom‑god clans—Mist, Huanwu, and Shadow—to begin organizing the data of the various gods.

What their ancestral lands were like, their social structure, class divisions, level of civilization, power hierarchy, internal large and small groups, and the relationships among the major god clans, etc.

Who was whose friend, who was whose in‑law, who was whose ten‑thousand‑year enemy, and who had sworn mortal enmity with whom.

Among the vassal peoples under the major god clans, who was clever, who was stupid, who was advanced, who was backward, their temperaments, their morals, and the various skills they excelled at, etc.

Specifically regarding the Observation Outpost, the historical relations among the five great god clans, the character and nature of the five great leaders Xuanwu, Chiwei, etc., their past conduct, present strength, the ties between their trusted subordinates, and some of their unsavory deeds, etc.

Such intelligence will be very useful in the future when dealing with the gods of the Observation Outpost.

As for Mist and company, for unknown reasons, their wisdom‑god clan normally places great emphasis on intelligence work; even the affair between Youzu and a low‑born female soldier under his command—something somewhat improper—was uncovered by Mist and his ilk.

What's more fascinating is that Mist, Huanwu, and Shadow, the senior deities of these wisdom‑god clans, each possess a small yet complete, covertly operating, independent intelligence agency.

Thus the information they gathered was also varied in focus, odd and peculiar, yet relatively complete in sketching out the concrete appearances of each major god clan at the Observation Outpost.

Pei Feng, Blood Prison, together with the deities Xuan Yin and others whom Pei Feng had subdued, along with a group of rather capable female officials personally trained by Pei Feng, now spend most of their time immersed in such god‑related information.

Perhaps since the gods' first invasion, the reuniting of Mu Dalu, and the outbreak of the Primordial God War, the Pangu descendants' understanding of the gods has never been so comprehensive, clear, penetrating, and complete.

Even in the knowledge base inherited from Old Iron, the gods are vaguely referred to as 'heavenly demons'.

However, thanks to Pei Feng's efforts, within a short time the true nature of these 'heavenly demons' could be seen at a glance.

While Pei Feng was dealing with the vast sea of godly data, Wu Tie was in seclusion deep within the imperial capital.

For some inexplicable reason, Wu Tie felt a burning sense of urgency.

This feeling was like two grandmasters of chess playing; he had already moved several steps ahead, but the opponent's strength was too overwhelming, too mighty, leaving Wu Tie uneasy and lacking a sense of security.

What will Xuanwu and Chiwei do next?

What level has their strength reached now?

In Mu Dalu, aside from the 'Heavenly Stem Jia No. 1 Hunting Ground' and 'Earthly Stem Yi No. 5 Battlefield' already controlled by Wu Tie, what is the current situation of the other hunting grounds, battlefields, and destiny fields?

According to Mist and company, in the other hunting grounds and battlefields, their gods have reaped abundant spoils.

Wu Tie clearly understands the concept of 'reaping abundant spoils'.

The gods have harvested sufficient prey, in extraordinarily vast numbers; their strength, even that of the lowest‑born, weakest foot soldiers, is certainly advancing by leaps and bounds.

The future risks facing humanity on Mu Dalu are expanding without end.

A sense of crisis lingered in his heart; Wu Tie sat cross‑legged in a grand hall folded by a spatial array into tens of thousands of layers, its length, width, and height each spanning tens of thousands of li, before which floated the colossal bone‑ship constructed under the supervision of the four great demon venerables Lao Geda, Lao Juzi, Lao Wangzi, and Lao Mutou.

Stretching over three thousand li in length, several hundred li in width, and two to three hundred li in height, the bone‑ship was entirely forged from the natal demon bones of colossal demons.

Demons, products of heaven and earth's creation, possess profound mysteries.

Those colossal demons with sufficient bloodline inheritance surely have horns, teeth, scales, bones, fur, etc., whose material transcends the mundane, being a hundred times stronger than other parts of their bodies—worthy of being called 'divine artifacts'.

In the Western Demon Realm, countless ages have spawned innumerable great demons, colossal demons, demon kings, and demon emperors; equally, countless such demon emperors, kings, colossi, and great demons have perished either from exhausted lifespans or in mutual slaughter.

Over these years, the four great demon venerables have furtively gathered countless natal demon bones from fallen colossal demons—the most solid piece on each body—each piece hard, pliable, and innately endowed with divine abilities.

Merely in terms of strength, these colossal demons' natal demon bones far surpass the Nine‑Refined Immortal Weapons, and are not inferior to ordinary innate spirit weapons.

Countless such natal demon bones pieced together constitute the colossal vessel before Wu Tie's eyes.

Old Geda had originally prepared to, if unable to withstand Wu Tie's offensive, lead the elite demon hosts of the Western Demon Realm to sea for refuge.

The vessel, over three thousand li long, rivals a small continent; with a dozen or so spatial‑attribute innate spirit treasures integrated within, its internal space is thousands of times its external appearance, capable of accommodating billions of elite colossal demons fleeing to sea.

However, Old Geda and his ilk know nothing about the art of forging.

The human craftsmen they captured were merely ordinary experts, hardly any reaching even the common master level.

Moreover, these captured human artisans had long been accustomed to loafing, cutting corners, and all manner of deceit and slipshod work; in Wu Tie's eyes, this barely formed vessel was riddled with a thousand flaws, utterly wretched.

"Wasting heavenly treasures… but, well, well, at least these materials weren't ruined."

Wu Tie sighed, pointed with his right hand, and the black sword shot forth, instantly transforming into countless fine black sword‑lights that utterly shattered the crude seals inside and outside the vessel; with a boom, several clusters of spirit light emitting strong spatial undulations spewed out.

The Grand Dao Crucible rose up and in one gulp swallowed those ten‑odd strands of spirit light trying to break through the void and flee.

The bone‑ship disintegrated, large and small fragments scattering, exuding an immensely vast primordial barbaric aura, and simply hovered before Wu Tie.

Wu Tie pondered for a moment, then nodded toward the Canghai Daoist, Yin‑Yang Daoist, and Five‑Elements Daoist sitting cross‑legged in the distance.

The three Daoists simultaneously waved their sleeves, and from within them flew forth piles of colossal demon natal bones stacked like mountains.

The Four Great Demon Sovereigns possessed overwhelming strength; they had seized vast resources of the Western Demon Kingdom.

However, Zhu Ganglie, the Golden-Eyed Demon Sovereign, and their followers, over these years have gathered the demon horde, occupied extensive territories; within their lands, naturally they have stockpiled countless great demons' natal demon bones.

Even more, because they are more active while the Four Great Demon Sovereigns remain in year-long closed-door seclusion, the amount of natal demon bones they have gathered is several times greater than that of the Four Great Demon Sovereigns.

The natal demon bones piled up like mountains emitted a gloomy demonic aura, hovering in midair.

Wu Tie glanced at these demon bones of varying sizes and bizarre forms, pondered for a moment, then began to browse the vast knowledge legacy of Lao Tie, quickly selecting thirteen designs for colossal warships using natal demon bones as material.

Based on the quantity of these natal demon bones before him, Wu Tie finally settled on the design of the Myriad Spirits Void-Devouring God-Slaying Ship.

The ship is 6,400 li long, 800 li wide, and 360 li high; its entire body forged from the natal demon bones of colossal demons, smelted with countless divine gold and spiritual gold, not counting the inscribed formation restrictions—just the defensive strength of the hull material alone rivals that of an innate spiritual treasure.

This is nothing less than a colossal war-use innate spiritual treasure.

This was one of the ultimate weapons' great killers designed by humanity at the end of the Primordial Mythic Era. Alas, by then humanity was at the end of its rope; such great killers numbered only three in total, and even before completion they had already been destroyed by the gods.

It is, theoretically, a living war monster capable of self-growth.

Once the God-Slaying Ship is forged, as long as it continually slays enemies and devours various materials, it can grow and strengthen almost without limit, theoretically reaching the supreme realm of eternal immortality.

According to some vague notations in the knowledge archive, Wu Tie faintly realized that the Myriad Spirits Void-Devouring God-Slaying Ship's ultimate construction goal was not to engage the gods head-on.

Just like the Four Great Demon Sovereigns of old, this God-Slaying Ship is ultimately meant for escape.

Carrying a portion of humanity's elite, it would break free from Mu Dalu, flee into the boundless void, and make good its escape.

The old fogeys' imagination, after all, has its limits; they only dreamed of fleeing the Sui Chao continent, escaping Wu Tie's military advance. Meanwhile, the primordial peoples imagined fleeing the entirety of Mu Dalu, escaping into the unfathomable Hongmeng void.

"Escape?" Wu Tie gave a grin: "I won't be running away..."

After a moment of silence, Wu Tie shook his head: "Hard to say; one shouldn't speak too absolutely."

Wu Tie had some confidence he could match wits with Xuanwu and Chi Ji; after all, they too had severed ties with the gods' ancestral land.

But, if failure were to happen…

Wu Tie controlled the Grand Dao Forge, swallowing the mountain-like piles of natal demon bones.

"If failure were to happen, taking the Wu tribe, the Wa Valley, and a host of loyal retainers to flee—" Wu Tie felt a tangle in his heart: "This God-Slaying Ship could indeed accommodate them, but it would feel rather stifling."

Wu Tie slapped a jade tablet and flung it out of the hall; immediately someone caught the tablet and hurried off to deliver orders to all the halls concerned with mining.

Wu Tie, together with his three avatars, began to forge this enormous God-Slaying Ship according to the design blueprints.

The furnace fires blazed as they began to refine the natal demon bones—those lazy, corner-cutting human craftsmen, who hadn't even done the most basic material refinement, made Wu Tie inexplicably feel a stroke of luck for the old fogeys.

Do they really dare to pilot such a corner-cutting giant ship out to sea?

Time passed bit by bit; both Pei Feng and Wu Tie strove to do their best, gradually consolidating Wuguo's foundations and slowly augmenting the strength at their disposal.

Several days later, Wu Tie suddenly felt a surge of passion, his heart thumping 'dong dong dong' repeatedly.

Wu Tie couldn't help but feel a jolt of alarm.

At his level, he could perfectly command his own qi and blood; external forces could hardly sway his body.

Such a surge of fervor… something major is happening.

Following a faint sense from the depths, Wu Tie promptly produced a tortoise shell; from his fingertips spurted wisps of sparks that rapidly scorched the shell, while he swiftly formed hand seals and hurriedly calculated.

"Hmph!" A flash of extreme ferocity flickered in Wu Tie's eyes, but he soon sneered: "Friends come from afar—isn't that delightful? Heh, distant friends travel a thousand miles to deliver heads; mortal bliss!"

With a flick of his sleeve, Wu Tie glanced at the Grand Dao Forge and smiled at the Canghai Daoist: "Fellow Daoists, just focus on forging the God-Slaying Ship here; I'll go welcome a group of friends who haven't shown up in person."

He shook his wide sleeve, Wu Tie glanced at the Grand Dao furnace, then smiled at the Canghai Daoist and said: "Three fellow Daoists, just stay here and forge the God‑Slaying Vessel; I'll go welcome a group of good friends who didn't come in person."

The Canghai Daoist, the Yin‑Yang Daoist, and the Five‑Elements Daoist clapped and laughed together: "We must be more enthusiastic!"

Wu Tie laughed especially brightly: "Rest assured, I'll be enthusiastic enough to make them doubt their lives!"

He strode out of the hall, Wu Tie bellowed: "Old Tie, come with me… to greet the guests!"