Chapter 177

Shen Tianxing, after hearing it, was also very surprised, or rather shocked; the world outside the Shenzhou Continent was truly beyond imagination.

It feels like masters are as numerous as dogs and Land Immortals walk everywhere, but that's not actually the case; one must know that the Shenzhou Continent has a natural restriction that prevents Land Immortals from emerging.

However, the Beiguo Continent outside has no such prohibition, and its occupied area is at least several dozen times, even up to a hundred times, larger than the Shenzhou Continent.

Thus, having a hundred times more masters would not be a big problem; moreover, they lack this restriction, and what surprised Shen Tianxing was not that, but that ordinary commoners all possessed third- or fourth-rank martial strength.

In other words, soldiers from the Shenzhou Continent going to the Baiguo Continent could easily kill dozens of ordinary civilians; the so-called ninth-rank experts there are merely soldiers, and perhaps only masters can become officials.

"According to what you say, your strength isn't that bad, or rather the three of you aren't that weak; how did you end up here? Could it be that you offended someone you shouldn't have? Could it be your emperor?"

Shen Tianxing also asked casually, and the middle-aged master nodded helplessly.

"Indeed, we fled overseas because we offended the emperor of our Da Yuan Dynasty; we originally intended to go to the legendary Wujin Continent, but ended up here instead."

"Wait, you said there's also a legendary Wujin Continent—what place is that?"

Shen Tianxing was even more surprised; this was another new piece of knowledge given to him.

"It's normal you don't know; it's a place said to be extremely miraculous in legend, reportedly at least a hundred times the size of the Baiguo Continent, where there is no war and no distinction between nations."

"Only the Supreme Holy Kingdom that rules the Wujin Continent exists, and that kingdom possesses beings surpassing Land Immortals, seemingly called 'Breaking the Void' (Breaking the Void), but the exact details are unclear; of course, that's a legendary country, and that's all I know."

Shen Tianxing felt this was probably just a legendary miraculous continent; if such a continent truly existed with beings surpassing Land Immortals, it wouldn't differ much from cultivation.

"You've heard enough; I originally wanted to spare your life, but after thinking, I decided against it—you being alive would cause a lot of trouble, so be on your way."

Shen Tianxing was merely making an excuse; after all, this is the mission target, which must be killed, though one can choose an ordinary death, a painful death, or a swift death.

What Shen Tianxing could naturally give now was a swift death; he raised his hand and pointed, the Shaoshang Sword pierced the middle-aged master's brow, and he fell straight down, yet before dying he wore a bright smile.

As for the other two, Shen Tianxing had long ago drained their internal force, turning them into desiccated corpses lying there motionless.

"He probably didn't lie to me, right? Or perhaps besides the Baiguo Continent, the Wujin Continent is also truly existent?" Shen Tianxing asked Xiao Yu with a smile; Xiao Yu spread her hands, looking quite innocent, and said:

"That's not disclosable, but the Baiguo Continent is real, and the situation is roughly as he said; however, you can rest assured—your strength plus the System means these pose no threat to you."

Shen Tianxing could be certain that the middle-aged master was correct, including the so-called Wujin Continent situation, which is likely not as simple as legend; Xiao Yu's answer made that obvious.

"If that's the case, I'm actually somewhat eager; I just don't know what the main quest will be at that time—surely it won't be unifying the Baiguo Continent? That would be an extremely difficult task!"

"I really don't know that; anyway, just follow the System's tasks and do them—no need to dwell on other things."

Xiao Yu's non-disclosure confirms that Li Zhangming's guess is true, but this time it's hard to say.

Li Zhangming also didn't dwell on it, merely smiled and said nothing more.

In the following days, Shen Tianxing was also busy; although Shen Tianzhen helped him handle affairs, there were still many matters he had to personally attend to, such as the construction of the capital.

For Shen Tianxing now, the construction of the capital is very important; the reason it's important is actually to enjoy life.

What Shen Tianxing does, many people cannot understand, but he is indeed carrying out construction with the goal of modernizing the entire capital!

To this end, Shen Tianxing bought a large amount of steel and cement from the System Mall; of course, he isn't planning to build skyscrapers—currently, the tallest building in the capital will be set at around eight stories.

Ordinary residential houses are built with a two-story base, commercial buildings with a three-story base, entertainment venues with a four-story base, and finally office buildings will be constructed with a five-story base.

Meanwhile, the renovation of the Imperial Palace is proceeding vigorously, based on six- to eight-story buildings.

For this, Shen Tianxing also exchanged Killing Value for many pile drivers, then had the populace cut timber; just this item alone cost a large amount of silver.

In short, Shen Tianxing is doing his utmost, within the maximum possible extent, to turn the capital into the most modern city.

One month later, envoys from the Tang and Chu states arrived; the Tang envoys came a bit earlier, arriving in the morning, while the Chu envoys arrived in the afternoon.

Originally they should have been received separately, but Shen Tianxing thought it better to wait until all had arrived before beginning the audience.

"Envoy Li Kailuo of the Tang pays his respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Zhou; may Your Majesty live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand ten thousand years."

"Envoy Qi Dongqiang of the Chu pays his respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the Great Zhou; may Your Majesty live ten thousand years, and enjoy a thousand autumns!"

The two spoke almost at the same time, so their words differed slightly, but the meaning was similar; after speaking, they glared at each other angrily, their eyes full of one-upmanship.

"Please rise; from now on you'll all be our own people. I know you've come bearing national letters to surrender, and I dislike dragging things out."

"Now hand over the national letters and explain the situation; I will personally send people to your two countries to handle the transfer, and likewise I will grant royalty status to the royal families of both your nations."

"The Tang will be made the Prince of Tang, the Chu the Prince of Chu; I will also grant each royal family sufficient fiefdoms, but aside from that, everything else must be surrendered, naturally including the most important military authority."

"Of course, your national treasuries are also required; these are what I was just about to say. If you have any problems, you may now return, and I will naturally send troops to resolve them for you."

Shen Tianxing got straight to the point, saying everything that needed to be said, which left the two envoys looking at each other in dismay. They had originally wanted to one-up each other, but now it seemed there was no choice.

"Your humble servant Li Kailuo pays his respects to Your Majesty; may Your Majesty live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand ten thousand years."

The Tang's Li Kailuo was the first to kneel on the ground, his voice like a great bell, presenting an image of righteous vigor.

Qi Dongqiang didn't expect this person to be so shameless, but he still knelt down honestly and said:

"Your humble servant Qi Dongqiang pays his respects to Your Majesty; may Your Majesty live ten thousand years and enjoy a thousand autumns."

At this moment Shen Tianxing finally revealed a satisfied smile, nodded, and said:

"Very well, please rise; the task I entrust to you is simple: go back to your respective countries together with my people and carry out the matters I have assigned."