Chapter 166 - Heaven Suppressing Divine Seal!
The Gu Mansion...
Gu Hai and his team had already returned by the third day after the events at the Peony Clan.
Inside Tiger Cage Pa.s.s, craftsmen were still busy day and night, the clamor of their work continuing at all hours. Dust and smoke rose just about everywhere.
In a large hall of the Gu Mansion, outside of which stood a team of imperial guards...
Gu Hai at in the main position, holding a cup of tea, looking at a weakened Meng Tai, who was sitting in the guest seat with some difficulty.
"You don"t hate me?" Meng Tai, also holding a cup of tea, looked to Gu Hai.
"No! As I have said, I still find a man like you disgusting. You are cruel, ruthless, cold-blooded, and treacherous. You will do anything for your ambition. Ha, unfortunately, you just fell short of your ambition completely. You don"t even have anyone to take pity on you!" Gu Hai answered, shaking his head.
"Then, you want to subdue me? You want to found a kingdom, and make me your courtier?" Meng Tai looked at Gu Hai with disbelieving eyes.
"Kingdom? No, a country! I will be facing a terrifying situation in the future. Everyone, from top to bottom, united as one!? Ha, even such a nation cannot prevail. Just like a horse; better it might be, it will not necessarily run faster. However, if it is bitten by a leech in the a.s.s, it would run like its life depended on it. My nation will collect the best talent... however, just having talent won"t be enough, I still need to direct it, it will still need a leech to bite!" Gu Hai, said, calm and poised, while taking a sip of tea.
"Leech?" Meng Tai looked unconvinced.
Gu Hai wanted to found a kingdom, Meng Tai had figured that out. He would gather countless talents to be his courtiers, that too was not difficult for Meng Tai to guess. But looking for a destroyer in the court, Meng Tai found this extremely incomprehensive. Leech? Use me to spur on his group of ministers?
"This a.n.a.logy wasn"t appropriate. Let"s change the a.n.a.logy, catfish effect! Have you seen fishermen going fis.h.i.+ng to the sea?" Gu Hai looked at Meng Tai.
Meng Tai shook his head. He was a cultivator, why would he care about vulgar fishermen?
"In the mortal world, you can find many natural principles. A fisherman went to the sea and caught many salmon, but when he reached the sh.o.r.e, the salmon were dead from suffocation. As a result, the fisherman wasn"t able to sell them for a good price. Then, he discovered the reason!
“He discovered that the salmon were quiet and slow, slowly using up the oxygen in the stagnant water of the fish tank and thus, died due to lack of oxygen. However, when he added an extra catfish, it was different. The catfish was active, it liked to move, it would stir the water in the tank, not let it be stagnant, keeping the oxygen constant throughout the tank. Owing to which, when the salmon reached the sh.o.r.e, they were still very much alive!" Gu Hai explained calmly.
Meng Tai had never heard of oxygen, but he did get the general meaning.
"You are worried that as your nation grows bigger and bigger, it will be like a pool of stagnant water, slowly losing its vitality? You want me to become the bad apple, stirring up your country"s stagnant water? You...you...aren"t you thinking too far ahead? Currently, you need to think about the ways to maintain a balance between the courtiers! There is still a long way to go to reach that step of yours!" Meng Tai stared at Gu Hai, astounded.
"It"s that not far away, I am about to found a kingdom!" Gu Hai replied, taking another sip.
Hearing this, Meng Tai"s eyebrows twitched momentarily. Meng Tai had already stopped focusing on Gu Hai"s cultivation. Golden Core Stage... indeed, it was worse than his, but if they fought for real, Meng Tai believed that Gu Hai had a dozen ways to kill him.
Even Meng Tai was afraid to fight with Gu Hai, and that had never happened before.
"I understand, I understand! Found a kingdom!? After you have founded a kingdom, you want me to do borderline stuff. You want me to do things that are somewhat inconvenient for you to do? You want me to bear all the infamy and fear of the subjects, while you sit on the throne, enjoying the support of the whole nation!?" Meng Tai stared at Gu Hai with wide eyes.
"I will set up a special depart named "Brocade Guards"; the Brocade Guards will be granted full autonomy in setting up prisons, inspection, arresting, interrogating, investigating, detaining anyone without trial and punis.h.i.+ng them, monitoring the ministers for me, monitoring the world, and spying on other countries. The Brocade Guards will be my personal army, they will take orders from no one except for me!" Gu Hai stated calmly.
"Brocade Guards?" Meng Tai"s eyebrows twitched madly.
Listening to Gu Hai"s simple description, Meng Tai could naturally feel what kind of rights this ident.i.ty would bear. They would be under one man, yet above all. And the rights he would have would surely be abnormal!
In contrast, Gu Hai quietly drank his tea, sitting there calmly.
"Oh, aren"t you afraid that I would rebel once again, sell you out? Or maybe, find an opportunity and kill you, replace you?" Meng Tai stared at Gu Hai, narrowing his eyes.
"That"s in your nature. Naturally, I have thought about it. You can"t go back to the Ascendant Hall, your reputation stinks already. The only other option you have is to start your own business. Unfortunately, even if you are smart enough, you are clear about your overall situation. If there is no me, you can"t survive. As for your rebellion? Ha, since I dare to employ you, I won"t be afraid of your rebellion. Only, you"d better think about the price you would have to pay before you rebel!" Gu Hai calmly stated.
Meng Tai"s eyebrow twitched immediately.
"Without me, you would have been dead already. But I know, you won"t remember this kindness, and I don"t need you to remember it. My patience is also limited, I will give your three days, adjust yourself in regards to your ident.i.ty and status. After three days, I hope to see you change!" Gu Hai put down the cup of tea, stood up and made his way towards the exit of the hall.
"I...I still haven"t agreed to be your courtier!" Meng Tai shouted, his eyes wide.
Hearing this, Gu Hai halted his footsteps and turned his head, looking at Meng Tai and chuckling. Without saying anything, he turned around and exited the hall, leaving a twitching Meng Tai behind.
Are you sure you can eat me?
Having exited the hall, Gu Hai proceeded to another hall, where he met with Long Wanqing, Grandmaster Liunian, and Wei Shengren. The three seemed to be figuring out something.
Having noticed Gu Hai walk in, the three stopped whatever they were doing.
"Senior Wei Shengren, I wonder whether you found anything by Ding Rui"s corpse?" Gu Hai asked, curious.
Wei Shengren shook his head and said, "Ding Rui"s three souls were destroyed by Li Haoran, all the evidence died with her!"
Gu Hai frowned slightly, because Shangguan Hen had said the same thing at that time. How did Shangguan Hen notice this?
"That"s really unfortunate!" Gu Hai lamented, shaking his head.
"Gu Hai, we are preparing to go back, I have to report everything to Grandfather as soon as possible! Are you coming with us? As soon as we return, I will help you register at the Ascendant Hall headquarters, so that you can enjoy the Karmic Fate bestowed to you," Long Wanqing asked Gu Hai, looking at him in antic.i.p.ation.
Gu Hai replied, shaking his head, "I need another month. I am going to be establis.h.i.+ng a country. I have many things to do, I can"t leave yet!"
"Alright!" Long Wanqing said reluctantly, sighing disappointedly.
"Another month? We might not be able to come back by then!" Grandmaster Liunian said, feeling slightly regretful.
Gu Hai nodded his acknowledgment and finally asked, "Hall Lord, I have never asked about your Grandfather, who is...?"
"You don"t know my Grandfather!?" Long Wanqing was slightly taken aback.
Grandmaster Liunian also gawked at Gu Hai with wide eyes. He almost couldn"t imagine this.
"I didn"t care about it!" Gu Hai said, shaking his head.
"Throne Master Gu"s heart sure is big! Indeed, even if you had cared about it earlier, it would have been useless!" Grandmaster Liunian nodded, watching Gu Hai with a complex look in his eyes.
"Have you heard of Great Gan Empyrean Dynasty?" asked Long Wanqing.
"Isn"t that one of the three empyrean dynasties of Divine Continent? I have heard of it a bit!" Gu Hai nodded in affirmation.
"My grandfather is the ruler of the Great Gan Empyrean Dynasty! It"s located in the north of Divine Continent, Gan as "in above the sky"!" Long Wanqing said confidently.
"Great Gan Empyrean Dynasty, huh?" Gu Hai"s eyebrow twitched momentarily.
"Our Ascendant Hall, the Divine Battalion, are all some of the branches of the external affairs department of the Great Gan Empyrean Dynasty. We are responsible for some trivial matters of the Great Gan Empyrean Dynasty. Ever since my mother led it, the Ascendant Hall became a Marquis Bureau! It"s one of the top ten external affairs departments! But unfortunately, it is somewhat declining in my hands!" Long Wanqing explaining, sighing to herself.
Gu Hai nodded his acknowledgment.
"Senior Wei Shengren is coming with us to see Grandfather. We are about to leave. After I have met with Grandfather, I will investigate the materials of the two letters and will inform you about it!" Long Wanqing said, watching Gu Hai. There was some reluctance in her eyes.
"Very well!" Gu Hai nodded.
Having said their farewells, Long Wanqing and her team embarked their flying s.h.i.+p and quickly flew off into the distance.
After sending everyone off, Gu Hai gave some orders before entering the Soaring Heaven PaG.o.da, where he went into closed-door training. Outside the paG.o.da stood many powerful experts, guarding the tower.
Gu Hai sat inside the Soaring Heaven PaG.o.da, looked over the An Introduction of Empyrean Dynasties laying open before him.
"A Royal Seal is something to revere, the country"s divine weapon, suppressing the country"s fate under the eye of the Heavens! Fuse together the Dragon Drawing Jade storing the earth dragon vein, with blood as the primer, spirit as the soul, and spiritual treasure as the source, into one! The better it is made, the heavier the Royal Seal; the worse its value, the weaker the Royal Seal...
“After it integrates, use the congealed form as an object of wors.h.i.+p. After establis.h.i.+ng the nation, quench the Imperial Sea with Karmic Fate. The stronger the Royal Seal, the stronger the treasure must be! Both can be enhanced together!"
Gu Hai repeatedly recited this paragraph.
Gu Hai looked at the Dragon Drawing Jade in his hand. “According to the An Introduction to Empyrean Dynasties, I still need a treasure to fuse with, and it will use my blood as a primer. Then, I must pour my consciousness into it. Then it will be fused into an Royal Seal?...”
What treasure should I use?
There were many treasures in the storage s.p.a.ces of Li Haoran and Ding Rui. However, these treasures didn"t even enter Gu Hai"s eyes.
Having thinking for a while, Gu Hai reached up and touched his glabella.
With a thrum, the black piece that brought Gu Hai here from Earth suddenly floated out from the s.p.a.ce between his eyebrows.
Grabbing the black piece, Gu Hai sank into silence.
"The stronger the spiritual treasure, the stronger the Royal Seal, huh? I wonder what would happen if I use this black piece in the Royal Seal?" Gu Hai said to himself calmly.
Stretching his hand out, Gu Hai cut his finger and dripped it on the black piece, covering it in blood completely before slowly moving it towards the Dragon Drawing Jade.
Just as the blood came in contact with the Dragon Drawing Jade, a thrum resonated as the Dragon Drawing Jade came alive. The Dragon Drawing Jade greedily started sucking up Gu Hai"s blood. At the same time, nine small dragon heads emerged from the Dragon Drawing Jade, baring their fangs as they rushed towards the black piece as if it were something to eat.
A black halo suddenly emerged from the black piece with a thrum, instantly flooding the Dragon Drawing Jade.
The earth dragon vein inside the Dragon Drawing Jade seemed to be afraid of this halo as it let out a pained roar.
Gu Hai quickly poured his consciousness into the Dragon Drawing Jade via his blood.
Bit by bit, followed by his blood, the black piece fused with the Dragon Drawing Jade. His consciousness was connected with it, as if he could slowly control the Dragon Drawing Jade.
Gradually, the spherical Dragon Drawing jade took on a cubical form. In addition, nine dragons were circling the cubical Dragon Drawing Jade. Each of the dragons was facing that black piece located at the center, ferocious looks on their faces.
As the black piece and Dragon Drawing Jade merged together, the entire Dragon Drawing Jade was also dyed black. A rough black Royal Seal was born.
Immediately afterwards, a gurgling stream of blood flowed into the Nine Dragons Royal Seal. Eight large b.l.o.o.d.y words were now embossed on the bottom of the Royal Seal.
Receive the Mandate of Heaven, May You Reign Eternally!
Under his control, the Royal Seal slowly congealed, s.h.i.+mmering with a faint jade-like gloss.
Perhaps the black piece was too valuable, for just as the Royal Seal was finished refining, it seemed to weigh ten thousand jun!
[TLN: 1 jun = 30 jin, and 1 jin is a half kg (about a pound).]
BOOM! The Royal Seal crashed to the ground before Gu Hai with a thunderous impace.
Loud rumblings immediately followed as the huge Soaring Heaven PaG.o.da suddenly collapsed to the ground under a terrifying pressure.
"What?" Gu Hai"s expression turned to that of shock and horror as he reached out to grab the Royal Seal.
Maybe because this Royal Seal was refined by Gu Hai he was able to hold it, albeit strenuously.
However, the Soaring Heaven PaG.o.da wasn"t spared and suddenly collapsed, causing everyone"s expression at the Gu Mansion to change.
"Father!" Gu Qin cried out in shock in the distance.
"Everyone, don"t come over!" a shout immediately came from the rubble.
Gu Qin, Shangguan Hen, Chen Tianshan, and the others halted their footsteps upon hearing Gu Hai"s shout. Each of them looked astounded.
Buried deep in the rubble, Gu Hai was trapped in a small s.p.a.ce.
However, Gu Hai did not care about it. Flipping his hand, Gu Hai examined the Royal Seal for a bit, once more before pointing it towards the ground.
BOOM! A terrifying pressure immediately broke out from the Royal Seal, raising clouds of dust and smoke at the wreckage site which slowly spread everywhere. The pressure was so strong that a tremor spread from the Gu Mansion in all directions, like an earthquake.
Everyone outside appeared shocked and terrified, wondering what was Gu Hai doing inside.
Looking at the b.l.o.o.d.y words, Receive the Mandate of Heaven, May You Reign Eternally, on the black Royal Seal, Gu Hai"s eyes flickered with satisfaction as he murmured calmly, "From today, you will be called the Heaven Suppressing Divine Seal, defending the world for me!"
The pitch-black Heaven Suppressing Divine Seal trembled slightly, as if it was responding to Gu Hai.
Gu Hai gently placed it on his glabella...
The Heaven Suppressing Divine Seal astonis.h.i.+ngly drilled its way into his glabella, just like the black piece earlier.
Inside the s.p.a.ce of his glabella, without the black piece, that white crystal fragment had been moving restlessly, like it wanted to escape.
BOOM! Suddenly the Heaven Suppressing Divine Seal appeared, promptly pressing down on the white crystal. The white crystal promptly calmed down in the blink of an eye.
The Heaven Suppressing Divine Seal was floating in the air, lording over the world. Underneath it were thirty thousand or so weiqi boards, still merging with one another.
After the Heaven Suppressing Divine Seal merged into Gu Hai"s glabella, Gu Hai sank his consciousness into his glabella once more.
Within the Heaven Suppressing Divine Seal, the earth dragon vein let out a roar. However, the black piece was simply too powerful, suppressing the earth dragon vein to the point that it had no strength to revolt. All it could do was roar defiantly. As Gu Hai poured his consciousness into the Royal Seal, the earth dragon vein began to submit.
"The black piece sure is a priceless treasure. After fusing with the Heaven Suppressing Divine Seal, it can actually suppress the earth dragon vein so much! It will be so much easier to refine it now! I am guessing the earth dragon vein will be completely refined within a year! Then, I can take out the earth dragon vein and nurture it under the ground!" Gu Hai"s eyes flickered with satisfaction.
BOOM!
Accompanied by a thunderclap, Gu Hai slowly walked out of the rubble, pus.h.i.+ng away the rocks around him!