Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Shuddering hard, Zhao Zhenwu stood on his toes and looked at the man who was raising his arms and calling for supporters, only to discover that it was the “monitor” of his class in the Seminar of Generals. The man was named Chu Tianhe and was the leader of a top-ranking legion in the expedition army!

This Chu Tianhe used to be a very famous “general of wisdom” in the frontline and best at unexpected attacks. Before he lost his troops and went to the rear in desperation, it was told that he had foreseen that he would not be able to protect the properties in his hometown and therefore sold all of them in advance. As a result, he got quite a large sum of cash in his hands. Since he was also good at investment and operations, his situation was much better than his fellows.

The man was also rather friendly and generous. Whichever of his friends was caught in difficulties, and even if he did not know them in the past, he would always be the first to give them a hand.

In the past half a year, dozens of his indigent classmates only managed to this day because of Chu Tianhe’s help. As a result, Chu Tianhe’s savings were mostly gone too, and the man was about to be as poor as the rest of them.

Other people might find it hard to understand his generosity, but Chu Tianhe simply said with a smile that, after all of them survived so many bloody battles from the piles of dead bodies on the hellish battlefields, even life and death meant nothing to them. Would he cherish a few coins at all?

Money given away would come back one day. What mattered more was comradery!

After hearing that, all his classmates, including Zhao Zhenwu, were touched by him.

The man had a high prestige in the Seminar of Generals and was somewhat the leader of the “surplus generals”. After hearing his speech, everybody fell silent and began to consider his suggestion carefully.

Zhao Zhenwu thought quickly. The more he thought, the more he felt that Chu Tianhe’s idea was marvelous!

In the past, when Blackstar the Great established the Imperium of True Human Beings, he naturally hoped that the Imperium would grow into the strongest, greatest and longest country in history and that it would not rise brilliantly only to perish abruptly soon like the Star Ocean Imperium.

Even though it might not last forever, it should at least continue a few hundred thousand years, like the reign of the demons, right?

As a symbol of the regime, the Emperor’s Mausoleum certainly had an enormous scale.

Back when Wuying Qi was still alive, he already searched the best location on the planet and established the mausoleum based on the mountains and rivers. Even an entire mountain was built into a magnificent statue of him looking down at the great landscape of the capital.

It was said that the entire underground mausoleum was as complicated as a maze and could accommodate an entire army!

After the demise of Blackstar the Great, the emperors of every generation had been buried here, and the scale of the mausoleum was thus enlarged into a splendid city.

However, the Imperium of True Human Beings was not one of the ancient dynasties tens of thousands of years ago after all. After the education and enlightenment in the Star Ocean Republic, many popular ideas in society had changed. The Emperor’s Mausoleum was not regarded as a sacred, inviolable place.

Instead, when Blackstar the Great was still alive, he had already planned to build the mausoleum into a spiritual center of the entire universe. The main building on the ground, other than the mausoleum itself, was the “Museum of the Imperium”, which was dedicated to the introduction of the accomplishments of the Imperium of True Human Beings as well as the infinite glories of the true path of immortality.

In the first five hundred years, when the royal authority was still at its heyday, overwhelming visitors used to come from every part of the universe every day. The Imperium even pronounced in the law that every Immortal Cultivator should at least visit the Emperor’s Mausoleum in the capital once in their life.

In the second five hundred years, as the royal authority declined, the four Kurfürst families naturally did not want the shadow of Blackstar the Great to continue to loom. The regulation was gradually abandoned.

However, the supremacy of the emperor had entered everyone’s heart. Even the most powerful official could not stop people from visiting the mausoleum, which would be denying their own legitimacy of governance and would only raise public resistance.

Therefore, the Emperor’s Mausoleum and the Museum of the Imperium were still teeming with tourists every day. Pilgrims from hundreds of Sectors in every part of the universe came to visit them.

Many tourists and pilgrims had come a long way. Naturally, they would not leave immediately after sightseeing but often stayed in the towns near the Emperor’s Mausoleum to visit the entire capital slowly.

If a thousand generals who were still in service, as the most loyal warriors of His Majesty, cried hard to the monument of Blackstar the Great in the Emperor’s Mausoleum, it would certainly be great news that would be known by the whole world!

The most amazing part was that, since the Empyreal Terminus Sector was under curfew and the four Kurfürst families’ own troops were everywhere, the critical locations such as the royal palace, the Council of Elders, and the important departments of the government were all heavily guarded.

Those generals who had neither guns nor troops were naturally incapable of breaking into such places. It was possible that they would be knocked out and captured when they were dozens of kilometers away.

The troops that were stationed in the Emperor’s Mausoleum, on the other hand, were not the Kurfürst families’ troops but the Imperial Guards!

The reason could’ve been more simple. Most of the members in the Imperial Guards belonged to the royal family with a surname of “Wuying”. They were the descendants of Blackstar the Great as well as all the emperors that followed.

Who should guard the mausoleum of their ancestors if not them?

It was somewhat ironic, but in the entire Imperium of True Human Beings, the Emperor’s Mausoleum was perhaps the only place that was still under the control of the Imperial Guards.

The surplus generals, after being enlisted into the “Royal Seminar For Advanced Generals”, belonged to the Imperial Guards. To be more exact, they were all the reservists of the Imperial Guards!

The Emperor’s Mausoleum was their territory!

The plan could very likely work out!

For a moment, Zhao Zhenwu felt that all his blood was flooding to his head, and his breath was even heavier than before.

His friend He Peng, as well as all the other surplus generals around, also whispered in excitement and applauded Chu Tianhe’s plan.

Somebody hesitated. “It will be quite a huge event. Will it trigger the intense reactions from the Council of Elders? The accomplices of the Blood Oath Alliance are being captured in the capital right now. Innocent or guilty, a lot of people have been caught.”

Chu Tianhe declared loudly, “We are all people who have lost everything and are waiting to die. We may be captured and tossed into the sunless dungeons, but so what? Will that be any different from our situation right now? Even if we are beheaded, it will be a quick and clean end to our life!”

Somebody else asked, “What about the Imperial Guards? We will certainly raise a lot of attention with such a large group of people. Group visits have to be scheduled in advance.”

Chu Tianhe said, “The Imperial Guards work for the royal family. Many of them are even our classmates and tutors right now. Although there are minor frictions between us in the school, there is nothing too serious. In fact, I think we get to know each other better through the fights.

“The royal family hates the arrogance of the four Kurfürst families as much as we do. If we have a chance to humiliate the four Kurfürst families, they will certainly be glad to see it.

“Besides, by crying before their ancestors, we will be expressing our unquestionable loyalty to the royal family. Why would they stop us at all?

“You can rest assured about that. I know a few members of the Imperial Guards very well. Everything will be good as long as I talk to them. It all depends on whether or not you have the guts to do it right now. Are you going to live an ignorant, unchangeable life and die miserably exactly like General Zhou, or are you going to rise and counterattack?”

Zhao Zhenwu’s blood that had flowed to his head was boiling.

In his trance, he saw the cocky appraiser in the Dongfang family’s pawnshop again, the stormy fists of the guards and the scoundrels, the embarrassing man who walked out of his own house, and heard his wife’s cold and helpless chuckle.

The faces and the sneers all turned into bombs on the battlefield and the screams of his old brothers before their death.

“Where is our fortune? Boss, what are we fighting for exactly in the frontline at the risk of our lives?”

“Let’s do it!”

With a courage that came from he didn’t know where, Zhao Zhenwu clenched his fists and roared, “Even the Covenant Alliance never scared me in the frontline. Why should I be scared of the scumbags in the rear? Let’s just fight them and die if we must. If I had died a hero’s death in the frontline a few years ago, the misery today would’ve all been saved!”

“Exactly!”

Chu Tianhe’s eyes glittered. Then he declared in a high voice, “Brother Zhenwu is quite right. No Immortal Cultivators are scared of death. How many of our brothers have died as heroes in the frontline? Even if we must die, we will die for something worthwhile like them!”

“Then, we will have to ask Brother Chu to be our commander in the tribute to the Emperor’s Mausoleum!”

For some reason, Zhao Zhenwu blurted out, “Let’s go to the Emperor’s Mausoleum and turn it upside down!”

All the surplus generals who had been angry for a long time cheered for him, making Zhao Zhenwu enjoy the feeling of being respected again. His back that was hunched a moment ago straightened again!

Chu Tianhe frowned. Pondering for a moment, he nodded his head and said, “Alright. If this thing truly gets huge, the leader will probably not end well. But with everything coming to this point, we cannot think that much now. If they want to execute me, just take away my head!

“Besides, if my head can be exchanged for a way out for everybody and the dignity and privileges that we deserve, it will be a fair deal!

“Brothers and fellow Cultivators, I will gladly take the place of the commander. If you are willing to trust me, just follow my arrangements, and we will meet all the previous emperors and the ancestors of all the Immortal Cultivators, Blackstar the Great!”

The event was now inevitable.

All the generals cheered.

They had lost their troops and Cultivation after a decade of battles, but they still had abundant experience as professional soldiers. Immediately, they were organized into ten teams according to the military rules. While Chu Tianhe was named as the general commander, ten captains were also elected. They made a deal to gather in the Emperor’s Mausoleum from all directions tomorrow morning.

Zhao Zhenwu was the first to jump out and answer the call. So, he was nominated as a captain in the end.

He could be killed for the attempt, but he took the job without batting an eye.

While planning the route, discussing the strategies, and boosting the morale, he was thinking about something else in his head. If things got huge tomorrow, would his wife read the news on the Spiritual Nexus or even see his name?