403: The way of survival is above all else

Hongwu City, in front of the Imperial Palace Museum.

Chen Si, the museum curator, knelt down with a thud before a beggarly man.

At this, everyone, including Han Chen and the guards, was stunned.

Han Chen looked at the “Curator Chen” again.

He confirmed that his Rank would not exceed Level 40 at most.

Such cultivation could not prevent him from aging after an era had passed.

In other words... there was no problem with the flow of time?

They hadn't crossed a hundred years?

But... how did the Jiuzhou Federation disappear?

Just as Han Chen was wondering, those guards also showed expressions of sudden understanding and knelt down before Qin Chuan.

“Greetings, Retired Emperor! May the Retired Emperor enjoy boundless peace and prosperity!”

“Ah?”

Han Chen was completely dumbfounded.

Retired Emperor... what the hell is that?

He once again surveyed the Qin Manor before him.

He saw a notice board that read:

“Guidelines for Visiting the Supreme Divine Emperor's Former Residence.”

“One, maintain solemnity, do not speak loudly, and do not disrespect the Divine Emperor.”

“Two, do not casually discuss the Divine Emperor, or the past deeds of the imperial family and relatives.”

...“Qin Manor.”

“Divine Emperor's Former Residence.”

“Retired Emperor...”

Keywords emerged in Han Chen's mind, piecing together an absurd “possibility.”

Qin Chuan's son, Qin Yang, had already unified Jiuzhou and become the Emperor!?

“This... is this really that unbelievable?”

Han Chen felt that his idea was a bit unreal.

He knew that Qin Chuan's father-in-law was Sword Emperor Lin Xuan, and his wife was Sword Immortal Lin Xiaoer.

However, these two combined were not enough to unify Jiuzhou.

If they could, Si Zhenfeng would have long since become Lin Xuan's grandson and accomplished this feat.

But... could “Retired Emperor” be shouted so casually?

And not just by one person.

This proved that Qin Chuan's son was that Supreme Divine Emperor!

Thinking of this, Han Chen looked at Qin Chuan.

He saw that Qin Chuan had already helped the kneeling Curator Chen up and asked, “Chen Si, how did my home become like this? Where is Qin Yang?”

Chen Si's expression was complex; he didn't know where to start and finally managed to say after a long pause, “Patriarch... no, Retired Emperor, many things happened after you left. The young master is now the Emperor of the Shenzhou Empire.”

Upon hearing this, Qin Chuan stood stunned for ten seconds before slowly turning to Han Chen and asking, “Brother Han, is there a possibility... that we have arrived in a parallel world?”

...Shangjing City, Imperial Palace.

Just yesterday, Qin Yang summoned the first group of people he had conferred titles upon, the Twelve Zodiacs.

Over these past few months, the Twelve Zodiacs had been diligently leveling up in the Asura Training Ground, not daring to slack off.

Now, their Rank had reached Level 31.

This speed was several times faster than that of normal Professionals.

This time, Qin Yang wanted them to reach Level 40 within 1000 minutes, which is 17 hours.

Fighting with conventional methods, even with Shang Yang's “Bloody Military Exploits,” it would take at least two months to go from Level 31 to Level 40.

After all, it took Chu Mengxuan and others a month to go from Level 31 to Level 38 with a 150% experience bonus from “Imperial Family and Relatives.”

But now it was different.

Qin Yang's Infinite Training Ground had been successfully developed.

At this moment, the Twelve Zodiacs were sitting cross-legged on the ground, eyes slightly closed, faces ashen, all without breath.

That's right.

They had all entered a “suspended animation” state, just like during the “Holy City's Fall” operation.

At that time, those Professionals participating in the league also entered a state of suspended animation after their Souls entered the Throne of Bones.

In this state, a person is between life and death.

Death refers to the Soul leaving the Physical Body.

Not dead refers to the Physical Body not decaying and maintaining minimal activity, awaiting the Soul's return.

And the Souls of the Twelve Zodiacs were precisely within the Infinite Training Ground, Qin Yang's personally developed “ultimate weapon.”

The Infinite Training Ground is synthesized from three Domain skills.

One, Asura Training Ground, which can freely summon Asura Warriors as monster experience packs, and can adjust the Rank of the experience packs, whether they carry weapons, and other states.

Two, Throne of Bones, which allows entry in Soul form, and allows the use of all skills, equipment, and items, with all states consistent with reality.

Three, Time Palace, which can adjust the flow of time within the Domain.

In other words.

The Infinite Training Ground is a super cheat with endless monsters, where one can level up without taking damage, and with adjustable speed.

Those inside can train for two months, while only about 17 hours pass outside.

Moreover, their Physical Bodies will not age due to the accelerated time.

For other Professionals, this can truly be considered a dimensionality reduction strike.

When others level up for 100 years, they genuinely spend 100 years, consuming 100 years of their lifespan.

But with Qin Yang, even if the Twelve Zodiacs leveled up for 100 years, less than a year would have passed in the outside world.

Of course, continuously leveling up for 100 years would drive a person insane.

Qin Yang had previously experimented with captured stick-wielders.

After continuous combat for half a year, even the Soul would become twisted.

Although the experience from the Infinite Training Ground could be brought out, once the Soul returned to the Physical Body, the person would go insane.

For this reason, Qin Yang tested many times.

Finally, he found the most suitable training duration.

After two months of continuous training, the Soul could still maintain a relatively good state, but it was necessary to return to the Physical Body as soon as possible for a period of rest.

Otherwise, difficult-to-heal psychological trauma might occur.

To obtain this extreme data, Qin Yang consumed quite a few captured stick-wielders.

As Zhang Lingxiao would say, academic research naturally requires consumables.

“Their Souls are almost ready to come out.”

Qin Yang checked the time and said to Zhang Lingxiao, who was beside him.

Zhang Lingxiao's eyes gleamed with excitement, and he nodded:

“Your Majesty, your invention is truly unprecedented!”

“With this Secret Realm, won't our Shenzhou be able to mass-produce Monarch Tier and even Emperor Tier Professionals?”

“Theoretically, that's correct.”

Qin Yang shook his head and said, “However, where would so many breakthrough orbs come from? And for Emperor Tier, there are no breakthrough orbs available.”

Zhang Lingxiao suddenly understood, and laughed awkwardly, “Ah, I've never lacked breakthrough orbs, I forgot about that.”

Qin Yang's eyes lit up, and he asked, “Why have you never lacked them? You came from a time of war, when various resources were very scarce, weren't they?”

Zhang Lingxiao's expression changed, and after a moment of silence, he said, “Your Majesty, I've always been considering how to be frank with you about this.”

At this, he paused, a wicked smile playing on his lips: “breakthrough orbs can be refined from Professionals.”

Upon hearing this outrageous statement, Qin Yang didn't react much, merely nodding: “What's so hard to say about that? It's not my first day knowing you.”

Zhang Lingxiao said, “After all, it's something that goes against the Heavenly Dao. I was afraid of leading Your Majesty down the Demonic Path.”

“What is the Demonic Path? What is the Righteous Path?”

Qin Yang looked at Zhang Lingxiao: “I only know that the survival of the Human Race is above all else.”

With that, he looked up at the sky and murmured, “Among the Myriad Realms, there are many enemies. If you don't eat them, they will eat you.”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Lingxiao's profound eyes trembled.

It was as if a lonely specter of a hundred years had finally found a kindred spirit.

A thousand words converged into just one sentence: “Your Majesty, truly enlightened.”

Just then, Qin Yang's expression changed, his breathing quickened, and his eyes gleamed with joy.

Zhang Lingxiao asked, “What brings Your Majesty such joy?”

At this moment, the majestic Supreme Divine Emperor smiled like a young man.

He said, “My old man has returned.”

...[Retired Emperors: Father Emperor asked when the Imperial Son would advance to Human Emperor. The Imperial Son is actually already accelerating the pace for advancing to Human Emperor, but it cannot be too fast. After advancing to Human Emperor, Qin Yang will become ridiculously strong, thus requiring a larger world view to support it. If the groundwork is not laid well, it's easy for the story to collapse at that point, so this cannot be rushed~]