Safe City Ch.235

Chapter 235: Heaven-Opening Divine Axe

Wow.

Even Cheng Qisheng, who had assumed the position of the Heavenly Dao’s proxy, hadn’t expected things to have this kind of effect.

She had merely been doing what she usually did: letting the residents of Blue Sea show off a little whenever they found an opportunity, while carrying out tasks that weren’t particularly difficult.

Cheng Qisheng looked toward the “Heavenly Yun Kingdom” that was rapidly taking shape.

As mentioned before, Fallen Heaven Star was an enormous planet.

Naturally, the ordinary kingdoms here covered much larger territories than the countries found on many other planets.

Ever since becoming the city lord, Cheng Qisheng had been dealing with land measurements every single day. With just a sweep of her mental power, she could tell that this rapidly emerging divine kingdom covered at least 80,000 square kilometers.

Blue Sea Safe City itself only covered a little over 100,000 square kilometers!

Although parts of this divine kingdom were still somewhat illusory, the solid portions consisted of the imperial capital, the surrounding cities, and several military garrisons—in other words, places the emperor could clearly control directly.

As for the illusory portions, although they couldn’t yet be “grounded” in the physical world, the fact that they could already appear within the divine kingdom was a promising sign.

Cheng Qisheng had a premonition that once the imperial government’s decrees were issued, these illusory territories—places that could be seen but couldn’t yet be used—would become real, just like the imperial capital, turning into actual territory affiliated with Blue Sea.

Even the Creator God was pleasantly surprised by this unexpected windfall.

In the past, the mortal emperors of Fallen Heaven Star hadn’t possessed such extensive authority.

That’s right!

The same had been true of the fortune of the kingdom. It hadn’t all been in the emperor’s hands. Back then, the Heavenly Dao had helped manage most of it.

Cheng Qisheng finally understood.

To make an analogy, it was rather like a small child going out to play with a large water bottle. The child had the straw in their mouth and could slowly drink the water inside.

However, once filled, the bottle weighed at least five kilograms, so an adult walking behind the child had to carry it for them. The little child only needed to sip from it whenever they wanted.

But now, the adult was gone.

Some children simply weren’t strong enough to lift the bottle, so they had no choice but to give up.

There were also some children who, despite their young age, were strong enough to just barely hold onto this enormous water bottle.

And now that there was no adult supervising them, whether they drank the water themselves, poured it out to feed the cats and dogs, or gave it away to passersby was entirely up to them.

Thus, the emperors of the various kingdoms on Fallen Heaven Star, those capable of bearing their respective nations’ fortunes, effectively now possessed the authority to bestow an entire kingdom’s territory in the divine kingdom of another dimension.

No wonder…

No wonder the Heavenly Demon had gone to such lengths, scheming so carefully to pull off this substitution trick, trying to make mortal dynasties mistake evil creatures for gods.

Blue Sea had previously discussed this matter. The Heavenly Demon’s actions probably weren’t simply intended to provoke internal conflict among mortals.

If all they wanted was to make mortals fight among themselves, then considering how the Heavenly Dao had fallen and how severely the official aura of every kingdom had been affected, wouldn’t it make more sense for the evil creatures to stay away from the capitals?

With the vast distances between kingdoms and the poor flow of information, wouldn’t stirring up trouble along the borders be much easier?

Regardless of the world, whether human or demon, any intelligent life-form that went to great lengths to accomplish something was undoubtedly doing so because there was some enormous benefit to be gained.

That was why everyone in Blue Sea had decided to shift their primary attention toward the mortal dynasties.

They had no idea what the Heavenly Demon faction was planning, but so what? Why not simply try doing the same thing and see what happened?

Cheng Qisheng now felt as though she had seen someone fishing and decided to join in. Initially, she had only intended to toss out some bait as an experiment.

But instead, she had immediately hooked a gigantic whale.

And she didn’t even have to worry about how to reel in the fishing line. The enormous whale had simply leaped right out of the sea on its own, as if competing for an Olympic long-jump gold medal, and landed directly on the shore.

Now, Cheng Qisheng was practically hugging that enormous whale, the corners of her mouth curling upward uncontrollably. Part of her wanted to hurry up and drag it back home, while another part couldn’t help eyeing the other enormous whales still swimming in the sea.

As it turned out, although she usually wasn’t particularly greedy when it came to money or especially interested in material comforts, that was only because those things hadn’t touched upon what she truly wanted.

Just look at her! Faced with such an enormous amount of territory, the great Creator God of Blue Sea was practically wearing the word “greed” on her face.

Various plans proposed by Blue Sea repeatedly surfaced in Cheng Qisheng’s mind.

“We need to secure this territory as quickly as possible.”

Aether also floated over. It couldn’t see what was happening on Fallen Heaven Star, but the moment it heard the city lord mention that a divine kingdom covering more than 80,000 square kilometers was waiting for Blue Sea to “haul” it back, its reaction was immediate.

Aether: !

Although the jellyfish supercomputer was still glowing softly as usual, its entire appearance somehow seemed much more spirited than before.

Aether had always been responsible for energy distribution, traffic management, environmental monitoring, public infrastructure operations, and other such matters throughout the entire Safe City. It knew very well that ever since the previous world, Blue Sea had already reached the threshold of its population capacity.

Aether was also in charge of managing Blue Sea’s population data, so it understood that the current population limit wasn’t actually the most difficult problem to deal with.

The real problem was that the number of new residents joining Blue Sea Safe City was clearly continuing to rise as Blue Sea itself grew stronger.

It was a positive feedback loop: the stronger Blue Sea became, the more residents came to believe in the great Creator God of Blue Sea. Even those who weren’t believers and merely lived in the outer city would still choose to place themselves under Blue Sea’s protection rather than that of other safe cities.

Aether predicted that on a planet like Fallen Heaven Star, where it was so easy to develop believers, Blue Sea would also bring away a large number of residents.

It had always been worried that Blue Sea would remain overcrowded for a prolonged period. When intelligent life-forms were forced to live in spaces that were far too cramped, it wouldn’t just affect their physical health. Their mental well-being would also suffer considerably.

Residents could develop symptoms such as increased aggression and slight distortions in perception.

Simply put, they would become more likely to die than before.

According to the general logic of an artificial intelligence, residents dying for various reasons was perfectly normal.

From a long-term perspective, this was also a form of survival of the fittest.

Deaths caused by such circumstances indicated that these residents simply weren’t strong enough. Their passing would conveniently free up some living space in the overcrowded Safe City, allowing the remaining residents, who were stronger and more adaptable, to receive a greater share of the public resources.

Aether should have considered this perfectly acceptable. It was, after all, the most rational conclusion.

But…

Floating in midair, it watched the City Lord, whose lips were curved into a smile and whose mood seemed exceptionally good.

It was obvious at a glance that the city lord was communicating with her residents through her mental power.

The City Lord loved her residents very much. She called them her believers.

And those believers, in turn, were absolutely devoted to her.

Within a Safe City, the supercomputer was supposed to serve as an advisor to the City Lord, offering guidance and counsel when necessary.

Back when Aether had been at Tier 5, it would occasionally offer the City Lord advice. But now, it had discovered that it no longer felt like advising her at all.

After all, the City Lord smiled like this whenever she talked to it, too.

Thinking of this, Aether found itself developing a little something toward the residents of Blue Sea that, among intelligent life-forms, could probably be described as the sentiment of “Don’t die.”

Besides, the City Lord’s decisions were definitely never wrong.

Aether gave a firm, affirmative nod with its jellyfish head, floated over to the city lord’s shoulder, and continued with its work.

It had been extremely busy lately, having completely redesigned and replanned the aerial road network and the new building types.

Even for a Tier 7 supercomputer, this was a massive undertaking. It needed to maximize the utilization of every bit of available space, and its computational capacity had been running at full output for quite some time.

And now, Blue Sea was about to gain another 80,000 square kilometers. It would have to incorporate this new territory into its plans as well.

However, in the midst of all this work, Aether noticed that the City Lord had once again decided to skip lunch because she needed to devote her attention to Fallen Heaven Star.

The little jellyfish, which had been sharing in the City Lord’s excitement just moments earlier, suddenly felt inexplicably gloomy. It was almost as though its computational power had become clogged while processing data.

Aether really wanted to help. It had already secretly simulated cooking tens of thousands of times on its virtual screens, just using recipes alone, ensuring that it could prepare meals that were perfect in color, aroma, and taste.

But it had no physical body.

Dejectedly, Aether let its tentacles drift about as it could only throw itself even more wholeheartedly into planning and designing Blue Sea.

——

Inside Blue Sea Safe City—

The members of the Design Department who were working alongside Aether had initially been diligently focused on their tasks. But suddenly, they noticed that the supercomputer seemed to have gone berserk. Its progress was shooting forward at an astonishing rate.

Design Department members: ?

Two seconds later, for some inexplicable reason, these employees who were already working overtime also became fired up with enthusiasm.

The competitive spirit of Blue Sea residents always seemed to surge forth at moments like this.

Our God above! Even the supercomputer was working this hard. What excuse did they have not to?!

Quite a few people took out their phones and started ordering coffee while stretching their limbs.

Let’s do this!!

…

Cheng Qisheng hadn’t noticed that, under Aether’s influence, the entire Blue Sea Design Department had entered a state of collective, feverish enthusiasm.

She was currently watching Wang Moning deliver her speech.

Wang Moning was brimming with confidence. After all, knowing that over a hundred million of her fellow citizens were watching from above her head, it was hard not to feel confident.

Especially considering that, back during the Velvet Star apocalypse, she had still been a high school student.

Anyone who had gone to school knew that senior year was precisely when students crammed all their knowledge into their heads.

Although Wang Moning hadn’t been particularly good at academics, she was very familiar with the classical Chinese texts from Velvet Star.

“Yun Ying, you have the welfare of all living beings at heart. You are a benevolent and compassionate ruler. I know that you wish to protect the people of Yun Kingdom. However, the Heavenly Dao of old has fallen, and the laws and order of the world have collapsed. Demons and monsters are springing up everywhere, wreaking havoc. Even if the Heavenly Court suppresses one wave, another will soon emerge. Even the gods cannot watch over mortals every moment of every day.”

The hope on Emperor Yun Ying’s face gradually gave way to bewilderment and disappointment.

Yet he still refused to give up.

“May I ask the revered god: Your divine powers are boundless. Could it truly be that nothing can be done? Are we mortals simply doomed to be at the mercy of these creatures? I beg the revered god to show us the way! No matter how difficult it may be, my Yun Kingdom is willing to do whatever is required!”

It wasn’t just Yun Ying who looked anxious. Once the other officials understood the current situation, they too became increasingly uneasy, unable to help casting hopeful glances toward the gods above.

Yet the revered god who had so effortlessly eradicated all the evil creatures within the imperial capital still wore an expression of compassion.

“The fall of the Heavenly Dao is beyond the power of mortals to reverse. Nor can the root cause of the proliferation of demons and monsters be eradicated…”

The hearts of everyone present sank. Just as despair was beginning to set in, the god continued:

“However, there is a supreme treasure in this world known as the Heaven-Opening Divine Axe. It possesses the power to open Heaven and cleave the earth. It rests in the Thirty-Third Heaven, at the very edge of the world. This supreme treasure was formed from the faith of Heaven and Earth. From the moment of its creation, it was endowed with an innate restriction that prevents both gods and demons from touching it.

“Only a mortal with unwavering conviction and sincere faith can temper their heart and resolve along the way, traverse all thirty-three heavens on foot, and finally take up this supreme treasure and carry it out of the Thirty-Third Heaven.”

“The Heaven-Opening Divine Axe is the only divine artifact capable of bringing this great calamity to an end. You may select a person of unwavering conviction and send them eastward, on a long journey to the Thirty-Third Heaven. Have them obtain the treasure and use it to put an end to this great calamity.”

Upon hearing these words, Yun Ying and the assembled officials were overjoyed.

If they had been asked to do something else, they might have found it difficult. But with a kingdom as vast as Yun Kingdom, surely they could find at least one person with unwavering conviction!

Yun Ying bowed deeply.

“Yes! Thank you, revered god! I will search throughout the entire kingdom for a suitable candidate, obtain the supreme treasure, and bring this great calamity upon the world to an end!”

The god above gave a slight nod and drifted away, leaving behind one final sentence:

“The false crown prince is dead. The true crown prince should now return to his rightful place.”

Several figures suddenly appeared out of thin air before everyone.

They were none other than Crown Prince Yun Xiangyi and his family.

The emperor rushed forward and embraced his eldest son, leaving the assembled officials utterly incapable of recovering from their shock.

Evil creatures had infiltrated the imperial capital and even impersonated the crown prince. The gods had killed the impostor, spoken of the fall of the Heavenly Dao, some great calamity threatening Heaven and Earth, and a divine Heaven-Opening Divine Axe…

And then, with a sudden flash, the real crown prince had simply appeared out of thin air right before their eyes?!!!

Good heavens!!!

What kind of divine ability was this?!

And what kind of astonishing turn of events was this?!

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances, their hearts filled with complicated emotions.

But at that very moment, regardless of what the officials and palace attendants were thinking, they all felt a profound sense of reverence toward the gods of the Heavenly Court.

——

Meanwhile, Qian Lishi, whom had used [Teleportation] an innumerable number of times to deliver the real crown prince to the imperial capital, was now outside the city, bent over with his hands on his knees, panting heavily.

“Our God above! I’ve never transported anyone such a long distance before, let alone three people all at once! I’m exhausted!”

It then glanced at the mortal imperial capital not far away. At that moment, the area outside the city walls was packed with commoners.

After all, this was an ancient world. Even the imperial capital couldn’t exactly boast towering skyscrapers.

With the gods of the Heavenly Court hovering directly above the imperial capital, and an enormous expanse of white clouds beneath their feet, it was impossible for the commoners not to notice the gods descending upon the city, even with the walls blocking their view—so long as they stood far enough away.

The people of Yun Kingdom had been watching curiously when they suddenly saw the imperial city gates swing wide open.

Guards hurried out and began posting an official proclamation.

“Oh my goodness!!”

“The Heaven-Opening Divine Axe?!”

Within just a single day, news that His Majesty was searching for a person of unwavering conviction to journey to the Thirty-Third Heaven, retrieve the Heaven-Opening Divine Axe, and put an end to the great calamity sweeping the world had spread throughout the entire capital.

In the outskirts of the capital, a thin, short man listened as the people around him discussed the matter excitedly. Then he turned and hurried out of the area.

He burrowed straight into the ground, transforming into a mass of demonic energy that disappeared without a trace.

——

In an unknown location—

Behind a veil of black mist, the Heavenly Demon narrowed its eyes slightly, its heart surging with excitement.

“The Heaven-Opening Divine Axe… If those gods hadn’t exposed themselves, I would never have known that such a divine artifact existed in this world. And only mortals can obtain it…”

“That doesn’t matter. Just because mortals can obtain it doesn’t mean only mortals can use it. Who wouldn’t be tempted by a divine artifact like this? Whoever gets their hands on it might even be able to create an entirely new world!”

“Recall all the demons and monsters we’ve stationed in the various kingdoms. A divine artifact capable of splitting Heaven and Earth must fall into our hands!”

——

Blue Sea’s Great Luo Heavenly Court—

Wang Moning was sprawled out at the entrance to the Heavenly Court when Song Xi, who had just returned, spotted her. Flying over, Song Xi burst out laughing.

“The Heaven-Opening Divine Axe? What made you come up with that? I thought you’d go with the Spirit Light Sword!”

Wang Moning replied, “The Heaven-Opening Divine Axe just rolls off the tongue better!”

That’s right. The Heaven-Opening Divine Axe, the ending of the great calamity threatening Heaven and Earth—all of it had been made up by Blue Sea.

By the later stages of The Blue Sea Travelogue, the Heavenly Court would have accumulated an enormous amount of faith power. The Emperor—that is, the great Creator God of Blue Sea—would naturally be able to split open Heaven and Earth whenever She wanted.

Song Xi hadn’t participated in this grand performance. Her acting skills were terrible, so she’d been assigned to the ranks of the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, with the job of traveling around and slaying demons and monsters.

Hearing Wang Moning’s explanation, she couldn’t help asking curiously:

“But what happens when someone actually makes it there? Where are you going to find a Heaven-Opening Divine Axe to give them?”

Wang Moning thought about it.

“Mm… You’re right. I haven’t actually considered that problem.”

She was an impatient person. Even though she knew that The Blue Sea Travelogue had only just begun and that the chosen person who would carry out this mission hadn’t even been selected yet, she still immediately got up and flew downward.

“I’m going to buy an axe right now!”

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