Chapter 999: Stressed Elder Shui, If We Can’t Have It, No One Can, The Hundred-Year Ten Thousand Immortals Plan! |
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“Before now, I never told the truth, but I’ll tell you now.”
“The dark zone really does hide a path Great Han can use for development—one that’s unique, and the most promising path out there. But the cost is too great, it goes against the will of heaven, so I’ve kept this secret buried in my heart all this time!!”
Everyone immediately stood up.
A flurry of questions erupted.
“What is it, Elder Shui?!”
“Tell us, don’t keep us in suspense!!”
“With Great Han’s current predicament, if we don’t want to rely on outsiders, we have to make our own breakthroughs!!!”
“What harm to heaven or reason could there be? Say it, and we’ll discuss it together, figure out if it’s usable or not!”
Because no matter how much the surrounding forces stirred up trouble, Great Han always had the confidence to deal with it. Not necessarily a guaranteed victory, but at least the hope of winning.
But facing a force like the Lu Family, which had entrenched itself in the land for tens of thousands of years?
Great Han couldn’t withstand that.
Yet that wouldn’t make Great Han back down.
So Elder Shui said, “Among it is a formation called the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation. As the name implies, it uses ten thousand immortals as its foundation base, lifting the formation upon them. It possesses the power to destroy heaven and earth, and when cultivated to its peak, it even has the ability to elevate Great Han into ascension.”
“That ‘ten thousand’ is a fictional number, a quantitative definition. The exact amount is still unknown.”
“Back then, the one hundred thousand Expeditionary Force was trapped by this Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, eternally imprisoned within it. Later, I went to see them more than once.”
“Who would have thought—every single one of them had become monsters with barely any reason left.”
“But fortunately, they could still regain their senses from time to time, communicating with me. Over the years, I’ve been focused on cracking the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, trying to save them, but all my efforts have been in vain.”
“However, I did unlock more secrets of the formation in the process.”
“Through my exchanges with them, I discovered that the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation would be more accurately called the Ten Thousand Demons Formation.”
“The remaining traces and ruins all prove that, once upon a time, the entities holding up the formation within it were mostly not human, but rather spirits of heaven and earth—the so-called demonic spirits.”
“Right now, the one hundred thousand Expeditionary Force have already replaced the formation’s foundation within it. As long as we can capture enough, and strong enough, demons and monsters to throw in as blood sacrifices, we can restart the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation!”
“When that happens, we can not only solve Great Han’s predicament, and stand firm against the Ji Continent Lu Family, forcing them to apologize and lower their heads for today’s attitude, but we can also open an extremely high ceiling for Great Han—a nationwide ascension!!!!”
Elder Shui’s words terrified everyone present.
They never imagined that the terrifying dark zone hid such a secret.
Even more shocking was that Elder Shui had kept this secret buried for so long.
Suddenly, the dove faction leader asked, “So… those one hundred thousand Expeditionary Force in the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation… what’s your relationship with them…?”
Elder Shui paused for a moment. “Before, I led them directly. In the future, I will still lead them directly.”
“This… is the proof.”
“After I die, my soul will return to the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation!!!”
“When I take my place, the one hundred thousand Expeditionary Force will once again descend upon the world. But by then, they will no longer have human identities—they will be monsters, eating raw flesh and blood, emerging into the light, burdened with resentment. Invincible is true, but wreaking havoc on the world is also true.”
In that moment, Elder Shui’s weight rose to an unimaginable height.
The caliber of the one hundred thousand Expeditionary Force needed no elaboration. Before the military and 749 had split, Elder Shui’s one hundred thousand Expeditionary Force was the most terrifying force within Great Han’s borders.
It was an elite guard chosen from blood and fire.
Its members were just like the friends around Lu Ding.
They were the strong ones, the friends, the brothers who had followed Elder Shui as he gradually built up his power.
Among them were figures no less remarkable than Yan Feifan, Bai Hemen, or Huangfu Lingyun by Lu Ding’s side.
Yan Feifan and the others followed Lu Ding.
And these one hundred thousand Expeditionary Force followed Elder Shui, carving out territory after territory for Great Han.
Whenever a prolonged battle seemed unwinnable, Elder Shui would lead the charge to capture the enemy leader, and the one hundred thousand Expeditionary Force would charge out to break the formation.
That was why Elder Shui was now covered in injuries, confined to a wheelchair, with missing limbs.
It was also because of this that, when Elder Shui said those one hundred thousand Expeditionary Force would still be under his command in the future—wielding such terrifying power—no one present doubted Elder Shui’s loyalty and devotion to Great Han.
Anyone else might betray Great Han, might sell it out, but Elder Shui never could.
Of course, the bond with the one hundred thousand Expeditionary Force and the friendship with its members also meant that, while they were trapped inside, Elder Shui was cursed by them.
That was their call.
The mark on Elder Shui’s chest was the physical manifestation of their longing.
If Zhan Tingzhou had been here, he would definitely have remembered that, in his past life, it was precisely after Elder Shui died in battle that Great Han launched the nationwide ascension plan.
And in this life, because of Lu Ding’s situation…
This lonely little old man had become somewhat stressed.
He had already lost the friends, family, and brothers within the one hundred thousand Expeditionary Force. He didn’t want to lose Lu Ding because of anything else, or fail to have his back, just like back then until now, when he couldn’t save the one hundred thousand Expeditionary Force trapped in the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation.
Helplessness had become his greatest failure.
This time, he wanted to bet everything!!!!
In exchange for a towering shadow behind Lu Ding, so that as long as Lu Ding didn’t want to, no one could force him to do anything!!!
Elder Shui had spent his entire life for Great Han. He had lost everyone in the one hundred thousand Expeditionary Force for Great Han. He had regret, but no resentment. But this time, he wanted to do it for himself—for that heart of his that didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes.
Everyone present fell silent.
From those few words, they could sense a tidal wave.
Although Great Han had been capturing harmful demons and monsters within its borders before…
But…
The meaning here was different.
If they truly launched the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation plan, Great Han’s actions afterward would become frenzied. In the Second Circle, demons and monsters were deeply connected. Capturing criminal demons and capturing demons for blood sacrifices were two completely different definitions.
Apart from Great Han, many other forces held very ambiguous attitudes toward demonic spirits.
But the ceiling offered by the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation was fatally attractive, hard for anyone to resist.
However, Elder Shui’s description of the formation as a bottomless pit of fictional numbers was truly a massive undertaking. No one knew exactly how many would be needed.
The hawk faction remained silent. The military pondered.
In the end, it was the dove faction leaders who spoke first, more decisively than anyone. The dove faction wasn’t lacking in bloodlust—they just tended to drag their feet under normal circumstances, overthinking, burdened by complicated considerations.
“Use it!! Why not use it!! Great Han has no foundation. The forces that ascended in ancient times all had their own agendas. Great Han won’t go begging for help from others. The only one we can rely on is ourselves!!!”
“The whole world is forcing us. Everyone is isolating us!!!”
“Then we have to do something that will make them all terrified!!!”
“We just want a home of our own in this place, our own territory, to protect our own people, our own citizens!!!”
“We are not wrong!!!”
“Why is it that everyone, every force, can develop on their own, can have their own characteristics, but Great Han can’t? Why does Great Han have to be targeted? They can tolerate demonic cultivators, embrace spirits, yet join hands to exclude Great Han. They may have their concerns, but we also have reasons we must fight for. National development is like rowing upstream—if we don’t advance, we fall back!!!”
“All of this is forced on us by them. If they would let us stay, let us grow, let us be content with our current state and live our own lives, if they wouldn’t disrupt the plan for the new city of Yujing, we would never do something like this!!!”
“Since they won’t give us a way to live and want to trap Great Han to death, then if we can’t have it, no one can!!!”
“Issue the order—Document Number One, the Hundred-Year Ten Thousand Immortals Plan. Nationwide demon sealing, fight for a bright tomorrow, nationwide ascension!!!!”
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Thank you to user 19133... for the Gift King. I was a bit stuck, but I finally wrote out the previous setup, the origin and beginning of the nationwide ascension. Continuing with extra chapters tomorrow.