In the Eastern Domain of the Great Barrens, it was September.
Today marked the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Great Gan Dynasty, and the imperial capital was adorned with lanterns and decorations.
Everyone wore smiles, their faces beaming with joy.
Some cultivators conjured fireworks in the sky using magical arts, their colors vibrant and spectacular.
The common folk gazed upwards, admiring the blossoms in the heavens.
"Such beautiful fireworks, truly worthy of being created by His Majesty the Emperor!" the crowd marveled.
It was said that these "fireworks" were invented by the Emperor of Great Gan.
The current Emperor was a prodigy, beloved by his people, and the strongest being in the entire Eastern Domain.
Therefore, anything created by the Great Gan Emperor was highly sought after by its citizens.
Within the imperial palace.
A grand banquet was being held, with delicacies from mountains and seas, rare beasts, and heavenly treasures laid out on the tables.
Civil and military officials took their seats, toasting and clinking glasses, their faces alight with smiles, while their gazes were filled with immense respect for the dragon-robed youth seated at the head of the table.
The dragon-robed youth had sharp eyebrows, piercing eyes, chiseled features, and a face as fair as jade. He stood nearly two meters tall, imposing and upright.
A golden dragon robe draped over him, exuding an aura of authority that commanded the attention of the officials below.
The Emperor of Great Gan rose to his feet, and the officials below quickly followed suit, their movements swift as if rehearsed.
Xu Mo looked at the assembled officials and smiled faintly. He raised his wine cup and said, "My esteemed ministers, today marks the centennial of our Great Gan's founding, a day of great significance and worthy of celebration. I propose a toast to all of you!"
He tilted his head back and drained the wine in one gulp. A beautiful palace maid stepped forward to take the empty cup and refill it.
"Your subjects thank Your Majesty for the wine. May our Emperor live for ten thousand years, ten thousand years, and ten thousand times ten thousand years!"
The civil and military officials bowed in unison and then drank their wine in a single draught.
At this moment, even those who did not drink alcohol were filled with emotion and unhesitatingly downed the potent liquor.
This was a toast personally offered by His Majesty, a rare occasion that could be boasted about for a lifetime!
After finishing their wine, the ministers remained standing, awaiting the Emperor's nod before daring to sit.
Seeing this, Xu Mo chuckled, "My esteemed ministers, please make yourselves comfortable. Today, eat to your heart's content. There is no shortage of fine wine and delicacies, so do not hold back!"
"Your subjects thank Your Majesty for your generosity!" the officials bowed again.
Then, they took their seats, eagerly sampling the banquet's offerings.
These were heavenly treasures from the imperial palace, of immense value and rarely seen on ordinary days.
There was the True Fish caught from the Endless Sea; a bite of its succulent flesh could extend one's lifespan by ten years.
The Purple-Azure Ox hunted in the Demon Beast Mountains, its beef firm and springy, with a satisfying chew, perfect for pairing with wine.
The fine wines were brewed from various heavenly materials, fragrant and mellow, imbued with incredibly pure spiritual energy; a single sip could increase one's cultivation by five years.
Xu Mo sat at the head of the table, alone. In Great Gan, no one was qualified to share a seat with him.
Looking at the hundreds of civil and military officials below, Xu Mo felt a pang of emotion.
He had been in the Great Barrens, this foreign land, for over a hundred years and had grown accustomed to life here.
In his previous life, he had been inexplicably run over by a foreign-made new energy vehicle. Just before he died, he vaguely heard something about brake failure, and then his vision went black, and he lost consciousness.
When he awoke, he had transmigrated to the Great Barrens, becoming a cultivator of mediocre talent.
Upon learning that the Great Barrens was a cruel world of survival of the fittest, a world of cultivation, Xu Mo felt a great deal of panic, as his own aptitude was very ordinary, the kind that would be cannon fodder.
But soon, he ceased to be panicked, for like other transmigrators, he too had a golden finger gifted by Mother Earth to her wandering child.
Within him was a colossal bronze furnace. Anything placed inside could be refined and converted into cultivation, which would then be fed back to him.
This feedback had no limits and ignored any cultivation bottlenecks. As long as he had enough heavenly treasures to refine, his cultivation would continue to rise!
With the help of the Chaos Furnace, Xu Mo rose rapidly, becoming the strongest being in the Eastern Domain within a few decades.
At that time, the Eastern Domain was still under the control of the Great Hao Dynasty. The Emperor of Great Hao was decadent and tyrannical, and his people suffered immensely under his rule.
When the Emperor of Great Hao learned of Xu Mo's advancement to the Divine Rope Realm and his becoming the strongest in the Eastern Domain, he sent emissaries to recruit him, intending to bring him under his service.
However, Xu Mo flatly refused, which enraged the Emperor of Great Hao. He directly issued an order to kill Xu Mo and display his head at the city gate.
This act directly angered Xu Mo. He had merely wished to cultivate peacefully, but this was beyond what he could tolerate.
He directly joined forces with the rebel army, overthrew the Great Hao Dynasty, and in turn, severed the head of the Emperor of Great Hao and displayed it at the city gate!
Thus, Great Hao was reduced to ruins, and the Great Gan Dynasty emerged.
And Xu Mo, under the acclamation of everyone, inexplicably became the Emperor.
He hadn't wanted to at first; after all, what could be more carefree than being a rogue cultivator?
But after experiencing the life of an emperor, he found it truly satisfying!
All heavenly treasures and precious elixirs were prioritized for the Emperor's cultivation. In one month as Emperor, the Chaos Furnace refined more treasures than he had in the previous ten years.
A hundred years had passed, and his cultivation was far beyond the Divine Rope Realm; he had entered a higher tier, his strength unfathomable.
A female official, clad in a phoenix-patterned purple robe, with a graceful figure and ample curves, approached and stopped a meter away from Xu Mo.
"Your Majesty, there is a report from the northern front. The Great Jin Dynasty is showing signs of activity; they are reinforcing their troops at the front line, and it is likely they intend to provoke an incident," Gongsun Rou reported truthfully.
"Great Jin is beginning to reinforce?" Xu Mo frowned slightly but soon relaxed. "It's nothing to worry about. Great Jin is severely weakened by internal strife. They have only recently recovered some strength, and they won't initiate conflict anytime soon."
The Great Jin Dynasty was located in the Northern Domain of the Great Barrens, bordering the Great Gan Dynasty, and the two nations had always been in a state of hostility.
Xu Mo remembered something and looked at Gongsun Rou. "Is the former Crown Prince of Great Hao still in the imperial capital of Great Jin?"
"He is. Crown Prince Hao Jiao remains in Great Jin, attempting to use their strength to restore the Great Hao Dynasty. And Jin also intends to use Crown Prince Hao Jiao to attack us."
Gongsun Rou's fair face showed a grave expression. The Great Jin Dynasty was powerful and a formidable enemy!
Xu Mo nodded slightly. "The Empress of Great Jin is not easy to deal with. I heard she has already broken through the Divine Rope Realm and entered the Heaven-Treading Realm?"
Heaven-Treading Realm!? Gongsun Rou's heart sank upon hearing this.
If the Empress of Great Jin had truly entered the Heaven-Treading Realm, she would be the strongest in the Northern and Eastern Domains, and the situation would be dire for Great Gan.
Seeing Gongsun Rou's worried expression, Xu Mo smiled. "You don't need to worry too much. It's just the Heaven-Treading Realm; it's not like I can't handle it. Rest assured."
After a century of cultivation refined by the Chaos Furnace, Xu Mo's realm could be described as terrifying. A Heaven-Treading Realm cultivator was nothing before him.
"Your Majesty, have you broken through!?" Gongsun Rou looked at Xu Mo in shock, then recalled that His Majesty was already the top prodigy of the Eastern Domain and a strong cultivator in the Divine Rope Realm a hundred years ago.
Now, after a century, breaking through to the Heaven-Treading Realm would be a natural and expected progression.
Xu Mo nodded slightly, implicitly admitting it.
"That's wonderful! With this, we won't fear the threat from the Empress of Great Jin!" Gongsun Rou breathed a sigh of relief, her gaze towards Xu Mo filled with reverence and adoration, her face flushing slightly.
Xu Mo was accustomed to Gongsun Rou's demeanor and continued, "Are there any other matters?"
"Yes!" Gongsun Rou remembered something, her expression turning solemn.
"The mist over the Endless Sea to the east has, for some unknown reason, begun to dissipate. The garrison there sent fishing boats to investigate and found that the mist's devouring effect has also weakened."
Xu Mo sat up straighter, his expression astonished. "The mist over the Endless Sea is dissipating? Are you sure this is true?"
Gongsun Rou nodded earnestly. "It is true. Moreover, according to the garrison commander's estimation, the mist will completely recede within three days, revealing the true face of the Endless Sea!"
Xu Mo's expression immediately became grave. The Endless Sea was a taboo in the Great Barrens; any living being that approached, no matter how strong, would be devoured by the mist and perish, an incredibly bizarre phenomenon.
In the tens of thousands of years of the Great Barrens, no one had ever uncovered the secret of the Endless Sea.
But now, the mist of the Endless Sea was dissipating. Was this a good or bad omen? And what exactly lay beyond the Endless Sea?
Xu Mo had to treat this with utmost seriousness and instructed Gongsun Rou, "Have the eastern garrison increase their vigilance and constantly monitor the movements of the Endless Sea. Also, send reinforcements from the southern garrison, just in case!"
"Yes!" Gongsun Rou acknowledged the order and withdrew.
She understood the gravity of the situation. The Endless Sea was incredibly mysterious. What omen did this dissipation of mist portend?
...
Pacific Ocean.
On the calm surface of the sea, a massive cruise ship was sailing.
This was the cruise ship "Nix," the largest ship in the world, over four hundred meters long and weighing nearly two hundred thousand tons.
The ship carried hundreds of distinguished guests from all over the world, including people of East Asian, Caucasian, and Black descent.
On the deck stood an Eastern woman dressed in a pure white evening gown, her ample bosom prominently displayed, her features exquisite and stunningly beautiful.
Beside her stood a tall, handsome Western man, holding a glass of red wine with a gentlemanly air.
"Miss Lin, it's windy here. Why don't you come with me to the ballroom for a dance?" the man invited politely.
He looked at the Eastern woman before him, her gentle demeanor captivating him; it was something he rarely saw in Western aristocratic women.
Lin Xue frowned slightly. As an Easterner, she was more reserved. She felt a bit repulsed by the Western man's immediate invitation to dance.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Jack. I don't know how to dance, and I don't wish to."
She politely refused and simultaneously created some distance.
"Uh..."
Jack was taken aback, not expecting to be rejected.
On this cruise ship, he was among those with the most influential backgrounds, and he was also quite handsome.
Therefore, in his opinion, a woman would never refuse his invitation.
Being rejected now felt rather novel.
He intended to continue the conversation, but at that moment, a voice rang out.
"Sis, why are you here? Grandpa is looking for you!"
A boy of fifteen or sixteen years old jumped onto the deck and approached Lin Xue, simultaneously casting a wary glance at the Western man.
Lin Xue turned to look at her younger brother, a hint of confusion in her voice. "Grandpa is looking for me? Is something wrong?"
Lin Zihao said, "Grandpa said the weather is a bit strange, and a storm might be coming. He wants you to go back quickly and not stay on deck."
He gestured with his chin, indicating for his sister to look at the sea.
Lin Xue turned her head and only then noticed that, at some point, a layer of gray mist had appeared on the previously calm sea, creating a somber atmosphere.