by <unknown>
Such accidents were almost happening on a daily basis. No Immortal Cultivators felt that it was strange at all.
The metal scraps left by the tiny crystal bomb after it exploded had also been mixed in the collapsed rocks, never to be found again.
In the meantime, during the several minutes when the ultra-huge shield tunneling machine was buried in the pebbles, countless tiny "ants" crawled into the gaps of the ultra-huge shield tunneling machine through the cracks of the rocks, hacking its mainframe crystal processor and scanning and copying tremendous information.
Before the heavy tractors were in position, all of Xiaoming and Wenwen's clones had retreated safely without leaving any traces behind.
The working log had been retrieved!
"Let's go!"
Li Yao raised his thumb at the two kids, who immediately smiled as brilliantly as blossoming flowers.
They were about to retreat when deafening noises echoed from the other side of the tunnel, and the whole ground began to shake. Another engineering team that was full of assets, tractors, and shield tunneling machines had come to support the project.
The team was so overwhelming that it took them half an hour before they all reached the base.
The crazy excavation in the underground space was even more heated than before.
Everybody looked at each other, all feeling that time was burning quickly like the fuse on a powder keg.
Li Yao thought of something and suddenly asked, "Where do you say is the start point of this tunnel? We are now twenty thousand meters below the surface of the planet. This tunnel can't possibly be extended upward for twenty thousand meters all the way to the ground, right?"
It did make sense.
If the tunnel had been extended upward for twenty thousand meters, considering the slant, the total length of the tunnel could've been more than a hundred thousand meters, which would've been too heavy a load for the project.
Li Yao and the team simply went back and searched for the start point of the tunnel.
Instead of a hundred thousand meters, they explored forward for only some ten kilometers before they reached the start point of the tunnel, which was another huge camp and advance base.
Standing at the center of the advance base, which was carved with complicated rune arrays and glamorous spiritual stripes that were glowing incessantly, was a massive portal.
Chapter 2431: Two Imperiums |
The portal looked like an enormous palace in the shape of a pyramid and released pulsating, intense spiritual waves every five minutes. As the gold brilliance raised tiny ripples in the space, the crystal suit troops that had been armed to the teeth and the heavy tractors showed up. The half-enclosed cars of a lot of the heavy tractors were also carrying medium and small shield tunneling machines as well as the consumable parts of the large ones.
A few support troops were being gathered quickly and would probably take shape in a day or two before it was sent to the working stop more than ten kilometers away.
After observing in secret for a long time, Li Jialing couldn't help but say, "So, this is only a transfer station but not the original start point. It would be great if we can know where this giant, pyramid-shaped portal leads to exactly."
Li Yao whispered something to the kids. More than ten "tiny ants" immediately crawled to the advance base, but instead of approaching the portal, they simply gathered some stones, dust, and powder on the ground that had just been rolled over by the heavy tractors.
Li Yao divided the particles that they collected into two parts. One part was placed into a piece of magical equipment that could determine the elements of materials for tests, while he picked up the other part with his fingers and sniffed it carefully.
"Judging from the saltiness, humidity of the particles, and the metal elements they contain, they should be somewhere close to the temperate zone on the east coastline of the main continent of the capital planet. Also, there are quite a few mines of rare metals below the ground."
After saying that, Li Yao glanced at the result of the analysis of the magical equipment and grinned. "Yes, that is also what the test of the magical equipment says. The soil and dust that the tracks of the heavy tractors brought from the other side of the portal contain the elements of twenty-five rare metals. While the metals are not really precious, there are few places on the entire planet where all twenty-five metals can be found at the same time.
"Xiaoming, Wenwen, you must have the files of all the large mining and refining bases on the capital planet in your databases, right? Search and screen it with the following conditions.
"First of all, located on the east coastline of the main continent of the planet, thirty degrees, plus or minus five degrees, north latitude.
"Secondly, there are mines that contain the following twenty-five rare metals within a thousand kilometers or the massive magical equipment factories where such minerals are used. The mother lodes in the mines can't be too deep, or the metal particles wouldn't have floated to the air and dropped into the soil.
"Thirdly, I think the place can't be too far away from the few main garrisons of the Imperial Guards on the capital planet, but that may be questionable."
"Input the few conditions into the databases and see if there's any result now!"
Xiaoming and Wenwen both nodded their heads. While weird brilliance shot out of their eyes, their portal crystal processors projected interconnected rays of light that constituted a 3D light beam, displaying a narrow, long area on the main continent of the capital planet.
"This is…"
Li Yao felt that the area was rather familiar. Thinking quickly, he immediately realized where it was. "Isn't it where the royal palace and the Emperors' Mausoleum are at?"
There was a massive portal deep inside the royal palace or the Emperors' Mausoleum of the Imperium of True Human Beings, which directly led to a tunnel deep below the ground created by the Supreme Emperor or the Blood God in the past.
In the meantime, there was still no telling what kind of astounding secrets were hidden in the mysterious space at the end of the tunnel.
Such a discovery made Li Yao and the rest of them rather anxious.
All the intelligence that could be collected had been collected. The few of them were far from enough to compete with Blackstar the Great. It was time to jump out of the capital, gather all the forces that could be gathered, and reveal Wuying Qi's scheme before marching back unstoppably!
Li Yao and his companions retreated without a sound and returned to the narrow cracks next to the giant tunnel where they came from.
After they reached the place that the Immortal Cultivators couldn't sense them anymore, the two Colossi finally showed up again and moved all the way upward. Three days later, they saw the sunlight again!
At this moment, it had been more than a month since Li Yao and Long Yangjun's great battle against Blackstar the Great at the bottom of the Silver Moon Ocean.
In only one month, the sky of the capital had changed the color.
With his identity as "Blackstar the Great", Wuying Qi had won the support of the influential persons in the four Kurfürst families, including "Devilish Abyss" Li Jianyi and "Star Breaker" Song Huanzhen, and the loyalty of the young generals such as Dongfang Sheng again. As a result, the reformists were ten times more powerful than before.
On the four Kurfürst families' side, in only one day, they lost Prime Minister Dongfang Wang and "Silver Fox" Li Jiande. It was like the sky had half collapsed. They were showing the trend of division.
Wuying Qi conquered the coalition fleet that was sent to the Silver Moon Ocean to hunt Dongfang Wang through thunderous methods. After the fleet was mixed with his own Deep Sea Fleet, the brand-new central troops of the reformists were formed.
The Imperial Guards who were naturally on his side, based on the central troops, became the enormous skeleton and the flesh and blood. Even though the Imperial Guards might be too weak to fight the elite troops of the four Kurfürst
families in space, they were more than enough for the battles within the atmosphere in their hometown.
Besides, Blackstar the Great was watching them in person!
Although the battles might not have been one-sided, the nobles who had lost two Kurfürsten consecutively were certainly not determined to fight on.
The capital was not their own base at all. Faced with the drastic changes, it seemed a better option for them to run back to their hometowns, gather the troops and resources, and even recall the expedition armies that were still in the frontline against the Covenant Alliance, before they made thorough plans to deal with the enemy.
Just like that, in only one month, the reformists became the new master of the capital.
Emperor Shenwu's demise, on the other hand, was also spread to the entire capital and the whole universe through the open and secret channels.
The reformists regarded the four Kurfürst families as the criminals who killed their monarch, swearing that they would get to the bottom of the truth and avenge His Majesty. In the unusual period when the truth was not out and revenge was not sought, the current Queen Li Linghai and the future Empress Dowager of the Imperium became the regent to clean, reestablish, and expand the Council of Elders.
The claim to the supreme throne could always be decided after a new Council of Elders that was just, bright, and clean was born.
"Five hundred years! The Imperium has been sinking in darkness for five hundred years! It is time to reform the Imperium and bring justice and light to all the people!"
On the official level, the reformists shouted such an ambiguous slogan.
But in private, a lot of zealous reformists, as well as the young officers and low-ranked Immortal Cultivators who used to be hopelessly suppressed, had already declared that the Kurfürst system should be abolished and all the glories should go to His Majesty and the Council of Elders.
In many half-official orders and announcements, the term "illegitimate Kurfürsten" had shown up a lot, too.
By the so-called "illegitimate Kurfürst", did they mean that the current Kurfürsten did not deserve their places and should be replaced by somebody else, or did they mean that the title of "Kurfürst" should not exist at all?
The result probably had to be decided by the starships, the Colossi, and the crystal suits of the two parties.
Faced with the aggressive reformists, the four Kurfürst families naturally did not give in but responded immediately.
However unfavorable the situation in the capital was, the territories of the Kurfürst families were basically intact even though the "Astounding Thunder Fleet" had been nailed to the heartland of the Li family.
They were the time-tested noble families that had controlled the Imperium for five hundred years after all. Despite all the problems they had, including the lack of leadership, the disagreement among the families, the outbreaks of strikes and student movements in their territories, the instability of the young officers and the low-level Immortal Cultivators… the four Kurfürst families had not suffered any critical hit yet.
Now that the reformists suddenly turned aggressive after part of the unstable factors were separated from them, the four Kurfürst families actually became more united than ever.
Naturally, they accused the reformists of regicide and even narrowed the target down to Li Linghai, the leader of the reformists. They claimed that Li Linghai was the real murderer and described the whole process of the murder so vividly as if they had seen it with their own eyes.
Very ironically, while the "proofs" of the four Kurfürst families were all fabricated, they were in fact not wrong.
Now that Li Linghai was guilty of regicide, she was certainly unqualified to be the queen of the Imperium or the Empress Dowager in the future.
The new emperor could not be selected from the princes that were born by Li Linghai or decided by the "illegitimate Council of Elders". Instead, the glorious tradition of the past five hundred years should be observed, and it should be the four Kurfürst families who made the call.
The nobles had found quite a few suitable candidates from the peripheral bloodlines of the royal family. They were still doing the final screening and exchange of interests. There was no doubt that a new emperor would soon claim the throne in a certain Sector outside of the capital under the support of the four Kurfürst families.
After that, the army of nobles loyal to the new emperor would naturally march at the rebels lurking in the capital thunderously and destructively, carrying out the righteous execution on the "illegitimate regent" Li Linghai who had committed the unpardonable crime of regicide.
As a result, there were two highest authorities of the Imperium of True Human Beings at the center of the cosmos, one being the "Reform Committee of the Council of Elders", and the other being the coalition army made of the traditional nobles centered at the four Kurfürst families.
Both parties claimed to be the rightful government of the Imperium of True Human Beings. While at loggerheads with each other, they also sent tremendous orders, appointments, and warrants to the Immortal Cultivators in the entire universe, hoping to win more Immortal Cultivators who were still wavering over to their own side.
Chapter 2432: In the Name of the Imperium! |
When the two "highest authorities of the Imperium of True Human Beings" were about to collide, a lot of people of the Kurfürst families, as well as the notable nobles and great merchants who were deeply associated with them, were still lingering on the capital that was under the control of the reformists.
The capital was the heart of the Imperium after all. Any noble or sect that was slightly capable would deploy an office in the capital to claim their interests. There were also a lot of lobbying groups whose livelihood depended on the Council of Elders. Tremendous descendants of the noble families were studying in the hundred advanced academies, too.
Blackstar the Great took action simply too fast. In only three days, through "Devilish Abyss" Li Jianyi, "Star Breaker" Song Huanzhen, and other experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage, he had won over quite a few fleets of the four Kurfürst families and launched unexpected attacks on the armies of the nobles that were stationed in the space fortresses in the Empyreal Terminus Sector.
By the time the confused nobles realized what was going on, the fleets of the reformists had surrounded the atmosphere of the capital planet and began to separate and swallow the remaining troops in the vast area of the Empyreal Terminus Sector.
In the turbulent month, the most popular saying in the Imperium was "in the name of the Imperium".
For the big nobles as well as the magnates and merchants who were associated with them, those words were like a death sentence.
"In the name of the Imperium, the accounts as well as the assets of your sect in the capital will be frozen for military usages. Please rest assured. After the cause to reform the Imperium is completed, they will be returned to your sect with interests!"
"In the name of the Imperium, in the name of His Majesty, and in the name of all the people of the Imperium, we are going to carry out the sacred sentence on you, a shameless traitor who betrayed the Imperium and the civilization of mankind. Die now, traitor!"
"In the name of the Imperium, for the great cause to reform the Imperium, all the Immortal Cultivators in your families whose spiritual roots are awakened are now recruited for this sacred war. This is your ultimate glory. All the Immortal Cultivators on the list, please gather and come with us!"
The Imperial Guards, the low-level Immortal Cultivators, and the young officers congregated into a furious, unstoppable torrent that cleaned the forces of the big nobles in the Imperium ruthlessly. Similar orders were echoing everywhere in the capital every day.
All the assets in the noble families, which had a history of hundreds of years, were frozen and confiscated. Even the crystals, magical equipment, and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that the families kept in private were found without leaving out any. All the Immor
tal Cultivators were brought away and tied to the tank of the reformists after being dispersed.
For the nobles who were relatively "docile", the reformists would give them a document that had the seal of the "Reform Committee of the Council of Elders", solemnly swearing that their assets would be returned with benefits on the day of success.
Of course, considering that those Immortal Cultivators were all sent to the most dangerous battlefields, few might be able to survive a couple of months. By then, even if the Reform Committee of the Council of Elders really abided by the promise, it remained to be seen who would claim their heritages in the end.
The situation was certainly not in their favor. Many quick-witted and determined nobles insisted on refusing the paperwork of the Reform Committee of the Council of Elders but "donated" all their belongings to "the great cause to reform the Imperium" just so that the glory of the Imperium a thousand years ago could be restored sooner.
Those nobles immediately became the models that the reformists praised relentlessly. The descendants of their families were moved from the most dangerous, cannon-fodder troops to the relatively safe garrisons and logistical troops. Also, they were given another promise—in the war against the four Kurfürst families, once the enemy was completely crushed, they would have their fair share in the astronomical trophies, too.
The wealth they lost today would return in double by then.
It was a natural-born skill of the Immortal Cultivators to shift sides.
After a few examples were set, the reformists soon combined most of the strength of the nobles in the capital.
Of course, not all the nobles trapped in the capital were as wise and generous.
Many nobles could not bear to give up the wealth they had accumulated through hard work for hundreds of years, and some did not believe that the insignificant reformists could accomplish their purpose. They resisted the Reform Committee of the Council of Elders to the end.
