"An unknown special substance? But this stuff has such a strong spiritual essence, almost like a microscopic life-form." Angel Yan looked at the wisp of pale blue substance she had extracted from her hand.
From this wisp of substance, Angel Yan could sense that it contained a powerful spiritual essence.
Then she glanced at Ye Chen below, growing even more curious about him.
Below.
After Ye Chen stepped in, the people who had still been clinging to life woke one after another, their organs repaired.
Seeing this, the family members standing guard nearby grew excited and wept with joy.
They had looked up at hope from the depths of despair.
Now that their hope had come true, the sudden shift from utter grief to overwhelming joy proved too much for some of the elderly, and they fainted on the spot.
The scene descended into chaos once again, and the medical staff nearby hurried to help.
Seeing this, Ye Chen gave instructions to the officials waiting nearby, then turned and left.
A week later.
Silver Chain City, Yanhuang Empire.
A huge stone monument stood in the central square, its surface densely covered with names.
These were all the people who had died in the incident.
In front of the monument stood a massive altar, and Sumari's corpse lay unmistakably upon it.
At that moment, official staff holding cameras were stationed all around the central square, broadcasting the event live across the country.
Standing in the air above the square, Ye Chen looked down at the endless crowd. They stared at Sumari on the altar, their faces filled with hatred.
Looking down at the crowd, Ye Chen began, "Seven days ago, an extraterrestrial fiend descended upon Silver Chain City and committed unspeakable bloodshed. As a result, 327 law-enforcement officers in Feng Hong District died on the spot, and 88,655 Imperial Citizens lost their lives..."
Ye Chen's voice carried across the city to its people. Through the surrounding equipment, it also reached every corner of the empire and every household.
Hearing the figures one by one, everyone flew into a rage. Ever since the Yanhuang Empire had been founded, its citizens had learned about the state of the world and compared their country with others. Though they had never said much aloud, they were immensely proud deep down.
After all, their country was the strongest in the world—without exception.
And when war broke out and one report of victory after another reached the empire, that pride reached its peak.
They believed in one thing: the empire was invincible.
But after Sumari's massacre of the Imperial Citizens, reality had struck them like a blow to the head, making them realize that they still weren't strong enough.
Once they understood this, their first thought was revenge—fierce, unrelenting revenge—not fear.
They felt honored when people died for the empire, and they trusted that the empire would never fail those who gave their lives for it.
"The ceremony begins!"
After finishing his speech, Ye Chen announced the start of the ceremony as billions of people watched in anticipation.
Then he looked toward the altar below.
A group of staff dressed in Daoist robes approached the altar and began carving patterns into its surface.
They were members of the empire's Daoist Academy. Daoism had become the state religion of the Yanhuang Empire through Ye Chen's efforts, and it had flourished for more than two hundred years.
After two centuries, Daoism had amassed a collection of books covering virtually everything, including millions of volumes on all sorts of subjects.
After generations of research, even Ye Chen had no idea what these people had actually come up with.
In any case, Daoist priests handled many of the empire's major festivals.
It was rather funny. Ye Chen, who had believed in Daoism in his previous life, was also the founding patriarch of the Yanhuang Empire's Daoist school.
Seventy years ago, he'd gone out on an inspection just as the Daoist University was holding its entrance exams.
On a whim, he'd decided to give it a try. The result had nearly made him despair: he'd scored just 326 points, while the passing score was 850 out of a possible 1,000.
In other words, the founding patriarch of the empire's Daoist school hadn't even managed to pass an exam. It was ridiculous.
Frustrated, he'd spent several days reviewing Daoist teachings over and over, determined to wipe away the shame.
But after studying for a few days, he had to admit the truth: after more than a century away from his studies, he could no longer keep up with the development of Daoism in the empire.
There were plenty of concepts he couldn't understand, but he was too embarrassed to ask anyone about them. The whole thing was simply too humiliating.
If people found out that the Emperor of the Yanhuang Empire, the supreme deity, and the founding patriarch of its Daoist school had failed the Daoist University entrance exam, wouldn't his lifelong reputation be ruined?
So he absolutely could not let this dark secret get out.
A month later.
War broke out on the European Continent.
After the Sumari incident, everyone throughout the Yanhuang Empire had been seething with resentment.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ye Chen launched a war against the European Continent.
Standing above a battlefield,
Ye Chen looked down at the blood-soaked scene and frowned. He had noticed something strange about the technological development of these European countries.
"Could it be that my presence as a butterfly has caused these countries' technology to develop at an explosive rate?!"
At the thought, Ye Chen shook his head. The timeline was only at the seventeenth century.
Besides, he had only started the war less than ten years ago. Even if the threat he posed had forced these countries to unleash their potential, they couldn't have leaped forward more than two hundred years in such a short time and brought their weapons up to the level of the First World War.
So if their technology hadn't suddenly advanced, someone must have been supporting them from behind the scenes.
It wasn't hard to guess who—or what force—was behind it.
The Denuo Civilization was the only one on Blue Star that cared whether this war would affect them.
After all, the war would inevitably spread to Huaxia in the future, and the remaining forces of the Denuo Civilization were concentrated there.
Still, with Dukao's abilities, he should have been able to investigate the Yanhuang Empire and realize that it and Huaxia shared the same roots.
Since Dukao knew that the Yanhuang Empire and Huaxia shared the same roots, yet was now secretly intervening—despite having stayed out of the dynastic transition in the original storyline—it was obvious that he didn't want Ye Chen entering Huaxia.
At that thought, Ye Chen couldn't help smiling. "Whether I enter Huaxia isn't for an outsider like you to decide."
Two years later.
London, the capital of the United Kingdom.
Ye Chen swung his spear into a man, instantly smashing him to the ground. Then he whipped the spear around and drove it down, pinning the man heavily to the earth.
Landing on the ground, Ye Chen looked at the man and sneered. "You people from the Denuo Civilization made me search high and low for you. You even dared to interfere in this war.
"Tell me, how do you want to die?"
Ling Xuan lay on his back with a spear sticking out of his stomach. The strange energy from the weapon ravaged his genes, leaving him in unbearable pain.
Hearing Ye Chen's words, Ling Xuan's eyes narrowed, and his heart roiled. He hadn't expected this Blue Star native, Ye Chen, to know they were from the Denuo Civilization.
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