The Emperor Said No Expansion, So We Built an Outer City

Lu Chen quickly learned of Lan Shuang's idea.

Dragon-Suppressing Pass.

The moment he heard that name, he fell completely silent.

Ao Lie had only just been punished and sent to guard the gate.

Lan Shuang was already planning to build a pass.

Wasn't that a little too efficient?

Lu Chen had originally only wanted Ao Lie to stay on Guixu's outskirts and stop running around.

After a thousand years, he could find any excuse to throw him back into the Blackwater Dragon Palace.

Yet Lan Shuang actually wanted to build a Dragon-Suppressing Pass on the outskirts.

That sounded dangerous.

Dragon-Suppressing Pass.

Suppress who?

Dragons, of course.

Could the Dragon Clan possibly feel good hearing a name like that?

Lu Chen's voice entered the Northern Darkness Dao Palace.

"When did I ever say we were building a pass?"

Lan Shuang had come prepared and answered respectfully.

"Reporting to the Emperor, Dragon-Suppressing Pass is not an outward expansion."

"Guixu's Womb Membrane has already expanded into the outer sea region. The place where Ao Lie stands guard is already within Guixu's borders."

"Building Dragon-Suppressing Pass is merely to stabilize our existing boundary."

"It can restrain Ao Lie while also sheltering the clans that have newly joined Guixu."

"It can also prevent the Dragon Clan from wandering in by mistake again."

After hearing her out, Lu Chen fell silent.

It actually sounded quite reasonable.

Guixu's Womb Membrane already covered that area.

Strictly speaking, it truly did not count as outward expansion.

Besides, a Dragon Clan prince like Ao Lie could not just keep coiling around on the seafloor forever.

If he suddenly lost his mind and ran off one day, or caused trouble while Lu Chen was in seclusion, that would be troublesome too.

Building a pass and keeping him stationed there.

That seemed pretty good as well.

Just as Lu Chen hesitated, the system's voice rang out.

"Detected that Guixu's outskirts meet the conditions for establishing a defensive node. Please choose."

"One: Establish Dragon-Suppressing Pass and improve Guixu's outer defensive line. Reward: Increased stability of the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Formation."

"Two: Refuse to build the pass and maintain Guixu's outskirts as they are. Reward: Three Tribulation-Averting Pills."

"Three: Release Ao Lie and ease relations with the Dragon Clan. Reward: Favor from the Blackwater Dragon Palace."

Lu Chen looked at the third option and scoffed inwardly.

Favor from the Blackwater Dragon Palace.

That was not even as useful as Tribulation-Averting Pills.

The Dragon Clan's favor might turn into a conscription order someday.

The second reward was too ordinary.

The first looked the most practical.

The more stable the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Formation was, the safer he would be.

"Option one."

"Congratulations, Host. The Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Formation's stability has increased."

Lu Chen sighed.

"Fine."

"But remember, Dragon-Suppressing Pass is only a defensive node."

"You are not to use it for expansion."

"You are not to provoke the Dragon Clan."

"You are not to take the initiative in battle."

A flash of understanding appeared in Lan Shuang's eyes.

She understood.

The Emperor was reminding them once again to hide their edge.

Dragon-Suppressing Pass could be built.

The Dragon Clan could be deterred as well.

But Guixu had not yet reached the time to truly reveal itself.

"This junior understands."

"Dragon-Suppressing Pass will only defend, never attack."

Lu Chen felt slightly relieved.

What he feared most now was someone hot-blooded like Han Jue waving Guixu's banner and going outside to fight the Dragon Clan.

That would be true suicide.

Construction on Dragon-Suppressing Pass began swiftly.

For the first time, Guixu's various clans truly joined forces.

The Mystic Clam Tribe brought out vast quantities of Northern Darkness Mystic Pearls to stabilize the formation cores.

The Cold Whale Tribe was responsible for transporting enormous stones.

The Ice-Scaled Tribe carved icy defensive formation patterns onto the outer walls.

The Sea Spirit Clan handled the overall formation layout.

A branch of the Black-Shelled Turtle Tribe provided turtle-shell formation patterns to strengthen the defenses.

The Water Ape Tribe was responsible for building the outer walls, and they moved with remarkable speed.

Even Ao Lie did not remain idle.

He was locked on Guixu's outskirts by the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Formation, his dragon body coiled around a blackwater reef.

At first, his face was full of humiliation.

A dignified Dragon Clan prince was actually being made to build a pass while surrounded by a group of minor clans.

More absurdly, the pass was called Dragon-Suppressing Pass.

The more Ao Lie thought about it, the angrier he became.

But whenever he looked up, he could see the faint, looming phantom of the Black Tortoise above.

The pressure coming from deep within the formation reminded him that he had better keep his mouth shut.

Several days later.

Han Jue arrived outside the pass with several others.

He looked at Ao Lie coiled atop the blackwater reef, his eyes filled with fighting spirit. "You are the Blackwater Dragon Palace's Third Prince?"

Ao Lie gave him a cold glance. "And who are you?"

"Han Jue of the Guixu Guardian Team."

Ao Lie sneered. "A minor-clan cultivator at the Mid-Stage Golden Immortal realm dares act so presumptuously before this prince?"

Han Jue's eyes lit up. "You were suppressed here by the Emperor, yet you still dare be so arrogant?"

Ao Lie's expression instantly darkened. "If not for the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Formation suppressing me, this prince could tear you apart with one claw."

Han Jue tightened his grip on his spear. "Once I enter Taiyi, I will fight you."

Ao Lie sneered. "Talk once you can withstand a single sweep of my tail."

The two disliked each other on sight.

Yet the people of Dragon-Suppressing Pass grew excited at the sight.

A Dragon Clan prince personally guarded Guixu's outskirts.

The Guixu Guardian Team's foremost prodigy stood in direct opposition to him.

They had never even dared imagine such a scene before.

Dragon-Suppressing Pass took a full thirty years to construct.

Thirty years was so short in the Primordial World that it could almost be ignored.

But for Guixu, it was its first large-scale project.

Thirty years later.

Dragon-Suppressing Pass stood on Guixu's outskirts.

Its walls rose ten thousand zhang high.

They were entirely black, faintly gleaming with the luster of mystical water.

Three ancient characters were carved above the gate.

Dragon-Suppressing Pass.

Outside the pass, Ao Lie's dragon body lay coiled amid swirling blackwater dragon aura, becoming Dragon-Suppressing Pass's most eye-catching symbol.

Whenever clans traveled to and from Guixu, seeing Ao Lie filled them with a powerful sense of security.

Even a Dragon Clan prince was guarding the gate here.

What was there left for Guixu to fear?

Ao Lie had been extremely resistant at first.

But as time passed, he discovered that things seemed to be changing.

Although Guixu's various clans remained wary of him, they did not humiliate him.

Sea Spirit Clan cultivators even brought him spiritual spring water every day to help restore the dragon body injured by the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Formation's suppression.

When young aquatic creatures passed Dragon-Suppressing Pass, they would curiously look at him as well.

Their eyes held fear and reverence, but lacked the bone-deep terror that aquatic clans outside felt when facing the Dragon Clan.

Ao Lie found it uncomfortable at first.

Later, he suddenly realized that the feeling was not so bad.

In the Blackwater Dragon Palace, he was the Third Prince.

People respected him more for his bloodline, status, and royal father.

In Guixu, he was a punished Dragon Clan gatekeeper.

Yet for the first time, he saw weak clans who did not need to kneel when speaking before the Dragon Clan.

This order was strange.

So strange that Ao Lie began to fall silent.

On the day Dragon-Suppressing Pass was completed.

The Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Formation fully connected with the pass walls.

Guixu's Womb Membrane trembled softly.

Lu Chen felt a sturdy defensive line appear around the outer layer of his turtle shell, and his mood improved greatly.

"Not bad. Building this pass was useful enough."

The system sent another notification.

"Dragon-Suppressing Pass has been completed."

"Guixu's outer defensive node has taken shape."

"The Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Formation's stability has increased."

"Guixu's Womb Membrane boundary strength has increased."

Lu Chen was even more satisfied.

It seemed that letting Lan Shuang make a fuss sometimes really could save him a great deal of trouble.

As long as they did not expand outward or provoke the Great Tribulation, internal development was still acceptable.

However, his good mood did not last long.

On the seventh day after Dragon-Suppressing Pass was completed.

A vast group of refugees suddenly appeared outside the pass.

There were no fewer than seventeen minor clans.

Elders, children, wounded people, and crippled soldiers knelt densely outside Dragon-Suppressing Pass.

At their head, a white-haired elder with blood smeared across his face heavily kowtowed toward Dragon-Suppressing Pass.

"Please, Mysterious Abyss Emperor, open Guixu's gates! Save our lives!"

His voice carried into the pass.

The entire Dragon-Suppressing Pass instantly fell silent.

Han Jue stood atop the city wall, and his expression shifted slightly.

Ao Lie slowly raised his dragon head and looked toward the seventeen clans.

With one glance, he saw the Dragon Clan conscription marks on their bodies.

In other words.

They had all escaped from the Dragon Clan's hands.

Deep within Guixu.

Lu Chen saw the scene as well.

He remained silent for a long time.

"Again?"