Black-Shelled Turtle Tribe! Paying Respects to the Ancestor of Guixu!

The rumors grew more exaggerated with every retelling.

Some said that the Mysterious Abyss Emperor was a Primordial Black Tortoise who had fallen asleep in Guixu before the Beast Tribulation.

Some said that the Mysterious Abyss Emperor was the incarnation of Northern Water Fortune and had long surpassed the Great Principle.

Others claimed that the Mysterious Abyss Emperor was already half a step into sainthood, and that the Seclusion Realm was the supreme realm beneath a Saint.

Some even swore that after the Blackwater Dragon King saw the Mysterious Abyss Emperor's true form with his own eyes, he had been so frightened that he immediately withdrew his troops.

If the Blackwater Dragon King heard that, he would probably cough up another mouthful of Dragon blood in anger.

He had not even seen Lu Chen's true form.

But that was precisely what made rumors so terrifying.

The fewer people who had seen something, the more mysterious it seemed.

And the more mysterious it seemed, the more outrageous people dared to make their guesses.

In just a few hundred years, the name of the Mysterious Abyss Emperor had spread throughout the large and small aquatic clans of the Northern Sea.

Guixu, too, had changed from a vague legend of refuge into a path to survival in the eyes of countless weak clans.

Outside Dragon-Suppressing Pass.

Small clans began arriving one after another.

Some offered spiritual materials.

Some presented their clan inheritances.

Others merely kowtowed from afar, not daring to request entry through the pass.

Because they had also heard of the Book of Cause and Effect's rules.

Guixu accepted people, but it did not accept just anyone.

Those burdened by evil karma could not enter Guixu.

Once that rule spread, many weak clans of the Northern Sea felt even more at ease.

What they had always feared was never rules.

What they feared was powerful beings with no rules at all.

As long as Guixu's rules could protect them, they were willing to follow them.

Guixu Inner Realm.

Lan Shuang had been so busy lately that she barely had time to stop.

After the battle at Dragon-Suppressing Pass, Guixu's prestige soared.

Clans from outside continuously sent letters requesting an audience.

The clans within the inner realm were also high in spirits after their victory.

The workload of every office abruptly multiplied severalfold.

The Bureau of Calamity Avoidance had to examine new clans.

The Bureau of Cause and Effect had to record merits and misdeeds.

The Bureau of Realm Patrol had to expand its patrol range.

The Spirit Field Office had to arrange new spirit veins.

The Treasury Bureau had to inventory the contributions of every clan.

The Realm Guard was undergoing its second expansion.

Han Jue took the opportunity to propose expanding the Realm Guard from eight hundred members to three thousand.

The moment this proposal was made, discussions erupted within Guixu.

Some thought it was too fast.

Some thought the timing was perfect.

In the end, Lan Shuang did not make an immediate decision and instead reported it to Lu Chen.

After hearing it, Lu Chen's first reaction was to refuse.

Three thousand Realm Guard members?

That sounded more and more like an army.

But Han Jue's reasoning was sound.

With more clans in Guixu, the outer city expanding, and Dragon-Suppressing Pass having just gone through a major battle, the original eight hundred Realm Guard members were indeed insufficient.

Moreover, the Realm Guard was responsible for maintaining order, patrolling, rescue operations, and escorting new clans into the realm.

If they lacked manpower, trouble would break out sooner or later.

Lu Chen considered it and could only add another restriction.

"The Realm Guard may expand."

"But it must not leave Guixu to wage war."

"It must not provoke the three clans in Guixu's name."

"It must not pursue and kill external enemies without authorization."

Lan Shuang immediately understood.

"Rest assured, Emperor. The Realm Guard protects the realm; it does not conquer."

Han Jue's expression turned solemn after hearing this.

"Protect the realm, not conquer."

"That is the true Guixu Guardian Team."

Lu Chen was quite satisfied.

That finally sounded a little more normal.

However, Lan Shuang turned around and had those words carved before the entrance to the Guardian Team camp.

Every new Guardian Team member had to swear an oath before the stone tablet.

Guixu would not fight unjust wars.

Guixu would not kill the innocent.

Guixu would not fear invading enemies.

Guixu would only protect the living beings of Guixu.

When Lu Chen learned of it, his feelings were somewhat complicated.

Although they had made it overly formal again, the content was still fairly sound.

So he could not be bothered to stop them.

The benefits from the battle at Dragon-Suppressing Pass were also gradually becoming apparent.

After absorbing the aftermath of the battle, the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Formation's power rose by a level.

The Book of Cause and Effect had revealed the slaughter karma of three thousand Dragon soldiers and accumulated quite a bit of the Law of Cause and Effect as well.

After the Guixu Womb Membrane absorbed some of the Blackwater Law leaking from the Blackwater Dragon Pearl, its boundaries became even more resilient.

The Northern Dark Spirit Veins emerged one after another.

In just a few hundred years, the spiritual energy density within the Guixu Inner Realm had increased by thirty percent.

Some cultivators who had long been stuck at bottlenecks broke through in succession.

Powerful cultivators from the Ice-Scaled Tribe, Cold Whale Tribe, Mystic Clam Tribe, and Sea Spirit Clan all advanced.

With the feedback from the Book of Cause and Effect, Lan Shuang's cultivation steadily entered the Mid-Stage Golden Immortal realm.

As for Han Jue, after directly enduring Taiyi pressure during the battle at Dragon-Suppressing Pass, his aura became even sharper once his injuries healed.

Watching these changes, Lu Chen suddenly realized something.

The more he tried to avoid trouble, the more Guixu grew stronger because of it.

But after growing stronger, it would attract even greater trouble.

Wasn't that an endless cycle?

"Should I just seal the pass instead?"

Lu Chen had seriously considered this question.

But Guixu was no longer a desolate island.

There were tens of thousands of living beings here.

And more and more small clans were on their way.

If he completely sealed off Guixu in one stroke, those clans outside would likely suffer severe casualties.

Besides, the system had continuously granted rewards for providing shelter.

That showed that taking in weak clans could indeed strengthen his foundation for avoiding calamities.

Lu Chen finally reached a conclusion.

He could accept them.

But they had to be strictly examined.

The Book of Cause and Effect had to continue growing stronger.

Dragon-Suppressing Pass had to continue being reinforced.

Guixu had to maintain a defensive posture at all times.

It absolutely could not take the initiative to attack.

As long as it did not actively provoke trouble, there would always be a little less trouble.

The moment Lu Chen told Lan Shuang this conclusion, she immediately convened a Guixu council.

She summarized the Emperor's decree in four words.

"Uphold righteousness, avoid calamity."

The leaders of every clan became solemn upon hearing it.

Lan Shuang explained, "Upholding righteousness means upholding karma, upholding the rules, and upholding Guixu's righteousness."

"Avoiding calamity means avoiding the Great Tribulation of the three clans, avoiding senseless slaughter, and avoiding the Heavenly Dao's reckoning."

"The Emperor's words are Guixu's foundation for the next ten thousand years."

Everyone kowtowed in unison.

"We shall obey the Emperor's decree!"

Lu Chen fell silent for a long time after hearing this.

He always felt that Lan Shuang's summary sounded far more profound than what he had said.

Forget it.

As long as the direction was right.

Outside Dragon-Suppressing Pass.

A massive procession was slowly advancing through Blackwater.

The procession moved very slowly.

Because it included many elderly, weak, young, and infant members.

They bore heavy tortoise shells on their backs, with short, sturdy limbs and steady auras.

They were the Black-Shelled Turtle Tribe of Northern Sea Black Armor Ridge.

At their head was an old man leaning on a dark black staff.

He was not tall, but a huge tortoise shell covered in the patterns of countless years rested upon his back.

With every step he took, the seabed trembled faintly.

This man was the Black-Shelled Turtle Tribe's patriarch, Ancestor Xuan Jia.

Early-stage Daluo Golden Immortal.

The Black-Shelled Turtle Tribe had originally lived at Blackshell Ridge in the Northern Sea Black Armor Ridge.

They disliked conflict and excelled in defense and formations. In the past, they had survived by depending on the Dragon Clan.

But as the Dragon-Han Cataclysm intensified, the Dragon Clan's conscription grew increasingly harsh.

The Blackwater Dragon Palace demanded that the Black-Shelled Turtle Tribe hand over their young turtles so that their innate tortoise shells could be refined into Sea-Suppression Armor.

This order completely drove Ancestor Xuan Jia to rebellion.

He could pay spiritual mines to the Dragon Clan.

He could repair water veins for the Dragon Clan.

He could even send the tribe's warriors to the battlefield as laborers.

But offering up young turtles to forge armor had already crossed the Black-Shelled Turtle Tribe's bottom line.

So he led the entire tribe away from Blackshell Ridge.

After hearing that Guixu was home to a supreme Black Tortoise, and that even the Blackwater Dragon King had been forced back by its dharma body, Ancestor Xuan Jia barely hesitated before leading his people straight toward Dragon-Suppressing Pass.

Atop Dragon-Suppressing Pass.

Ao Lie immediately sensed Ancestor Xuan Jia's aura.

His Dragon eyes narrowed slightly.

"A Daluo Golden Immortal."

Han Jue stood beside him, battle intent rising in his eyes.

"Strong?"

Ao Lie replied calmly, "The ancestor of the Black-Shelled Turtle Tribe has extraordinarily strong defenses."

"The Blackwater Dragon Palace once wanted to recruit him as a general, but he always declined."

"I did not expect him to come to Guixu as well."

Han Jue smiled.

"It seems Guixu is becoming livelier and livelier."

Ao Lie glanced at him.

"That is not a good thing for the Dragon Clan."

Han Jue gripped his spear.

"For Guixu, it is."

Ao Lie did not argue.

After Ancestor Xuan Jia arrived outside Dragon-Suppressing Pass, he neither forced his way in nor put on airs as a Great Principle.

He directly led his entire clan to kneel outside the pass.

His voice was aged, yet incomparably resolute.

"Black-Shelled Turtle Tribe requests an audience with the Turtle Clan's ancestor."

"Our clan is willing to enter Guixu and guard the Mysterious Abyss Emperor's cultivation grounds for generations."

The message reached the depths of Guixu.

Lu Chen fell silent once again.

Ancestor?

He really was not one.

But at that moment, the system's voice also rang out.

"Detected the Black-Shelled Turtle Tribe seeking refuge with their entire clan. Please make a choice."