I Let You Take Shelter, and You Built a City?

To the living beings of the Primordial World, a hundred years was little more than a brief meditation session.

Lu Chen emerged from seclusion.

The system's voice sounded.

"Congratulations, Host, on completing one hundred years of protection."

"Of the sixty-eight Sea Spirit Clan members, none have perished."

"Reward: Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Formation."

"The Guixu Womb Membrane has expanded to a radius of thirty thousand miles."

Lu Chen was in an excellent mood.

Taking in a few dozen refugees in exchange for a Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Formation.

He had struck it rich.

This formation combined offense and defense, and could also draw upon the power of the Ruins Sea Eye.

Once arranged around the outer layer of his shell, even a Daluo Golden Immortal would have to put in some effort.

His sense of security had risen considerably.

"A hundred years are up."

"It is time to send them away."

Lu Chen sent his consciousness into the Guixu Inner Realm.

The next moment.

He fell silent.

The once desolate island had completely changed.

Rows of houses now stood across the island.

Roads crisscrossed it.

Spirit Fields stretched in clusters.

Pools, herb gardens, storehouses, and training grounds—everything was there.

At the center of the island stood a solemn stone hall.

Four large characters were carved onto the stele before it.

Northern Darkness Imperial Palace.

Lu Chen stared at those four words for a long time without speaking.

"Who built this?"

A voice descended from the sky.

The entire island fell silent in an instant.

Lan Shuang swiftly arrived with the Sea Spirit Clan members, and they knelt in neat formation.

The sixty-eight people from a hundred years ago had now become more than one hundred and thirty.

Quite a few of the younger clansmen had already begun cultivating water-element techniques.

Lan Shuang's cultivation had also broken through from the late Mysterious Immortal stage to the early Golden Immortal stage.

"Reporting to Emperor."

"We feared disturbing Emperor's seclusion, so we organized the barren island ourselves."

"To maintain order, we established the Bureau of Calamity Avoidance."

"To guard the borders, we established the Bureau of Realm Patrol."

"To record the cultivation, achievements, and origins of our clansmen, we established the Register of Ten Thousand Tribes."

"To worship Emperor, we also built this hall."

Lu Chen's eyelids twitched wildly as he listened.

Bureau of Calamity Avoidance, Bureau of Realm Patrol, Register of Ten Thousand Tribes.

What exactly had these people been doing over the past hundred years?

He had told them to take shelter.

They had directly built themselves an entire administration?

"Change the name Northern Darkness Imperial Palace."

Lan Shuang immediately lowered her head.

"Emperor dislikes ostentation. This junior understands."

Lu Chen let out a breath.

At last, she understood something for once.

The next moment, Lan Shuang turned and ordered, "Pass down the command. From today onward, Northern Darkness Imperial Palace shall be renamed Northern Darkness Dao Palace."

Lu Chen fell silent.

Forget it.

At least the word Imperial had been removed.

Too lazy to dwell on the matter any longer, he said directly, "The hundred-year term has ended. You may leave now."

A deathly silence fell over the island.

Many young Sea Spirit Clan members turned pale.

Lan Shuang bowed and kowtowed.

"I beg Emperor for mercy and permission for the Sea Spirit Clan to remain in Guixu."

"Cold Moon Island has already been occupied by the Dragon Clan."

"All the elders of our clan have perished."

"If we leave this place, the Dragon Clan will soon settle accounts with us."

Lu Chen frowned.

Keeping the Sea Spirit Clan would have some benefits.

They could manage the inner realm, grow spirit herbs, and maintain order.

He could cultivate in seclusion without worry.

But the drawbacks were even clearer.

If one Sea Spirit Clan remained, a second small clan might come seeking refuge.

After the second, there would be a third.

Before long, the Guixu Inner Realm would become increasingly lively and eventually turn into a massive Northern Sea shelter.

That was far too different from Lu Chen's original intention.

He only wanted to stay alive.

He had no interest in building an enterprise.

The system's voice sounded again.

"Detected that the Sea Spirit Clan has requested to remain in Guixu permanently. Please make a selection."

"One: Accept the Sea Spirit Clan's allegiance, publicly reveal Guixu as a cultivation ground, and receive ten percent of Northern Water Fortune, as well as the Supreme-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Mysterious Origin Water-Control Banner."

"Two: Lead the Sea Spirit Clan to reclaim Cold Moon Island and formally establish a Northern Sea force. Reward: Daluo Golden Immortal cultivation and three drops of Ancestral Dragon Essence Blood."

"Three: Seal Guixu for ten thousand years and allow the Sea Spirit Clan to manage the inner realm themselves. Reward: the first level of the Chaos Shell-Shedding Method."

The moment Lu Chen saw the third reward, his eyes lit up.

Chaos Shell-Shedding Method!

Just from its name, it clearly had something to do with his fatal calamity.

The Northern Sea Black Tortoise's greatest crisis was having his four limbs severed when Nuwa carried out Heaven Mending.

If he could cultivate the shell-shedding method, he might be able to escape by shedding his old shell in the future.

His old body could hold up the heavens.

His true body could run away.

Perfect.

"Choose three."

"Congratulations, Host, on obtaining the first level of the Chaos Shell-Shedding Method."

The profound technique merged into his Primordial Spirit.

After contemplating it for a moment, Lu Chen felt completely reassured.

This divine ability truly allowed the Black Tortoise to discard its old shell and take on a new body.

Although the first level was still crude and far from enough to evade a Saint's karmic entanglement, it had already shown him a path to survival.

As long as he continued avoiding calamities and collecting rewards, he would eventually escape the fate of holding up the heavens.

Lu Chen looked down at the crowd below.

"You may stay."

The Sea Spirit Clan erupted in wild joy.

"Thank you, Emperor!"

Lu Chen's voice turned stern.

"I will enter seclusion for ten thousand years."

"The Guixu Inner Realm will be left for you to manage yourselves."

"But there are three rules."

"You may not expand outward."

"You may not recruit troops or purchase horses."

"You may not proclaim yourselves emperor in my name."

Lan Shuang solemnly kowtowed.

"We will remember Emperor's teachings!"

Lu Chen felt that there was something rather off about that statement.

But he was already too lazy to care.

The Guixu Womb Membrane slowly closed.

Lu Chen immersed himself in the Chaos Shell-Shedding Method and began his ten-thousand-year seclusion.

Before the Northern Darkness Dao Palace.

An elderly Sea Spirit Clan member asked softly, "Clan Chief, why has Emperor strictly forbidden expansion, recruitment, and proclaiming ourselves emperor?"

Lan Shuang raised her head toward the gray heavens, her gaze filled with reverence.

"Emperor is reminding us that Guixu's foundation is still shallow, and we must not expose ourselves too early."

"Not expanding means that we must first stabilize the inner realm."

"Not recruiting troops means that outside living beings may only come to join us willingly; we cannot actively win them over."

"Not proclaiming ourselves emperor means that what Emperor seeks far surpasses the empty reputation of the Northern Sea."

The elder suddenly understood.

"Emperor's plans are so deep and far-reaching."

Lan Shuang slowly nodded.

"What we can do is guard Guixu well for Emperor."

"Pass down the command."

"Expand the Bureau of Calamity Avoidance."

"Compile registers of the clans around the Northern Sea."

"Select young clansmen and establish the Realm Guard."

The elder hesitated. "Emperor said we may not recruit troops or purchase horses."

Lan Shuang's expression remained calm.

"The Realm Guard only maintains order within the inner realm."

"How can that count as troops?"

The elder immediately lowered his head.

"Clan Chief is wise."

Several days later.

A jade slip quietly made its way into the Northern Sea.

There was only one sentence on the jade slip.

Northern Sea Guixu can shelter one from the Great Tribulation.

Eastern Sea Dragon Palace.

Ao Zheng knelt before the Blackwater Dragon King, his broken dragon claw not yet restored.

"Father, that being's true body was larger than the Northern Sea mountain range."

"With a single thought, he sealed all of my divine power."

"He also told me to relay this message to the Dragon Clan: Guixu will not enter the conflict among the three clans."

After hearing this, the Blackwater Dragon King's expression gradually turned grave.

"He possesses such great power, yet hides within Guixu."

"He refuses the Dragon Clan and rejects the greater momentum of the three clans."

"This Northern Sea Black Tortoise likely has enormous ambitions."

Ao Zheng cautiously asked, "Father, should we report this to Ancestral Dragon?"

The Blackwater Dragon King pondered for a long while.

"Not for now."

"The war among dragons, phoenixes, and qilin is imminent. His Majesty Ancestral Dragon has no time to spare."

"Pass down the order to the Northern Sea Dragon Tribe. For now, stay far from the Ruins Sea Eye."

"Investigate further. Which small clans have fled into the Northern Sea recently?"

"Within Guixu, there may be a grand scheme hidden away."

An invisible net began to spread toward the Northern Sea.

Lu Chen knew nothing of this.

He merely lay quietly on the seafloor, relieved that he had finally shaken off the trouble.

From this day onward.

The Northern Sea gained a title that even he himself refused to acknowledge.

Mysterious Abyss Emperor.