A hundred thousand years, sleeping his way to God King? The Xuanwu Continent on a turtle's back
On the boundless sea, an enormous "continent" was slowly "drifting" toward the Douluo Continent at a seemingly sluggish pace.
Xuanwu City, imperial capital of the Xuanwu Continent.
At the heart of the city, in the center of the temple, stood an enormous statue of a "turtle-snake" deity.
It was none other than Divine Beast Xuanwu, turtle and snake in one.
At the statue's feet, worshippers came in an endless stream.
Everyone knew that the entire Xuanwu Continent, stretching for tens of thousands of miles, was actually nothing more than Divine Beast Xuanwu's turtle shell.
And his true form was the Divine Beast Xuanwu they had worshipped for generations: Lu Changqing.
Not far from the temple, within the imperial palace, the atmosphere in Xuanwu Hall was solemn.
On the dragon throne, Xuanwu Emperor Lu Ye sat with his eyes closed in concentration, demigod pressure flickering around him.
Below the steps, the empire's civil officials and military generals, representatives of its foremost sects, and heads of its great clans all stood with their hands lowered, their eyes filled with irrepressible anticipation.
After a long while, Lu Ye slowly opened his eyes, a glimmer of divine light flashing in their depths.
"Your Majesty!"
The imperial chancellor, standing at the head of the officials, was the first to bow, his expression urgent.
"Has the Ancestor sent down a Divine Oracle?
Where has our continent drifted to now?"
The gazes of every powerful figure in the hall instantly converged on Lu Ye.
Fifty thousand years ago, Ancestor Lu Changqing had formed a human avatar, unified the continent, founded the Xuanwu Empire, and left behind a direct bloodline.
Ever since then, only the emperors with the purest imperial blood could briefly communicate with the deeply sleeping Ancestor at specific intervals.
Each communication meant that the Xuanwu Continent was about to drift into a new landmass, ushering in fresh opportunities and expansion.
Lu Ye leaned back against the dragon throne, his expression calm.
"The Ancestor's divine sense responded to me just now.
He is still sleeping and diving deep, but the continent's course has already been determined."
"Well?
Could it be another place like the Sun Moon Continent?"
A white-haired, white-bearded elder of the imperial retainers, with a Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Cannon hanging at his waist, could not help stepping forward, battle intent in his eyes.
"If it is them again, then even without the Ancestor taking action, our empire's Ninth-Level Soul Guidance Legion alone will be enough to raze their rare mineral veins completely!"
A hundred thousand years ago, Lu Changqing had transmigrated into Douluo and reincarnated as a young Xuanwu, only to discover that he was a hundred thousand years before the story began.
Moreover, he was out at sea, where his life could be in danger at any moment.
Fortunately, Lu Changqing had obtained the "Sleeping System." The longer he slept, the stronger he became and the larger he grew.
From then on, Lu Changqing grew stronger simply by sleeping, drifting through the ocean as he slept.
As time passed, Lu Changqing grew larger and larger, and various ecological environments appeared on his shell.
During that time, he occasionally drifted to the edges of several other continents, attracting many humans and Soul Beasts to settle and reproduce on his back.
Fifty thousand years ago, relying on the Sleeping System, Lu Changqing had circumvented the restrictions of the Divine Realm's laws and broken through to godhood without being discovered by its deities.
When Lu Changqing awoke after becoming a god, he discovered that his body had become unimaginably enormous, and his shell had also become an independent ecological environment.
Humans and Soul Beasts from various continents lived and reproduced upon it, forming an entirely new, independent ecosystem.
Thus, Lu Changqing formed a human avatar possessing the God-Level Martial Soul, Divine Beast Xuanwu, and traveled across the "Xuanwu Continent" on his own back.
He ended the era of kingdoms, which had still been fragmented and embroiled in war, established the unified "Xuanwu Empire," then married and had children, continuing his Divine Beast Xuanwu bloodline.
For the fifty thousand years that followed, Lu Changqing continued to slumber, drifting all across Douluo Star.
During that time, he had also visited the Sun Moon Continent and bordered it, allowing its Soul Beasts and humans to come to the Xuanwu Continent while also introducing its Soul Tool Technology.
Under Lu Changqing's deliberate arrangements and guidance, and even his personal involvement in directing its development,
the Xuanwu Continent's Soul Tool Technology advanced rapidly, even surpassing the Sun Moon Continent of the current era and producing Level 9 Soul Tools!
Although the Xuanwu Continent was only half the size of the Douluo Continent,
thanks to the deliberate care of Lu Changqing, who had now become a God King, humans and Soul Beasts lived in harmony, and there were great numbers of Titled Douluo among the humans and Ferocious Beasts among the Soul Beasts.
The imperial family of the Xuanwu Empire, Lu Changqing's descendants, also possessed the ability to communicate with him.
Thus, they could learn the general circumstances of the next continent that would border the Xuanwu Continent in advance, preparing ahead of time for the Xuanwu Empire's coming expansion and plundering of resources.
"It is not the Sun Moon Continent."
Lu Ye raised a hand and pressed it down slightly, and the hall instantly fell silent.
"The Ancestor informed me that the land we are about to border is called the 'Douluo Continent.'"
"The Douluo Continent?"
Among the civil officials, a grand scholar responsible for the archives pondered for a moment before stepping out of the ranks.
"Your Majesty, there are some vague records in the ancient texts. It is an ancient, primordial continent.
What is the level of its civilization?
How far have its Martial Soul system and Soul Tool Technology developed?"
Fifty thousand years ago, after Lu Changqing had formed his avatar, traveled the Xuanwu Continent, ended the wars between kingdoms, and established a unified empire,
he had compiled information about the various continents into books and passed them down to later generations.
Over its hundred thousand years of drifting, the Xuanwu Continent had also visited the Douluo Continent.
Although little relevant information had survived, it did indeed exist.
A playful curve lifted the corners of Lu Ye's mouth.
"The Ancestor's message through his divine sense was very clear. It is an extremely backward land!"
Compared with the present Xuanwu Empire, the Douluo Continent was indeed backward.
Especially when it came to Soul Tools!
The Douluo Continent's Soul Tools were essentially just Storage Soul Tools excavated from various ruins.
There was no concept whatsoever of such things as combat Soul Tools!
And in terms of Martial Soul varieties and cultivation?
The Douluo Continent had the God-Level Martial Soul: Six-Winged Angel.
But the Xuanwu Continent also had a God-Level Martial Soul that was no less powerful, and even stronger than the Six-Winged Angel: Divine Beast Xuanwu!
As for the varieties of Martial Souls?
The Douluo Continent of this era was relatively lacking in Martial Soul varieties.
The Martial Souls on the Xuanwu Continent encompassed all the top Martial Souls from all four continents across Douluo Star!
For example, tens of thousands of years ago, while bordering the Sun Moon Continent,
it had taken in the "Purple Brilliant Heaven Destroying Dragon," "Sun," "Moon," "Nine Phoenix Greeting Flute," "Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron"...
There were also the various top Martial Souls taken in from the other two continents, called the "Heaven Dou Continent" and "Star Luo Continent" in the original work (they did not yet bear those names in this era).
And the "Soul Core," which would not appear on the Douluo Continent for another ten thousand years,
was already standard for Titled Douluo on the Xuanwu Continent!
By comparison, the Douluo Continent appeared extremely backward.
"Backward?"
"Indeed."
Lu Ye swept his gaze over everyone below and nodded.
"The Ancestor said that the humans on the Douluo Continent still understand Soul Tools only at the primitive level of 'they can only store things.'
They have not even developed the most basic Level 1 offensive Soul Tools and still rely on cold weapons and the most primitive Soul Skills to fight in close quarters."