The first level of the imperial prison.
Xu Chong led the two of them to stand in the air, overlooking the scene below.
"this……"
Lou Youzhi was no longer as calm as usual, his face was filled with shock.
The same was true for Dou Tianyuan next to him.
There is no way, the changes in the first floor are really too great.
The first level before had 600 houses lined up on both sides with a wide passage in the middle.
Now……
Thick and white clouds covered the ground, leaving wide and criss-crossing avenues that divided the six thousand magnificent palaces.
"If there really is a fairyland, it would probably be this place, right?"
Dou Tianyuan smacked his lips in amazement.
"Speaking of the fairy world, it does look a bit like it."
Xu Chong's eyes flickered, and he felt a little puzzled.
"Oh? How do you mean?"
Lou Youzhi's expression straightened up.
"Apart from the change in environment, don't you notice any other differences?"
Xu Chong did not answer but asked instead.
"other……"
Lou Youzhi raised his eyebrows slightly, and his pupils suddenly shrank: "Rules! I can't feel the rules of the forbidden sky and the forbidden land anymore!"
“This… is true!”
Dou Tianyuan's jaw almost dropped to the ground.
You know, as early as the earliest recorded history, the imperial prison existed as a prison.
In the Imperial Prison, even if you are on the first level, even if you are the Lord of the Cave Heaven, you will also be subject to considerable suppression.
But now, he could not feel any suppression at all. His strength and Tao seeds were all extremely clear and he could control them with his thoughts.
"What's going on?"
Dou Tianyuan was a little nervous, "Could it be that the rules of the forbidden heaven and earth have been erased?"
"That's not the case."
Xu Chong shook his head. "From the second floor down, there are still forbidden areas with increasing intensity."
"Except for the seventh layer's rules being strengthened again, the strength of the rules of each of the remaining layers has been weakened to varying degrees compared to the past."
"I think it's because the grade of the Spring and Autumn Tomb is higher than that of the Imperial Prison. In the clash between the two caves, the rules of the Imperial Prison had to shrink to the seventh level."
shrink……
Lou Youzhi's mind moved, and he suddenly asked, "Could it be that the rules of the Spring and Autumn Tomb have been preserved?"
"Yes, but it's not as exaggerated as a hundred times the age."
Xu Chong smiled and nodded, "Except for the sixth and seventh floors, the time flow rate is still normal. From the first floor to the fifth floor, the increase is thirty times, twenty times, ten times, five times, and three times respectively."
"this……"
Lou Youzhi's heart was in turmoil, and he said in amazement: "In the myths and stories circulating among the people, there is a saying that one day in heaven is equal to one year on earth. In addition, there is no forbidden heaven or earth on the first level, so cultivation can be done normally... In the future, it is really possible that it will become an existence similar to the fairyland."
"Oh my god!"
Dou Tianyuan's eyes widened. "We created a fairyland with our own hands?"
"we?"
Lou Youzhi glanced at Dou Tianyuan and said, "It was Xu Chong and I who came up with the plan, and it was Xu Chong who executed it. You were just a figurehead from beginning to end."
"Lou Heizi is asking for a fight!"
Dou Tianyuan's eyebrows raised.
"It can't be considered the fairyland."
Xu Chong suddenly spoke up, his expression somewhat puzzled: "Although the swallowing of the cave went smoothly this time, new problems have also emerged."
"What's the problem?"
Lou Youzhi's expression changed and he felt nervous.
"First, the stability of the Imperial Prison has weakened. After devouring an entire mid-grade Spring and Autumn Tomb, the grade of the Imperial Prison has not only not improved, but has shown signs of falling."
Xu Chong explained, "I think this has something to do with the Spring and Autumn Tomb feeding the first layer... The root of the Imperial Prison is always the seventh layer."
"If the cave is still fed to the first layer, it is likely to destroy the structure of the entire imperial prison."
"As for the result, it could be that the Imperial Prison collapses, or the first layer becomes independent and becomes a new cave heaven."
"So, I plan to feed all the subsequent cave heavens to the seventh layer. It would be best if the Forbidden Heaven and Absolute Earth can always be the most important and powerful rule of the Imperial Prison, covering the entire cave heaven again."
"After all, the most fundamental basis of the Great Migration Plan is the Imperial Prison, the forbidden land of the Imperial Prison."
Xu Chong said seriously, "For example, the first layer has no forbidden heaven and earth rules at all, but it is still considered a part of the Imperial Prison. We cannot judge whether it will lead the entire Imperial Prison to decline."
"That does make sense."
Lou Youzhi hesitated for a moment and said, "But the problem is, as the Imperial Prison continues to devour the Cave Heaven, the strength of the rules of the seventh layer should become higher and higher, even to the point where you, the Lord of the Cave Heaven, will no longer have enough power to forcefully feed the Cave Heaven like you did this time..."
Before he finished speaking, Dou Tianyuan also reacted, "Yes! Even this time you were seriously injured by the first level, and the seventh level will suppress you even more. If this happens again..."
“Don’t worry about this anymore.”
Xu Chong laughed and said, "The Imperial Prison devoured the Spring and Autumn Tomb, and I, the controller of the Imperial Prison, also benefited from it... As long as I want, the current Forbidden Heaven and Forbidden Earth rules will not take effect on me, even on the seventh level."
"oh?"
Lou Youzhi raised his eyebrows.
Dou Tianyuan became interested.
"How should I put it..."
Xu Chong thought about it and said, "It should be related to the degree of control of the cave."
"The cave masters I have seen in the past all controlled the caves. Any application of rules had to be done through the medium of the cave hub, rather than directly controlling the rules."
“It looks the same, but there are differences here depending on the nature of the cave.”
"It's okay for places like the Garden of All Beasts and the Garden of Hundred Herbs. The rules are not meant for people to use."
"If we change to the Imperial Prison, Spring and Autumn Tomb, Auspicious Heaven, etc., there is an obvious limitation - the Lord of the Cave Heaven cannot circumvent the rules."
"As long as you are in an area covered by rules, you will be affected by the rules."
"After the confrontation between the Imperial Prison and the Spring and Autumn Tomb this time, my control over the rules has deepened. To a certain extent, I can directly control the rules with my mind."
"At least I can choose whether or not I will be restricted by the forbidden heaven and earth."
"When the Imperial Prison continues to devour other caves, I may be able to adjust the intensity and distribution of the rules, etc."
"If I must describe it..."
Xu Chong thought about it and said, "It's probably a step forward from being a cave master to being a rule master."
"I see."
Dou Tianyuan nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly took a breath of cold air, "If one day in the future, the Imperial Prison can really grow to be as big as the Profound Heaven Realm, wouldn't you become... become... God?"
“…”
Xu Chong didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Infinite lifespan, control over everything... it really seems like that."
Lou Youzhi was also a little astonished, and looked at Xu Chong as if he had discovered some new creature.
"Stop, stop, stop. I'm not Emperor Yongtai. I have no interest in controlling everything."
Xu Chong waved his hands quickly, "What's more, even if everything goes smoothly, when that day comes, I will most likely not stay in the imperial prison."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lou Youzhi and Dou Tianyuan's joy diminished a lot.
yes.
Even if everything goes well, only the Imperial Prison and the sentient beings in the Tianxuan Realm will go smoothly.
Xu Chong's journey outside the world is still full of unknowns so far.
And they couldn't help at all in this matter.
Or that no one could help.
"Xu Chong."
Lou Youzhi suddenly said, "At the court meeting tomorrow, let's nominate Zhang Shunyi to join the cabinet."
"Um?"
Xu Chong was stunned.
"In the current cabinet, except for Lü Zhong, the old bastard who needs to provide protection for Zhang Shunyi, the rest are all new and pragmatic people. I am not very useful anymore."
Lou Youzhi smiled and said, "I still have a few years left to live. I want to see a lot of places and finally return to my roots, Gunzhou."
Before Xu Chong could speak, Dou Tianyuan started yelling, looking at Lou Youzhi with suspicion: "Lou Heizi, this move of yours was quite sudden. Are you harboring some bad intentions again? No , I have to go with you... Well, I have to keep an eye on you for the court."
"That's what I guessed."
Lou Youzhi curled the corner of his mouth in disgust.
The two smiled at each other, turned to face Xu Chong and bowed.
"Please grant me your permission, Your Highness."
The two said in unison.
Xu Chong was speechless for a while.
What Lou Youzhi said about looking around should be true, and Dou Tianyuan's surveillance is pure nonsense.
It seems that these two had already had this plan. Even if they had not discussed it together, with the tacit understanding between them, there was no need to discuss it at all.
As for the title of His Royal Highness...
I’m afraid that I won’t let him go.
Xu Chong shook his head helplessly, and waved his sleeves, "I agree."
…
…
Time flies, and four years go by in a flash.
During these four years, the entire Tianxuan Realm has been in a state of recuperation.
Natural disasters have stopped for the time being, and although man-made disasters cannot be stopped, they are much more restrained than in the past.
Even the relationship between Taiping Dao and Daqing has eased a lot, and various underground transactions that violate Daqing laws but are not considered serious crimes are extremely active.
However, this was not what Xu Chong meant. On the contrary, the imperial court was using Xu Chong's relationship with the Taiping Dao to release the high pressure that had accumulated over the years in the household registration system.
This is equivalent to damaging part of the royal family's interests and allowing the entire Daqing to benefit from it from top to bottom.
For the upper class, the difficulty of obtaining external martial arts objects has been reduced and their liquidity has been greatly improved.
For lower-class farmers and workers, the returns from their labor output have also improved significantly.
Therefore, Xu Chong did not issue an order to ban it, but only implicitly expressed the intention to strengthen control in order to try to curb the greed of the powerful class.
In general, the entire Tianxuan Realm has become much quieter.
Xu Chong himself was not idle either.
While continuing to practice, he fed the Imperial Prison and condensed the Imperial Prison's body.
After four years of hard training, Huang Ting and Zi Fu finally reached the peak of the third realm like Yu Chi.
As for the Imperial Prison, in terms of condensation, the pond is concentrated to the extreme, becoming crystals the size of water droplets, which can be carried around or swallowed.
In terms of feeding, after the Spring and Autumn Tomb, the first to be "sacrificed" was the royal family's private cave, Xumi Heaven.
Although Xumi Heaven is a top-grade cave heaven and shows no signs of decline, its cave heaven rules - Xumi mustard seed - are too special.
It is so special that every cave has the characteristics of Sumeru mustard seed, but Sumeru Heaven has only this one characteristic.
Therefore, theoretically speaking, using Sumeru to feed the Imperial Prison will most likely not lead to any conflict between the rules.
Subsequent practical operations also proved this point.
Not to mention the conflict between rules, even the situation of repulsion between the caves and heavens did not occur.
Xu Chong simply opened the entrance to the imperial prison and connected it to the seventh floor, and the main body of Xumitian sank naturally without the need for any external force.
However, Xumi Heaven's grade was too high and it was in its 'prime' state, which caused some indigestion to the Imperial Prison. It took a whole year to completely absorb the entire Xumi Heaven.
The result was a complete makeover of the seventh floor.
The space, which was originally only the size of a room, has expanded tens of millions times!
The cages disappeared, replaced by stretches of shanties.
The lava sank and the heat surged up, nourishing thousands of plants other than fire moss, which looked hideous but many of which were edible.
Although the environment is still harsh, it is barely enough for people to survive.
In addition, due to the existence of channels on each floor, the nutrients of Xumi Heaven inevitably escaped from the seventh floor, and the six floors above were also transformed to varying degrees.
The most obvious thing is naturally the expansion of space, which is also what Xu Chong cares about most. After all, Xumi Heaven is the cave heaven that can expand the Imperial Prison to the greatest extent. The changes in the topography and environment, and there are other cave heavens to supplement them.
In general, one Sumeru Heaven allows the imperial prison to accommodate a population of up to 300 million, which is equivalent to completing half of the great migration plan.
Afterwards, Xu Chong worked non-stop and fed the two relatively oldest caves, the Bishui Palace and the Qingjingtian, into the fifth layer of sea water and the sixth layer of the Black Prison respectively.
The process was a bit bumpy, but it was not too troublesome for Xu Chong, who had already become proficient at it, and he eventually completed the feeding without any major problems.
After digesting three cave heavens, the Imperial Prison was finally promoted to a superior cave heaven. The forbidden sky and forbidden land that grew synchronously spread to the first level again, covering the entire Imperial Prison.
Of course, this is not the end.
The Dongtian in the Eastern Palace and the harem could not escape the same fate.
It is worth mentioning that the name of the harem cave is very unlucky - the Land of Gentleness.
The rules are a bit hard to explain, and they are made to be like sex toys.
In addition, several low-grade caves that were controlled by the imperial court or aristocratic families, which were small in size and not very useful, also became part of the great migration plan.
It was fine on the court's side, as the cave was not privately owned, and the person in control gave up the hub without any emotion.
As a result of the aristocratic families' words, quite a few troublemakers emerged who were willing to fight to the death.
In response to this, Xu Chong naturally took lightning action, dug up old accounts, and sentenced according to Qing law.
As for those who hid in their caves and refused to come out, resisting to the death... naturally, they would be thrown into the imperial prison along with their caves.
When the cave melts, not only will the people inside die, but the living can also be imprisoned on the spot. It really kills two birds with one stone.
At this point, the results of four years are apparent.
The seventh floor, which originally had the smallest space, suddenly became the largest, and the space decreases gradually as it goes upwards.
The total area of ​​the seven floors is enough to accommodate more than 90% of the population of Tianxuan Realm.
The rest can be almost completed by a Hundred Herb Garden.
However, Xu Chong did not rush to find Li Xiangxue, but merged his three bodies into one and returned to the Hua family.
The auspicious wedding day has arrived.