Imperial God Emperor

Ye Qingyu ended his period of self-isolation and emerged from the Military Judge of the Nine Swords' residence. 

One month had flown by and this was in line with his original estimations. 

In fact, he had completely recovered from his injuries by the tenth day and over the next twenty days, he was training and cultivating. He hadn't expected this but had to do it because of the changes to the World Tree. It was during those twenty days that he felt that he had undergone a complete transformation—although it might sound absurd that a martial Emperor could undergo complete transformation, this was indeed what had happened to him. 

Ye Qingyu's cultivation had already surged so powerfully that he was no longer able to estimate the limits of his power. 

If he had faced the sovereigns of the Sky-reaching clan, the Dark Feather clan and the Dark Yellow clan in his current state and cultivation, he would be able to kill them within a hundred moves without having to use the [Blood Drinker Sword] nor any of his trump cards, regardless if they joined forces against him. Even if the Sky Emperor sent his doppelganger to meet Ye Qingyu again, he was no longer Ye Qingyu's match. Ye Qingyu could also kill him within a hundred moves without getting injured. He would never be caught in such a miserable situation again. 

As his cultivation surged, so did his confidence. 

He felt more confident in facing the impending reincarnation heavenly punishment that was about to befall them. 

Ye Qingyu did not notify anyone else of his emergence from self-isolation but walked out of the residence alone and strolled along the streets of Royal City. 

He could see the others on the street but they couldn't see him. 

A lot had changed in Royal City in the span of a month. 

Firstly, dozens of silver warships floated soundlessly in the sky above Royal City and their streamlined silver bodies completely covered the body of the ship that was two thousand meters in length. They looked like several gigantic ancient dragons swimming in the firmament and their large bodies; the icy splendor that reflected off their surfaces made a very strong visual impact. 

There were several silver flying ships inside the silver warships and these were like worker bees that buzzed in and out of the warships. There were many of them and they floated in the sky like silver armored soldiers patrolling the land. Royal City was under surveillance thanks to these tiny ships. 

Upon closer examination, he noticed that these warships were the 'sentries' mentioned by [The Beginning] and they were actually a kind of robot from the earth's civilization; their bodies were smaller and quicker when it came to surveillance and patrolling. Their maximum speed was comparable to that of a Quasi-emperor, but they were not regular 'combat robots' and would not be able to resist a true Quasi-emperor. They'd barely be able to call it a draw if they were to battle average Saint experts. 

"I guess [The Beginning] has decided to let the earth's civilization reappear once again," he said as realization dawned. 

[The Beginning] had mentioned this once before and Ye Qingyu had not objected to this idea since the power from the earth's civilization would compensate for the weaknesses in the formation martial way and it was a crucial part of resisting the impending destructive punishment that would arise due to the reincarnation of the civilization, so it was important to quickly expand and develop this technology. Since the earth's civilization would reappear in this world, it was better for it to appear sooner rather than later. 

There were many people weaving through the streets. 

It was clear that over the past one month, the turmoil in the city had been thoroughly quelled and order had been restored. Royal City was as lively and bustling as it used to be, so he was surprised at how quickly all living creatures of the Dark Realm forgot about the pain and suffering of war. He guessed that it might be because war was never too distant for those who lived in the Dark Realm; since they were constantly living in such a turbulent warzone, they were probably used to war. 

He was even more surprised to find that regardless of race, all these figures who walked along the streets seemed to have grown accustomed to the silver warships and patrolling airships in the sky. No one seemed to find it odd at all and occasionally those who were peddling their wares on the streets would glance up at these ships for a short moment before they resumed loudly peddling their wares. 

A large majority of those within Royal City had grown accustomed to the warships that suddenly appeared from nowhere to take over the airspace. 

Perhaps the warships of the earth's civilization and the formation martial way's civilization were essentially the same to these people and the only difference lay in the fact that the warships from the earth's civilization were more elegant and aesthetically pleasing; the outer appearance of these warships was like an artwork that would cause one to gasp in awe. Most people within Royal City probably assumed that these were new warships that the new Emperor had crafted. The Immortal God Emperor was a sovereign shrouded in so much mystery that it seemed possible that he would design and refine such beautiful warships. 

His spirits lifted after he walked around the city for he realized that the situation at Royal City seemed much better than he had anticipated. 

During this period, [The Beginning] had worked tremendously hard and the internal affairs team that he had put together had issued a series of commands, restoring order to the city that previously had messy laws, lax enforcement standards, poor coordination amongst the various departments with lots of manpower—yet were constantly trying to pass the buck. Most of these new edicts were built on the past laws of the camp and several existing edicts were only edited slightly, so this did not completely overhaul the system that had been in place for millions of years; it was just enough to soundlessly change and eliminate the class barriers. This approach was just like boiling a frog in heated water, so it would be too late once the noblemen noticed what was wrong. 

This was what Ye Qingyu hoped to achieve. 

This also meant that managing Royal City could be carried out in a more orderly manner. 

No matter what one aims to achieve, a transparent and healthy system should be the basis of everything. 

The Sinners were the ones who could feel how significant the changes in Royal City were. 

Before the new Emperor ruled over Royal City, the Sinners were just like the beasts that were raised by the Guardians camp within Royal City, with their fate always in the hands of others. The noblemen weren't the only ones who could bully or kill them; even an ordinary citizen within the Guardians camp could get away with murder. However, the new Emperor's edicts were strictly enforced and protected the safety of the Sinners. In addition, the restrictions placed on Sinners entering Royal City were also no longer as tight as they had been, so Sinners could also enter Royal City even when the Wanyi Bazaar was not set up, to experience the lively city for themselves. 

These were all edicts that had lifted the status of the Sinners. 

Ye Qingyu heard many anecdotes during his walk around Royal City and this also included cases where the military headquarters were strictly looking into cases of the murders of Sinners, so they were already starting to bear their fangs. 

Besides the Sinners, the lower-caste citizens of the Guardians camp had also noticed the improvements in their living standards. Their status was slightly higher than the Sinners, but they were also treated as sacrificial lambs in the noblemen system, were status and class were so clearly defined. Under the old laws, they didn't have many rights and their lives were similarly controlled by the true noblemen, so they lived like horses and cows. 

After the new Emperor's edicts were announced, there was a newfound gravity in Royal City. The foul and seedy atmosphere that used to hang in the air had vanished, to be placed by a barely detectable sense of vitality. 

He finally returned to the military headquarters after his walk around town. 

The military headquarters no longer had an air of idleness but instead, it was all abuzz with a flurry of activity. 

He probed the area with his divine sense and wasn't surprised to find that [The Beginning] was not present. Then, he returned to the Great Hall of Policy and summoned Sun Yi. 

"Your Highness, you... congratulations on ending your self-isolation," Sun Yi who was being kept extremely busy was delighted to see Ye Qingyu and hurriedly bowed. 

Unlike [The Beginning], Sun Yi was a living human, so he didn't have the ability to predict things with such incredible accuracy. As a result, he was in charge of handling many military affairs; he felt the pressure after such a heavy responsibility was entrusted to him. To make matters worse, he didn't have many talented men under him and it was too late to groom new talents, so he was kept extremely busy trying to stabilize and maintain control over the military headquarters that had undergone a radical transformation. 

Ye Qingyu nodded. He had expected this but he was still amused by Sun Yi's reaction. 

"Commander Sun Yi, thanks for your hard work. Has anything significant happened recently?" he asked. 

Sun Yi answered gravely, "The reform within the military headquarters has been proceeding rather smoothly and thanks to your authoritative presence, the noblemen have not dared to resist nor create much of a fuss. The worst cases have just been those displaying a lackluster attitude in complying with these new edicts. Your edicts have also been distributed throughout the various Central Cities of the Dark Realm; those who dare to defy your orders have been... uh, have been crushed by the Heavenly Fighter Demon Emperor, so we haven't been facing many issues on that end." 

Ye QIngyu burst out laughing when he heard this. 

The title that Little Nine had given itself had started to catch on and crushing those forces who opposed him was something that the violent silly dog had always enjoyed doing. When he saw Sun Yi's hesitant expression, he could guess that Little Nine had probably gotten itself into trouble and made a fool out of itself as usual... it was always such a headache to deal with. 

"There's another matter I'd like to report but this is a piece of good news. The rebel forces of the Fire Province have issued a notice of surrender and their envoy already arrived here three days ago. I didn't dare to make any decision without your consent and thus, I've been putting this matter on hold until you emerged from your period of self-isolation," Sun Yi said. 

Ye Qingyu smiled and said, "I commend them for surrendering and hereby appoint the leader of the rebel forces to be the Governor of Fire Province. I won't persecute them for their crimes and will treat them well. I'll look upon them favorably in accordance with the regulations of all the other provinces, granting them authority to govern the Fire Province as they deem fit. As for the other handover issues, I'll let [The Beginning] handle them." 

"As you wish," Sun Yi said as he accepted Ye Qingyu's decision. 

However, he was secretly shocked. 

The new Emperor had always treated those who rebelled against him very harshly and the sixteen Great Emperors were a good example of that. Thus, he was surprised to hear that the rebels of the Fire Province would enjoy such beneficial treatment, as though the new Emperor was rewarding his subjects for their contributions. Could the new Emperor be acting this way since the Fire Province had surrendered not long after he ascended the throne, and this was a good opportunity to terrify the rest of the rebels into submission? Was this why he had rewarded the head of the rebels so richly? 

Sun Yi didn't know that the so-called rebel troops of the Fire Province were in cahoots with Ye Qingyu and that everything had been premeditated. They were just going with the flow at this moment and it wasn't as convoluted as Sun Yi had imagined it to be. 

"Is there anything else you'd like to report?" Ye Qingyu asked. 

Sun Yi bowed, then said, "We've received urgent news from the frontline at the Great Wall, stating that Invaders at the Chaos District recently showed signs of attacking soon. This seemed to be a sign that they are preparing to launch an attack en masse. The Invaders have already engaged in small skirmishes with the soldiers stationed along the border of the Great Wall. This time, the Invaders seem to have become much more clever, knowing when to attack and when to retreat, so they've become formidable opponents!" 

Ye Qingyu was surprised to hear that. 

Had the destructive punishment of the civilization's reincarnation cycle been brought forward?