Secular world: My destiny has no taboos

Chapter 593 (603): The Beginning (Part Four)
"If what the letter says is true, the Bronze Gate corresponds to the Divine Invocation Realm, the Golden Gate corresponds to the Human Immortal Realm, then the Gemstone Gate and the Divine Abyss Gate correspond to the Great Luo Realm and the Saint Realm, respectively."

Yang Guang gripped the railing tightly in front of him, the wind blowing through his hair, his handsome features showing a hint of anxiety.

"Sacred Realm!!"

This realm has always existed only in legends. Even he, as the emperor, only learned about it from the vast library of the royal family.

It turns out that above the Great Luo realm lies the Sacred Realm.

Throughout the millennia of the mortal world, this is the only human realm that can match the mortal master Xiao Shen and the Northern Frontier Wilderness God.

However, this realm seems to have only been passed down through generations, but no one has ever actually entered it.

Even as a Great Luo Immortal, Yang Guang only managed to maintain his position by relying on his dense Purple Dragon Qi; otherwise, he would only have recently entered the Human Immortal Realm.

Yang Guang took a deep breath: "It seems that Lord Beiming was right. Now is not the time for infighting. If those things behind the door really run into the mortal world and pollute the whole world, we people, whether we are kings and generals or commoners, will have nowhere to escape."

In fact, long before he went to Liangzhou, he knew that those gates would not be simple. Otherwise, the Lord of the Northern Underworld would not have directly destroyed the King of Liang, and would not have fought a decisive battle with the Evil Spirit True Lord and the Goddess Zigu in Liangzhou.

Ultimately, it's all about quickly stabilizing the situation from the chaos of war, so that we can better maintain order and save more lives.

"He cares more about the world than I, the ruler of this dynasty!" Thinking of this, Yang Guang couldn't help but shake his head and sneer.

At this moment, the young eunuch Wei Xian suddenly appeared behind Yang Guang with a memorial.

"Your Majesty, Lord Wang just requested an audience and presented a memorial."

"Wang Shiyi? What's he doing submitting this memorial? Is it about the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests again?"

Wei Xian's expression stiffened, and he lowered his body slightly: "Perhaps so. I sense that Lord Wang is not in a good mood."

"Hehe..." Yang Guang chuckled, flipped open the memorial and glanced at it: "He is indeed a loyal minister. Go and tell him that I have approved the memorial."

Wei Xian was taken aback when he heard this; he hadn't expected His Majesty to agree so quickly.

Seeing his doubts, Yang Guang had no intention of explaining, and could only sigh inwardly, "In the end, he is not as good as Xu Fu!"

"Pass down my decree, ordering all prefectures within my jurisdiction to send people to closely monitor the movements of any gates that appear within their borders. Also, instruct the Buddhist and Taoist sects to send immortals to guard these gates. If anything emerges from behind a gate, kill it all."

Wei Xian asked in astonishment, "Your Majesty, the officials of the prefecture will obey your orders, but will the Taoist and Buddhist sects listen to them?"

"You just need to pass on the orders; whether you listen or not..."

Yang Guang gazed at the darkening sky and sighed, "They will listen!"

Upon seeing this, Wei Xian bowed and accepted the order without any further hesitation.

Yang Guang's decree quickly reached all prefectures and counties. Under Yang Guang's strong rule, which resulted in the killing of a large number of people, the current dynasty can be considered to have been diligent and hardworking, with imperial power highly centralized.

During this period, no one dared to disobey Yang Guang's orders, not even to engage in underhanded tactics or act against their conscience.

Because Yang Guang truly meant it; he would cut off your head without hesitation.

If you dare to neglect your duties and disobey the imperial decree today, tomorrow a night watchman might push open your door and take your head.

This is not a joke; it's the result of a real number of deaths.

In Yang Guang's words, if an official is corrupt and lawless, and outwardly complies but inwardly defies orders, then he can be replaced. There are plenty of people waiting to take the position, and there is no need for him to take the place.

Therefore, within a few days of Yang Guang's order, all officials who received the decree dared not delay and immediately dispatched troops to guard the vicinity of each gate.

At the same time, they recruited strongmen from outside to form a team of civilian strongmen, instructing them to keep a close watch on the door and set up ambushes nearby.

Yang Guang did not conceal the danger behind the door in his decree, so officials from various prefectures and powerful families all knew about it.

Although they were somewhat skeptical, they also became a little nervous and began recruiting powerful families to strengthen their own family's defenses.

At the same time, the nine branches of the Taoist sect also received Yang Guang's imperial edict.

Zhang Daoling, the leader of the Zhengyi sect, stared at the imperial edict in his hands, remaining silent.

His junior brother Zhang Wangzhi, who was next to him, also saw the contents of the imperial edict. After hesitating for a while, he asked.

"Senior brother, should we accept this imperial decree or not...?"

Upon hearing this, all the Taoist priests in the hall turned to look at Zhang Daoling.

Zhang Daoling sighed.

Before joining the secular Zhengyi Sect, he never imagined that he would eventually rise to the position of sect leader.

At first, he really just wanted to learn from the secular Zhengyi sect.

He never expected that after three years, he would become the head of the Zhengyi Sect, with so many mouths to feed. So he had no choice but to stick to this position.

He now manages both Longhu Mountain in the present world and the Zhengyi Sect in the secular world.

But this imperial decree...

Zhang Daoling knew that he had no choice but to accept the imperial decree, whether he wanted to or not.

Even without this decree, the Zhengyi Sect, one of the nine branches of Taoism, would still have to go out and deal with those things behind the sect.

He was a commoner, and he knew best how terrifying those things behind the door could be.

In the present world, doors have been opening one after another in those transit areas, and the skeletons behind the doors are swarming out to the outside world like locusts.

If it weren't for the Xuan Kingdom's method of gathering divine fire, which could mobilize a massive amount of incense offerings from the people, they might not have been able to stop so many corpses.

But what is there in this mundane world?
Soldiers clad in armor and wielding swords? Or are they just some random people from all walks of life, skilled in Taoist magic and sorcery?
Zhang Daoling sighed and looked at his junior brother.

"This road concerns the entire secular world. We have to take it whether we want to or not. Do you think you can hide from the world by closing yourself off in the mountains?"

Zhang Daoling's face showed a hint of helplessness: "Right now, the only way we can go is to stick with everyone and try to get through this disaster."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wangzhi sighed and turned to look at his fellow disciples.

People his age almost all had worried expressions, with a hint of reluctance and melancholy in their eyes.

In contrast, the young Taoist priests were all full of passion, as if they were determined to fight to the death with what was behind the door.

"Sure enough, it has to be the young! Young people are fearless." Zhang Wangzhi shook his head, thinking to himself.

However, he saw this as a good thing. This was a war involving the entire secular world, and everyone would be drawn into it; no one could escape it. With this fighting spirit, the future was promising. "I'm getting old after all!" Zhang Wangzhi stroked his white beard, his voice listless.

Suddenly, as if he remembered something, he looked at Zhang Daoling and asked, "Senior Brother, has Luo Zhou already made preparations?"

Zhang Daoling turned his head to look at him and nodded: "The Lord of Beiming was the first to become vigilant. It is probably because of him that we started to make preparations as well."

"call……"

Zhang Wangzhi breathed a sigh of relief, inexplicably feeling that the Lord of the Northern Underworld was more reliable than the emperors of previous dynasties.

Besides the Zhengyi sect, other branches of Taoism also received imperial edicts from Yang Guang one after another.

They shared similar thoughts with Zhang Daoling, believing that this was a war that threatened the entire secular world and that no one could avoid it. So, except for a few people responsible for guarding the temple, almost everyone left the mountain and headed towards the gate.

However, there are a few exceptions.

Several Buddhist temples believed that this was just Yang Guang's alarmist talk. Although those doors were strange, they had never made any moves. Even if creatures appeared behind the doors, they would not necessarily be enemies of the mortals.

Even if someone harbors evil intentions, it's not too late to try and reform them later.

Of course, these temples that were unwilling to contribute their share were soon suppressed by Yang Guang.

Three immortals personally knocked on the temple door and presented them with two choices.

First, they cut down mountains and destroyed temples, completely ruining these Buddhist temples.

Secondly, the temple dispatched all its combat forces to the battlefield in an orderly manner to prepare for the upcoming war.

At this moment, Ah Xiang was standing in front of a collapsed Buddha statue, her body crackling with lightning, her eyes fixed on the monk in front of her with a gloomy expression.

An elderly monk at the head of the group chanted Buddhist mantras, attempting to confront Ah Xiang.

However, without Ah Xiang making a move, the other two figures beside her surged with various divine powers, suppressing the old monk.

"Since you're unwilling to leave the mountain, then bury yourself here completely." Ah Xiang looked at the magnificent Buddhist temple, her expression cold and devoid of any emotion.

"In prosperous times, you open the mountains to welcome guests and collect offerings from the people. But when the chaotic times are about to arrive, you all clamor to close the mountains and live in seclusion. So you want to reap all the benefits while the common people bear the burden of the harm?"

Ah Xiang's five fingers formed claws, and jet-black lightning shot out, transforming into chains that toppled the pure gold Buddha statue.

When the old monk from the Immortal Realm tried to stop him, two divine powers surged forth like a tsunami.

Outside the temple, a large group of night watchmen with tokens hanging from their waists filed in and escorted all the monks inside.

Broken prayer beads lay scattered on the blue brick floor, and wood shavings stained with gold paint were mixed with incense ash and scattered all over the ground, crushed into dust by pairs of shoe soles.

Ah Xiang stepped forward on the broken Buddha lotus seat and shouted in a cold voice: "All adult monks shall be sent to the military camp. Anyone who dares to resist or has any thought of escaping shall be killed on the spot."

Ah Xiang raised her fingertip and pointed to the only intact Buddha statue in the hall, her voice low and melancholic: "If everyone can safely overcome this calamity, I will personally rebuild the golden Buddha statue for your temple. If you cannot overcome it, what use is this Buddha statue?"

A sudden burst of lightning exploded, brushing past the golden Buddha and instantly turning a candlestick behind it into dust.

She ultimately spared the temple some dignity by not destroying the last Buddha statue.

Similar incidents to those involving Ah Xiang occurred in various places within the territories of each dynasty.

As Yang Guang's actions became increasingly ambitious, he even turned his attention to the mortal gods.

Relying solely on the power of Taoism and Buddhism is far from sufficient; the secular deities in those secular temples should also fulfill their responsibilities.

As a result, a series of imperial edicts were issued, and in addition to the Taoist and Buddhist sects, the minor folk gods and temples within the jurisdiction of each dynasty also received Yang Guang's imperial edicts.

Meanwhile, on the Northern Dark Army side in Luozhou...

Because Lin Beixuan had made arrangements in advance, their actions were even faster. They had already summoned all the mortal gods and immortals in their territory before Yang Guang took action.

Even those old monsters who hid deep in the mountains and forests and never came out of seclusion were not spared.

Even some powerful ghosts and spirits will first communicate with you in a friendly manner, discussing the current worldly crises. If you cannot come after being invited, then a mortal god or a great mortal god will step in and forcefully take the 'invited' away.

In this light, Lin Beixuan and Yang Guang's methods are surprisingly similar.

Meanwhile, all the craftsmen were working day and night to produce weapons and magical artifacts.

Led by Xiao Zizai, a group of master craftsmen began in-depth research and development on firearms.

It would be too difficult to fight against the skeleton behind the door with just weapons. Given the skeleton's size and physical strength, the probability of an ordinary soldier breaking through its defenses is very low.

Even with the support of military forces, they would still be somewhat powerless against the surging tide of wreckage.

Therefore, after discussions among the high command of the Northern Underworld Army, it was decided that, in addition to swords and knives, each soldier would be equipped with a firearm developed by the master craftsman.

These firearms are different from the firearms and ammunition of the modern world. Perhaps the bullets are not as powerful as those of modern firearms, but both guns and cannons are imbued with the power of the gods.

If war breaks out, when the mortal god expands his domain, these firearms will resonate with the divine domain of the mortal god, thus imbuing these firearms with the power of the mortal god, and the same is true for swords.

At this critical juncture, everyone is doing their utmost to be as well-prepared as possible.

Under these special conditions, the exchange space of the Beiming Army is open 24/7. Once the war begins, it will be a huge amount of merit points, which will allow every soldier of the Beiming Army to grow rapidly.

Wu Huo, Xing Liang, and Zhang He have already exchanged their merits for divinely created organs in the exchange space and have begun their respective seclusion.

Once they successfully emerge from seclusion, they will become true immortal generals of the Northern Underworld Army.

Xi Xuan, on the other hand, was constantly familiarizing himself with and mastering his own power. His true strength had already reached the level of a mortal god. As long as he could fully master it, he would be able to control his own corpse energy and quickly refine his own divine organs.

Just as everyone was busy making preparations, the secular world finally ushered in its first wave of impact from behind the door.

In Luozhou, on the land that had been gradually recovering its vitality, bronze doors began to shake violently and irregularly.

Its tremors affected the earth, like a signal of an impending crisis.

"Boom-thump-thump-"

The trembling of the bronze door grew louder and louder, like an ancient behemoth striking the earth. Suddenly, claw marks, caused by internal impacts, appeared on the originally smooth door.

With a creaking sound as the bolts snapped shut, doors opened one by one, revealing countless scarlet eyes behind them.

(End of this chapter)