Summoning the Gods: Start by creating the Eternal Night.

Eternal Night Space, Central Palace.

Black Emperor appeared in the hall with a "whoosh," its tail swishing merrily as it looked around.

Aqing was wiping the bamboo stick when she saw it coming. She looked up and smiled.

"Little Black, what are you doing here?"

Black King darted to her in a few steps, its claws gripping the edge of the table:

"I just heard from Eunuch Cao that the monarch has asked you to hatch a divine beast egg?"

"Let me see what's new! Where are the eggs?"

"It's in the inner hall. I'll take you there." Ah Qing put down the bamboo stick in her hand and led the Black Emperor towards the inner hall.

On the jade platform in the center of the inner hall, a spiritual energy shield about half the height of a person floats, with an egg standing inside.

The egg was about two feet long, and its shell was not a solid color.

Instead, it was covered with dark gold patterns, resembling the scales of some giant beast.

Its surface also has a warm luster, with a faint shimmering light flowing between the patterns, making it look extraordinary.

"Is this the egg?" Black Emperor's eyes widened, and he circled the protective shield twice.

Aqing raised her hand and removed the protective shield, and a faint life force spread out.

Black King leaned closer and sniffed.

A gurgling sound came from his throat, and saliva seeped from the corner of his mouth.

It could sense the immense energy contained within the egg.

If I swallow it myself, I might recover a lot, and I have a vague feeling that it will have other benefits for me as well.

Seeing its appearance, Aqing reached out and tapped its head:

"Little Black, stop with your little schemes!"

"This is something the monarch values ​​highly. If you dare to plot against it, you'll be in big trouble!"

Startled by the knock, Black King quickly wiped the drool from its mouth with its paw and chuckled sheepishly:

"Hehehe, no way, I was just looking, purely out of curiosity."

Aqing rolled her eyes at it: "That's for the best."

She paused, then asked,

"By the way, you're also a beast, can you tell what species this is?"

Black King leaned closer to examine it carefully, then gently touched the eggshell with its paw, and finally shook its head:

"I can't tell."

"There's a seal on the eggshell, completely sealing off the energy inside."

"But in my opinion, once the little guy inside grows a bit more, he'll be able to break through this barrier on his own."

"I see."

Aqing nodded and took out several spirit herbs with a crystalline luster from her storage ring.

With a slight movement of spiritual energy at his fingertips, he extracted the essence from the spiritual herbs.

It transformed into a pale green stream of light and carefully flowed onto the eggshell.

When the mythical beast egg came into contact with energy, the dark golden patterns on its surface instantly lit up.

It seemed to come alive, its shell trembling slightly, clearly greedily absorbing nutrients.

As the Black Emperor watched those rare spiritual herbs being "fed" into his eggs, he muttered to himself:

If I had this, it would make me feel comfortable for at least a few days...

But then I thought about it again, and realized that there really were no other beasts in the Eternal Night Space besides myself.

If I could hatch a powerful companion of the same kind, that would be nice too.

After Ah Qing finished absorbing the essence of the spiritual herbs, she saw that the Black Emperor was still lingering and asked:

"You've finished looking, why aren't you leaving?"

"I'm fine, aren't I?"

Black King flicked its tail and sat down on the chair next to it.

"I'll stay here with you while you incubate the eggs, and see when the little guy hatches."

"Whatever you want. Just don't cause trouble." Aqing shook her head helplessly.

……

Eastern Regions, Desolate State.

This land, which is blockaded by the forces of the other four states, is shrouded in a gray fog year-round.

On an island called "Rihang," stands a cluster of palaces with a bizarre style.

Black tiles and white walls, with eaves curving upwards, exude a sense of oppression.

In the central hall, a group of short people dressed in traditional clothing were surrounding a ferocious statue.

On the stone platform below the statue, there are dozens of bronze lamps, each with a wisp of pale blue flame burning inside.

The leader was an elderly monk with white hair and beard, who spoke slowly, his voice hoarse:

"I have summoned you here today because three days ago, Mei Chuan Neiku used a secret method to send back a message."

The middle-aged man sitting to his left suddenly looked up, a flicker of excitement in his eyes:

"Finally, there's news about Meichuan Neiku?"

"If it weren't for the fact that his life force was still burning bright all these years, we would have thought he had already perished."

"What did the secret message say?"

"He said that the other four states in the Eastern Region have undergone earth-shattering changes, and our opportunity has arrived," the old cultivator said in a deep voice.

A suppressed commotion immediately arose inside the hall, with many people clenching their fists and their eyes gleaming with excitement.

"Josei!"

"Josei!"

"Finally, we can get out of this godforsaken wasteland!!"

"Send men to find him immediately! We'll find an opportunity to make our move!"

Just then, a soft "click" sounded.

A lamp on the stone platform suddenly shattered, and the eerie blue flame inside went out instantly.

The hall fell silent instantly, all eyes fixed on the broken lamp, their expressions changing drastically.

—It is Mei Chuan Neiku's life lamp!

"This is... Neiku's life force has been extinguished?" someone asked in a trembling voice.

A middle-aged female cultivator with effeminate features suddenly stood up, her eyes flashing with a fierce light:

"Baka! Who killed my brother?!"

This middle-aged female doctor is Mei Chuan Neiku's younger sister, Mei Chuan Neiyi.

The people inside the hall were both shocked and furious. Mei Chuan Neiku had been ordered to leave the desolate state to gather intelligence.

Decades passed without a trace, and news only arrived three days ago.

How could it all be gone in the blink of an eye? How are they supposed to accept this?

Little did they know that the painstaking efforts they had made to get Mei Chuan Neiku out of the desolate state were initially quite cautious.

However, as his cultivation level increased, he gradually became arrogant.

He wantonly abducted female cultivators within Qianzhou and forced them into dual cultivation, but was eventually captured by Qian Tian and his men and imprisoned for decades.

If it weren't for this competition at Jiulin Mountain, he would probably still be stuck in the Heavenly Prison of Daqian.

"Should we... continue the operation?" someone asked hesitantly.

The old cultivator, who was also their Grand Elder, took a deep breath and slammed his hand heavily on the table:

"Of course! Why not take action?"

He surveyed the crowd, his voice hoarse yet laced with ruthlessness.

"We are blockaded in this barren wasteland by the forces of the other four states in the Eastern Region, and our resources are already on the verge of depletion."

"If we don't venture out now, our entire race will eventually perish due to a lack of cultivation resources!"

"That's right! We want revenge! We want resources!" the crowd echoed, their eyes blazing with anger.

The Grand Elder raised his hand to quell the noise and continued:

"Alright. First, send people out of the desolate state to gather intelligence on the major powers."

"Secondly, we need to investigate the cause of Mei Chuan Neiku's death. Once we have a clear understanding of the situation, we will lead our people out of this desolate region!"

Mei Chuan Neiyi stepped forward and bowed, saying:

"Elder, let me take my men out! I must find out who killed my brother!"

The Grand Elder looked at Mei Chuan Neiyi and pondered for a moment, then said, "Very well, Neiyi! You will lead the ninja group there."

"Remember, don't be reckless. Prioritize gathering intelligence and protecting yourself."

Umekawa clenched her fists, a hint of madness flashing in her eyes:

"Yes, Elder!"

But in my heart, I thought: I will definitely find out who killed my brother and make them pay with their blood!

"Everyone else, go and prepare," the Grand Elder waved his hand.

"Once the time is right, we'll break out of the desolate state!"

"Hi!" the crowd responded in unison, and they all left the main hall.