Infinite Professions-Chapter 111 - 35: Millennium

The former Spirit Control City is now the forbidden land of the Martial Country.

A man sits high on the throne, as unfathomable as a black abyss, yet as imposing as the towering Mount Tai. With black hair and black eyes, he still holds the visage of youth, with only a touch of weariness in his eyes and no trace of the years gone by.

"Teacher!"

"Sovereign!"

In front of him, several elders stand respectfully, worry evident in their eyes.

It is well known that life’s longevity is finite; no one can achieve immortality. Even Emperor-level Spirit Masters only have a lifespan of five hundred years, after which they must pass away quietly, leaving no trace.

Though he is the ancestor of the Martial Country, the only Celestial Destiny Spirit Master to have gathered all nine destinies, he broke the limits of this world and has lingered among humans for over a thousand years; yet, no one can guarantee he will remain in the world, undying and eternal.

They deeply understand this, as they are Emperor-level Spirit Masters, capable of faintly sensing the heavens, realizing that what limits the lifespan of Spirit Masters is not only cultivation but also this world.

This world restricts Spirit Masters, limits the development of all life.

Yet this is inevitable; shallow waters cannot nurture true dragons. If the world had no limits, it would inevitably head towards destruction due to unchecked growth.

Therefore, they dare not guarantee that the teacher, who carries the Celestial Destiny and surpasses the world’s limits, can remain forever.

They even already have a premonition, a premonition that arose when the "Martial Ancestor passed away" hundreds of years ago, a premonition that one day he would leave.

So now...

"I’m going to die!"

Calm words, breaking the silence.

Their bodies trembled, and they immediately knelt down, yet they did not know what to say.

Shen Hex also ignored them, continuing to speak to himself: "In the world, no feast lasts forever, and no dynasty remains unfallen. I’ve done all I can; I hope you can take care of yourselves and not disappoint me by repeating the mistakes of those before you."

"Teacher!"

Hearing this, they awakened, their tearful voices ready to inquire.

But Shen Hex didn’t give them the chance, directly waving his hand to suppress their words: "Go!"

"This..."

"Yes!!!"

Seeing this, they resigned themselves, gritting their teeth as they retreated.

After they left, Shen Hex waved his hand again, streams of Spirit Light flew out, transforming into hundreds of spirit beasts, gathering their forms, all kneeling, with the nine Celestial Destiny Sacred Beasts in front most prominent.

Earth Monarch Emperor, White Tiger Star Monarch, Fighting Saint Ape, Golden-Winged Roc, Wind Thunder Divine Eagle...

They are his contracted spirit beasts, comrades that have accompanied him on his journey.

Seeing them, Shen Hex finally smiled, speaking calmly: "It’s time to return your freedom."

With that said, he raised his hand to begin severing the Spirit Control Contract linked to his mind.

"Screech!"

The Wind Thunder Divine Eagle let out a cry, seemingly wanting to stop him, but regrettably lowered its head.

Shen Hex also ignored, heavily severing the contracts.

As each contract was dissolved, his aura and power continued to decline, especially after the nine sacred beasts, his body trembled significantly, his black hair turned directly to silver-gray, and an aura of decay, corruption, and death emanated.

Yet as he straightened his body, a golden light radiated brilliantly from his dantian, intertwining Dragon Tiger Qi emerged, his silver hair turned black again, and the aura of decay and death gradually dissipated.

"Taiyi!"

Wind Thunder Divine Eagle Xiaojiu stepped forward, tears gleaming in its eyes.

Shen Hex smiled, reaching out to gently stroke the feathers atop its head: "Do not be sad; this world is being elevated in dimension, and Primordial Spirit power is rapidly increasing. Perhaps in the near future, you can grow again, evolve again, to gain strength and longer life."

"And you?"

Xiaojiu was not excited upon hearing this, only looking at him intently: "Will you come back?"

"Yes!"

Shen Hex smiled, not dismissively: "I will return, but it will take some time. During this period, please help me watch over this world, not let it stray too far."

"Then I will wait for you!"

These words revitalized Xiaojiu, even fluttering its wings, and the other spirit beasts behind it also became excited.

It’s undeniable; sometimes beasts are purer than humans; some things cannot be said to humans but can be communicated with beasts.

"Go!"

Shen Hex smiled, bidding them temporary farewell: "Let me be alone and quiet for a while."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The beasts listened, and once again fell silent, but did not speak much further, silently withdrawing from this forbidden land sealing the darkness.

Finally, only Shen Hex remained, seated high upon the throne, looking back at the achievements of his millennium.

A thousand long years, he accomplished many things, but in the end, they could be summarized into three aspects.

First, governance; second, martial cultivation; third, spirit control.

In terms of governance, there are four key elements: establishing legal systems, increasing production, improving people’s livelihood, and boosting population.

Establishing legal systems needs no further explanation. Regardless of your ideology or thought, you need a system; without laws, there can be no governance, and the country cannot function and operate.

Increasing production and improving people’s livelihood is also self-explanatory; through the implementation of various technologies and utilizing Spirit Control Power, enhancing production and improving people’s livelihood as much as possible would lead to population increase, achieving the goal of qualitative leaps through quantitative growth.

This point is vital because whether for the Transmigrator to impact the world, harvest experience, and meet the demands for upgrading, or for the Spirit Control Martial Monarch’s world-spread martial cultivation and cultivation pendant feedback, all require mass population support.

But population is not something you can increase simply by saying so. Without improved productivity, population growth is like a castle in the air, without any foundational implementation.

Thus, Shen Hex’s national governance strategy starts with establishing legal systems as the first step, and increasing production as the second.

This was not difficult for him, as he possessed governance experience from a lifetime in the Martial Dynasty, and various technologies from the Human Empire, and this Spirit Control Realm was also in the process of dimensional uplift, where the Primordial Spirit Power was not only abundant but continuously enhancing.

These three factors—heaven, earth, and human—along with a thousand years and his own invincible martial strength, allowed Shen Hex to easily develop the Martial Country into a colossal force.

Today’s Martial Country, whether in human or spirit beast terms, both in quantity and quality, compared to the previous Spirit Control Continent, is truly transformed, achieving astonishing growth.

The previous Spirit Control Continent, due to the ravages of the Dark Beast Tide and the various kingdoms and the chaotic governance of nobles with filthy affairs, saw slow population growth, not to mention spirit beasts, where excessive hunting and ecological damage were common occurrences.

Though in some respects, living beings are like parasites of the world, consuming resources and damaging the environment, yet at the same time, living beings and civilization are the core of the world.

The world wants dimensional uplift, it needs sufficient living force, and this Spirit Control Realm is even more so, because human souls have mutated, where their powerful Spiritual Power can strengthen the Celestial Dao Power.

Shen Hex long discovered that as a Small Thousand Level world, the tier limit of the Spirit Control Continent was rather abnormal. The same Small Thousand World, the highest limit of the Martial Dynasty was only Tier Three, but it could nurture Tier Six, or even Tier Seven Dark Celestial Destiny.

This was evidently abnormal; becoming a Celestial Destiny Spirit Master, deeply comprehending the Celestial Dao and the World Power, Shen Hex finally realized that this world was in an "elevating dimensions" stage, about to advance from a Small Thousand World to a Middle Thousand World, hence it could accommodate Tier Six power.

One major factor determining the world’s dimensional uplift is the quantity of living beings, especially for this Spirit Control Continent; if the quantity is insufficient, the Celestial Dao Power is not strong enough, and the world’s dimensional uplift cannot be completed.

Therefore, Shen Hex’s management of the Martial Country can be considered as aligning with celestial destiny. As long as development proceeds step by step, this world will likely soon become a Middle Thousand World.

At that time, whether humans or spirit beasts, they will be able to step into an entirely new world.

Unfortunately, Shen Hex cannot join them.

The world has yet to undergo dimensional uplift, thus there are limitations within the heavens and earth.

Even though Shen Hex has gathered the nine Celestial Destinies in one body, and possesses Martial Arts Primordial Skill and the professional panel, capable of slightly breaking through the limits, it is only a slight breakthrough.

Eleven hundred years—this is already the maximum limit; henceforth, he must leave.

This was governance; now let’s talk about martial cultivation.

Shen Hex focused his mind and introspected himself; within the Qi Sea Dantian, a Golden Core hung like a great sun, with nine streaks upon it, the image of Yin and Yang mingling, water and fire merging, and dragon and tiger meeting harmoniously.

Nine-Transformation Golden Core, absolute peak of Tier Five!

Indeed, a millennium has passed, yet Shen Hex’s Martial Arts Cultivation remains at Tier Five and has not reached Tier Six, still cultivating within Tier Five, using Dragon Tiger Divine Gang to temper his Martial Arts Golden Core.

This does not mean his talent is poor, that a thousand years could not step into Tier Six, but rather this was intentional.

His Martial Arts Talent may be average, but with the Spirit Control Martial Monarch and martial feedback effect, plus the development of the Martial Country and massive population providing cultivation pendant support, his progress certainly should not be slow.

However, Shen Hex did not advance swiftly, instead, he put his mind to honing meticulously, seeking a Peak of Perfection, flawless Nine-Transformation Golden Core.

This does not arise from obsessive-compulsive disorder, nor does it denote a lack of understanding about the principle of realm supremacy, but rather it is because the competitive nature of the real world is intensely fierce.

The professional system of the Human Empire is equivalent to everyone having cheats; everyone possesses attribute panels, with all sorts of chaotic, highly potent innate skills possibly appearing.

Thus, Shen Hex had to pursue perfection; if he were not perfect, others would be, especially those in the high echelons of the Empire, possessing terrifying resources—they not only level up quickly, but have an extraordinarily solid foundation.

At present, Shen Hex finds it difficult to rival them in leveling speed; if he cannot match their foundation either, then it really won’t work. In the future, he would be certainly thrashed by them.

Although currently, Shen Hex has no intention of becoming "Imperial Lü Bu," affairs are unpredictable and ever-changing; some matters necessitate readiness, or else one cannot face risks.

Therefore, Shen Hex must strive for perfection; these years not only has he concentrated on Dragon Tiger Divine Gang cultivation and Nine-Transformation Golden Core refinement, but also reviewing previous realm cultivation and various martial arts and techniques, thoroughly chewing and digesting them.

In such a manner, after a millennium of arduous cultivation and Spirit Control Martial Monarch’s martial feedback, Shen Hex’s martial arts cultivation from Tier One to Tier Five can be said to have reached the Transformation Realm; even Teng Qinglong, the Xingyi Martial Sect, and Tianbei Second Middle School’s martial arts foremost appears immature in his gaze.

With such accumulation, whether he returns to develop in the real world or continues Zhuang Zhou’s Dream of the Butterfly and conquers other worlds, he possesses a tremendous advantage.

Additionally, Shen Hex discovered one more thing: this Spirit Control Realm actually harbors an existence akin to the Heavenly Gang Sha.

More accurately, there exists a power at a higher tier with similar effects.

That power is... the Power of Destiny!