Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

Presba’s Capital was a hoarding-grounds of the myriad of grand-tier forces in Presba, including the Imperial-tier royal clan. In Presba, there were only seven grand-tier forces, including the newly ascended Water Veil Sect.

The three clans: Xin Clan, Ke Clan, and Li Clan.

The two sects: Solitary Sword Sect and Water Veil Sect.

The two palaces: Dark Mist Palace and Earthly Fortune Palace.

All of these forces had half-step True Essence or True Essence Cultivators at the helm, with the three strongest being the Xin Clan, Li Clan, Solitary Sword Sect, and Earthly Fortune Palace with peak Initial-True Essence experts dominating their region.

There were also many first-tier and second-tier forces who were subordinates of these powers residing within the capital as well. Due to this, conflict was common and even war was sometimes executed within the capital. Despite this, it was still the safest place in all of Presba. The Imperial Clan of Presba ruled over the central area in the capital which made all those nearby to not be bothered by any outside forces, typically dealing with internal issues instead.

It was the only Imperial-tier force with a mid-True Essence expert similar to Grux. It was only because all of the countries were roughly at the same power that no wars among them occur. If it did, whoever ended up winning would just be swept by the other countries until the entire continental hierarchy collapsed into chaos.

The Presba Capital was divided into three sections, the outer wall, the inner wall, and the royal wall. Each wall circled around the vast land sealing off any intruders and fortifying its defenses. Despite not fearing war due to the consequences, it didn’t mean the country didn’t prepare for it. The outer wall contained the myriad of second-tier and first-tier forces with countless civilians and cultivators making way with their lives.

The inner wall mostly contained cultivators as civilians and was home to all the grand-tier forces, excluding the Water Veil Sect. The royal wall contained only the territory of the imperial-tier force that was the imperial family. The land within the walls was large enough to rival all the owned land of the grand-tier forces, not to mention it was far richer in terms of atmospheric essense density.

Each wall stood a thousand meters high, filled with various formation inscriptions that would cause anyone analyzing them to feel a headache. Atop the walls were numerous guards patrolling on its broad surface. There were even houses located at the height of the walls, likely the barracks or residences of the guards.

"It truly is extraordinary." Yan Zaizen couldn’t help but exclaim in wonder. Out of all the cities he’s seen, this was by far the largest and most spectacular he’d ever laid his eyes on. The wall itself was so tall that he felt as if a mountain was before him, and the myriad of formations gave it a profound sensation that could cause one to prostrate in reverence.

It took three full months since their cultivation session to arrive here. Yan Zaizen was now twenty-three years of age, if you considered his time in chaotic space, and he had a more refined aura than before. There were several events of note occurred during their journey, such as an attempted robbery by a half-step Origin Core Realm pirate, helping a family survive the onslaught of bandits, and getting dirt drunk at one of the cities in their path.

When they left the city, Bai Lufeng said something that caused both Yan Zaizen and Tao shocked.

"I wonder...if I have another kid now..."

Yan Zaizen and Tao just shook their heads at those words. This man truly was a playboy, but if these women fell for his moves, what were they to say? Not to mention, with Bai Lufeng’s lifestyle from before, it’s likely he left many children without a father. Actually, Bai Lufeng wasn’t the only cultivator who took this lifestyle, but many others.

Tao informed Yan Zaizen that fatherless children happen quite often in the myriad realms either due to the death and struggle cultivators must face or the journey to the peak takes them away. If you wish for a good future with protection for your kids, you will need strength, and in search of that strength, many men left their families. Tao was actually someone who suffered this fate.

He was an orphan after both his father and mother died to the cruelty that was Grux in their search for strength. Despite this, his exceptional talent and intelligence got him noticed by the Imperial Scholar at the time, and after many trials and tribulations, he took up the Imperial Scholar’s family name and Grux title.

The world truly held limitless opportunities ready to be taken and limitless dangers ready to reap away lives at a moment’s notice.

"When we arrive, we should buy a better skyship." Yan Zaizen remarked. This skyship had the top speed of a peak-Qi Unification Cultivator, but that was exceptionally slow to all those on board. Just casual flight for any of them could leave this skyship in the dust. His words were greeted with simultaneous nods from Tao and Bai Lufeng.

This skyship truly was horrible in terms of speed. If they had a better one, they could travel the myriad realms dozens of times faster. If it wasn’t for their lack of rushing, they would’ve already just flown to the capital with their own cultivation bases.

They arrived at the outer gates of the capital. Each wall had four gates signifying the four directions, and they were about a hundred meters in height with several hundred meters in width. It was like a huge, rectangular gate. The first Yan Zaizen ever saw, but after seeing the myriad of people, skyships, and large mounts traveling in and out of the capital, he could understand why it was so wide.

"The population within the capital exceeds one hundred million." Tao softly said at the side, looking at this grand city with calm eyes. Grux had ten times Presba’s total population, and they were in the tens of billions, but with a similar land area. Seeing the dense number of people, he didn’t even flinch. Not only that, Bai Lufeng had the same sentiments. This wasn’t anything too extraordinary to him.

Yan Zaizen had asked Tao about the issue of population vs resources in Grux and why they didn’t simply attack other countries with their sheer numbers. However, Tao educated him thoroughly. Grux had an abundance of materials but not cultivation resources. In the cultivation world, a single Origin Core expert could mindlessly slaughter hundreds of thousands of Essence Formation cultivators with very little effort.

Because of this, numbers barely matter in a war between cultivators. What matters is the highest cultivation, taking Yan Zaizen and Yao Wuhen’s fight into consideration, they pretty much leveled several li of distance with a single exchange. In a war, the True Essence experts will determine the winners, but Grux cultivators in terms of strength were pretty even with the rest.

Despite their boundless materials they can gain wealth off of, this still required time or alchemists to better make use of it. Yet, while they use this time, how could the others not also make use of this? Not to mention, make absurd trades with Grux who needed a vast amount of resources? Cultivating a single expert at the True Essence realm would take thousands of years. It was just too difficult.

Presba, on the other hand, had the issue with disaster beasts. They were swarmed by it and clearing them off was an impossibility due to the divine beasts within it. This prevented them from removing a threat that impeded their success. In Grux, they had very little disaster beasts, but Presba had to share their resources with them, or face a civil war within their country.

Each country seemed to have their own respective issues that prevented their growth, but this balance left the continent stable. The Mystic Wave Continent, from Tao’s knowledge, was filled with an ever-existing war within the territory. It was like Presba but more volatile. The war between divine beasts and cultivators were extraordinary there.

"The world truly is filled with complexities." Yan Zaizen commented at the side, feeling excited to see all the different situations and to interact with all types of races. When he first arrived in Xuanwu City, he had his first desire to meet an actual Divine Beast, perhaps...he’ll be able to do so sooner than he originally believed.

They entered the outer wall without trouble after paying a fee. It wasn’t particularly expensive, but to purchase an ID for continuous entry and exit was. They didn’t have any intention of leaving Presba except through the continental-type spatial platform, so there was no need for that.