Chapter 1696: Video From the Outside

The military guesthouse.

After establishing Upheaval City, Xiao Yumei had sent people to build it.

The God Realm’s nine Divine Mountains each had a Holy Land protecting them.

The Tenth Divine Mountain was from the Outside, and it now belonged to Ye Zichen. The Upheaval Gang’s base naturally became its holy land.

But because they made contact with other Divine Mountains with such frequency, an endless stream of families big and small came to visit them. The Upheaval Alliance needed a building like the military guesthouse as a public face. This was where they welcomed their guests.

The guesthouse was a tower with nine stories in total, with nine representing the pinnacle.

The lowest three floors were used to welcome guests from other mountains, while the top six were used for the alliance’s internal affairs.

Ye Zichen had been in Upheaval City for quite some time already, but this was his first time visiting the guesthouse too. To date, he’d left the alliance’s affairs to Xiao Yumei and the others; he only participated in discussions of critical importance.

He was perfectly happy to take a hands-off role in management.

The Outsider imperial king led the way, and en route, Ye Zichen and Gu Li saw an endless stream of guests making a pilgrimage to the Tenth Divine Mountain’s holy land. Moreover, he saw quite a few alliance members scampering about, busy as could be.

Of these ordinary alliance members, most were still supremes, but Ye Zichen discovered that there were quite a few diviners and rulers among their ranks too.

He dared say that, disregarding any secret forces the other Divine Mountains had, just in terms of the power they displayed on the surface, the Upheaval Gang far surpassed the other Divine Mountains.

“General Li!” The two rulers guarding the front door knelt on one knee when they saw the outsider Imperial King.

“Is Assistant Alliance Head Xiao seated?” asked General Li.

When the two ruler guards responded, they addressed him, saying, “Assistant Alliance Head Xiao and the elders are already waiting on the top floor.”

The Outsider imperial king, General Li, nodded lightly, then turned and said respectfully, “Alliance Head, if you please…”

Ye Zichen and Gu Li walked side by side into the tower. General Li followed them inside. The two rulers guarding the door had, by now, frozen in place. Finally, they stared at each other and… “That was our Alliance Head….!”

Xiao Yumei had managed the alliance’s affairs from beginning to end, and since Ye Zichen was rarely on the premises, he was a mysterious and elusive existence. Most of the alliance’s members had never seen his true appearance. This might have been deliberate on the part of Xiao Yumei and the higher-ups, but there weren’t any portraits of Ye Zichen within the alliance’s interior at all.

As the two guards stood there, speechlessly, Ye Zichen and company had already entered the tower. 

Only after going inside did Ye Zichen discover that there was at least one imperial expert watching over each floor. There was a barrier around the military guesthouse as a whole, too. From the outside, no one could sense what was happening inside, but those inside could sense the outside world.

The tower’s first three floors all had numerous visitors, and the alliance’s deacons were responsible for welcoming them.

Everyone who saw the Outsider imperial king greeted him, but they were stunned when they saw that Ye Zichen and Gu Li were walking in front of him.

The top floor of the military guesthouse.

Compared to the extravagance of the lower floors, the top floor was notable in its simplicity.

It had been laid out according to Xiao Yumei’s preferences; she preferred simplicity, and had no taste for impractical luxuries. The top floor was reserved for the higher-ups’ discussions, and was never open to outsiders, so there was no need to worry about such trivialities. 

The main hall of the top floor had thirty six chairs arranged in two neat rows.

Another three chairs stood opposite the door. All were elevated, and the tallest of the three faced the entire room, while the lower of the elevated chairs faced inward. The only difference between them and the other thirty six chairs was a slight difference in elevation, and that they were slightly closer to the seat of honor. 

Inside the hall, no one spoke, but the atmosphere was as dense as smoke throughout the hall.

Thud! Thud!

The risp sound of hurried footsteps emanated from outside the hall as General Li entered first.

Afterward, he stopped by the doorway and looked outside. Xiao Yumei had already risen from her chair, and the occupants of the other thirty-six chairs rose as well.

Then, they watched as an elongated shadow, stretched by sunlight, entered the room. Not long after, Ye Zichen and Gu Li stepped inside.

“Alliance Head!” Xiao Yumei greeted Ye Zichen solemnly, and the others greeted him in turn.

Everyone seated in one of the thirty-six chairs was, judging from their auras, at least an imperial lord.

While quite a few of these experts were strangers, there were quite a few familiar faces, too.

Like Xiao Hu and Xiao Yan. Except Xiao Hu wasn’t qualified to sit in one of the chairs; he could only stand beside Xiao Yan.

More surprisingly, Su Liu’er and Su Yan were here.

But it wasn’t just them: Zuo Mo, Gou Yuzhan, Yin Shang, and many others were here too.

Ye Zichen nodded to everyone, but he sensed the solemn atmosphere, so he said no more.

He took in the lay of the room, and he knew in his heart that the central chair had been reserved for him. To his surprise, Gu Li followed him, then sat on the chair on his right.

Once Ye Zichen and Gu Li were seated, the others sat down as well.

“General Li, let’s begin.” Xiao Yumei gestured to the Outsider imperial king.

General Li, who’d been standing in the doorway, took a few steps forward and said, “This matter is relatively contemplated. First, I’d like to ask everyone to watch this video.”

With that, General Li walked up to Zuo Mo. “Miss Zuo, I’ll have to ask you to display this content for our Alliance Head and executives.”

General Li handed Zuo Mo a phone. As he passed it to her, Ye Zichen could dimly discern that General Li’s veins bulged, and the rims of his eyes were swollen and red.

After passing her the phone, General Li stepped back.

Zuo Mo expertly unlocked the phone, then beckoned over one of her IT guys. Shortly after, a screen of water came into view.

The video began…

A platoon, roughly one hundred strong, appeared on screen. Three divine generals led the group, and there were fifteen rulers among them. The others were all diviner-level experts.

Judging by the scenery in the video, they were in the space of the Outside.

A few minutes passed, but nothing happened worthy of notice, until…

“Vice General Zheng, Ol’ Six is missing!” The troop came to a complete stop, and the camera circled a few times, but there was still nothing out of the ordinary on screen.

“Never mind that! All of you, stay close to the group. Don’t get separated….!”

The group continued ahead, but a little while later…

 “Ol’ Wang? Ol’ Wang’s missing!”

“Ol’ Hu isn’t with us either!”  

“Hey! Hurry up and look… It’s… a monster…!” 

Suddenly, someone in the group screamed. The camera instantly turned towards the sound of the scream. Then, a head big enough to take up the entire picture frame came into view. It opened its gaping maw wide, then swallowed up the people closest by.