Chapter 175: Calamity

In the twenty-eighth year of the Summer Dynasty, the world became unified. Summer Emperor Nuo, who had fought battles all his life, reached his final moments.

Countless nobles and officials stood silently outside the palace hall.

Inside the hall,

Summer Emperor Nuo lay on his deathbed, his life force nearly extinguished.

“Is this my life?”

Nuo gazed at the unfamiliar faces around him—core nobles who had risen through their merits during the dynasty’s expansion. Yet he could hardly recognize any of them now.

He was tired.

In his final moments, a memory surfaced—a summer decades past, when he’d been a wildman captured by the You Qiong tribe, tossed among slaves like cargo. A young girl had saved him. He still remembered her words:

“From today, you’ll be my guard!”

“My name is Xi. Protect me well.”

A wildman—the lowest lifeform in the Great Wasteland—when had anyone ever cared for his kind? They were weeds beneath feet. That girl became his first light. To deserve that light, he trained obsessively, seeking status worthy of her. Yet when he finally unified the realm, he realized he’d lost what mattered most.

Failing to protect his beloved—how pitiful his life had been!

“I thought I was the child of destiny…”

At life’s end, Nuo retraced his journey. It began with stealing a bloodline training method. Why had he done it? Why play the hero? Were these truly his choices? Questions swirled as his consciousness dimmed. Outside, weeping sounds grew louder…

Nuo died.

His death ushered the Summer Dynasty into a new era.

New Emperor Hai ascended the throne!

With no tradition of bloodline succession and Nuo leaving no offspring, the throne passed to Hai—Nuo’s comrade since their early struggles.

“Dead?”

Zuo Meng stood in the Summer Palace, watching the coronation. He didn’t extend Nuo’s life this time—his role here was complete.

Emperor Hai expanded the Great Summer Laws, embedding them deeper into society. As order took root, the Dream Realm’s rules strengthened, birthing new concepts like judgment and justice—all emerging from the dynasty’s influence.

With the realm stabilized, Zuo Meng vanished again. Xuan Gui fled faster, disappearing the day Nuo died without farewell. Despite this, Emperor Hai declared Xuan Gui the dynasty’s sacred totem, claiming descent from the ancient turtle.

Subsequent Summer Emperors all claimed Xuan Gui’s bloodline, establishing it as the noblest heritage.

The three black stones Nuo collected became imperial tokens. Later rulers never witnessed their power. As legends faded, the stones became mere symbols, their divine origins forgotten.

Summer Calendar Year 998:

Nine centuries transformed the fledgling dynasty into an unchallenged power. The Summer Emperor’s will now reached every corner of the realm.

But with time came decay.

The nobility grew corrupt. Former wildmen from the circular mountains became new elites, claiming Xuan Gui’s blood while oppressing lesser races. Nine hundred years of accumulated tensions neared eruption.

“Calamity?”

Zuo Meng’s consciousness returned to the Dream Realm. He sensed new rules forming—the birth of calamity. The Endless Sand World never had such concepts. Only Great Worlds could spawn calamities, and those from the Celestial Realm could threaten even immortal saints. The Origin World’s calamities could erase countless realms—challenges even for the Origin Creator.

Zuo Meng touched the forming calamity, receiving no response. It remained incomplete.

Resolving to investigate, Zuo Meng focused on the Dream Realm.

In the imperial city,

A plant sprouted from soil, roots grasping air. Branches grew at visible speed, flowering and fruiting. The fallen fruit became a person who rapidly grew into a young man, clothes materializing on his body.

This was Zuo Meng’s projection—a technique learned when posing as the God of Lies in the Origin World.

“Sir! Staying or dining?”

The waiter hurried over. The stranger’s fine clothes and bearing marked him as no commoner. The Summer Dynasty’s hierarchy placed “Xuan Gui descendants” highest, followed by founding families, then warrior clans. Lowest were ordinary people, many unprotected by the Great Summer Laws.