Atlas of Heaven and Man.

Chapter 1426: Crossing the Road to Different Realms
Half a quarter of an hour later, Emperor Wenguang changed into casual clothes and, led by an attendant, entered an underground secret passage in the side hall of the Changlun Pavilion.

After walking only a hundred or so steps, we arrived at a spacious underground hall, where an eight-person-carried dragon carriage was already waiting.

Once he was seated, the old eunuch shouted, "Let's depart!"

After the imperial carriage was lifted, it proceeded along the smooth, secret path paved with stone slabs. The eight palanquin bearers walked in unison and quickly. A moment later, they arrived at Green Lake, where there was a fork in the road.

A faint fragrance wafted over, and dozens of palace maids and eunuchs stood in front of them, dressed neatly and waiting with their eyes lowered. A palanquin was parked to the side.

A woman dressed in a phoenix coronet and embroidered robe, with dignified bearing, stood quietly before the carriage, her face expressionless, gazing at the statue-like figure.

Upon seeing this, Emperor Wenguang said, "The Empress has arrived."

Empress Cao curtsied and said, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects."

Emperor Wenguang sat on his palanquin and said gently, "Your Majesty, you may rise. I know you are not resentful that I have troubled you with this journey."

The Empress said, "I have no complaints." Her voice was cold and indifferent, devoid of any emotion, like a still lake.

The waiters on both sides kept their eyes down and remained completely silent while they were talking.

Emperor Wenguang said, "Then the Empress shall accompany me on this journey." As he spoke, he raised his hand.

The imperial carriage passed over the royal palanquin and continued forward.

Besides Empress Cao, the other concubines were also present, along with several young princes who were brought along, but they stood far behind, and Emperor Wenguang didn't even glance at them.

A moment later, the carriage finally arrived at the bottom of Green Eye Lake. It was cool and quiet here, with the stone walls on both sides gradually widening and the light shadows stretching outwards. Every three or five steps, there was a heavily armored guard standing solemnly with a spear in his hand.

Prince Yong was standing at the crossroads, talking to a young Taoist priest. When he saw the imperial carriage approaching, he hurriedly stepped forward, raised his hand, and bowed, saying, "Your subject greets Your Majesty and Your Majesty!"

Emperor Wenguang asked, "Prince Yong, have you completed the task entrusted to you?"

Prince Yong hurriedly replied, "Reporting to Father Emperor, the rift has been opened, and Father Emperor and Mother Empress Dowager can depart at any time."

Emperor Wenguang glanced at the young Xuanshi, "Didn't your master come?"

The young Taoist priest bowed and said, "My master has had an epiphany since returning from Yaolan Pass. He has been cultivating his spiritual practice in seclusion and has sent me to accompany the Emperor and serve His Majesty."

Emperor Wen Guang said, "I heard your master say that you have already acquired eight-tenths of his skills, which is quite impressive. Follow him."

The young scholar smiled and bowed again, saying, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Emperor Wen Guang stopped speaking and continued his journey forward.

Prince Yong waited by the roadside until Emperor Wen Guang passed by, and then bowed to the Empress and the concubines behind him.

When he saw his younger siblings being held in the arms of palace maids, a slight unease appeared in his eyes; this was not quite what he had expected.

However, he soon discovered that the emperor had not brought Prince Qiong or Prince Lin with him, which made him breathe a slight sigh of relief.

Aside from his two elder brothers, the other princes posed no threat to him. As for the future? An external calamity was imminent. In the future war to restore the kingdom, who else could the emperor use besides him?
The longer it goes on, the greater his advantage will become.

At this moment, he saw Consort Jie's carriage approaching and breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the emperor had brought his mother with him, so he immediately went forward to greet her.

Although he was Empress Cao's son according to patriarchal law, he naturally had no feelings for her.

He had already decided that the first thing he would do when he ascended the throne was to honor his mother as Empress Dowager.

The car rounded the bend and finally arrived at the bottom of Green Eye Lake. Looking up, a huge crack had appeared at the bottom of the lake, from which dazzling light spilled out, forming a shower of radiant light.

Its edges are surrounded and protected by a fixed pearl, like a star ring hanging in the sky, with silver light flowing around it. Furthermore, the shimmering water from the lake surface pours down through the transparent lake bottom stone, reflecting shimmering shadows on the stone wall. Several kinds of brilliance reflect each other, like a dream.

Those who arrive here for the first time are invariably shocked, and Prince Yong is no exception. He simply cannot fathom how much manpower and resources Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong must have used to create this hidden escape place.

No wonder he had played in the lake countless times before, yet he had never discovered its secret.

Within this vast space at the bottom of the lake, more than twenty mooring platforms stand.

In the center was a 200-meter-long airship, surrounded by more than ten other airships of various sizes.

Everything the royal family needed for their northern hunt, along with the palace's treasures, had already been carefully arranged in each of the airships.

The main airship, "Fangzhang," was equipped with the most advanced technology and facilities in the world. Although the old imperial family remained a feudal dynasty, this was merely a change in the dynasty's ruling style and did not prevent the imperial family from enjoying the conveniences and achievements brought by the new era. Emperor Wenguang, the Empress, a group of concubines, and direct imperial heirs, along with Prince Yong, all boarded this airship together. Other members of the imperial family with more distant ties, as well as palace maids, guards, eunuchs, and close officials, were aboard various ships.

Half a quarter of an hour later, the Fangzhang slowly took off. Once the hull had risen above the top of the lake, the other airships that had been arranged around it detached from the anchor tower and flew together into the crevice that shimmered with the lake's shimmering light.

Soon, everything in the material world receded, and everyone entered the spiritual world on the other side.

This is the depths of the land of fusion, the true frontier of the world on the other side. Their mission is to walk along the edge and then, guided by the instrument panel, reach the exit on the other side.

However, traversing this world requires overcoming two necessary conditions. First, if an individual does not have a sufficiently powerful field, they will be invaded and mutated after entering this place.

Even those who have already undergone partial alienation only have slightly stronger resistance; they cannot completely avoid it.

Because the airship is protected by secret instruments, if the trip goes smoothly, most people will not be in danger. However, if the trip is delayed for too long, the outcome will be uncertain.

Another reason is that they need the protection of higher authorities.

The land of fusion is inhabited by all sorts of mutated creatures. Without the protection of the two Yuan ancestors, they would never have been able to reach the place they were supposed to go.

These two individuals also informed them that the upper echelons of the Da Shun regime were constantly searching for them, making it difficult for them to show themselves. Their absence was necessary to maintain a deterrent effect, ensuring that the war between the two sides remained a low-level confrontation.

Meanwhile, outside Youdu City, it was already night. The attack from Da Shun had not stopped. Shooting bolts of fire, like meteors, kept landing on Youdu. And the cannons in the rear, after cooling down, roared once again.

Chen Chuan was looking up when he suddenly noticed something and looked to the side, where he saw a paper crane flying by.

He gestured to everyone not to stop him, and when the paper crane came to him, he took it, and a wisp of spirit came from it.

After receiving the message, his eyes flickered, and he gave a few instructions to several high-ranking fighters from the Dongxuan Temple. He then greeted Fan Zhentong, who was in charge of supervising the battle from the rear, before taking to the skies.

After a short while, they arrived at the foot of Panquan Mountain and saw Mingchengzi waiting there, so they landed there.

Upon seeing him arrive, Ming Chengzi bowed and then said with great excitement:

“Xuanji, I have been sensing changes here for the past two days. Just now, relying on the treasures left behind by the sect, I sensed that there are cracks and disturbances in Youdu. Emperor Wenguang must be fleeing tonight!”

Upon hearing this, Chen Chuan immediately used the boundary token to contact Chao Ming, who had followed him, and instructed it to transmit a signal to the telegraph station set up by the army nearby, and to send a pre-prepared telegram to the rear to inquire about the situation.

For something like this that requires crossing a geographical rift, both sides need to be opened simultaneously. Since he already knew where the other exit was, he certainly couldn't have left people to prepare beforehand.

However, to avoid alerting the enemy, no personnel will be stationed nearby; only a few monitoring creatures will be placed there.

If a crack reaction is detected at this moment, it means that Emperor Wenguang is indeed preparing to leave from there.

While waiting, he said, "Today is different from hundreds of years ago. There is air and land control. If Emperor Wenguang really escaped from the other side of the Haixi Road, there is no way he could cross the territory of my Great Shun silently. I expect he must have a backup plan."

Ming Chengzi paused for a moment. He had spent most of his time cultivating deep within the fusion realm and was unaware of the outside world. He had never thought about this before, but now he couldn't help but ponder it:

"If what Xuanji said is true, then such a possibility does exist. If so, the only way for him to escape is to open another celestial rift in the Western Sea..."

At this point, his expression suddenly changed, and he said urgently, "Xuanji, Emperor Wenguang is very likely to do this! We need to hurry and stop him! Otherwise, he may very well escape!"

Chen Chuan said, "Gao Gong, there's no need to rush. I've already made arrangements for this."

Although Haixi Road is vast and sparsely populated, almost entirely uninhabited, it is still part of the Great Shun territory. He had already deployed men there, and once the enemy's whereabouts were known, they would have no chance of escaping. If they could just hold them off for a moment, they would arrive.

Less than ten minutes later, Chaoming turned back from the sky and let out a whistling sound. He also received a message from the rear that Haixi Road had indeed observed the fluctuations of the rift, but the target might be on a remote mountain.

He suddenly realized that this was actually reasonable.

If Emperor Wenguang wanted to retreat, it was impossible for him to do so alone. His concubines, children, servants, and guards would have to follow him, and he would also need to carry all kinds of luxury items and rare treasures. Therefore, convenient means of transportation would be necessary.

With so many people and goods wanting to travel across the territory of the Great Shun Dynasty, the means of transport would definitely not be some kind of carriage or alien creature, but rather an airship. The rift appears at a high altitude to facilitate crossing.

In that case, it's almost certain that the target is there, and even if the other party uses both overt and covert methods, it doesn't matter, as he has already arranged for ambushes along the path.

He said to Mingchengzi, "Master Mingcheng, let's head to Haixi now!"

……

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(End of this chapter)