I, the leader of the esoteric sect, am doing great things in the infinite world!

Ultimately, the foundation of the bronze city, which was located underwater, was forcibly supported and lifted from the sunless sea into the sky!

Amidst the astonished gazes of all onlookers, all they saw was countless waves of seawater rising into the air, the sky-covering clouds being dispersed by the storm, and the Bronze City appearing closer to the sky than ever before.

And at the highest point, there was that fiery figure, like a furnace, holding a radiant glow as intense as the sun.

—The Bronze City took flight.

"Then, establish the operating rules, kill the old metal, and forge its life."

The serpentine bronze statues standing on both sides of the road seem to have come to life, holding metal tablets and bowing in unison to the Nian statue standing at the highest point!

Immediately afterwards, pillars of metal sprouted from the ring, growing rapidly like giant trees amidst the sharp sound of steel rubbing against each other.

A total of 365 metal pillars surround the Bronze City, establishing the city's principles!

On Li Lin's dark green tabletop, flames blazed fiercely. A new card flickered and appeared in the flames.

The silhouette of the majestic Bronze City appears on the surface of the card, every inch of its edges appearing incredibly hard and exuding an indescribable majesty.

[Holy Land: Bronze City!]

This lays the foundation for everything!

A mighty roar echoed continuously from within the Bronze City, enveloping every inch of land that rose with it, merging all the power into one, and revealing the phantom of a majestic city.

Li Lin's perception began to extend infinitely, and his consciousness spread and flowed through every corner of the Bronze City, like a river or a flexible snake.

This is a feeling completely different from usual.

With the growth and spread of countless iron stones, the secret [Bao Shipyard] became the core of the city, transforming the bronze city, originally situated in the sea, into a veritable heavenly palace. Then, one after another, massive alchemy workshops were connected to it.

More than four hundred alchemical furnaces, eighty-one spirit particle laboratories, fourteen super-large workshops... and countless intricate internal wiring were broken down and reassembled to replace the old network, forming a new cycle.

Everything old has been killed, and what is being gained now is new life.

This is the true meaning of casting: "Fire is the harsh winter, yet it brings warmth; fire is the warm spring, yet it consumes everything."

When everything that has died is resurrected, what is gained is a vast and resounding tremor that makes the soul tremble.

—The Bronze City came to life.

Any superfluous words are merely pale embellishments; no further explanation is needed. It is clear to everyone that this is the future royal land of the Eastern Emperor and the Heavenly Craftsmen—their true capital after unifying the Nine Provinces.

Nian turned around, extended her hand to Li Lin, and smiled with a breathtakingly beautiful smile.

Li Lin took her hand, and the two stood side by side.

"Let's go, it's time to save our country."

373 Routine torture is rarely beneficial to physical and mental health

Kowloon Walled City was once a valve for relieving pressure on the city and a haven for smuggled immigrants and exiled martial artists.

However, with Luo Hao's death and the Lu family's rapid collapse, the slums became the first place to descend into chaos—no one cared about a place teeming with homeless people and illegal immigrants, and so the densely packed slums quickly began to further fragment.

The "leaders" of Kowloon Walled City, the smugglers, and the black market brokers became the so-called aristocracy, enjoying the best food and treatment without having to work. The vast majority of illegal immigrants and vagrants became the poor and commoners.

Some opportunists and speculators used this short period of half a month to achieve so-called "class advancement".

The current population is around 55,000. The slum is divided into three areas from the inside out: the aristocratic area, the working-class area, and the marginal area.

Garbage collectors were the lowest rung of society in Kowloon Walled City. Fear of death and the outside world kept them from venturing out, and the ongoing war in the city shattered all their confidence.

This group of people could only rely on scraps of food and even maggots from the sewers, and eat corpses. They hid in dark corners to eke out a living, just to survive.

Even if maggots are tearing at rotten flesh, even if the skin is covered with diseased tumors, even if one sleeps in excrement, even if half of one's face is eaten away by someone who is starving.

But they are still alive after all.

Living is painful, but at least we are alive.

When driven to extreme hunger, these garbage collectors will start attacking their own kind.

The commoner and aristocratic districts were forbidden areas, so they would roam around the outskirts of Kowloon Walled City, attacking vulnerable passersby, such as weaker children.

They prefer children, whose flesh is not as tough and chewy as that of the elderly, nor as stiff and sour as that of adults, and without the rotten stench of other garbage collectors.

The child's meat was tender and delicious, and even seemed to have a sweet taste.

Therefore, this group of garbage collectors has another name: ghouls.

They are the spreaders of plague and disease.

Under the gloomy sky, someone raised their head, their empty eyes devoid of any emotion that could be described as human.

In a sense, this is the end times.

"This is the end of the world."

Li Lin walked down the street with a deep gaze.

Tony and Andrei exchanged a glance, both seeing incredulous expressions in each other's eyes, before quickly following.

Li Lin breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, they caught up with him; otherwise, it would have been quite frightening for him to walk alone.

The silvery candlelight flickered dimly, and an illusory atmosphere surrounded them, but the hungry refugees paid them no heed.

Tony and Andrei's concerns were not unfounded—although they were not afraid of the ghouls, a large-scale conflict would mean that Li Lin's plan to sneak into the village would fail.

However, Li Lin's dense aura solved the problem. Even though Tony was close enough to smell the stench on the ghouls, those lifeless creatures still didn't jump up.

After hesitating for a moment, Tony carefully spoke, "Hong Kong... must have been the wealthiest and most open city in Qing Dynasty China..."

If the most prosperous cities are like this, what about the other cities located in the vast land?

Of course, Li Lin himself was not in a hurry. The dim silver candlelight flickered on the dark green table, and at the top, a brand new secret document was flashing with each breath.

[Fifth-Tier Secret Transmission: A Dream of Yellow Millet - Terrible Metropolis]

[Rank: Pseudo-canon]

[Nature/Appearance: Lamp, Casting]

Behind the scenes of the world, few can dream of the future course of history. These scattered dreams are like sparks, but very few can grasp them, even if they are scorched and wounded by the burning passion of those dreams.

[Remaining safe uses: 1.]

Of all the powers Luo Hao possesses, only this power, derived from the "Black Sun" Saturn in ancient Roman mythology, holds the highest rank. If Li Lin chooses to activate this power, it will gradually cover every inch of the royal land, centered on him, fundamentally regulating the operation of everything and making the entire country accelerate as if it had a cheat code.

However, the drawbacks are also obvious: the activation of this power requires a certain number of people, and it will decline rapidly as soon as Li Lin leaves.

Therefore, he did not intend to simply activate his powers here, but rather to unleash them in the Bronze City, radiating them from top to bottom across the entire royal territory.

As time passed, they left Kowloon Walled City and came to the city streets of today—the streets were much brighter, but a stronger stench of blood emanated from the corners of the long streets. The apartment buildings and shops on both sides had all closed their doors and drawn their curtains, shutting their eyes and ears to everything on the street, for fear of attracting their own wrath.

Tony walked forward nonchalantly, only to have Li Lin grab his wrist.

"?"

"Watch out for the bushes, there might be a dung beast there," Li Lin said with a strange expression.

Tony looked puzzled, his expression slightly distorted, as if he had thought of something.

"The Poop Beast is a creature that only appears in dark corners and abandoned buildings. When no one lives in the building, it secretly defecates inside..."

Even Vereslana's expression froze a bit.

Just as they were lost in thought, a series of footsteps came from all directions, mostly young people wearing centipede-buttoned training clothes. They took their stances on the long street. Li Lin took the opportunity to glance at the green table, on which a blade image was gradually taking shape.

It looks like the movie is about to start.

Fortunately, Li Lin's secret atmosphere was still in effect, and they were not taken seriously by any force.

Unfortunately, they were caught in the middle of two major families, and if they stood still, they would definitely be swept up in it.

Without hesitation, the four of them jumped up at the same time.

Their goal was good—to remain in the hidden area and then go up to the high-rise building to observe how the situation would develop.

However, a serious problem is that they did not discuss beforehand which direction they should jump together.

The two families who were about to start fighting on the long street hadn't even made a move yet when they seemed to sense something and looked up. They saw a fleeting glimpse of illusory candlelight in the sky, and three figures appeared out of thin air.

Li Lin held his breath and pretended that no one had noticed.

"Mickey, it seems our infiltration has failed."

Tony scratched the back of his head and laughed heartily in Li Lin's direction. All three of them turned their gazes toward the roof where Li Lin was.

Li Lin dismissed the candlelight with a look of disgust.

Sure enough, stealth eventually turns into violent intrusion.

Li Lin coughed and raised his hands in front of everyone's gaze: "Everyone, rise."

"...Ha, you clueless clown, what are you stirring up now?" One of the men, wielding red-flowered double staffs, sneered, cracking his knuckles and drawing his eight-section sword, pointing it directly at Li Lin. "You think you're the emperor, the emperor, the emperor, the emperor, the emperor..."

The blade slipped from Honghua Shuanggun's fingers as he muttered to himself, his eyes glazed over.

The massive and majestic silhouette of Bronze City was cast down from the sky, the entire city shrouded in an overwhelming shadow.

As darkness fell and the wind ceased, everyone stared in astonishment at the sky above.

Li Lin stepped off the roof and nearly lost his footing upon landing. Fortunately, it was dark around him, and no one saw his embarrassing moment.

“I really am the emperor.” Li Lin leaned over and patted the dazed man with the red flower double sticks on the shoulder. “This city now belongs to the Tang Dynasty.”