Taoyang Star Continent, Zhongji Hall.
The directors of various departments—Xuanji Division, Earth Vein Division, Medical Division, Martial Division, and Realm Operations Division—once again gathered for a meeting.
It had already been over half a year since Zhao Xing arrived here. Small meetings had been frequent, but this was only the second full assembly.
Though many key figures were seated in the hall, only four people truly held decision-making power: Zhao Xing, the envoy of Haitong; Qiu Zishan, the Superintendent of the Earth Vein Division; Gu Ming, the Superintendent of the Xuanji Division; and Zhou Ze, the Martial Division's Commanding Envoy.
"I'd like to propose a temporary personnel reshuffle. The list's here—if anyone has objections, feel free to raise them."
Zhao Xing transmitted the list through the Star Mirror to all the department heads.
He waited a while, but no one said a word.
As if anyone dared to speak up? The last guy who objected, Bi Gang, got swallowed by the Void Straw Puppet, and after being held for several days, was punished by being sent to guard Corner Peak of the Boundary Mountain.
Who would dare to oppose him now?
Zhao Xing glanced over everyone's expressions in the hall and immediately realized he'd been pressing too hard these past months.
In truth, he hadn't done anything outrageous—just cranked up the workload a bit. He treated other professions like Martial Artists and Martial Artists like beasts of burden.
Anyone who dared resist got thrown into the Void Straw Puppet's dark chamber.
The world had long held polarizing views about Shennong of the Self School. People loved those like Yuan Qiusheng—support-type Shennong who stayed in their lane. But combat-type Shennong? They were usually considered freaks.
And him? He called himself the Primordial Saint Child. Insiders saw that as praise. Outsiders? Probably thought he was a "freak saint child."
"Gotta shift the impression a bit. Everyone being scared of me isn't exactly a good thing," Zhao Xing thought to himself.
"Lord Qiu, though I've cultivated the Extreme Continent Techniques, I'm not as familiar with the Earth Vein Division's personnel as you are. Do you think this reshuffle works?"
"Perfectly fine, Master-Uncle." Qiu Zishan nodded earnestly. After half a year of interaction, he had been completely won over by Zhao Xing.
By seniority, he was Taoyangzi's disciple. Taoyangzi was the disciple of Emperor Hongshan, while Zhao Xing had been directly brought in by Hongshan himself.
So Qiu Zishan had no hesitation calling Zhao Xing "Master-Uncle."
"Good." Zhao Xing smiled and nodded.
Qiu Zishan was still too straightforward. Zhao had asked him that just to give him a chance to raise issues in the workflow.
But the guy just didn't pick up on it.
Looks like this kind of nuance still had to rely on Gu Ming.
"Lord Gu, what do you think?"
Gu Ming pondered for a moment, then first affirmed Zhao Xing's personnel decisions.
"Taoyang Star Continent is currently understaffed across multiple departments. Sir, your reshuffle serves two purposes: one, to improve operational efficiency; and two, to facilitate merit recording later."
"No one should be doing a department head's work and only receiving a deputy's merit."
See? Gu Ming got it. He immediately grasped the leadership's message.
"After the Boundary Mountain anomalies began, part of Taoyang Base's personnel were transferred to Base One—mainly people from the Martial, Medical, and Engineering divisions."
"Another portion got trapped inside the Boundary Mountains. Fewer people, yes, but many of them are department heads or deputy heads."
"There were two deployments. One happened after the accident at the Fourth Boundary Mountain. The second occurred after the tunnel between the Fourth and Fifth Boundary Mountains collapsed, and people were sent to reinforce the Earth Veins."
Gu Ming began recounting past events at Taoyang Base, helping Zhao Xing review the cause-and-effect chain.
For example, the Martial Division had a total of four Wildland Regiments under its command. Zhou Ze was the chief envoy, and Bi Gang along with two Martial Artists served as deputy envoys.
But now, only Zhou Ze and Bi Gang remained. The other two were trapped inside the Boundary Mountain.
Other divisions, like the Realm Operations Division and the Medical Division, were also short on capable personnel.
Zhao Xing went over the previous military and administrative orders issued on Taoyang Star Continent and found both deployments to be quite unreasonable.
Without thinking, he asked, "Why not send in a full team all at once? Why keep splitting into small units?"
Gu Ming didn't respond. He simply cast a glance at Qiu Zishan.
The latter looked ashamed.
Zhao Xing instantly understood.
Due to Primordial Hill's leadership position over the Haitong Ancient Path, Qiu Zishan—as Superintendent of the Earth Vein Division—was technically equal in status to Gu Ming.
But in the beginning, everything went through Qiu Zishan.
Only after Qiu made a few missteps did Gu Ming finally push back and challenge his authority.
But that was all in the past. The guy was calling him Master-Uncle now—what more could Gu Ming say?
Since Zhao Xing didn't press further, Gu Ming smoothly shifted the topic with a single line.
"The disaster came too fast, and the Taoyang Base was built too quickly."
"Fortunately, sir, you turned the tide. We've not only cleared out the Boundary Mountain debris and corrected the Yin-Yang Twin Stars, but also restored part of the teleportation arrays. Everyone's taken some steps to make amends."
"With luck, our merits may balance out our mistakes—maybe even outweigh them."
The atmosphere in the hall instantly relaxed.
Yes, after more than half a year of hard work, Taoyang Star Continent's recovery was close to what it had been before the disaster—though personnel and resources had been heavily depleted.
Thanks to Zhao Xing's treatise, people's fear of the Boundary Mountains had been significantly reduced.
So what if it's a natural disaster?
Everyone here was in the Dao Domain Realm. Under the Wilderness Epoch backdrop, who hadn't completed several missions against the wilderness?
Zhao Xing's treatise had at least driven away the fear born from the unknown.
With a direction to follow, even if they themselves couldn't solve the Boundary Mountain issues, couldn't someone at the Reincarnation Realm, or even a demigod, solve them?
If Taoyang Star Continent could return to normal operations, then Haitong Ancient Path might not have to be shut down.
Their power and status were tightly bound to the fate of the Haitong Ancient Path. As long as the path wasn't abandoned, they could keep their positions and keep moving forward.
"Sir, you just said you wanted to carry out a personnel reshuffle. I, Gu Ming of the Xuanji Division, am the first to support it. I just think we could make some fine adjustments to specific individuals..."
Gu Ming's initiative opened the floodgates, and soon all the heads in Zhongji Hall began actively voicing their opinions.
"Lord Zhao, our Realm Operations Division has always had eight Lu Mountain Ships stationed at Rain Terrace. Normally, only Lord Fang could activate them, since the control authority was bound to his talisman. Without it, we can't even board."
"Now that Lord Fang is trapped in the Boundary Mountain, I've been assigned as the acting division head, but I still can't operate those ships."
"If, sir, you could petition higher authorities to transfer the permissions, I'd be able to use them. The Lu Mountain Ships could assist the Earth Vein Division in relocating Corner Peak and also isolate the converging nature of the Boundary Mountains."
"Envoy of Haitong, your treatise mentioned that the terrain changes within the Boundary Mountains released an ancient Triassic Era 'Flow Qi,' which numbs spiritual sense and weakens one's willpower. Two months ago, our Medical Division discovered that the herbs used to make Dao Xuan Pills are highly effective in resisting this geological change."
"But I, Chai Sisi, am just a Fine Cabinet Physician, not a Main Cabinet Physician, so I don't have the authority to develop a proper countermeasure."
"Moreover, the ingredients for Dao Xuan Pills are banned in the Red Star Empire. I can't request them, and even if I could, I wouldn't be authorized to handle the usage protocols."
"Promoting me to Main Cabinet Physician wouldn't be appropriate. The only one currently holding that title is Lou Lanxiao. I hope, sir, you can see the situation clearly."
The various departments stationed along the Haitong Ancient Path were full of top-tier talent. If they weren't elite-level, they wouldn't have been assigned to such a critical frontier.
Without Taoyangzi, and under Qiu Zishan's interim leadership, many of these people hadn't been able to fully utilize their potential. What should have been an elite team had turned into a disorganized rabble.
But now that Zhao Xing was performing his proper role as chief officer, all departments and divisions on Taoyang Star Continent instantly sprang back to life.
Everyone now understood what they needed to do—and saw hope. No more aimless chaos like before.
The sight of Zhongji Hall becoming a hive of discussion and initiative left Qiu Zishan overwhelmed with shame.
He couldn't understand it. These were the same people. Why were they like minnows under his command, but turned into top-tier professionals once Zhao Shishu took over?
He could only chalk it up to a lack of personal charisma—unable to earn the genuine support of these people.
The more he thought about it, the worse he felt. He wished he could use Earth Burrow Technique and just disappear into the ground.
"Zishan, what's so shameful about not measuring up to Zhao Shishu?" The junior martial sister beside him, Gong Xiaoyuan, saw what was on his mind.
"A talent like Zhao Shishu, someone who understands both legal doctrine and governance—most people don't meet even one like him in their whole life."
"We at Primordial Hill are great at doing things, sure, but coordinating across departments? That's not your responsibility. That should be the teacher's job!"
Hearing his junior sister's comforting words, Qiu Zishan felt a lot better.
"You're right, Junior Sister. Let's give it our all!"
"Zhao Shishu is definitely going to organize a rescue operation next. Our Earth Vein Division must not fall behind!"
Gong Xiaoyuan grinned and gave a cheerful nod, "Mhm~o(**)o"
This meeting had unearthed many issues—and solved a good number of them too.
As soon as it adjourned, Zhao Xing prepared to send a message to Emperor Bihui. Just as he exited Zhongji Hall, he spotted a big, burly man lurking sneakily around the corner.
Whoosh—
With a single step, Zhao Xing appeared behind Bi Gang.
"Deputy Envoy Bi, what are you doing here?"
Bi Gang jumped in fright, but quickly collected himself. "Ah, Envoy of Haitong, I was just... uh, that is—"
Zhao Xing stared at him. "If you're not going to speak, I'm leaving."
"Please wait, Envoy!"
Bi Gang gritted his teeth, dropped to one knee, and cupped his fists. "I once offended the Envoy and never formally apologized. Please, sir, forgive a fool's insolence this once."
Zhao Xing looked at him calmly. "Oh? But I heard that after you were released, you went around badmouthing me. Said I was abusive and inhumane?"
Bi Gang's face turned pale. "I was ignorant, sir. I didn't understand your good intentions. I accept whatever punishment you see fit."
Now that the Taoyang Star Continent was thriving and everything was moving in the right direction, Bi Gang couldn't sit still.
During the Zhongji Hall meeting, Zhao Xing had planned mountain rescue operations for all three Martial Divisions—except for Bi Gang's Wildland Regiment, which was still stuck on its original task: clearing boulders that had fallen from the Sixth and Seventh Boundary Mountains.
That couldn't go on. Martial Artists of the Qi School were tough, sure—but they couldn't be sent to suffer endlessly.
Before, he thought the Haitong Ancient Path was doomed, so whether they completed their tasks didn't matter. But now? Things had changed.
For the sake of his subordinates, he had to come plead his case.
The weeds in the palace wall corner trembled gently in the breeze, making a sound like sand being sifted.
After a long moment of silence, Bi Gang raised his head—but Zhao Xing was already gone.
Just as Bi Gang thought he hadn't earned forgiveness, a voice came drifting on the wind:
"All past matters, I won't hold against you. Return to camp and pick one thousand good men. In three months, follow me into the Seventh Boundary Mountain."
Bi Gang immediately leapt to his feet in joy, turned in the direction of Zhao Xing's vanished figure, and bowed deeply.
"Many thanks, Lord Zhao!"
Over at the Sixth Boundary Mountain, the solid, heavy rocks suddenly bulged upward as if something underneath was trying to break through.
At first, it was just like a bubble. But the center kept getting sharper—almost like a spine piercing through the surface of the mountain.
The mountain's convergence force was locking in place, clashing with this erupting power. Finally, at a certain moment—
Boom!
A pit cratered open in the Boundary Mountain, and large amounts of rock shot outward after losing cohesion.
The mountain surface formed a pit with a narrow opening and a wide interior. A Boundary Vessel with a tapered front and thicker rear burst out.
"Yuyu?"
The front of the vessel was a drill bit, and due to rapid spinning, it had turned a glowing red, blazing like a miniature sun from within.
"!"
Someone flew out from the vessel and took out a treasure gourd, pouring it directly over the drill.
Seven Moon Rivers surged out, wrapping tightly around the drill in an effort to stop its rotation.
Boom!
As yin and yang forces collided, an ear-piercing roar suddenly rang out.
The drill abruptly dimmed, covered in ravine-like cracks as fragments scattered in all directions. Over half of the seven Moon Rivers were also obliterated.
"Dammit, another one trashed."
"This is ridiculous! Even supreme-grade Origin Yin-Yang Drills get wrecked—nine of them now! Good thing I brought extras, or I'd have no way back."
The Mechanist Lord Lanji grumbled while stowing away his gourd.
He was a Mechanist of Lord-tier level.
A year ago, he'd received a task from the Empire to urgently head to the Bihui Star Continent of the Haitong Ancient Path and dig a passage from the Sixth Boundary Mountain to the Fifth Boundary Mountain.
The unique trait of the Overlapping Boundary Mountains was that they extended infinitely in all directions, buried entirely within the void.
So the only option was to pick the thinnest spot and dig a tunnel.
And it had to be from the Phenomenon Layer—if it were the Dao Manifestation Layer or the Ancient Dao Layer, who knew how long it'd take to finish?
Even with that constraint, Lord Lanji still found it an absolute headache.
These damn Overlapping Boundary Mountains constantly absorbed void energy, reinforcing themselves endlessly. There wasn't a clear weak point at all!
What's worse, whatever patterns they'd previously mapped out became useless once collapses occurred.
He'd spent a whole year digging, burned through nine supreme-grade Origin Divine Drills, and had only just carved out a narrow path through the Sixth Boundary Mountain.
Lord Lanji quickly transformed the Boundary Vessel and began scanning the surroundings.
To his surprise, the starry sky ahead of the Sixth Boundary Mountain was completely clear.
"What's going on? Didn't they say the collapse of the Sixth and Seventh Mountains had filled the central base zone with rubble?"
"Was the intel wrong?"
He tried linking up with personnel on Taoyang Star Continent—and sure enough, the star mirrors still had signal here.
Obviously, the communication satellite web of the Taoyang Base was still functioning.
"How odd!"
Lord Lanji muttered, then hurried toward Taoyang Star Continent with the delivery.
Time was tight. The Boundary Mountains would gradually reseal themselves. The tunnel he'd dug wouldn't stay open forever. If he returned too late, the entire path would seal up like a slab of steel.
"Yuuu~"
Since the void sky was clean and uncluttered, his route was clear. Lord Lanji sped up without restraint.
In just five days, he arrived at Taoyang Star Continent.
"Who's Zhao Xing? Tell him to come collect his delivery!"
His Boundary Vessel hovered above the star continent, constantly sending out signal pulses.
Zhao Xing was with Gu Ming at the time. They'd already been informed five days ago that a Reincarnation Realm Mechanist was on the way with a shipment. They'd been waiting at the Realm Operations Port.
"Lord Lanji, I am Zhao—"
Shoo—
The vessel suddenly burst with a flash of white light. Lord Lanji dumped the goods and immediately turned tail and left.
Gu Ming was left speechless. The Empire's Mechanist Lords were really in that much of a hurry?
"Was Lord Lanji rushing to deliver the next order?" he asked dryly.
Zhao Xing shook his head. "Who knows. Maybe he just wanted to save a bit of money."
The Empire's reimbursement quota was fixed. If Lord Lanji used fewer resources than allocated, the remaining funds would be his to pocket—even if he'd trashed all those drill bits clearing the Boundary Mountain, it was still his own cost.
"Huh? There's another person?" Zhao Xing suddenly noticed someone standing on top of the delivery cargo.
The man's rank wasn't low either. Another Lord-tier cultivator.
"May I ask who you are, Senior?" Zhao Xing had already learned that this person was named Ji Shan, a Lord-tier figure, but didn't know his reason for coming.
"You're Zhao Xing? I came specifically to find you." Ji Shan's gaze burned with intensity. "The Earth Vein samples that Emperor Bihui allocated for you—I personally selected them from the Primordial Hill's internal vaults."
"If they were requested from the Empire's central repository, you'd be waiting another three years at least."
Zhao Xing gave Gu Ming a look, and Gu Ming immediately said, "Leave the inventory and warehouse entry to me."
Since Ji Shan wasn't on the official roster, this was clearly a personal initiative—and clearly directed at Zhao Xing.
Gu Ming didn't want to get in the way, so he quickly had people go collect the delivery.
"Senior, please enter the hall and take the honored seat."
Zhao Xing led Ji Shan into the hall.
At the same time, within the Red Star Empire, in the Primordial Realm—
In Thousand Star City, a high-level multiparty meeting was underway.
Zuo Qiyu and the Five Venom Emperor still occupied the main platform.
The Reincarnation Hall's Emperor Yuanding, the Ancient Kingdom Alliance's Emperor Mangya, Scholar Bowe from the Seven Realms of Scholarly City, and the Heavenly Martial Emperor from the Origin Heaven Palace sat in two orderly rows.
All wore solemn expressions as they looked toward a middle-aged man in green robes standing at the center.
There was no question—this session's focus was assigning blame to Primordial Hill.
"Emperor Lushan, when we partnered up back then, Primordial Hill made bold promises. You assured us the Triassic Boundary Mountains were no problem and could be handled."
"Now, out of seven major ancient paths, five have had issues—all stemming from this Boundary Mountain segment."
"I won't even bring up the casualties, the wasted resources, and the lost time. I'm sure Primordial Hill is well aware."
"My Origin Heaven Palace demands an explanation," Heavenly Martial Emperor spoke first.
"The Ancient Kingdom Alliance suffered heavy losses in this Boundary Mountain disaster too," Emperor Mangya said coldly. "Emperor Lushan, I won't waste breath saying unpleasant things."
"The future rights originally allocated across the five ancient paths—how about Primordial Hill gives up thirty percent?"
Emperor Yuanding of the Reincarnation Hall and Scholar Bowe of the Seven Realms said nothing, but their silence made it clear they agreed.
When it came to holding allies accountable, the real goal was always compensation. For Primordial Hill, surrendering thirty percent of their stake was like slicing off flesh from their own thigh.
After all, Primordial Hill had already sacrificed a lot in this project.
But as soon as interests were brought up, the mood in the chamber grew tense.
At that moment, the Five Venom Emperor spoke.
"Emperor Mangya, what do you mean 'you won't say unpleasant things'?"
"You should say them! Say them loud and proud!"
Emperor Mangya looked a bit stunned.
Then the Five Venom Emperor leapt off the floating platform and drifted straight to Emperor Lushan, unleashing a storm of verbal abuse.
"Lushan, you brat. Back then, you Primordial Hill folks promised everything with confidence. And now look what a mess you've made. Thanks to you, so many of our young talents in the Primordial Realm are either trapped or dead—"
"If the disciples were trash, that's one thing. But even that old bastard Hongshan, a master of mountain techniques, got stuck inside the Triassic Boundary Mountain. Shameful! You've disgraced the Saint Lord's face completely!"
"Dao Brother of the Five Elements—" Emperor Lushan tried to speak.
"Who the hell's your Dao Brother!" Five Venom Emperor cut him off even harder. "Back in the Fourteenth Era before the Barren Lands, your lot worked with me digging through the Black Heaven Barren Lands. Five Emperors together couldn't even dig up a single black stone, and plenty of my men died for nothing!"
"And in the Eighth Era before the Barren Lands, you shamelessly claimed you could stabilize the Tenfold Mountains—ha! Even the Kui Niu got blown all the way to the Northern Boundary River thanks to you!"
"Fine, I won't bring up the old stuff. But right at the start of the Barren Land Era, that Gold-Eating Emperor of the Ten Thousand Rivers Demon Clan gnawed away half the Earth Veins of your Ancient Realm—grandpa here nearly laughed to death!"
"Are all the Shennongs of your so-called 'Twelve Mountains of the Three Realms of Primordial Hill' raised on dirt?"
"Oh wait, my bad. You really were raised on dirt. Isn't the first stage of your so-called "Extreme Land" technique just channeling the veins into your body? Hah, what a trash cultivation method!"
"I think you should just rename it to Barren Land Trash Technique!"
Faced with the pressing questions from Emperor Mangya and the others, Emperor Lushan still managed to keep his composure.
But under the Five Venom Emperor's barrage, he truly began to falter.
That guy didn't just curse randomly—he dug up every piece of Primordial Hill's dirty history and used it as ammo.
Emperor Lushan was absolutely furious.
But he couldn't retaliate. He couldn't even talk back.
Why? Because the Five Venom Emperor was Zhao Xing's true master.
And the mess Primordial Hill was in right now? There was a good chance it'd take Zhao Xing's law theory to fix it.
So after the Five Venom Emperor jumped in, the entire first half of the Primordial Meeting became nothing but his personal roast session.
No one else even had a chance to bring up compensation or asset redistribution—because they simply couldn't get a word in.
The first half ended with Emperor Lushan's face completely humiliated.
At the start of the second half, the Five Venom Emperor finally tired himself out from all the shouting.
And at last, Emperor Lushan had a chance to speak.
"Fellow Daoists, I admit this was a failure on our part," he said with a respectful bow. "We truly underestimated the difficulty of the Triassic Boundary Mountain."
Then he turned to the Five Venom Emperor. "You're right, Dao Brother of the Five Elements. I'm useless. My junior brother Hongshan is useless too."
Oh?
The Five Venom Emperor gave him a long look.
This old dog—why was he suddenly being so low-key today? That wasn't like him at all.
Zuo Qiyu gently tugged at the Five Venom Emperor's sleeve. "Enough, let him finish."
Emperor Lushan turned back to Emperor Yuanding and the others. "The Triassic Boundary Mountain problem isn't unsolvable. Primordial Hill guarantees that everything will be restored to normal within one hundred years."
Emperor Mangya glanced at him, then exchanged a look with Emperor Yuanding and Emperor Tianwu. The three nodded slightly.
Then Emperor Yuanding spoke. "Brother Lushan, you don't need to be so formal. At the end of the day, we're partners, not enemies trying to sabotage Primordial Hill."
"If the issue can be resolved, then that's the best outcome."
"If it can't—"
Emperor Lushan said, "Then we'll do as Brother Mangya proposed. Primordial Hill will voluntarily surrender thirty percent of our original rights."
Emperor Mangya snorted. "Easy for you to say. Everyone's contributed massive resources and treasures to this project. This isn't a game. You better show some real results."
"If Primordial Hill can't handle it, maybe someone else should try. The Ancient Kingdom Alliance and Origin Heaven Palace aren't exactly short on Shennongs either."
Seeing how hard Emperor Mangya was pressing, Emperor Lushan had no choice. He pulled out a Dao book from his sleeve.
"Please take a look. This is a treatise written by one of our disciples at Primordial Hill. It offers significant guidance on solving the Triassic Boundary Mountain issue—and it's already been preliminarily validated."
Everyone turned their attention to the Dao book he held out.
The title on the cover was bold and clear:
"A Theory on the Origins of the Triassic Boundary Mountains in the Mesozoic"
And in the bottom corner, the author's name was written: Zhao Xing.
The moment he saw that name, the Five Venom Emperor froze.
"What the hell? Zhao Xing wrote this treatise, and Primordial Hill is treating it like a treasure?"
He immediately skimmed through the contents of the Dao book, then looked at Emperor Lushan's serious expression.
His eyes flickered with a mix of joy and fury.
Joy—because his disciple had written something impressive enough to earn recognition from Primordial Hill. That kind of talent was incredible!
Fury—because of how Emperor Lushan had referred to Zhao Xing earlier, calling him "our disciple at Primordial Hill."
"Oh no. No wonder that old bastard didn't talk back just now."
"So this was his plan all along—he came to steal my disciple!"
"You shameless old thief!"