Ice Age Apocalypse: I Hoard Billions of Supplies-Chapter 1142: All Six Major Regions Arrive
Chapter 1142: All Six Major Regions Arrive
The massive and luxurious motorcade from the Southwest Region arrived at the main entrance of the Shengjing Region.
Shang Daowen went forward to receive them.
In the middle of the procession was a gigantic mobile house, or one could even call it a mobile fortress.
It was three stories tall, over ten meters high, and occupied nearly half of the more than twenty-meter-wide road in front of Shengjing!
Shang Daowen found it hard to imagine how it had even been transported here.
But seeing the thousands of burly, robust men in traditional attire surrounding the motorcade, Shang Daowen guessed the logic behind it.
The motorcade stopped before the Ming Imperial City of Shengjing.
Shang Daowen stated his identity and extended a welcome to the representatives of the Southwest Region.
At that moment, the door of the enormous carriage in the center slowly opened. Two beautiful young girls stepped out first.
One girl pulled aside the splendid curtain in front of the door, while the other walked down to the ground and then respectfully knelt down, prostrating herself with her back facing the sky.
The people of the Shengjing Region who witnessed this scene all had extremely peculiar gleams in their eyes.
They weren't unaware of what everything happening before them meant.
They just never imagined that in the year 2052, such things still occurred!
A middle-aged man slowly emerged from the carriage. He was corpulent and bloated, looking very much like a humanoid boar.
The sides of his head were shaved bare, with only the hair in the middle tied into a long braid that extended backward. His hair was adorned with the most luxurious jewels, and his neck, clothes, and fingers were all decked with ornaments made of gold and gemstones.
Because his body was so fat, his movements seemed somewhat labored. He forcefully planted his feet on the back of the prostrated maidservant before finally stepping onto the ground and steadying himself.
Shang Daowen walked over, his eyes carrying a polite and gentle smile.
"Welcome, Mr. Pagyi Gele!"
Although the man before him was difficult to feel fondness for, he was one of the five most powerful individuals in the Southwest Region.
The head of the Pagyi Family, Pagyi Gele.
In the Southwest Region, he was a figure akin to a deity or Buddha.
Pagyi Gele gave a slight bow to Shang Daowen. "May the Heavenly Gods bless you, great General! The esteemed Lord of the Charnel Ground and the Khenpo were unable to attend due to their ascetic practices, so they sent me as their representative."
The Southwest Region possessed the most mysterious religious culture.
It was primarily located in the snowy plateau region, adhering to the esoteric Buddhist sect.
The Dharma-protecting deity of the esoteric sect was called the Lord of the Charnel Ground, also known as the Lord of the Charnel Ground.
Legend had it that each generation's Lord of the Charnel Ground was the supreme existence of the esoteric sect.
When the previous Lord of the Charnel Ground passed into parinirvana, his true spirit would manifest, leaving behind final words informing everyone of the time and place of his reincarnation.
After his parinirvana, he would not enter the cycle of reincarnation but would instead be reborn as a child of the snowy region.
This child would possess astonishing wisdom and power from birth.
The monks of the Sangha Monastery would, following the guidance of the previous Lord of the Charnel Ground, find this child, who would then become the next Lord of the Charnel Ground.
This story had been circulating within the esoteric sect for countless years, and the identity of the Dharma-protecting Lord of the Charnel Ground had always been strictly passed down.
People had always believed it was merely an ancient legend.
However, the current generation's Lord of the Charnel Ground, after the apocalypse, suddenly awakened incredibly powerful divine abilities!
One night, while practicing asceticism at the Sangha Monastery, he received a revelation and directly broke through to the Epsilon level.
Since then, just like in the legends, he became the Dharma-protecting deity of the Southwest Region.
As for the Khenpo of the Sangha Monastery, similar to the abbot in inland Buddhism, he was also the de facto highest authority in the current theocratic Southwest Region.
The current Khenpo was Yasha Langtai Deji, the head of the Southwest Region's first family, the Yasha Langtai.
Originally, these two were the most qualified to come to Shengjing for the assembly.
However, due to a series of complex reasons, they ultimately sent Pagyi Gele instead.
Shang Daowen still politely invited him into Shengjing to stay at the arranged residence.
Regardless of whether the Southwest Region was willing to participate in the Qinling Mountains operation, their arrival itself was an attitude. As the host, they naturally had to receive them well.
"With this, all six major regions have arrived."
Shang Daowen murmured to himself, watching the departing Southwest Region motorcade.
His gaze turned toward the distance, along Shengjing's central axis to the north, where that massive palace sat in the center of Shengjing.
The Earth God Temple.
At this moment, the center of the palace was brightly lit. Over a thousand lamp stands in the style of bright candles illuminated the central hall.
Layer upon layer of rolled curtains and light gauze veiled a central area. Through the light, one could vaguely see ancient, simple wooden shelves arranged in stepped tiers, stacked into squares like mahjong tiles.
These wooden shelves were just over a meter tall, divided into five levels.
On each level were placed vivid, lifelike wood carvings.
A young girl sat on soft white fox fur, her delicate, pale hands holding a carving knife. At this moment, she was concentrating intently on carving a human face.
If one looked closely, they would find this face bore a seventy to eighty percent resemblance to Zhang Yi.
The wood carving was not yet finished. How incredibly lifelike would it be once completed?
And such wood carvings already nearly filled the surrounding wooden shelves. Each carving represented a person.
Even the most professional wood carving master would marvel at the exquisite skill of this young girl.
She was not very old, appearing to be under twenty, with a petite and soft figure that looked as if a gust of wind could blow her away.
But her eyes were as bright as stars, and her hands were as steady as those of a craftsman with over twenty years of experience.
She was the most mysterious existence in all of Shengjing City.
[Houtu] Guan Longyue.
The palace doors opened, and Qin Qigong, the supreme commander of the Shengjing Region, this refined middle-aged man, walked in.
"Miss Guan, have you seen their likenesses?"
Guan Longyue didn't even look up, speaking plainly. "The fragments have already been collected."
Qin Qigong said, "Tonight, I will gather them to discuss the matter of going to the Qinling Mountains. If there's an opportunity, I will try to collect other fragments from their persons."
Guan Longyue raised her head to glance at him.
"Is this necessary even for allies?"
Qin Qigong smiled. "I'm just taking precautions against unforeseen circumstances."
Guan Longyue said flatly, "If you can collect the complete puzzle, you will be able to control all of them. At that time, you will be the highest authority holder in the Huaxu Kingdom."
The smile on Qin Qigong's face stiffened slightly. He chuckled and shook his head.
"You jest. How could I have such thoughts? All of this still relies on your abilities, doesn't it?"
Guan Longyue neither confirmed nor denied it, simply lowering her head to continue meticulously carving the wood carving in her hands.
"You handle tonight's matters yourself. I'm certainly not going."
Qin Qigong smiled. "Of course! A secret weapon must always remain mysterious to inspire awe."
What humans fear is the unknown, is fear itself.
And exposing the unknown to the sunlight might not necessarily make it so frightening after all.
Author's Note
