Tower of Heaven

For the next three thousand years, the continent faced the consequences of those sects' greed. Wars raged from coast to coast, whether on the continent's surface or in the water surrounding it.

The moment those spies returned to the continent with the armies of their forces, the Igni Neurics realized what had happened.

They were able to fend off the invasions on the shoreline for a long time without allowing anyone to break into the continent, so they took the chance to slaughter every single member of the Three Great Sects that stood against them first.

It had to be remembered that the Igni Neurics weren't alone. Yonnis had forged many friendships with smaller sects and even some major ones. With their help and enough preparation time, it was possible to decimate any influence in just some days.

However, just like they did when they conquered the subterranean world, the Neurics followed a philosophy of saving those who could be saved and killing only those who needed killing. This philosophy saved many of the disciples from the Three Great Sects and turned them into members of the Ignis Empire's workforce instead.

Those Sect Leaders and Elders didn't realize that they had been spared before. They thought they reached a compromise because the Ignis Empire couldn't defeat them. They acted on these thoughts and faced monsters beyond imagination.

Because the Igni Neurics themselves were weak, the sects only saw a portion of their strength in the martial competitions. When it came to war…?

All of the war machines produced by Atlas' creations found their purpose. Mass extinction was the greatest strength of the Igni Neuric Race.

In less than a single week, the Three Great Sects were no more. The disciples who surrendered were placed into new influences and kept on a probation period where those who still had thoughts of rebellion were weeded out.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

As for the rest, there was no doubt that they'd adapt to the Ignis Empire soon enough. The Igni Neurics didn't need the same cultivation resources as other races to grow. Their cultivation increased when they were forging. As such, all resources were distributed to the public. Depending on one's power and usefulness in society, one could get anything one could possibly want.

It would be some time before the empire was peaceful, but its reach spread throughout the entire continent already.

Because of this, the Igni Neurics were able to secure the entire shoreline without leaving any empty spaces. They had ballistas and cannons able to reach any point in the surrounding ocean and mines within the waves themselves, awaiting anyone who dared to move through those troubled waters.

The continent they controlled gained a title after the first ten years. Their borders were impenetrable by any means of transportation other than flight. Even then, only cultivators with the ability to fly could make it through. Spiritual Boats and other means of air travel were promptly shot down.

As the opponents were cultivators rather than mortals, many survived the traps and pushed through the borders, but they were met with the full force of the Ignis Empire's army.

For ten years, twenty years, up to a full fifty years, the borders remained mostly unpenetrated. The battles on land were no more than scuffles, while the real battles took place at sea.

However, there was a reason why fifty years went by without an increase in the severity of the attacks.

Those people from other continents were busy scheming amongst themselves, and when they returned, they came with solutions to the problems they faced.

They made specially armored Spiritual Boats and hired their own smiths to create cannons of equal strength to those the Neurics used. Using these weapons of war, they finally made it past the first barrier and truly started the war.

But, it was odd. As it progressed, the people who were fighting against each other became mere specks in history that would not be remembered. What took the forefront was the competition that inadvertently formed between the Neurics and the other craftspeople of the world.

It was a war of art to decide who was truly the best at what they did. With every improvement that was made on one side, countermeasures would be made on the other.

Rapidly, through this war, technology was forced to advance by several levels. New forms of transportation were created, new weapons were created, and new boundaries started to be established in the world.

The first time the tides shifted greatly was roughly six hundred years later when the Neurics found a way to give mortals the power to kill cultivators. Of course, even if they could fight, they could only harm the weakest of the cultivators who attacked them, but that was all they needed to do.

The "numbers" advantage of the invading forces came from the great number of weak cultivators they could employ. Stay connected via empire

Those people could only serve as meat shields, but if they ran amok and killed innocents wherever they went, the Neurics would be forced to divert their attention away from the real assaults.

That problem was solved, which meant that only the strong needed to be considered.

In terms of cultivation, it was impossible for the Neurics who had only been evolving for a few thousand years to match those who had been ruling the surface world for eons. They had to make up for these differences through unconventional means.

More specifically, formations and artifacts. The Neuric race had several advantages, including the fact that they didn't have restrictions on the level of artifact they could craft. As long as they had the right materials, means, and techniques, even the weakest Neurics could make Heaven Grade artifacts.

And Heaven Grade artifacts could affect even World Core Realm experts.

The materials to make Heaven Grade artifacts weren't easy to find. All of them were incredibly rare and powerful and were never concentrated in a single place.

Across the entire continent, the Neurics only found enough resources to make a single artifact of such caliber.

They planned its creation carefully, ensuring that it was the best route they could take, and then executed perfectly.

A trap was laid. It was placed where nobody would ever expect it, in Shinnhaven, the capital of the Empire. They sent their experts directly into the trap, believing that it was the day they were going to capture the enemy's main base.

Powerfully, a force made up of the greatest they could offer barged into the capital, only to find it completely empty. Before they could understand the source of their confusion, the entirety of Shinnhaven was covered in a powerful barrier that trapped them inside.

They slammed against it, attempting to shatter it, but it was already too late.

There was nobody else in the city. Not even the Neurics who usually remained on the main palace were not present. Shinnhaven had been abandoned for one reason.

All of the qi within a several hundred-kilometer radius was sucked into the barrier. Starting from the top, massive rays of blue qi beams scanned further and further down, encroaching upon those trapped within.

They tried to put up their own barriers. They tried to find the secrets behind the formation. They tried everything they could think of.

However, when those rays approached, there was nothing left for them but death.

After 1000 years of continuous combat, the Neurics regained the status they held for only fifty years previously.

Once again, they had become inviolable.