433 Decadent Reign (1/2)
The Profane Prince's blood-spattered unification of the Mortal Realm marked the beginning of times where the sword saw no use. Across the Chthonian Realm, convinced of his omnipresence and awed by his omnipotence, none dared challenge the established order, and all put down their swords.
Fear of a true deity's earthly presence held the world by the throat, and even among mortals and commoners, the rates of petty thievery, rape, and murder dwindled at breakneck speed. Better, with most sentient lives now bearing the imprint of Konrad's will, such development could only progress faster.
But if the majority found relish in this new state of things, for a scant few, it wrought nights untold of nightmares. Konrad, the Profane Prince, was one of those few.
Death made him mightier while negativity not only strengthened his Devil Heart but boosted his cultivation speed. Although a world of eternal peace didn't bring him direct harm, it certainly didn't help his faction's growth. Therefore, Konrad passed a succession of obscene laws that put the Realm in fright and ensured he would forever be known as the most despotic ruler of all eras:
First, the Divine Celebrations. On the day commemorating the establishment of the Jade Dynasty, the day celebrating the extermination of the False Idols, and the days of the Jade Empress, Jade Dowager, Jade Consorts, and Divine Consorts' birthdays, all across the Chthonian Realm were forced to gather in Orgy Halls for compulsory celebrations.
Second, the Blood Law. Once every decade, the Ancient Crystal World aside, all worlds were divided into thirteen, random teams to clash in bloody warfare. The vanquished worlds paid tribute to the victorious worlds in the form of wealth, treasures, cultivation resources and slaves, all with predetermined quotas.
Meanwhile, the top three worlds directly received boons from the Profane Prince, with their most distinguished experts able to join the Chthonian Legion. To facilitate the clashes, Konrad combined all thirteen thousand worlds of the Chthonian Realm in one galaxy, with the Ancient Crystal World as the capital.
Third, the Annual Tribute Law. Every year, the thirteen thousand worlds offered their most outstanding beauties, regardless of marital status, as tributes for their depraved lord to enjoy. Worse, he would also select random top World Officials to bestow green hats on. At night, the Profane Prince would appear to plow daughters, wives, and sisters, and on the following morning, those blessed would make the journey to the Imperial Jade Palace, regardless of the distance, to thank him for the grace!
The first law ensured a steady supply of depravity. The second law encouraged strife, resentment between the worlds, wrath, pride and many others while the third filled the affected with suppressed envy and bitterness. And since they couldn't vent it on God, they found other targets.
Thus, darkness reigned in flawless dystopian order. Konrad's cultivation speed grew exponentially, and so did his fleshly body's strength. Meanwhile, society and his armies' structure experienced drastic changes. While all with enough ambitions and skills could join the state army, only Chthonian Beings were qualified for the legions. After years of remolding, reselecting and retraining, Konrad created twelve legions, each with eight thousand legionaries divided by Bloodline Ranks. Those ranks would soon become the very hierarchy of the Chthonian Realm's new nobility.
At the top, the twelve Chthonian Dragon Dukes, leaders of the legions, all with great proximity to Konrad, members of the Imperial Family and as the name implied, owners of Chthonian Dragon Blood. Wolfgang, Berken, Chimera, Calisto, Vylsea, Hubert, Wilfried, Anselm, and four other former Serkar elders formed the Chthonian Dragon Duke group.
They now possessed an early-stage Boundless Sea Devil cultivation, and the mere mention of their name made the Chthonian Realm tremble.
Right beneath them, the Chthonian Lords, masters of undeath, Blood, Darkness, Nether, and Death laws, with monstrous fleshly bodies, and peak Heart Devil cultivation bases. Only those at this level could join the secret forces.
Then, the Chthonian Generals, also masters of undeath, Blood, Darkness, Nether, but with a weaker grasp of Death Laws, weaker fleshly bodies, and late-stage Heart Devil Cultivation.
After them, the Chthonian Knights, one step weaker than their predecessors with mid-stage Heart Devil Cultivation, and finally, the Chthonian Guards. The weakest of the lot, with early-stage Heart Devil cultivation.
The Chthonian Blood was an oddity where unless sired by regular mating between two of the same bloodline levels, the next generation was always one step weaker than the previous one. Many of the Chthonian Lords were sired by the Dragon Dukes through Chthonian Bestowal, but the dragon part of their lineage didn't pass down.
Meanwhile, Krann stood above them all as the Paramount Legion Commander, with Konrad right above him. And the legionaries also relied on millions of Undead Devil Puppets to bolster their strength.
But naturally, even with all his treasures and means, Konrad couldn't usher such growth without years of hard work. His legions' hard work, of course. They used all the resources put at their disposal to ardently cultivate across two centuries. For indeed, since the end of the 666 Nights of Debauchery, two centuries had passed.
Across those years, not just the legions, but Konrad's harem's strength also sharply rose. With his Valkyries all bearing variations of Chthonian Blood, and the weakest among them at the mid-stage Heart Devil Realm, while the top consorts already stepped into the Boundless Sea Devil Realm.
Notably, Else reached Truth Embodiment while Verena achieved Fate Embodiment. Gulistan reached Death Embodiment and Yvonne stood a step away.