Chapter 1128: An Anchor of Imperial Qi
Chapter 1128: An Anchor of Imperial Qi
Thankfully, Li Fan was no longer the naive mortal Grand Preceptor who had first stumbled into the world of cultivation.
Countless simulations had armed him with a wealth of secrets from the cultivation world.
Memories from past lives raced through his mind, and in moments, a viable solution took shape.
"To minimize the chance of the Faceless Immortal detecting me, my own cultivation realm can't change drastically," he mused. "And yet, I must increase my power as much as possible—strengthening my very *presence* in this world..."
"The *Heavenly Emperor Qi Canon*."
The name of a secret art, one not native to the Xuanhuang Realm, surfaced in his sea of consciousness.
It was a peerless technique the ancient stone slab had once reeled in from the Fishing Pool.
The slab had shown no interest, casually tossing it to Li Fan.
The *Heavenly Emperor Qi Canon* offered a path to becoming the world's supreme ruler by gathering the faith of the masses and the fortune of a dynasty. It promised power comparable to the Longevity realm, all without traditional cultivation.
Though reaching the peak of its power—a feat equivalent to Longevity—would take centuries and the concerted efforts of more than a dozen generations, Li Fan had no intention of mastering it completely.
All he needed was to gather the people's faith and fortune to see him through this crisis.
"Time is of the essence," Li Fan decided. "My late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation is more than enough to conquer this mortal world."
Li Fan stood atop Jieli Mountain, his gaze fixed on the distant Xuanjing City.
His form flickered, and he shot through the air, a blur of motion.
...
Three days later, news spread like wildfire, reaching every corner of the realm.
The Emperor of the Great Xuan Kingdom was a corrupt and incompetent ruler whose tyranny had drawn the wrath of both heaven and man.
But a savior had descended: the Heavenly Mandate Sage Emperor. He had executed the foolish king, purged the court of sycophants, and promised to usher in a new golden age, reshaping the very world.
The tale was spun with an almost mythical grandeur, but officials and commoners alike across the Great Xuan understood its true meaning: a dynasty had fallen, and a new one had risen.
While the event was certainly earth-shattering, the initial chaos subsided after a few days, and a sense of calm returned to the populace.
After all, imperial power had always been a distant concept in the countryside. No matter who sat on the throne, the real power lay with the local gentry and officials.
That, at least, was what the people of Great Xuan believed at first.
Before long, however, the extraordinary nature of this Heavenly Mandate Sage Emperor began to reveal itself.
Overnight, towering platforms erupted from the earth in every corner of the Great Xuan Kingdom.
No one knew how these structures, hundreds of meters tall, had come into being. But their existence, known as the "Emperor's Thrones," would fundamentally reshape the political landscape of the Great Xuan Empire.
These thrones possessed a miraculous ability: they could project the image of the Heavenly Mandate Sage Emperor onto the very canopy of the sky.
Every subject, even those dwelling in the most remote mountain valleys, could now see their emperor and hear his teachings through these thrones that dotted the entire empire.
What struck even greater fear into the hearts of local officials was the thrones' other function: they served as direct conduits to the capital.
Qingzhou Province, for instance, had been ravaged by drought. For three months, the fields yielded nothing, and the land was littered with the bodies of the starved.
Yet, shortly after an Emperor's Throne appeared in the province, a contingent of the Imperial Guard marched directly out of it, bearing massive quantities of grain for relief.
This act saved countless lives, and news of it, broadcast through the network of thrones, spread across the realm in an instant.
The story's authenticity was further cemented when imperial envoys began stepping out of the thrones to summon local officials for audiences.
Tales of the Heavenly Mandate Sage Emperor being a reincarnated immortal—stories of the divine powers he had displayed in the imperial court—also quickly became common knowledge.
"All subjects may use the Emperor's Thrones to appeal directly to the great Heavenly Mandate Sage Emperor," the envoys declared to the people of Great Xuan. "Any official in your district found to be incompetent or corrupt will be investigated and punished without mercy."
"And do not imagine that death will be a simple escape," the envoys warned the officials of Great Xuan. "The methods of the Heavenly Mandate Sage Emperor are beyond your comprehension. In the market square of Xuanjing City, there are over a hundred fat pigs tied up—pigs that were once officials who preyed upon the common folk. Every day, they are forced to write confessions in the dirt with their trotters. I am here to escort you for a personal viewing."
After the officials of Great Xuan were collectively escorted to the capital's market square for a tour, they all returned deathly pale.
Upon returning to their posts, they became models of integrity and discipline, almost overnight.
Xuanjing City.
Li Fan floated above the capital, observing the dynastic fortune shift from a murky black to a vibrant azure. He nodded in satisfaction.
"Using the Emperor's Thrones, I've established a strong central authority and transformed the Great Xuan Dynasty in a remarkably short time," Li Fan thought. "The next step is to slowly consolidate the people's loyalty and elevate the dynasty's fortune."
Li Fan observed his own body.
The fate of over a hundred million souls in the Great Xuan now rested upon him.
This connection served as a weighty anchor, grounding his very existence.
His form was no longer translucent and spectral, like that of a ghost.
Still, the state of nothingness would flicker back into being from time to time.
He clearly hadn't stabilized completely.
"It's manageable," he reasoned. "As long as the Great Xuan remains stable and continues to prosper, another three years should be enough to completely shake off the side effects of this 'nothingness'."
"But this only treats the symptom," he reminded himself. "To truly escape the Faceless Immortal's web, I'll still have to enter the Gloomy Realm and use [Truth] to reset."
Li Fan gently threw a punch forward.
He didn't draw upon his own Foundation Establishment spiritual energy, relying solely on the dynastic fortune he had gathered through the *Heavenly Emperor Qi Canon*.
A sharp whistle tore through the air as the punch split a distant cloud in two.
For a fleeting moment, the illusion of an azure dragon materialized in the sky, throwing its head back in a silent roar.
"White, Azure, Crimson, Purple, Gold."
"The five great realms of the *Heavenly Emperor Qi Canon*," he mused. "In just one month, I've already reached the second stage."
"My power is now equivalent to that of a late-stage Golden Core cultivator. My progress has been swift, partly because the Great Xuan already had a solid foundation—it was arguably in a prosperous age. And secondly..."
Li Fan looked down at the towering Emperor's Throne.
"An immortal's methods are a crushing advantage against a mortal dynasty. I punished a batch of corrupt officials, resolved disasters across the land, and then broadcast my deeds through the Emperor's Thrones. The people's loyalty was secured almost instantly."
"An ordinary mortal emperor would need more than a decade to accomplish what I have, and even then, they'd have to contend with backlash from officials and local factions."
"But I have no such worries."
With these thoughts, Li Fan slowly descended from the clouds, alighting within the palace grounds.
"Greetings, Sage Emperor!"
"Greetings, Teacher!"
The guards in the courtyard immediately fell to their knees.
"Rise." With a lift of his hand, Li Fan raised them all to their feet.
The young men's faces flushed red with excitement.
He had handpicked each of them from across the Great Xuan. Their duties extended beyond guarding the palace; their primary mission was to eliminate corrupt officials, intimidate dissenters, and ensure the dynasty's fortune remained prosperous and unbroken.
Among them, the two who addressed him as 'Teacher' were Sun Erlang and Wang Xuanba, the two exceptionally gifted youths he had found at the foot of Jieli Mountain.
They were shouldering an even more important mission.
"Erlang, how goes your training in the *Sitting Immortal Technique* I imparted to you?"
After dismissing the others, Li Fan turned to Sun Erlang and asked in a solemn tone.
Comments