Chapter 1143: The Stars of Xuanhuang Return
Chapter 1143: The Stars of Xuanhuang Return
Li Fan could keenly sense that the Deduction Jade was already awake.
The fact that it was still slumped over the long table could only mean one thing: it was pretending to be asleep.
The three Dao Integration guardians were all well aware of this. They had asked Li Fan to wake the little girl only because he was "the new guy."
Li Fan was familiar enough with the Deduction Jade's temperament—childish, petty, and prone to holding grudges.
It certainly wouldn't be pleased with whoever disturbed its rest.
And these guardians were only here to monitor the situation; they couldn't actually do anything to the Deduction Jade.
When the little ancestor threw a tantrum, all they could do was coax and coddle it.
Sensing two spiritual wills landing on him, Li Fan didn't refuse.
Then, he struck it with all his might.
CLANG!
The Deduction Jade's body shuddered violently as it shot its head up.
Its gaze instantly locked onto Li Fan, the culprit, its small face a mask of fury.
Li Fan shrugged, the picture of innocence. "Your rest has already exceeded twelve hours. It's time to get back to work."
The Deduction Jade continued to glare at him with wide eyes.
It was as if Li Fan had committed some unforgivable sin.
With a deadpan expression, Li Fan continued, "Oh, and according to the rules, this extra time you've taken will be deducted from your next holiday."
"And... the time you're spending staring at me counts, too."
Li Fan stroked his face, seemingly unbothered if the Deduction Jade decided to continue its staring contest.
But the moment it heard its next holiday would be shortened, the Deduction Jade suddenly resembled a bristling kitten.
A layer of mist welled up in its large eyes as it shot an aggrieved look at the other two guardians.
Zhang Xu and his companion both turned their heads away.
Li Fan, however, offered a benevolent smile, watching the drama unfold with amusement.
He even conjured an hourglass to meticulously record the passage of time.
After a tense standoff, watching the sand pile up in the bottom of the hourglass, the Deduction Jade finally snapped.
It shot Li Fan a venomous glare and slammed its tiny hands on the table.
The previously stagnant spheres of glowing characters instantly began to evolve at a frantic pace once more.
Li Fan's smile remained fixed.
After being here for several hundred years, teasing the little girl was about the only way to pass the time.
Just as Li Fan was successfully embedding himself and getting closer to the Deduction Jade...
Great Qi, the Sacred Capital.
After eight years of earth-shattering development, the aura of the Sacred Dynasty had transformed from crimson to a noble purple.
As a result, the clone, Li Ping, had successfully advanced his *Heavenly Emperor Qi Canon* to the fourth level.
"Harnessing the magnificent fortune of billions of souls, I now possess the strength to fight a peak Soul Transformation cultivator from the Xuanhuang Realm."
"If I continue developing for a few more decades, pushing this small world to its absolute limit, I might even be able to match a Dao Integration expert."
"But to take another step forward, to rival the Longevity stage..."
The clone, Li Ping, shook his head slightly.
"The Heaven and Earth Myriad Spirits Array is preliminarily established. It is time to expand our borders."
With a thought, Sun Erlang and Wang Xuanba appeared before him in the next moment.
"We greet you, Master."
The two bowed in unison.
Li Ping waved a hand, and a map resembling a star-studded night sky materialized out of thin air.
Each white point of light represented a grotto-heaven or a small world.
The location of the Great Qi, however, shone with a sacred, purple brilliance.
Sun Erlang gazed up at the map before him, lost in thought.
As his spiritual sense focused on the white dots, a stream of information about the small worlds they represented flooded his mind.
"I have already explained the current state of the Xuanhuang Realm to you both," Li Ping began.
"At present, we lack the power to directly confront the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance or the Five Elders Council. Therefore, our national policy for the next century will be to unite the power of the myriad small worlds and expand the Sacred Dynasty's territory."
"A federation of all worlds, to launch a counter-attack on the Xuanhuang Realm."
The clone, Li Ping, made no attempt to hide the Great Qi Dynasty's current weakness. Instead, he painted a vision of a glorious future for his two cherished disciples.
Sun Erlang and Wang Xuanba were not ignorant of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance; they even knew of the Dharma Transmitters and Mirror Holders who constituted the Alliance's highest authority.
Yet, upon hearing the Heavenly Mandate Sage Emperor's grand plan, he felt no sense of absurdity, no feeling of an egg trying to smash a stone.
On the contrary, his blood boiled with excitement, and he was eager to put the plan into action.
It wasn't that Sun Erlang was naive. Over the past eight years, he had personally witnessed the monumental changes within the Sacred Dynasty. Contrasting that with what he knew of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, he was utterly convinced that, sooner or later, the Sacred Dynasty would annihilate the Alliance and unify the entire Xuanhuang Realm!
In these eight years, the population of the Great Qi Sacred Dynasty had quintupled, and the average lifespan had skyrocketed from forty to seventy-three years.
Exploitation and oppression were things of the past. Now, everyone had the opportunity to study and cultivate.
It was a reality a hundred times more wonderful than the rule of sages described in the ancient texts!
During these eight years, Sun Erlang had also secretly visited neighboring small worlds.
They were no different from the decadent Great Xuan Dynasty of old.
In some places, the people lived even more miserable lives than the citizens of Great Xuan had.
Sun Erlang felt that spreading the radiance of the Sacred Dynasty and the Sage Emperor to these decaying small worlds was a noble and glorious undertaking.
Thus, hearing the Sage Emperor finally declare his intentions, an unquenchable fighting spirit ignited within him.
The Great Qi now had nine legions.
Every legion commander had already reached the Nascent Soul stage.
And as their supreme commander, Sun Erlang, who cultivated the *Sitting Immortal Technique*, was already approaching the Soul Transformation stage.
If the Sage Emperor hadn't advised him that his foundation was unstable and needed more time to solidify, he could have already absorbed a "World Transformation" and achieved his breakthrough.
Reaching the Soul Transformation stage in just eight years—Sun Erlang was certain that such a cultivation speed would be considered utterly astounding, even in the Xuanhuang Realm.
Those so-called prodigies of the Xuanhuang Realm couldn't even compare to the legion commanders under his command.
...
The more he learned, the more confident Sun Erlang became in the Sacred Dynasty's future.
"I will give you one year to prepare."
"One year from now, the armies of the Sacred Dynasty will march from the Sacred Capital and conquer the myriad worlds!"
As Li Ping delivered his chilling declaration, the purple dot on the map representing the Xuanhuang Realm suddenly shot out countless purple lines. Like grasping tentacles, they ensnared the thousands of small worlds across the realm.
They wove a colossal web that spread over the entire map of the Xuanhuang Realm!
Witnessing this scene, both Sun Erlang and Wang Xuanba held their breath, their hearts surging with overwhelming emotion!
Brimming with exhilaration, Sun Erlang departed to summon the legion commanders and begin planning for war.
Wang Xuanba, however, remained behind to receive a secret mission from the Sage Emperor.
"Operation: The Stars Return to Their Places?"
Wang Xuanba stared at the mission's codename, slightly confused.
"First, travel to the Cong Yun Sea, to Yinyin Island, and find a cultivator by the name of Master Yin."
Wang Xuanba repeated the name silently to himself.
(End of Chapter)
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