Chapter 357: The Imperial Seal
This Imperial Seal, with one corner mended by gold, was precisely the State Seal of China that had been missing for over a thousand years, used from the era of Qin Wang Ying Zheng until its disappearance during the late Tang Dynasty from the hands of Li Congke, the last emperor of the Later Tang.
As a distant descendant of that unfortunate emperor, Li Bida had obtained a vague and imprecise treasure map passed down through his ancestors. After over a thousand years of tumultuous history, by the time it reached his hands, many parts of this so-called treasure map had blurred and faded, with only faint traces remaining.
His father's dying wish was merely for this item to be preserved and passed down as a token of the family's former glory.
Decades of wasted time had caused this declining family to completely lose faith in the possibility of finding the treasure within.
But Li Bida believed he was different. Like some of his stubborn ancestors, he firmly believed he was a fated individual, destined to find this treasure.
Unfortunately, overconfidence is a flaw almost everyone commits. Three years passed in the blink of an eye, and he still found nothing.
One time, when Li Bida traveled hundreds of kilometers away to search for clues, tragedy struck. His family, while crossing the road, was hit by a jeep speeding wildly, and several individuals died on the spot.
However, the jeep driver was quickly diagnosed with intermittent mental illness, so after paying a large sum in civil compensation, he received a lenient sentence.
Left with a substantial amount of compensation, but with all his familiar relatives gone, Li Bida, though resentful of the so-called "mentally ill" driver, knew that the power behind them was not something he could provoke. Thus, he transferred his hatred to the treasure map, intending to burn it to ashes.
The efforts of countless generations, along with the several years of his own life he had spent, were about to come to naught.
But when he pushed aside the ashes and saw a true treasure map, thin as a cicada's wing, hidden within, his already incredibly complex emotions became even more indescribable.
Through this true treasure map, Li Bida spent over a month finding the treasure that had been vaguely described for over a thousand years: three large chests of gold and silver, and a mysterious small wooden box. Inside the box was a seal engraved with eight characters, "Received Mandate from Heaven, Longevity and Prosperity," suspected to be the Imperial Seal of the Hua-Ya Federation.
In the treasure chamber, he also discovered several skeletons. Li Bida surmised that they were all the people who had transported this batch of treasure back then, and perhaps their complete elimination was precisely what allowed this treasure to remain hidden for a millennium.
After obtaining this wealth, he spent over half a year selling off all the gold and silver he had, keeping only this Imperial Seal.
As a descendant of Li Congke, the last emperor, Li Bida naturally knew that the legendary Imperial Seal of the Hua-Ya Federation had vanished from his ancestor's possession.
From this, he surmised that the one in his hand was very likely the genuine article, carved from the He Shi Bi!
Li Bida's intuition told him that this Imperial Seal was an excellent item, of great use to him, and absolutely not something he could hand over! So, without much hesitation, he chose to smuggle himself out of the country with his money and the jade.
Although the Hua-Ya Federation had entered modern society, it might not have abandoned its preoccupation with concepts as ethereal as destiny and legitimacy. As a second-tier ability user, he knew that if the higher-ups showed even the slightest interest, he would absolutely not be able to hold onto such a profoundly symbolic item.
Moreover, in Hua-Ya, even an illiterate person would have heard bits and pieces of the legend of the Imperial Seal of the Hua-Ya Federation, making its possession extremely dangerous.
So he made a move no one could have predicted: he smuggled himself from the relatively wealthy and peaceful Hua-Ya Federation to war-torn Africa, arriving in Ethiopia, a country with very little understanding of Chinese culture and history. There, relying on his wealth, he gradually built up his own enterprise.
While steadily rising in this country, Li Bida also did not forget to uncover the true value of this priceless treasure, for it was because of this Imperial Seal that he had risked fleeing abroad.
Years of unremitting effort, coupled with his own remarkable talent, eventually led him to deduce a supplementary cultivation path he called Dynasty of Fortune cultivation. As Ethiopia happened to be an autocratic monarchy, it provided him with a perfect plan.
He intended to establish his own empire in Ethiopia, gradually making himself the strongest, thereby securing what was in his hands from the countless individuals coveting the Imperial Seal of the Hua-Ya Federation.
Especially the upper echelons of the Hua-Ya Federation would undoubtedly be extremely interested in his supplementary Dynasty of Fortune cultivation method. Once they got wind of it, they would likely pay a considerable price to seize it.
Once he became a well-known figure, it would be difficult to maintain absolute secrecy about such a thing; he had to prepare for a rainy day.
The obsession of Hua-Ya people with becoming emperor had been passed down for thousands of years; he didn't believe the current generation could be an exception to the rule.
As for the old grudge, the other party's backer had also become a fifth-tier Dharma Body realm martial artist in recent years, a powerful figure in the Hua-Ya Federation. Li Bida had no intention of making a move before solidifying his own strength.
In any case, he already possessed the power for revenge. All he needed to do now was wait for the opportune moment.
"Standing on the soil of this country, I can gain nearly a twofold power boost, and my cultivation speed is also a notch faster than before. It's hard to imagine how terrifying the supplementary effects would be if I could become emperor in the Hua-Ya Federation, which boasts over 1.5 billion people."
"After refining Ga'nan as a component of the Seal-Suppressing Dragon, even the Imperial Seal itself would be a terrifying weapon."
In Li Bida's plan, a crucial element was the composition of the Seal-Suppressing Dragon, which required sufficiently powerful beings as raw material to suppress the spiritual influence of countless subjects under his rule.
Ultimately, what he wanted was to be an emperor who ruled over everything, not a public servant shackled by prevailing ideologies.
"With me as emperor, it's time to consider those beneath me."
The secret Dynasty of Fortune method deduced by Li Bida currently only benefited the emperor, the wielder of the Imperial Seal, but he was unwilling to stop there.
To govern a nation well, a large number of officials were needed. And to better ensure their loyalty and efficiency, the best method was to bind all these individuals to the war chariot of the Dynasty of Fortune.
The blessings he could obtain were directly proportional to the number and satisfaction of the people under his rule, so it was necessary to manage all of this well.
"I want to be the Heavenly Khan!" Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of Tang, was nominally considered an ancestor of Li Bida. Facing a stretch of grassland before him, he shouted out his own ambition.
A coup in a small African nation did not attract much international attention; the world had far more important matters to concern itself with.
At most, the emergence of a Chinese-descended king in Africa led some conspiracy theorists to believe that a certain country was playing a very large game.
The man whose return was uncertain was the true focus of concern for the high-level officials of several major powers. For there were signs and evidence indicating that when he returned, this world would never know peace again.
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