Longzang

Chapter 1017 The Aura of a Human King
Zhang Sheng stood with his hands behind his back, and for a moment it seemed as if the world had ceased to exist, and only she remained alone.

“The aura of a king has emerged in the State of Ji. You can go find it yourself. Why did you come here first?” Zhang Sheng had no interest in the aura of a king and didn’t even ask a question.

If it were anyone else, Li Zhi would have thought that the other party was playing hard to get, but with Zhang Sheng, he had no doubt that she was truly uninterested.

Li Zhi respectfully said, "According to my calculations, the Ji Kingdom has been born with the aura of a human king. Brother Wei has always had profound knowledge of human destiny, so I think he should also be interested in the aura of a human king. Therefore, I came here specifically to invite him to explore together. If we find anything, we will share it equally."

When Wei Yuan was mentioned, Zhang Sheng turned around and said, "He's not here right now. He's traveling around trying to find some benefits for the people in the region, and he probably won't be back for a while. Our base here is still very basic. All our supplies are transported through the secret passage, so the quantity is limited and construction is slow. We can only barely maintain a scale of 10,000 people. But if you need anything, just let me know."

Li Zhi sighed and said, "It's a pity that Brother Wei isn't here. Don't worry about me, sir. I'll be accompanied by the academy teachers on this trip, so I shouldn't be in any danger. Besides, although the aura of the human king is precious, very few people can actually use it. For the royal families of the Nine Kingdoms, it's like poison that will kill you, so I don't think there will be many people vying for it."

"Oh, I left a communication array plate for Brother Wei. If he gets back early, he can contact me; maybe he can still make it in time."

Zhang Sheng did not refuse and reached out his hand, saying, "Give it to me."

Li Zhi held the array plate in both hands and placed it carefully on Zhang Sheng's outstretched hands, which were as open as orchids, without touching a single inch of skin.

After handing over the array plate, Li Zhi turned and left. After flying dozens of miles, he saw two old scholars playing chess by the edge of the forest. Upon seeing Li Zhi's arrival, the two old scholars did not ask any questions, but took Li Zhi with them and soared into the sky, disappearing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.

A day later, the three appeared outside a remote county town. Looking at the town, destroyed by a great fire, the two old scholars frowned, then their eyes flashed with a sharp light as they focused their gaze, and they were immediately filled with shock and rage. One of the old scholars shouted, "What a vicious method! Slaughtering the entire town is one thing, but to prevent the souls from being reincarnated is another! Hmph, don't run into my hands!"

Another old scholar said, "How could the aura of a king be born in such a place?"

The first Confucian scholar said, "The aura of a king is unpredictable and arises in response to circumstances. It is often fleeting and can appear anywhere. Whenever it appears, there must be a reason. Even if we cannot obtain the aura of a king, it would be a great gain if we could study and understand the reasons for its appearance."

Li Zhi looked up at the city gate, where most of the plaque had been burned away, but the character "宝" (treasure) could still be vaguely seen. For some reason, he suddenly remembered the little girl who had utterly defeated him during the Immortal Sect's unified examination years ago.

Hearing that the Prince of Qi had recently been paying more and more attention to him and was planning a marriage... Li Zhi's mind went blank for a moment.

"Let's go into town and take a look."

As the three entered the city, they saw charred rubble and ruins everywhere, littered with corpses, some mostly reduced to skeletons. The corpses appeared to be in great agony, each gazing in a different direction.

Li Zhi suddenly shuddered, feeling as if something was calling to him. A golden sword, the sword of the Son of Heaven, appeared above his head. Behind the sword was a grand hall, and inside the hall was a precious chair.

Upon seeing Li Zhi's image appear, the two Confucian scholars were overjoyed and immediately rushed towards the direction Li Zhi had sensed. A moment later, the three of them stood in the main hall of the county government office.

Strangely, the entire city was burned down, but the main hall of the county government was intact. On the hall was a crudely made chair, like a prop commonly used in a theatrical troupe, but at this moment it was emitting a faint light in the eyes of the three people.

Li Zhi was momentarily dazed, as if he saw an ancient king sitting here, his aura overwhelming the world, commanding his army in a bloody battle against foreign tribes.

The old scholar's voice trembled slightly: "The aura of an ancient king? There's still a trace left!"

Another scholar immediately took out an ancient sword from his satchel, slightly unsheathed it, and approached the throne, but the throne remained unmoved. He pulled the ancient sword out a bit, but it was still useless.

The scholar frowned and said, "Could it be that this sword, which is a replica of the Human Emperor's sword and was forged with the aura of a Human King, is also unable to absorb the true aura of a Human King?"

At that moment, Li Zhi, as if possessed, took two steps forward. In an instant, all three saw a tall, imposing man with an ancient face appear on the chair. He was bare-chested, his body painted with an unprecedented sacred beast. He suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the three of them. The two scholars were instantly struck dumb, unable to move!
The figure then stood up and walked directly towards Li Zhi, stepping into his body. The image of the Golden Palace reappeared above Li Zhi's head, but this time, a figure was faintly visible on the throne within the palace!
Both scholars were shocked and overjoyed. They exchanged a glance, and the older scholar suddenly changed his expression, saying, "This is bad! Let's go!"

The two scholars each threw down a book, then took Li Zhi with them and disappeared from the spot!
After they left, the two classics turned on their own, and with each page turned, they burned instantly. In the blink of an eye, the two classics turned to ashes, and a young man in gray appeared on the spot.

He glanced around and muttered to himself, "To be willing to destroy two top-tier spiritual treasures, that's ruthless enough. But why aren't these pedantic scholars staying in their own territory? What are they doing here?" He surveyed the main hall of the county government office and found nothing amiss except for its complete state. But at this moment, the absence of anything unusual was the biggest anomaly. The gray-robed youth's face gradually darkened. The other party had laid bare the strangeness before him, yet he couldn't see what was wrong?!

……

Wei Yuan emerged from the exit of the secret realm, followed by over a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Xu family. The exit of the secret realm had now been transformed into a large construction site, where tens of thousands of people worked day and night, and several large blast furnaces for iron smelting and three cement-making workshops had been built.

At this moment, a boundary stone has been planted at the exit. Although it is just an ordinary boundary stone with a maximum range of only two hundred miles, and the transformation of heaven and earth is very slow, cultivators who have completed the Body Forging stage can move freely within its coverage area. Otherwise, the mountain people's territory would be full of poisonous gas and invisible killing intent. If this goes on for a long time, mortals would die inexplicably.

In the mountain region, many minerals have an invisible influence on their surroundings. Staying near them for even a short time can cause ordinary people to contract various strange diseases. Wei Yuan planted an ordinary boundary stone, which neutralized these invisible influences, allowing ordinary people to move freely again.

Judging from the scale of the construction, the exit of the secret realm is the true core fortress. In fact, more than fifty floating boats and airships are now traveling between Qingming and Ji Kingdom every month, but most of the supplies are delivered to the exit of the secret realm, with only about 10% reaching Guantun County. Therefore, although some fortifications have been built in Guantun County, they are not particularly conspicuous.

Wei Yuan brought with him a hundred silver-gray pillars that blot out the sky. These pillars can effectively interfere with divine sense scanning; if they are erected together, even immortals will not be able to see what is in Guantun County.

Not long ago, Zhang Sheng led several thousand soldiers out of the Xiang River to attack a pass in the State of Ji, but after several days of fighting, he failed to capture it and had to retreat in disgrace. With this foundation laid, Wei Yuan can now establish these protective pillars and develop in peace, allowing his opponents to dispel their suspicions.

However, Zhang Sheng's defeat was somewhat staged. He fought for three days, inflicting thousands of casualties on the city walls while suffering fewer than a hundred casualties himself, before retreating in a sorry state.

Fortunately, Sun Chaoen has now successfully entered the Ji Kingdom's court, been appointed as a compiler in the Hanlin Academy, and is deeply favored by the King of Ji. Now it's his turn to shine.

Upon returning to Guantun County, Wei Yuan ordered the Heaven-Covering Pillar to be erected according to its orientation. He then returned to the newly built City Lord's Mansion and began submitting memorials to the Tang court, requesting to be appointed as the Grand Tang Xianghan Military Governor.

This was Wei Yuan's third memorial on this matter, and it would also be the last, but Tang Shi remained silent.

……

Tangdu, the imperial palace.

The regent, Prince Jin, scrutinized the memorial before him, his brows furrowed. Emperor Jing, standing nearby, glanced at it furtively and vaguely saw that the signature was once again Wei Yuan.

The Prince of Jin suddenly handed the memorial to Emperor Jing and asked, "How should this be reviewed?"

Emperor Jing took the memorial and read it carefully, then said, "There seem to be four or five similar memorials already, haven't there? This Wei Yuan is really persistent; who would ask for an official position on their own initiative?"

The Prince of Jin frowned slightly and corrected him, "It is three seals."

Emperor Jing was quite dismissive of this. He had to review at least several hundred memorials every day, so how could he possibly remember who submitted how many? However, in front of Prince Jin, he could only put on a humble and receptive act.

Seeing that the Prince of Jin had stopped his work and was waiting for his opinion, Emperor Jing, who was not yet twenty, said, "You didn't agree the first two times, so why would you agree this time? Just put it aside and ignore it."

Disappointment flashed in the eyes of the Prince of Jin. He sighed and said, "Things shouldn't happen more than three times. Wei Yuan has sent three memorials in a row to test our attitude towards him. If we still refuse to approve this one, I'm afraid he will no longer be the military governor of my Great Tang."

Emperor Jing was furious: "That fellow is a wolf in sheep's clothing, he must not be allowed to live!"

The Prince of Jin looked at Emperor Jing and said slowly, "The Great Tang only had a few powerful regional governors who held military power outside the capital, and Wei Yuan was one of them. Haven't you even read his biography and resume yet?"

　Update tomorrow at 12 o'clock

　　
　
(End of this chapter)