Longzang

Chapter 1081 Slaying the Pillar of Heaven
The promotion of King Zhao was a major event, and Wei Yuan naturally could not accept it casually. Therefore, he paid a special visit to the immortal Zhao Li to inquire about the promotion ceremony.

Wei Yuan couldn't explicitly say that he was at the pinnacle of fortune and would affect the Heavenly Tribulation, as this was a major secret of his path. However, he did subtly suggest that he now possessed a vast amount of human fortune, and wherever he went, the heavenly secrets would change, and there might be unforeseen events.

Upon hearing this, Immortal Zhao Li said, "I have already calculated this matter. This breakthrough of Divine Strategist to the Imperial Realm is of great importance and has become a key link in testing the Martial Ancestor's plans. Therefore, a powerful figure has secretly intervened and changed the Heavenly Tribulation. The reason I invited you here is to borrow your luck to add some variables to the Heavenly Tribulation, preferably to increase its intensity."

"Shenji's talent is no less than mine. If he weren't bound by the throne, he would surely ascend to immortality. Therefore, no matter how strong the heavenly tribulation is, Shenji can withstand it. However, those secretly plotting this are unaware of this. Seeing the potential for change, they will undoubtedly exert all their strength to suppress the heavenly tribulation, lest Shenji encounter any mishaps during his tribulation. In this way, it's as if we are using the heavenly tribulation to launch a remote attack on the masterminds behind the scenes."

"Who are the people behind the scenes?" Wei Yuan asked.

Immortal Zhao Li shook his head: "If a powerful being intervenes to conceal the secrets of heaven, I cannot deduce them."

Wei Yuan felt somewhat guilty about this arrangement and said, "Senior, what if the calamity's changes are beyond our expectations?"

Zhao Lixian laughed and said, "It's alright. The stronger the heavenly tribulation, the more benefits the divine mechanism will bring. Don't forget, I still have countless human fortunes at my disposal that I can use to enhance it."

Although Wei Yuan was somewhat uneasy, he agreed since the Immortal Ancestor had said so.

The State of Zhao was thriving at this time, enjoying unparalleled benefits among the nine states, thus its national fortune was at its peak. Immortal Zhao Li, accompanied by Wei Yuan, went directly to the capital. While in the celestial realm, Wei Yuan used his Qi Observation Technique to look towards the capital of Zhao.

Then a magnificent pillar of light rose from the capital, soaring straight into the sky! The pillar was pale white, and within it were faintly visible mountains and rivers, with two coiled dragons flying and playing back and forth.

The fact that the Zhao state's fortunes had become so prosperous, and that a coiled dragon had even emerged from its fortunes, greatly surprised Wei Yuan.

According to the ancient traditions of the human race, the coiled dragon has always been a symbol of imperial power. Now, a coiled dragon has appeared in the fate of the Zhao state, which in the past would have been a crime punishable by the destruction of the nation.

The appearance of the coiled dragons also indicates that the Tang Dynasty is in grave danger, which explains why so many behind-the-scenes forces are trying their best to ensure Li Shenji's ascension to the throne. The longer Li Shenji lives, the greater the threat he poses to the Tang Dynasty, simply because of these two coiled dragons.

Wei Yuan didn't know if Zhao Li Immortal Ancestor could see the two coiled dragons, but since he could see them, there was no reason why the Immortal Ancestor couldn't.

Wei Yuan pretended not to know anything and followed Zhao Li Xianzu into the capital, directly teleporting to the imperial study in the palace. The entire defensive array of the capital was under Zhao Li Xianzu's control, so he could come and go freely.

Prince Zhao, Li Shenji, had already received the news and was waiting in the imperial study. Upon seeing Wei Yuan arrive, his expression was quite complicated, mixed with some envy.

The Zhao state implemented a welfare system for all citizens, and King Zhao was well aware of the enormous drain on the national treasury. If it weren't for the continuous influx of grain and iron from Qingming, the national treasury would have been depleted long ago.

Over the years, King Zhao had also worked diligently to improve the state's economy and expand its revenue sources. However, the overall increase in Zhao's annual revenue was very limited, with most of the improvement coming from trade with Qingming. Zhao produced raw materials such as minerals, spirit wood, cotton, hemp, and silk, and purchased military rations, meat, iron and steel equipment, and elixirs from Qingming.

King Zhao once secretly funded and provided manpower to establish a pill workshop to imitate Qingming's Xiaopeiyuan Pill and other elixirs.

However, after starting to imitate it, they discovered that the yield of pills from the same amount of medicinal materials was less than half that of Qingming's production. The price of the Lesser Qi Cultivation Pills sold by Qingming was almost equivalent to the cost of the pills produced by the Zhao Kingdom's pill workshops. If the alchemist made a slight mistake in refining the pills, that batch might result in a loss.

The same applies to Lesser Qi-Nourishing Pills, as well as other pills such as Body-Strengthening Pills, Qi-Nourishing Pills, and Qi-Replenishing Soup. For the same potency, Qingming produces pills that are exceptionally cheap, and in extremely large quantities, with a virtually inexhaustible supply.

After two years of such attempts, all of the more than ten alchemy workshops invested in by King Zhao went bankrupt; not a single one survived. King Zhao was utterly baffled. He could understand the difficulties with ordinary goods like grain and steel, but how could they even surpass Qingming in alchemy? With such a high success rate, how many top-grade alchemists had Qingming trained?
King Zhao was unaware that Qingming's alchemy had already optimized several common pill formulas to their extreme, and then standardized them through the prosperity of the various realms.

All the medicinal materials in these pill formulas undergo pre-processing, and the entire refining process is standardized. The intensity and duration of the Lesser Yang Fire, and the intensity and duration of the Greater Yin Qi, are strictly regulated. The timing is accurate to one-tenth of a second, and the intensity is monitored by a magic array, allowing no deviation that could puncture a thin sheet of paper. On this assembly line, a dozen or so model-based Dao Foundation Pill Masters each have their own duties. From the perspective of an individual pill Master, it's simply a matter of a furnace being moved in front of them, stopping, igniting the fire, stopping when the time is up, and then starting the next batch—simple, mechanical, repetitive, requiring no thought.

These dozen or so people combined represent the full capabilities of a traditional alchemist. However, on an assembly line, their daily output is a hundred times higher than that of a traditional alchemist, and the quality of their pills is extremely consistent.

At this time, Qingming's other industries were in a similar state. The cultivators of Taichu Palace had already penetrated into various industries, constantly using the power of the prosperity of the various realms to conduct research and optimization.

Therefore, without exception, all of King Zhao's attempts to secretly replace Qingming's industries failed.

At this moment, Immortal Zhao Li gave some instructions on things to pay attention to when breaking through to the Yujing realm, as well as various insights on dealing with heavenly tribulations. Wei Yuan listened from the side and also gained a lot.

Wei Yuan originally had extensive experience in tribulations, but since the Yu Jing Heavenly Tribulation was the Heavenly Demon Tribulation, he had been through this tribulation for many years and had not experienced the taste of a heavenly tribulation for a long time.

After giving his instructions, Zhao Li Xianren frowned slightly and said, "I feel uneasy, but I don't know why. Shenji, how is the defense of the capital?"

"We currently have three armies, each with 200,000 men. In addition, there are 50,000 Imperial Guards and 50,000 White Feather Army soldiers."

Immortal Zhao Li looked at Wei Yuan and asked, "How do you feel?"

Wei Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "For every person who wants the King to live, there is someone who wants him dead. And these enemies must be extremely cunning. How about this, I will use the pretext of attending the ceremony to urgently dispatch a troop to the capital. The morale of my Qingming elite troops is no less than that of the Nine Armies of the Great Tang. As long as I dispatch 50,000 men, with this morale as our foundation, even immortal arts can be weakened, and we can break through all kinds of celestial and feng shui techniques."

King Zhao Li Shenji frowned slightly, but said nothing. The Immortal Zhao Li pondered for a moment, then said, "It is acceptable."

Wei Yuan nodded and immediately ordered Qingming to send over an elite heavy infantry force. This force mainly needed morale, so it did not carry heavy artillery or other necessities. It set off lightly equipped and assembled in three days. Then it was transported to Zhao capital by floating boats and airships, taking only five days.

With all preparations complete, the ceremony for King Zhao's ascension to the rank of king officially began a month later.

The grand ceremony was held at the altar in the capital city. The imperial family of the Great Tang Dynasty, the seven clans and thirteen noble families, and the other eight kingdoms all sent important figures to observe the ceremony. Meanwhile, high in the heavens, countless gazes were fixed upon the scene, constantly scanning back and forth between the capital of Zhao and the capital of the Great Tang Dynasty.

At this moment, a hazy purple aura rose from the capital of the Great Tang Dynasty, obscuring the secrets of heaven and shutting out all eyes.

At this time, Wei Yuan held a prominent position, enough to determine the course of events in a region. Therefore, he sat high on the viewing platform, surrounded by core figures from the seven surnames and thirteen noble families, only slightly lower in rank than the representative of the Tang family.

Wei Yuan didn't care about the seating arrangement; the closer the ceremony got to the start, the stronger his unease became. The appointed time arrived, and King Zhao bathed and burned incense, ascended the altar to offer sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, and then took his seat amidst the grand array of offerings.

A golden beam of light shot straight into the sky from within the great formation, and the sky suddenly darkened. Countless tribulation clouds came from all directions, instantly forming a terrifying tribulation vortex spanning a thousand miles.

A tribulation of this scale was to be expected, so the representatives from each faction remained calm. However, at that moment, Wei Yuan's heart suddenly skipped a beat!
An indescribable and ineffable aura emanated from the tribulation clouds, permeating the heavens and earth! Under the influence of this aura, all the cultivators were filled with great fear, their Dao hearts momentarily lost their composure, and they only wanted to flee!

Then something pierced the sky and slowly fell towards King Zhao's head. Li Shenji's face was ashen.

Wei Yuan stood up abruptly, and what appeared from the tribulation clouds was actually the Heavenly Pillar of the Desolate Realm!

Without hesitation, he unleashed the power of millions of people, drawing the Fourth Heavenly Immortal Sword from its sheath. A dazzling sword aura swept across the sky, cleaving straight through the pillar of heaven!
(End of this chapter)