Longzang

Chapter 337 The Crisis of Overthrow
The deep, resonant sound of the bell echoed through every gate of the Taichu Palace. The bell tolled seven times, audible even to the Venerable Faxiang outside.

This bell is an ancient bell, a celestial artifact passed down for thousands of years. Its seven chimes signify the impending collapse of the Taichu Palace.

Upon hearing the bell, Master Chuhe rushed to the Hall of Merit and received the latest news: Immortal Lord Tinghai had returned severely injured and was on the verge of death!
This news came like a bolt from the blue, shocking everyone.

The cultivators of Taichu Palace gathered together, but remained silent; no one spoke. Finally, Zhang Sheng said, "Let's wait for further news. Don't panic. The enemy might take advantage of the chaos to attack, so let's focus on defense. Don't worry, the sky won't fall. Even if a Celestial Lord is truly in trouble, the Palace Master is still here. Furthermore, the Abbot of Haotian Temple and the Palace Master of Tianji Hall are expected to ascend to immortality soon, and Ancestor Xuanyue will reach the pinnacle of cultivation in a hundred years. Now, everyone, go about your business and disperse."

Wei Yuan felt somewhat troubled. If he hadn't established Qingming and created conflict with the Xu family, Immortal Lord Tinghai wouldn't have fought Xu Wangu. Seven chimes of the bell—it seemed the Immortal Lord would pass away within ten years.

Wei Yuan suddenly recalled the illusion he had seen in the fragment of the cave that day, where Xu Wangu was holding an infant and laughing loudly, "Indeed, he was born with the Thousand Autumns Sword Body!"

Could that be the reason?
Wei Yuan strolled to the Hall of Merit, where a long queue had formed at the entrance. Besides cultivators from the Tai Chu Palace, many others, though not disciples, possessed merits. Everyone shared the same thought: to quickly utilize their merits and convert them into their own strength.

Wei Yuan entered the Hall of Merit. It was very quiet inside. The latest news page in the jade register was blank, with no news at all. Such a major event had occurred, yet there was no news; this in itself was highly unusual.

Wei Yuan noticed that the price of exchanging Netherworld Soil at the Primordial Palace had increased again. This time, he didn't hold back. He took out a box, filled it with a thousand catties of Netherworld Soil, and offered it directly on the altar.

As the thousand catties of Netherworld Soil disappeared, the price of Netherworld Soil on the exchange book suddenly plummeted to less than 10% of its original price, and the exchange of Netherworld Soil for other goods was temporarily suspended, while the exchange of Netherworld Soil for other goods was unrestricted.

Wei Yuan's mood improved slightly; it seemed that the Tai Chu Palace would not lack Netherworld Land for the time being.

At this moment, a powerful divine sense swept across the entire core area; Ji Liuli had returned. Wei Yuan hurriedly returned to the main peak; his senior sister should have the latest news.

Once everyone from Taichu Palace had arrived, Ji Liuli said, "I received information from the Ancestor that Palace Master Pei had already secured victory in her battle against Xu Wangu. However, Xu Wangu secretly underwent a transformation, being reborn from the ashes and reverting to his youth. This was supposed to be his weakest moment, but someone secretly intervened, raising Xu Wangu's condition to its peak. Palace Master Pei's cultivation was already inferior to Xu Wangu's, and after fighting for several months, she had very little immortal power left, forcing her to retreat."

However, during the palace master's retreat, he was ambushed and nearly perished. If it weren't for a mishap with Xu Wangu's reincarnated sword body, the palace master probably wouldn't have returned.

"Who launched the sneak attack?" asked Master Chuhe.

Ji Liuli shook his head: "The patriarch didn't say."

Wei Yuan asked, "Aren't there any restrictions on this kind of reincarnation?"

Ji Liuli said, "There are definitely significant limitations, unless he undergoes physical liberation and reincarnation, and then undergoes enlightenment and cultivation again in this life. The Great Treasure Flower Pure Land is very good at this. However, if Xu Wangu has any hidden dangers, this is not a battle we can participate in."

Zhang Sheng pondered for a moment and said, "After this battle, the Xu family will probably take action, but they won't go too far. No one wants to see a Celestial Lord who can reincarnate indefinitely, and other aristocratic families won't allow the Xu family to become too powerful. Not to mention, the Lü family of Ganzhou and the Li family of Zhao might step in to restrain them."

Ji Liuli said, "I came back this time to tell everyone that the Patriarch is about to set off for the Northern Mountain Gate. There are not enough people in the Heavenly Mystery Hall, so I have to go back. I will also go to the North in a while to seek an opportunity in battle to advance to the Dharma Aspect."

Zhang Sheng said, "You've only scratched the surface of your exquisite true meaning. Aren't you going to continue refining it? If you want to delve deeper, it's better to leave it here. Besides, this place is also a battleground."

Ji Liuli shook his head and said, "Born in a time of great strife, how can one possibly do everything perfectly? If I advance to the Dharma Aspect stage, those with weaker foundations will have to avoid me. I will still be very useful to the palace at this time. In such a critical time, it is our turn to go to the battlefield. We can no longer afford to waste time."

The old Taoist priest looked somewhat uneasy and coughed a few times.

"Alright! I'm leaving!" Ji Liuli hugged Zhang Sheng and Wei Yuan, but when she hugged Wei Yuan, she casually pinched his butt.

The northern border is dangerous; any genius can perish there, let alone Ji Liuli, who is only at the Dao Foundation stage.

After this, I don't know when we'll meet again. Perhaps, never again.

"I'll see you off," Feng Tingyu suddenly said.

"it is good."

The two left the main peak and flew northeast, landing at the edge of the boundary. Ji Liuli asked, "Is there anything you want to say to me?"

Feng Tingyu said, "I heard you have a title, 'Two-and-a-half-foot Senior Sister'? My physical attributes and luck combined are three feet less than yours, but my luck isn't very good, only eight feet. People from your Heavenly Mystery Hall should all have very high luck, right?"

Ji Liuli remained calm and asked, "What do you want to say?"

Feng Tingyu started doing chest-expanding exercises again and said, "What I want to say is, once you leave, don't come back. This place isn't suitable for a slender, flat-chested person like you."

"Hey! You want to steal my man, huh!" Ji Liuli stretched his body, cracking his knuckles as he walked towards Feng Tingyu, then said, "You're a year behind me, so you probably don't know the origin of my nickname. No problem, I'll let you know soon enough!"

At the edge of the boundary, the earth suddenly trembled, and a small mountain slowly collapsed.

A huge crater appeared in the ground. In the center of the crater, Ji Liuli pinched Feng Tingyu's slightly chubby face with both hands, stretching it into various shapes. As he stretched her face, Ji Liuli chuckled, "You didn't expect that, did you? My luck is actually even worse, only seven feet!"

After roughly handling Feng Tingyu, Ji Liuli revealed one of her little secrets. Feng Tingyu's physique looked imposing, but in reality, due to her strong body, her muscles were well-developed, and after deducting the least muscular part, she was just average.

Then Ji Liuli laughed three times, his mind cleared, and he strode away.

The Western Jin Dynasty Royal Palace.

Several matters had already been discussed by then, and it was only just beginning to get light.

A general said, "The King of England needs to train at least 50,000 new troops in the north, which requires 5 million taels of silver. But so far we have only received 800,000 taels of military funds, and we are still short 4.2 million taels. Without these new troops, I'm afraid the current front line will be difficult to maintain."

An old minister said, "The national treasury is really empty now. Where are we going to raise those four million taels of silver?"

The Prince of Jin, who had been looking at the documents, said, "Why is the tax revenue from the seven western prefectures of Ningzhou so low again? It's almost the end of the year, and so far it's only 1.2 million taels of silver in taxes. I remember it was 2 million taels last year, wasn't it?"

Another civil official reported: "The seven western prefectures of Ningzhou suffered a disaster last year and are still recovering this year. They really cannot pay more money. Moreover, the disaster relief funds for some places have not yet been distributed, and the people are living in misery."

The Prince of Jin frowned slightly and said, "I heard that many places in Ningzhou have had a bumper harvest today?"

Chen Dao stepped forward and reported, "Many counties in western Ningzhou have indeed had a bumper harvest, with yields increasing by 30% compared to previous years. However, the good harvests are mostly from the private fields owned by aristocratic families, while the public fields, due to neglect of irrigation, have suffered poor harvests."

The Prince of Jin said, "Training a new army is imperative. Since the national treasury is empty, let's all chip in. I will also take some silver from my own treasury. Everyone, please contribute some silver!"

The officials looked at each other in bewilderment, and then pledged to donate. Some donated 1,000 taels, some 500 taels, and finally, all the civil and military officials gritted their teeth and pledged to donate 100,000 taels.

The Prince of Jin silently noted down the names of a few of them, without discussing the matter further. Although the general was jumping up and down in a panic, the other officials remained calm and composed.

At this moment, the Right Chancellor stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the annual revenue is sluggish and the national treasury is empty, which is due to the dereliction of duty by the Ministry of Revenue. I believe that Xu Gong should be appointed as the Minister of Revenue and enter the Hall of State Affairs."

After a moment, the Prince of Jin said, "It is acceptable."

The former Minister of Revenue was only looking at his toes and showed no objection.

Night falls at Vajra Zen Temple.

The Prince of Jin and the woman with blue eyes sat facing each other, each with their eyes closed in meditation. Suddenly, the woman with blue eyes said, "Your heart is not at peace."

The Prince of Jin suddenly opened his eyes and said, "The Prince of Ying has been demanding an army, but building a new army requires celestial silver, and the national treasury is completely empty. Of the seven western prefectures of Ningzhou, except for one prefecture where the Xu family's ancestral home is located and therefore exempt from taxes, the actual annual revenue of the other six prefectures is ten million taels! Yet they only gave me one million two hundred thousand! I haven't even received twenty percent! If this continues, are they not planning to give me even one tenth next year?!"

He stood up abruptly, clenched his fist, and roared, "I made the officials bleed silver, and the entire court only managed to scrape together 100,000 taels! Do they think I'm a beggar?! That Lü Jie, his family owns 400,000 mu of land that can be verified, the entire Songjiang Prefecture is his land, and yet he only donated 2,000 taels!"

"Furthermore, the Xu family also came to force me to resign today, demanding the position of Minister of Revenue. They're trying to take control of my finances! Now, out of the nine members of the Council of State Affairs, three are from the Xu family and four from the Lü family. Only two of them are truly my people! Who is the real ruler of the country?! How can I possibly have peace of mind under these circumstances!"

The woman with blue eyes said, "Xu Wangu returned victorious, and now the Xu family will definitely want to expand, which is to be expected."

The Prince of Jin suddenly changed his tone and said, "That old ghost has really been reincarnated?! Can I use this method?"

The woman with blue eyes said, "He did indeed successfully reincarnate, but this method has extremely hidden dangers and is intolerable to Heaven and Earth. Otherwise, wouldn't all the immortals in the world be able to live forever? Why would he be stuck in this limbo?"

"Even if there are hidden dangers, I would be willing to return to my youthful body!"

The woman with blue eyes smiled slightly and said, "Xu Wangu's method is extremely immoral and requires a great many bloodline descendants. If you dare to do that, how could Lü Changhe let you off the hook? There's no need to rush. We have a better method now."

The Prince of Jin touched his slightly loose skin and sighed, "It would be best if it could be done sooner; I can't wait any longer."

"Once we find that chosen one, we can begin immediately."

"Aren't there many chosen ones? Finding one isn't difficult. Take Wei Yuan, for example, isn't he?"

"No, his luck is more harmful than beneficial. What we need is luck that doesn't belong to this world; it's deeply hidden and can only be revealed under certain circumstances. Therefore, we need patience."

(End of this chapter)