In my dream of returning to the Tang Dynasty, I snatched Wu Zetian from my lap.

Soon after, it was dawn.

The sacred mountain, a vast expanse of desolation, has risen from the darkness.

Under Huang Tu's guidance, Li Yuanchang and a small group of men have landed in the most mysterious area of ​​the sacred mountain.

Here, there are so many plants and trees that Li Yuanchang had never seen before, nor have they been seen in later generations. Some trees can even reach a diameter of more than ten meters, which is terrifying.

Covered in moss and plants, these are rows of uniquely shaped, abstract, and ancient stone pillars, their purpose unknown, seemingly existing for thousands of years.

Li Yuanchang was amazed. How long has this civilization existed?

Huang Tu suddenly stopped: "This is it, the birthplace of my race!"

"You are the first outsider to come here."

Li Yuanchang looked up at the steps, and a flock of birds soared into the sky. Below was a huge building, with stone pillars all around it.

"Could this be the trial Chief Huangtu mentioned?"

Huang Tu asked in surprise, "How did you know?"

Li Yuanchang was stunned for a moment. It really was true; he had just guessed.

Huang Tu said, "This is a sacred object of our tribe. Our ancestors left a will saying that whoever can lift this sacred cauldron with their own strength will be the incarnation of the god that the tribe should follow."

"At that time, the entire clan can follow the incarnation of the god and leave the sacred mountain. Only in that way will the clan not be wiped out."

tripod?

Li Yuanchang frowned. "Is this a ding (a type of ancient Chinese cooking vessel)?"

Immediately afterwards, Huang Tu first knelt and bowed three times and nine times with extreme piety, and then went up and pried open the gecko hanging on the sacred cauldron, revealing a corner of its true appearance.

Instantly, everyone who came was shocked!

The entire enormous building is the tripod itself, not something that has been protected!

"How is it possible to lift that?"

"Is this a joke?" Guo Chao and the others exclaimed in surprise.

Cheng Chuliang shook his head, his face grim: "Could this bastard be trying to take advantage of us without doing anything, and just making this up to fool our boss?"

"This cauldron weighs at least a thousand catties, maybe even more!"

Although he couldn't hear the Chinese language, Huang Tu could roughly guess what was going on by watching the Tang army's heated discussion, and said to Li Yuanchang.

"King of Han, I am not lying to you, this is indeed the ancestral instruction."

"I don't know exactly how heavy this cauldron is, but even I, the strongest in the mountain tribe, can't move it at all," Huang Tu frankly admitted.

Li Yuanchang remained silent, staring at the cauldron for a long while.

This is a cauldron carved from stone, but it is too big. Legend has it that Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, could lift a cauldron, but such a cauldron probably doesn't even weigh a third of this one.

Humans possess innate superhuman strength, but it is impossible for them to defy the common sense of physics.

"Brother, don't believe this guy!"

"How could one person possibly lift that thing?"

"Apart from Baoqi, I've never seen anyone with the same strength as me. I estimate I couldn't lift ten of them; they could crush a person into a pulp."

"That bastard is definitely lying to you!" Cheng Chuliang's eyes were unfriendly.

"Yes, even if it's an ancestral precept, it's an impossible ancestral precept," Guo Chao and Tu Sitong echoed.

It's not that they lack the ability, it's just that this is too outrageous. In their view, even with a lot of tools, it would still take dozens or even hundreds of people to lift it away.

Lifting it by a single person is nothing short of a myth.

Li Yuanchang did not reply, but stared at the stone cauldron in silence, his eyes showing a thoughtful expression, and suddenly a smile appeared on his lips.

"Chief Huangtu, are you sure that lifting this cauldron off the ground by yourself is enough to fulfill the ancestral precepts of your ancestors?"

Huang Tu nodded: "Yes!"

"Then let me give it a try," Li Yuanchang blurted out.

What the hell?

Cheng Chuliang, Guo Chao, and everyone else stared at him, their eyes wide with surprise.

The people of the mountain tribes also began to clamor.

"King Han, are you sure?"

"This cauldron weighs at least a thousand catties, perhaps even more than two thousand." Huang Tu said solemnly.

"Sure."

"However, I need to use some tools by myself. That shouldn't be a problem, right?" Li Yuanchang said with a smile.

Huang Tu hesitated, then nodded: "The ancestral teachings say that as long as it's one person, ropes and tools are all acceptable."

"but!"

He paused, his eyes slightly probing: "But Your Highness, if you fail, don't blame us. You'll still have to exchange those medicines with us."

What do you think?

It's clear he really wants those drugs.

Disinfecting distilled spirits, hemostatic wound medicines, and analgesic anesthetics have reached the forefront of medicine in this era.

When the people of the Qimeng tribe translated it, it immediately aroused opposition.

"Brother, he's lying to you!"

"Your Highness!"

Li Yuanchang raised a hand to stop everyone from talking.

"Don't rush."

"I have a way."

Guo Chao and the others were shocked. They exchanged glances, then fell silent, revealing expressions of curiosity.

When others said this, they thought it was crazy, but when Li Yuanchang said there was a way, they had a glimmer of hope again.

At this moment, Li Yuanchang looked at the wasteland map: "No problem."

"But I must make this clear from the outset: if I alone can lift this cauldron by any means necessary, the mountain tribes must join the allied forces and obey the commands of the Tang Dynasty."

"how?"

Without any hesitation, Huang Tu replied, "As long as the King of Han completes the trial, we will do whatever he says, whether it's joining the allied forces or following him to the ends of the earth!"

"This is our ancestral precept, and we will never disobey it!"

"good!"

Li Yuanchang shouted, speaking quickly and directly, without any hesitation or pretense.

Huang Tu said nothing more and walked down, making room for him.

"Chief, this is simply impossible to lift."

"This person shouldn't die here."

"Yes, it's bad luck to break the sacred cauldron."

"None of us can move it, let alone him."

"Shh, just watch. Since there's an agreement, let him try." Huang Tu stopped his men from discussing and simply watched quietly.

But from his tone, it was clear that he didn't believe Li Yuanchang could lift it by himself.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Li Yuanchang ascended the steps.

Only when you actually stand in front of this stone cauldron can you feel its immense size, weight, and oppressive presence.

He tried to push it, but it didn't budge, as if he were pushing a mountain.

If we follow the conventional "Overlord Lifting the Tripod" method, even if Xiang Yu were reborn and Lü Bu helped him, it would still be impossible for him to lift it!

Li Yuanchang remained calm, clapped his hands, and then turned to have Guo Chao and the others bring him a pen, ink, paper, and a copper ruler.

"What is he doing?"

"That looks like a measuring tape, and paper..."

"He can lift the stone cauldron with this?" The burly, human-shaped men from the mountain tribe were all astonished, looking at each other in disbelief, and some even thought that Li Yuanchang was just making a fuss.

Huang Tu was also dumbfounded.

I thought to myself, at least get a sturdy rope, right?

He was about to speak, but then he thought that if Li Yuanchang succeeded, he would fulfill the ancestral precept; if he failed, they could exchange medicines. The tribe would not lose either way, so he simply let Li Yuanchang handle it.