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

In fact, Li Yuanchang was not sure how much arm strength he had. He could only say that he was trying. His face was already red, but the stone cauldron swayed but did not rise.

The extra-long outrigger kept creaking and groaning, as if it was about to break down again under the strain.

Li Yuanchang has become famous.

"ah!!"

He roared hysterically, his hands bulging like those of a mythical beast, his muscles and veins bulging, unleashing his strongest power.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

This time, the outrigger held up; it developed cracks but didn't break completely, as it was stabilized by a large number of anchor bolts.

and!

Under the tense gazes of everyone, the massive stone cauldron began to be pried open, gradually lifting itself off the ground.

All the ropes tightened, making a piercing creaking sound.

Huang Tu's eyes widened in shock!

The mouths of everyone in the mountain tribe were agape in disbelief, and their hearts were filled with a storm of shock!

It's off the ground...

The ancestral teachings have proven true!

"..."

That wasn't all. With Li Yuanchang's roars, the stone cauldron rose higher and higher until it was completely lifted off the ground, creating a space the size of a palm!

The damp soil kept falling down, and snakes, insects, and ants emerged in large numbers from under the stone cauldron.

The sunlight had completely slanted across the bottom.

"Get up!"

"His Highness has lifted it up!" Guo Chao and the others shouted in surprise and excitement, and the crowd instantly erupted.

On the other side, the people of the mountain tribe were all dumbfounded. They couldn't understand how the stone cauldron, which weighed over a thousand kilograms, could be pried open.

With just ropes and sticks?

Huang Tu was stunned and lost in thought.

Only four words came to mind: divine incarnation!

Boom!

When Li Yuanchang was exhausted, he suddenly released his grip, and the huge stone cauldron crashed down, even shaking the ground.

Li Yuanchang was panting heavily and almost fainted from exhaustion.

"Chief Huangtu, what do you think?"

Huang Tu finally came to his senses, and the way he looked at Li Yuanchang had undergone a complete change, becoming extremely respectful, even as if he were looking at a god.

"Huangtu pays homage to the divine incarnation!"

"The mountain tribes pay homage to the incarnation of the gods!"

A rumbling sound came from the mouths of the mountain tribesmen, and everyone knelt down in devout worship, as if worshipping an ancient god.

This is a stark contrast to their attitude not long ago.

"Hahaha!" Li Yuanchang laughed loudly, striding down to help Huang Tu up.

"There's no need for that. I am not some incarnation of a god; I am simply the King of Han."

"From today onwards, we are all one family, clan chief. You must not forget your promise and ancestral precepts."

Huang Tu shuddered, filled with utter awe: "Gods, we dare not!"

"Our mountain tribe has guarded the sacred mountain for generations, all in anticipation of your arrival."

"From this day forward, the mountain tribes will follow the gods to the death!"

"We swear to follow the gods to the death!" the members of the Gaoshan tribe shouted, and no one even looked up to look directly at Li Yuanchang, just like believers.

Li Yuanchang, who kept calling people "gods," sounded like a charlatan.

"Ahem, just call him Your Highness."

"I did not come here to rule you."

"No, deities! Our ancestral teachings say that whoever lifts the stone cauldron is the incarnation of a deity, and all descendants of the mountain tribes must follow and obey!"

Huang Tu's serious demeanor was definitely not a joke.

Li Yuanchang couldn't help but sigh inwardly that many things couldn't be understood by common sense. If the mountain tribes followed him out of the mountains, it would indeed be a great blessing in many ways.

"Very well, then I command you to stop calling him a divine incarnation, especially after you leave the sacred mountain. Just call him Your Highness."

He was serious because these four words were originally a respectful title, but if someone embellished them, the meaning would be different. He had been falsely accused like this before.

Ever since Liu Bang boasted that his birth mother was struck by lightning while chopping wood on the mountain, resulting in his birth, emperors of all dynasties have been wary of those who associate themselves with gods.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Huangtu and the other clansmen shouted in unison, their faces beaming with excitement.

A group of humanoid beasts who dared to threaten an army of two thousand suddenly became docile and friendly.

Guo Chao and the others felt like they were in a dream, and they hadn't even adapted to the change in the attitude of the mountain tribe.

But they knew that the mountain tribes who followed them were worth more than thousands of troops!

"..."

Not long after, Li Yuanchang was invited by Huang Tu to the camp of the Gaoshan tribe. It was a valley where no one had disturbed the area for decades or even centuries.

When news of the stone cauldron being lifted spread, all the men, women, and children here revered it as a savior from suffering.

This made Li Yuanchang feel quite embarrassed.

Studying physics more often is definitely useful.

He was forced into this role and became the head of almost everything in the mountain tribe.

This tribe has a total of 232 people, but after removing the elderly, the weak, the sick and the young, there are only 108 adult men.

If all the adult men go down the mountain with Li Yuanchang, the rest will starve to death in the camp or be eaten by wild beasts.

Therefore, Li Yuanchang took charge and the entire clan migrated.

The elderly, women, and children will first arrive at the Meng tribe to settle down, and then return to Liangzhou with him after the war ends.

As for the 108 warriors, Li Yuanchang plans to develop them separately.

This matter received the unconditional cooperation of the entire mountain tribe.

The migration began at daybreak the following day.

The large group marched out of the sacred mountain. Led by Li Yuanchang, stepping across the red line was no longer a taboo, but an expectation and curiosity.

When the villagers saw the scenery beyond the sacred mountain, they discussed it enthusiastically with their families.

Shortly after leaving the sacred mountain, the group split up.

Li Yuanchang instructed Guo Chao to personally escort the elderly women of the Gaoshan tribe back to their Meng tribe, and to have Lu Ge take care of them on their behalf.

The others went with him to the next tribe.

Two tribes alone were far from meeting his expectations; his goal was to have at least a coalition army of 10,000 men, which would be sufficient.

It can only be said that the mountain tribes are a special group that is extremely precious.

In the following days, Li Yuanchang led his troops to visit the nearby Wujin and Huan tribes on the Gena Grassland.

Upon learning that the mountain tribes from within the sacred mountain had emerged, the leaders of the two tribes were so frightened that they hurriedly came out to greet them, fearing any slight.

Because on the Genna Grassland, everyone knows that a group of terrifying warriors, strong enough to fight tigers and capable of tearing chests apart, live inside the sacred mountain.

Combat strength is the passport to the grasslands.

With the help of Li Yuanchang's enticements and material assistance, the two tribes chose to submit to the Tang Dynasty and join the allied forces almost without hesitation.

The successful addition of the three tribes brought the total number of allied troops to over a thousand, and the army was now fully assembled.

Following that, Li Yuanchang set his sights on even more distant areas.

On this land, many ethnic groups have not yet been wiped out by the long river of history; they are scattered, nomadic tribes, barely surviving.

The large tribes only knew how to oppress, but Li Yuanchang extended a friendly olive branch.