My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

In the backyard of the Qin Prince's mansion, the courtyard was filled with lush and verdant spiritual herbs.

A gentle breeze wafted by, carrying with it a refreshing medicinal fragrance.

Li Chen sat by the stone table, his hands casually resting on his knees, seemingly closing his eyes to rest, but in reality, his internal condition had reached a critical point.

Within his dantian, the true essence vortex, like liquid mercury, was spinning at an exceptionally frantic speed.

At the center of the cyclone, the illusory outline of the golden core had completely solidified, radiating a faint yet noble dark golden light.

The surrounding spiritual energy kept trying to enter his body, but he suppressed it with his divine sense.

He's about to break through.

The Golden Core stage is the first truly significant watershed on the path of cultivation.

Once the elixir is successfully formed, one can extend their lifespan by five hundred years and truly transcend the realm of mortals.

However, the spiritual energy in this area is extremely thin. If they rely solely on the spiritual energy gathered by the spirit-gathering array in the palace, the success rate of safely passing through the nine heavenly lightning tribulations is rather low.

Therefore, Li Chen set his sights elsewhere.

The Tang Dynasty had only been established for a short time, and its national strength was growing rapidly. The imperial aura gathered above Chang'an was so thick that it was almost tangible.

If one can rely on this vast and continuous imperial fortune to protect them, not only can they offset most of the power of the lightning tribulation, but they can also consolidate the Tang Dynasty's rule, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

However, being struck by lightning on the roof of the imperial city was such a huge commotion.

In order to avoid causing panic and riots among the millions of people in Chang'an, Li Chen specially summoned Li Shimin to his residence.

At this moment, the stone table was full of people.

"You want to... summon lightning down over Chang'an?"

Empress Zhangsun's face turned pale, and even her voice trembled slightly as she spoke.

She gripped Li Chen's sleeve tightly, her eyes filled with undisguised worry.

"Chen'er, that's heavenly lightning! A mortal body would be instantly annihilated by even the slightest touch. Although you possess some immortal abilities, this is far too dangerous."

Li Chengqian, standing to the side, also had a furrowed brow and looked extremely nervous.

He had been chopping wood and lifting iron every day for the past two weeks, and his physique had become much stronger, but he still felt his scalp tingle when faced with the ethereal and elusive heavenly tribulation.

"Sixteenth Brother, shouldn't you reconsider this matter? If anything goes wrong, there are still quite a few century-old ginseng roots in the Eastern Palace's storeroom. I'll bring them all over for you to nourish your body."

Li Chen shook his head helplessly as he looked at the family's tense appearance.

The little ox sitting in his lap, however, had no idea what these adults were worried about.

The little girl was holding a piece of osmanthus cake that the Empress had brought, and she was eating it with great relish.

Two little feet dangled carefree in mid-air, mouth stuffed up like a little squirrel's, and big, dark eyes darted around the faces of the crowd.

"Don't worry, that little drizzle from God won't kill me."

Li Chen patted Xiao Sizi on the back, signaling her to eat slowly, then glanced sideways at Li Shimin, who had been deep in thought.

"I'm giving you a heads-up. There will be a lot of commotion in the sky. Remember to have the garrison below keep the people calm and orderly, so they don't think the country is about to fall and start running around in the streets."

Li Shimin slowly raised his head.

At this moment, there was no worry in the eyes of this Heavenly Khan; instead, a shrewd and calculating glint flashed within them.

"Chen'er, I think this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Li Shimin stroked his beard, a hint of fanaticism in his eyes. "Although the empire is now newly pacified, the Turks and Xueyantuo in the north are eyeing us covetously, and powerful clans within the country are stirring up trouble. The people's respect for the court is not yet strong enough."

"If you can perform a miracle in public above Chang'an City and survive the tribulation of lightning."

"Then I can go with the flow and proclaim to the world that the Tang Dynasty is protected by a true immortal! At that time, internal and external troubles can be resolved with a single word from the immortal!"

Li Shimin became more and more excited as he spoke, as if he could already see a prosperous world where all nations paid tribute and the world was completely subjugated.

Sitting to the side, Li Chen looked at Li Shimin's grand blueprint for governing the country and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

He slowly extended his right hand and rubbed his fingers together in front of Li Shimin.

"Wait a minute."

Li Chen raised an eyebrow, his tone unusually greedy, "Your scheme is so cunning it could be heard even in the cold palace. You're using my name to consolidate your power and conduct political propaganda, shouldn't you pay me some royalties?"

Copyright fees?

This unusually novel term left everyone in the hall momentarily stunned.

Li Shimin's face instantly darkened.

He slammed his hand on the stone table, his eyes widening as he adopted the authority of a father.

"Nonsense! All land under heaven belongs to the emperor! Besides, you have my blood in your veins; you are my own son! What's wrong with me using my son's name to do official business? That's perfectly justified!"

"cut."

Li Chen rolled his eyes dramatically and sneered repeatedly.

"Now you think it's perfectly natural? When I was eating cold steamed buns in the cold palace, where were you acting like a perfectly natural father? Stop making empty promises. You want to use my name to get money and top-quality jade? Not a penny less."

"You unfilial son!"

Li Shimin was so angry that his beard trembled, and he shifted his position in the chair, his face full of conflict.

The Tang Dynasty had just experienced floods in the Central Plains, and now the north was preparing for war. Every penny in the national treasury was being spent with utmost care.

Li Chen's opening statement was definitely an outrageous demand.

Li Shimin sighed, rubbed his temples with a worried expression, and sounded extremely helpless.

"You little rascal, you really won't take the slightest loss. The price you've quoted puts me in a difficult position..."

The moment Li Shimin finished speaking.

Sitting in Li Chen's lap, Xiao Sizi was intently munching on osmanthus cake when her big, black, gem-like eyes suddenly lit up.

It was as if a mysterious keyword in my mind had been instantly triggered.