Ming Dynasty: Gain one supernatural power every day

Zhu Gaoxi walked to the center of the courtyard and glanced down at the jars scattered all over the ground.

He activated the divine power of the monkey talisman, and a flash of golden light appeared at his fingertips, landing on the swarm of ants on the ground.

The ants rapidly swelled and transformed in the golden light, their black shells shed, revealing golden and silver downy hairs. Their tails stood up fluffily, while their ears drooped limply. In the blink of an eye, a group of round kittens and fluffy puppies appeared on the ground.

There are golden shaded cats, silver shaded cats, Ragdoll cats, Corgis, and a few chubby Shiba Inus.

The cats and dogs squatted there, their eyes blank, clearly not yet realizing how they had suddenly grown so big.

A golden shaded dog looked down at its paws, then looked up at the corgi next to it. The two pets, with their ant-like minds, stared at each other for a while before simultaneously scurrying around on the ground.

A Ragdoll cat bumped into a Shiba Inu, a Corgi tripped over a Silver Shaded dog, and the yard was instantly filled with chaos.

Little Snot and Qiu Tangyuehe stood aside, dumbfounded.

They had never seen these furry little creatures before; their round eyes and fluffy tails made them even cuter than the Persian cats in the palace.

However, they had witnessed so many divine events these past few days that their shock threshold had long been raised. After a few moments of stunned silence, they came to their senses, with only one thought in their minds: His Highness is practicing a new divine power again.

Zhu Gaoxi took out the gourd he used to carry animals from his waist, uncorked it, and waved it at the cats and dogs running around the yard: "Where do you think you're going?"

A suction force emanated from the gourd's mouth, and before the kittens and puppies could run more than a few steps, they were transformed into streaks of light and drawn into the gourd. The courtyard fell silent, with only two earthenware jars remaining in their original positions.

He put away the gourd and went to the jar containing the grasshoppers, where he activated his divine power.

A flash of golden light appeared, and the two grasshoppers rapidly expanded in the light, their bodies becoming huge and sturdy, their limbs thick, their fur smooth, and curved horns growing from the top of their heads.

Two plump oxen stood in the courtyard, mooing and pawing at the bluestone slabs with deep, guttural sounds, startling a nearby eunuch who took two steps back.

He had actually considered transforming into a ferocious beast, such as a tiger, lion, or elephant—the most ferocious land animals on modern Earth. If he put them on the battlefield, the opposing side would definitely surrender immediately.

But whether something can be transformed into something is one thing, and whether it can obey is another. The creatures transformed from monkey talismans still retain their original minds. The tiger transformed from an earthworm will only retreat when it sees an enemy, and might even be so frightened by a warhorse that it will crawl into a crack in the ground.

We can talk about it later when we can sign in and gain the ability to control beasts. Ideally, it would be something like the Somersault Cloud or a gourd that can be given to others. Then we can build a beast army of several thousand people.

With the Ming cavalry charging like lions and tigers, Annam and Tatars alike would probably kneel before such a sight.

As for those in the ocean, we could tie them to whales or giant octopuses, but we'd have to solve the problem of underwater breathing first. Never mind, I'm thinking too far ahead.

Right now, there's a ready-made happy event.

Today, most of my nephews and nieces will be coming to visit, so I'll take out the cats and dogs as gifts for them.

Last time, the children had a meal in the Heavenly Palace and were reluctant to go back. Today, so many pets they had never seen before appeared. Just thinking about the scene of those little brats chattering around a bunch of cats and dogs made him smile.

He snapped out of his reverie, took out a golden shaggy cow from the gourd, held it in his arms and stroked it, then turned to Little Snot and instructed, "Send these two cows to a nearby village to be raised. Take them with you when you go to war, and distribute them to the people along the way."

Little Snot quickly responded and called a few guards to lead the cow away.

Zhu Gaoxi held the golden Shaded dog in his arms and stroked it casually.

The kitten curled up in the crook of his arm, its golden fur gleaming in the morning light, and it purred softly.

He stroked the cat's fur as he walked toward the side hall of Chengyun Hall.

Xu Jingchang arrived at the mansion early in the morning to take his duty. His cousin was always reliable and was probably handling business in the side hall right now.

He didn't have anything important to discuss with his cousin; he was just bored.

With several officials away on business, only the two cousins ​​remained in the vast Prince Rui's mansion. They could manage to put together a mahjong table, as both Xiao Bi Ti and Qiu Tang Yue He were good at it, but they always hesitated to play freely when playing cards with the servants.

Meanwhile, Yang Ji woke up in Liaocheng before dawn.

The guest room in the back hall of the prefectural government office was quite well-furnished, but he had his official duties on his mind and couldn't sleep soundly. As soon as it was dawn, he got up, tidied himself up, and prepared to leave the office to search for the gourd.

The prefect personally led a team of yamen runners to clear the way, sending people to search the market and inquire from house to house about who had an old gourd. He was even more attentive than if he were on an imperial mission.

Zheng Cong and Xue Bin were in similar situations in Pingyang Prefecture. The prefect saw the two arrive on clouds yesterday, and that very night he ordered the best room in the yamen to be prepared. This morning, he personally accompanied them to search for the gourd, making a grand spectacle as if welcoming an imperial envoy.

In Quanzhou, Jian Fang was fawned over by the officials of the Maritime Trade Office. Several officials in charge of maritime trade sent people to the dock overnight to tell the merchants to bring their best gourds. Whoever's gourd was favored by the officials of the Prince's Palace would receive a 30% tax reduction on their future overseas trade.

As soon as the news spread, gourd vendors in Quanzhou lined up in long queues outside the Maritime Trade Office before dawn.

These local officials all have a scale in their hearts.

His Highness Prince Rui is a direct disciple of the Dao Ancestor. Even his officials travel on celestial clouds. One can't even imagine how powerful Prince Rui really is.

Actually, for a fleeting moment at the beginning, some people may have had a greedy thought.

After all, those were celestial treasures, but the thought was quickly extinguished. Who knew if they had any backup plans, and what good would it do to steal them? The fact that Prince Rui was willing to bestow these things meant that there must be something even more powerful.

Anyone with a brain knows that it's better to fawn over someone than to have ulterior motives.

The subordinate officials didn't hide anything and directly told the local officials: His Highness Prince Rui needs a fine gourd to refine a magic weapon. If they find one, there will be a reward, and they can also be introduced to Prince Rui's mansion if there is an opportunity in the future.

Once these words were spoken, the prefects' eyes practically gleamed with envy. Just being able to show their face before Prince Rui meant they could walk with impunity among their peers in the Ming Dynasty.

These people are quite efficient.

On one hand, he had his advisor draft a notice and post it out, offering a reward for the gourd. The money would be advanced from the yamen's public account, and the better the gourd, the higher the reward would be. The whole city could see it.

On the other hand, he personally led a team, with a group of yamen runners searching house to house, staying by their side the whole time.

It wasn't that he was afraid of not finding the gourd, but that one of his subordinates might act rashly and offend the officials of the Prince's mansion, thus costing him his official position and condemning him to hell after death.

In Liaocheng, Pingyang, and Quanzhou, the prefects personally led the way, followed by a group of guards and several young men in flowing robes. The grand procession attracted crowds of onlookers.

In the crowd, an old man carrying a load of vegetables craned his neck to look for a long time, then grabbed the pancake vendor next to him and asked, "What's going on here? Why such a big commotion?"

The pancake vendor turned and glanced at him: "You didn't know that? I heard it was His Highness Prince Rui of our Great Ming Dynasty who sent people to look for the gourd!"

A young man squatting by the roadside chimed in, "What Prince Rui? That legendary disciple of the Dao Ancestor? Is it true or not?"

The pancake seller was displeased upon hearing this. He put the pancakes down beside the oven, stood up, and said to the young man, "What do you mean, 'real' or 'false'? Someone saw it with their own eyes yesterday! Those people from Prince Rui's mansion came riding on clouds, you know, flying through the clouds and mist? They're immortals!"

The old man picking vegetables listened in stunned silence. A woman nearby chimed in, "I heard about it too! Last night, there were people standing in the clouds, and they just floated down from the sky! Da Niu from the next street saw it with his own eyes, and he told us about it for ages, still not believing it!"

The young man scratched his head and muttered, "They came riding on clouds? That's truly divine. What would a divine being need a gourd for? Can a gourd be used to refine elixirs?"

The pancake vendor waved his hand: "How would we know anything about deities? Anyway, the prefect himself came out, so how could it be fake?"

Upon hearing this, the old man carrying vegetables suddenly realized what was happening, put his load on the ground, and turned to run home.

The pancake vendor shouted from behind, "Old Li, why are you running?"

The old man shouted without turning his head, "There's a gourd hanging in my backyard for years; maybe the gods will take a liking to it!"