Chapter 737: Can the Human Race Remain Subjugated Beneath Immortals and Buddhas Forever

Ending the chat, Sun Wukong turned to Li Shimin, who gazed at him with eager eyes, and suddenly produced two porcelain bottles and a bronze bell.

"This bottle contains forty-five potency-enhancing elixirs, each one a celestial pill—more than enough to elevate you to the peak of Heavenly Immortal."

"This bottle holds healing elixirs, equally extraordinary in effect."

"As for this bronze bell, it is called the Red Sun Bell, a Sovereign Artifact, among the finest in the Heavenly Immortal tier. Once your strength reaches Heavenly Immortal, combined with the destiny of the human race, you will have the standing to play chess with Lingshan and the Heavenly Court."

Li Shimin frowned: "Just the right to play chess?"

"What else?" Sun Wukong sneered. "Lingshan and the Heavenly Court have Jin Xian. Unless you reach the Jin Xian realm, victory can only come slowly."

"I understand." Li Shimin nodded, taking the elixirs and Sovereign Artifact. "Six-eight-seven, thank the Immortal for petitioning the Ancestor to bestow such divine artifacts."

"It's your treasure that did the trick; otherwise, I wouldn't have had that much influence." Sun Wukong smiled, then turned and left.

Watching Sun Wukong depart, Li Shimin's gaze flickered with uncertainty.

After a long while, he sighed deeply and entered the meditation chamber.

He took out one potency-enhancing elixir and swallowed it; the next instant, he felt a sun rise within his abdomen, radiating eternal light.

This light seemed endless; no matter how hard he activated his cultivation method, he could not see the end of the elixir's effect.

Refined by Zhang Taixuan, each quasi-Sovereign elixir possessed astonishing potency.

Most remarkable was its gentleness—even an ordinary person could ingest it without exploding; the elixir would slowly release its power within the body, improving it.

After three months of continuous cultivation, under the force of his powerful method, one Sovereign elixir was fully absorbed.

At this moment, Li Shimin's strength had reached the Heavenly Immortal realm.

Though only newly entered into the Heavenly Immortal realm, he could feel its might—countless transformations, infinite vitality, formidable combat power; everything filled him with exhilaration.

"This is the feeling of complete control," Li Shimin mused, gazing at the Red Sun Bell and refining it with his blood qi.

Because Zhang Taixuan had fully unlocked the seals on all Sovereign Artifacts sold in Shangcheng, Li Shimin found its absorption unusually easy; within seven days, the Sovereign Artifact was refined to the point of sentient responsiveness.

"A single strike can shatter the Milky Way—this Red Sun Bell is truly extraordinary!"

Holding the Red Sun Bell, Li Shimin's confidence grew stronger.

At that moment, a Eunuch arrived outside to report: "Your Majesty, emissaries from Lingshan's Fomen have arrived."

"I know!"

Li Shimin's expression turned cold; he casually opened a spatial rift, tossed the remaining elixirs inside, and stored the Red Sun Bell in his consciousness, then stepped out of the meditation chamber.

Again seeing the outside sun, Li Shimin felt utterly refreshed; stepping into the sunlight, he walked with the bearing of a dragon and tiger.

Taiji Hall.

The ministers remained silent, their glances occasionally darting toward a man in a pale moon-colored monk's robe within the hall.

"Your Majesty arrives!"

The next instant, the Eunuch's soft voice rang out as a young man strode in with the gait of a dragon and tiger, ignoring everyone else, striding up the steps and seating himself upon the Dragon Throne.

"Your Majesty, why has the Great Tang demoted Buddhism and promoted the Taixuan Sect?"

No sooner had Li Shimin sat down than the monk confronted him.

Li Shimin snorted: "Do you think I must seek Lingshan's opinion on how I rule?"

At these words, Taiji Hall fell utterly silent.

Has Your Majesty gone mad?

The ministers glanced at Li Er, some frightened.

In a world with gods and demons, the decrees of Lingshan and the Heavenly Court were absolutely unchallengeable.

For Li Shimin to directly defy Lingshan was an unprecedented marvel.

"Your Majesty, do you know what you are saying?" the monk frowned.

Li Shimin sneered: "I know perfectly well. I also know many things you do not."

With a thought, the Red Sun Bell flew out and hovered above his head, radiating vast Sovereign might.

At that moment, Li Er revealed his Heavenly Immortal cultivation base.

Instantly, his blood qi surged skyward, a brilliant yellow radiance like a sun, causing demons and monsters within thousands of li to cry out in agony.

Some minor demons reverted to their original forms under the blood qi's impact; some great demons fled skyward, racing away from Chang'an's vicinity.

"You have cultivation?" the monk gasped, summoning magic power; a demon-subduing club appeared in his hand as he charged toward Li Er.

Li Shimin's expression remained calm: "Overestimating yourself."

Ding!

The next instant, the Red Sun Bell rang.

The oncoming monk was instantly reduced to ash, without even a trace of resistance.

"This…"

The ministers were stunned…

When did Your Majesty become so terrifying? Without even moving a hand, he directly killed the emissary from Lingshan.

"Your Majesty, disaster has come!"

"Yes! Your Majesty, your actions will surely bring Lingshan's wrath upon the Great Tang—Jiangshan is in peril!"

Many ministers turned pale, pounding their chests and stomping their feet.

Li Shimin paid them no mind: "Even if I had done nothing, could the Great Tang have lasted ten thousand generations?"

"I suspect you weep not for the Great Tang, but for yourselves?"

"Then let this be said: those who do not wish to serve in court may leave now—I will not pursue you."

At these words, the ministers exchanged glances.

In the end, many from the aristocratic clans shed their official robes and departed, leaving only officials from humble origins and the Longxi nobility.

These were the true core of the Li Tang.

"It's better that those people are gone," Li Shimin said calmly. "Now I have something to tell you—don't be afraid."

He then revealed the matter of the divine calamity and the celestial opportunity.

"This is worth a gamble—if we succeed, we become the Immortals of the Heavenly Court; if we fail, our souls will scatter into nothing. How do you choose?"

The ministers listened, their blood boiling, then calmed again.

After a while, one minister stepped forward, bowing respectfully: "Your Majesty, tell us what to do—we'll do it. Is it not just death? When has old Cheng ever feared?"

"Indeed, Your Majesty—we all wish to follow you!"

"Good." Li Shimin rejoiced, took out a medicinal pill, and using his blood and qi to refine and disperse it, infused it into each of their bodies, then bestowed upon them a cultivation technique: "Return and cultivate on your own—you will soon enter the Immortal Path."

"Moreover, Lingshan will not let this go unavenged—we must prepare in advance. The ancient Xuanjia soldiers must be activated. Li Jing, you will oversee recruitment. I need thirty thousand Xuanjia warriors, trained into Immortals, even Heavenly Immortals."

"If the celestial lords and divine spirits can rule, then so too can our human race!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty speaks truly. Our human race is the foremost of all beings under heaven and earth—how can we remain subdued beneath the Immortals and Buddhas?"

"Topple the Heavenly Court and Lingshan—we shall become the Immortals and Buddhas ourselves!"