Chapter 397

The expansion of the Great Xia Dynasty was extremely rapid, and with many cultivator factions from all directions entering the Great Xia Dynasty, the shortage of personnel and supplies in its major workshops was quickly alleviated.

Meanwhile, the Great Xia court also recruited a number of guest officials, who flooded into the various Dao Palaces.

The Dao Palace is the violent organ through which the Great Xia Dynasty manages cultivators.

With many high-ranking guest officials joining, the Dao Palace's shortcomings gradually disappeared.

The national strength of the Great Xia Dynasty grew steadily.

As the various structures gradually improved and corresponding supervisory organs were established, Zhang Jian gradually handed over court affairs to Crown Prince Zhang Zhao.

Zhang Jian's thoughts returned once more to cultivation.

After stepping into the Realm of Creation, and after a period of time spent mastering it, the Primordial Spirit True Form, the Protective Divine Light, the Dao Diagram Totem, and the Source of Laws, all mastered by the Great Creation True Person, were fully comprehended by him one by one.

He could be said to have gone from initially attaining the Realm of Creation to reaching its great perfection in a short time.

His profound foundation allowed him to directly skip a thousand years of arduous cultivation.

At the center of the Blessed Land Dharma Realm, Zhang Jian manifested the divine aspect of the State and Land Emperor around his body, with layers of purple-yellow light like substance enveloping him, and within, a vast divine energy circulated.

Upon close inspection, it resembled two swimming dragons.

One was purple-yellow, the other pure purple.

The two dragons wandered, their divine might vast and boundless.

Zhang Jian sat cross-legged, continuing to contemplate these two vast imperial authorities; each time he contemplated, it seemed as if countless illusory runes were born from the depths of his primordial spirit's sea of consciousness.

These were innate runes, representing the great Dao laws of heaven and earth.

They were also the substantive manifestation of the two imperial authorities.

With each additional innate rune comprehended, it indicated that Zhang Jian's understanding and mastery of these two authorities had advanced further!

This showed he was moving from merely 'possessing' them—knowing the 'what' but not the 'why'—to knowing both the 'what' and the 'why'.

This was his daily routine.

However, Zhang Jian's daily arrangements were not limited to this; secondly, he continued to promote the various divine immortal laws within his body, which required him to continue his studies!

Using painstaking effort, he elevated them to the Dao-Union level of divine immortal laws.

Zhang Jian had not forgotten his own path.

First the trunk, then the branches and leaves.

First, he aimed to perfect the dozen or so divine immortal laws centered on the 'Map of Mountains, Rivers, and the State'; then, the two divine immortal laws concerning the cycle of life and death.

……

Time flowed like water, and in the blink of an eye, it was the twelfth year of the Shengde era.

Fengyang County, before the Lock Dragon Dam

A stooped figure gazed into the distance at the rushing torrent, the vast white water, with a hint of sigh on his face.

Beside him stood a clear and ethereal Daoist in a blue Daoist robe, holding a floating and sinking device, his hair white as snow, yet his face bore a baby-like rosy glow.

This was Daoist Tianxu.

At this moment, he gazed at Qi Yi's expression and sighed: "Old friend, your condition is not good!"

Qi Yi smiled faintly and said: "Isn't this day inevitable? To have lived until now, to witness this great era shift from great chaos to great order—there is nothing left to regret!"

After more than ten years of diligent governance, the national strength of the Great Xia Dynasty gradually approached the peak of prosperity.

The Great Xia Emperor fulfilled the vow he made at his accession.

At least most of the people under heaven could now eat their fill, be well-clothed and well-fed, and starvation was rare.

Of course, worldly affairs have no absolutes, and even sages cannot save everyone; they can only strive to eliminate poverty.

Yet the prosperity before them had already far surpassed the imagination of countless people.

Qi Yi's only regret was that this prosperity had come too late.

If he could have advanced it by ten years, he might still have had a chance to step into the Human Immortal Realm to extend his own longevity.

The Daoist Tianxu beside him did not try to dissuade him further, but instead smiled and said:

"Indeed, given your relationship with the Empress, obtaining a divine道 investiture edict would be easy; the divine道 is likewise a highway to heaven!"

"I should congratulate you!"

Upon hearing this, Qi Yi was somewhat speechless, his aged face now showing some calm.

He had endured countless storms in his life and now had few regrets or desires left.

The Qi family's status in the entire Great Xia Dynasty was now of the highest rank—not only was it the residence of the current emperor's father-in-law, but it was also the founding dukedom.

The Qi clan had even produced two empresses.

Who in the entire Great Xia Dynasty, high or low, could compare with them?

Yet whenever he recalled those memories, he would occasionally feel heartache.

Mourning his wife in middle age, mourning his son……

Distant memories surged in his heart, and Qi Yi suddenly recalled those distant verdant years; in a flash, he saw the young and radiant Qi Qian clan, and the scene of their first meeting at the Qian mansion was vivid before his eyes.

Full of vitality, yet with an undeniable radiance, but at first glance, Qi Yi had already made up his mind—he would certainly marry this young lady of the Qian family.

At this moment, Daoist Tianxu beside him glanced toward the top of Qi Yi's head, and visible to the naked eye was the vital energy like beacon smoke atop Qi Yi's head rapidly declining; at this moment, it seemed his lifespan was nearing its end.

……

Not long after, the many Qi clan members far away in Haojing City received the news: Marquis Yi of the State, Qi Yi, had passed away.

And almost on the very day of Qi Yi's death, envoys from the court arrived, bringing the investiture decree for Marquis Yi of the State, Qi Yi, appointing him as the lord of the capital of Lianli Commandery, to take office within seven days.

In the Fengzhi Palace, Zhang Jian comforted the grieving Empress.

"Empress, your maternal grandfather passed away at nearly a hundred years of age; this is a joyful mourning—why must you grieve?"

Zhang Jian's expression was solemn.

Qi Yi's fortune was still not bad; he happened to encounter a time when a Commandery Lord had failed his thousand-year divine tribulation and fallen, leaving a vacancy.

Otherwise, if the city god position in the prefectural capital is already filled, even he could not forcibly arrange it; then he could only choose a low-tier divine position to bestow.

And among the gods of the State and Harvest Dao, if ranking the divine positions of the gods, the City God belongs to the first tier.

The City God deity not only has high potential, but also the Daoist authority he oversees is convenient for drawing incense and faith.

After receiving Zhang Jian's comfort, the Qi Empress finally nodded with tearful eyes.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Jian felt a faint sigh in his heart, knowing that the time left for him was actually not much.

He wishes to lift his residence and ascend to immortality, but much is still lacking.

Yet the people around him are growing old with the years, and may not be able to wait until that day.

He must consider more possibilities, prepare in advance.

Or establish a method capable of freezing time and extending lifespan.

If he could cast a spell in advance to freeze their vitality and lifespan, perhaps he could still wait until the day his Dao is accomplished.

Zhang Jian stayed in the Fengzhi Palace until evening, only leaving after accompanying Empress Qi Yuhua and her daughter through their meal.

At that moment, while on the Imperial Carriage, his expression suddenly stirred, and his gaze turned toward the vault of heaven.

Yet he saw the Yin Star above the heavens suddenly manifest a grand and strange omen.

In the depths of the firmament, the Yin Star suddenly shone bright as a silver disk, then violently burst forth with unprecedented light, but in an instant was swallowed whole by a massive golden toad.

The Toad Devours the Moon!