Chapter 946: Imperial Edict to Subdue the Rebel

Xiang Weiyuan no longer tried to hunt for the heart demons hidden among ordinary mortals; his inner world was riddled with cracks, and for every one he caught, another slipped in—endless and inexhaustible.

Among the bustling mortal world, the number of ordinary people was vast, and most had already awakened to reason; they were, in fact, a formidable asset. Of the entire Qingming realm’s thirty million souls, only a mere five to six hundred thousand possessed true learning—far fewer than the mortal world.

Xiang Weiyuan no longer took everything upon himself; he let the mortal world act on its own. Indeed, within half a day, the common folk had devised countless plans, over a hundred of which were highly feasible, and several even exceeded Xiang Weiyuan’s wildest imaginings.

After long contemplation, Xiang Weiyuan selected one plan, named “Xu Jin Huan Tu,” and put it into action.

This was a long-term strategy, divided into several phases. The first phase required establishing spiritual energy monitoring systems across the mortal world to accurately measure the depletion of spiritual energy on both sides in this war against the celestial monsters.

This step seemed unrelated to the war itself, but it was crucial—its outcome would directly shape the following strategy.

Thus, Xiang Weiyuan ordered over one hundred thousand mortals to sail the seas; aided by immortal plants, they spent more than ten days installing monitoring devices across the mortal world—even beneath the waves.

Simultaneously, Xiang Weiyuan activated the “Fence the Land” strategy.

This strategy required registering every mortal in the mortal world; during registration, each individual had to clearly state their current cultivation base, abilities, and innate spiritual talents—all records to be meticulously documented. After registration, anyone whose abilities deviated significantly from their registered status, without reasonable explanation, would be arrested and imprisoned for heart demon inspection.

This method effectively froze the current state of every mortal. The celestial demons possessed countless secret arts capable of causing sudden leaps in cultivation—even achieving the Yu Jing realm in less than a year. But now, if they dared to do so, they would be immediately exposed. After all, someone carrying fifty jin of water with a hundred jin of strength versus a thousand jin of strength would behave entirely differently.

Thus, heart demons could only remain trapped within mortal bodies; if they cultivated, they would be detected; if they did not, they possessed no real power and could accomplish nothing—Xiang Weiyuan barely bothered to notice them.

In a matter of weeks, word spread throughout the realm that Xiang Weiyuan was attempting to ascend to the Yu Jing realm—but had encountered trouble during the Tribulation Crossing.

Outside observers, of course, knew nothing of the precise nature of Xiang Weiyuan’s problem. But regardless of the issue, as long as he failed to reach Yu Jing, everyone was delighted.

At this point, the monitoring network had been operational for over ten days, and the preliminary data analysis was finally complete.

The data showed that the mortal world’s spiritual energy consumption had surged dramatically due to its war against the celestial demons. Although the Three Caverns absorbed heavenly primordial energy at an astonishing rate—far exceeding that of an ordinary Yu Jing cultivator—their intake still could not match the depletion.

Fortunately, the Three Caverns were newly formed and growing at their fastest pace; they would soon replenish the deficit. In the meantime, Xiang Weiyuan could sustain himself with elixirs.

The monitoring network also gathered extensive data on the celestial demons. Merely maintaining the purple blotches in the heavens required the full effort of a Yu Jing cultivator at peak capacity—not once or twice, but continuously.

Furthermore, the invading monsters required spiritual energy to sustain themselves; within the mortal world, they were naturally suppressed and distorted, causing their combat consumption to skyrocket—and if killed, they suffered massive losses.

After analyzing all data, the mortal world concluded: the heart demons’ summoning of celestial monsters to attack the mortal world was equivalent to five Yu Jing cultivators exerting themselves nonstop. If deaths of the monsters were included, it equaled the combined effort of twelve Yu Jing cultivators. Meanwhile, the mortal world’s daily spiritual energy intake was equivalent to that of a normal Tai Chu Palace Yu Jing cultivator.

In other words, for every unit of spiritual energy Xiang Weiyuan consumed, the celestial monsters consumed twelve. This did not even account for the energy required to maintain the passage.

Upon the release of this report, Xiang Weiyuan’s spirits lifted instantly. The entire Tai Chu Palace had only thirty to forty Yu Jing cultivators—he was holding up nearly half of it by himself.

This Tribulation Crossing was starting to get interesting.

With this conclusion, the plan officially entered its second phase: ignore the heart demons entirely, focus entirely on enhancing war capacity, wage direct war against the celestial monsters, use every means possible to maximize results and minimize consumption, widen the disparity in losses, and bleed the enemy at minimal cost.

In this phase, available methods multiplied.

Xiang Weiyuan waved his hand, and over a dozen specialized research institutes were established at once, followed by the rapid development of over a hundred war instruments.

The Institute for Equal-Being War Equipment once again took center stage in Xiang Weiyuan’s vision; it was developing a massive war platform capable of shuttling between ground and heavens, itself equivalent to a fully equipped war fortress.

In addition, protective gear and magic treasures for cultivators were under study, with large-scale war techniques requiring coordinated spells from multiple cultivators being the top priority.

Thus, the mortal world had fully shifted into total war mode.

In his meditation chamber, Xiang Weiyuan finally opened his eyes, ending this month-long seclusion. The war situation in the mortal world had stabilized, settling into a stalemate. Now, Xiang Weiyuan needed to consume one Yu Jing Qi-replenishing elixir daily, costing roughly ten thousand immortal taels.

This expense was negligible to Xiang Weiyuan now; he calmly emerged from seclusion, ready to resume all matters he had set aside.

After emerging, Xiang Weiyuan summoned all Tai Chu Palace cultivators and informed them of his situation; the cultivators listened in silence, unsure what to say—it seemed their realm lord now intended to cross the Tribulation while eating and sleeping as usual.

Xu Henshui offered to supply all the elixirs Xiang Weiyuan needed; Qi-replenishing elixirs were among the most common Yu Jing pills, and with his skill, he could barely manage to refine them himself. If Qingming refined them internally, costs could be cut by another seventy percent.

Xiang Weiyuan was delighted—every bit saved counted. Then they turned to Qingming’s daily development matters. During Xiang Weiyuan’s seclusion, a group of cultivators led by Zhang Sheng, restless and eager, had attempted another large-scale military expansion.

Yet there were no enemies left nearby; even Zhao Guo officials now spoke gently, respectfully, and with full propriety. The officials of Western Jin were practically eager to prostrate themselves upon meeting him. Thus, faced with Zhang Sheng’s plan to expand the army to two million within the year, Xiang Weiyuan did not know what to say.