Chapter 306: One Character Subdues a Noble Clan

The fifth layer of internal qi is the foundation for the profound internal energy of a Master-level cultivator.

It emphasizes accumulation.

It must be slowly polished, bit by bit, to achieve completion.

Even Ling Pingyang, the strongest young cavalry general of this generation, spent years gradually refining himself to reach the late stage of the fifth layer; continuing cultivation may grant him a chance to break through to the sixth layer.

But now.

Under the dual impact of the Ancient Taigu Chilong's power and the Nine Cauldrons' divine resonance, Li Guanyi's internal qi surged forward at an astonishing speed—within just a dozen breaths, he surpassed a decade of ordinary cultivation and directly reached the peak of the fifth layer.

The roar of the Ancient Taigu Chilong shook the four directions.

It scattered all clouds and mists.

One face of the Nine Cauldrons had fully restored its original golden hue, bearing the engraved topography of the Jiangnan region, yet the Ancient Taigu Chilong was furious and alarmed—he felt an indescribable divine resonance pressing down upon him.

Heavy!

Incredibly heavy!

As if it would crush him directly beneath the cauldron!

No dodging, no avoiding—it loomed vast and overwhelming, like the myriad phenomena of heaven.

Even the Ancient Taigu Chilong's vast experience was shaken: "What exactly are these Nine Cauldrons?! Why are they so heavy?!"

Li Guanyi felt the Nine Cauldrons suddenly stabilize.

He seized the opportunity to suppress the cauldron's absorption of the Taigu Chilong's primordial qi—the boundless primordial energy on the Ancient Taigu Chilong's body instantly retracted, and upon surveying himself, he erupted in fury: "What is this?!"

"It drained eight hundred years of my lifespan?!"

Li Guanyi was startled.

The Nine Cauldrons had restored only one-ninth of their body, yet they had already consumed eight hundred years of the Ancient Taigu Chilong's foundational lifespan—if fully restored, wouldn't they drain every remaining year of his life?

The Ancient Taigu Chilong raised his head, his scales trembling, and flung Li Guanyi away.

The Fire Qilin landed in midair, stepping upon flaming clouds to catch Li Guanyi.

Around them, vast expanses of crimson-gold fire clouds glowed.

Li Guanyi looked up and saw the immense Taigu Chilong coiled between heaven and earth, gazing at him with eyes filled with intense fury—even the Ancient Candle Dragon Lord now felt only rage.

Li Guanyi felt his entire body stiffen, as if plunged into an icy tomb.

The Immortal Life Unending Body had no effect; his internal qi could not be activated.

The power gap was too great.

Yet Li Guanyi did not cower—he merely raised his head, fixed his gaze on the Ancient Taigu Chilong, exhaled calmly, and said: "Elder, I warned you already."

The Ancient Taigu Chilong's boundless rage faltered.

"………………"

Li Guanyi's expression was sincere: "You weren't injured by this thing, were you?"

"Eight thousand years of Ancient Taigu Chilong foundation."

"Surely not because of the divine weapon still dormant on my person?"

"Lord of the Blazing Flame That Wraps the Heavens, Candle Dragon Who Swallows the Sun!"

"How could you be harmed by a mere, incomplete, single Nine Cauldron divine weapon?"

The Ancient Taigu Chilong and Li Guanyi locked gazes.

The Ancient Taigu Chilong had been directly confronted by the young Li Guanyi, who had once wandered the streets.

For a moment, the air was thick with awkwardness.

Only the Fire Qilin noticed a cloud drifting by shaped like a giant peach—he opened his mouth and bit into the cloud with a crunch, his cheeks puffing up and down as he chewed the mist.

Chew, chew.

This… this has no taste.

The young Qilin sighed dejectedly.

He glanced at the blue pearl.

Yet this eased the tension between the Ancient Taigu Chilong and Li Guanyi—Li Guanyi's back was soaked in sweat, and the Ancient Taigu Chilong sighed:

"Boldness indeed. But I should not have taken out my anger on you."

"I laughed for eight hundred years at that Fire Qilin who died eating a pearl."

"Today, I nearly followed in his footsteps."

"Yet you drained my vast primordial qi and eight hundred years of lifespan—your divine weapon is restored now, isn't it?"

Li Guanyi hesitated, then answered honestly: "Not yet."

The atmosphere grew even more silent and awkward.

The Fire Qilin abandoned the pearl, bored, and snatched a bird from the air, blasted it with fire into a roasted wing, and slowly chewed it.

Li Guanyi volunteered: "But a significant portion has awakened."

"As for draining your lifespan and primordial qi…"

"This cauldron is certainly no evil artifact—I believe some issue has arisen, and there may yet be a way to remedy it."

The Ancient Taigu Chilong said: "I shall consider this my own misjudgment—no need to mention it again."

"But to reverse the Son of Heaven Divine Art, stabilize the people's fate, prevent it from being seized by the realm's warlords, and return it to the masses—you need a divine weapon. Now that the thing cannot emerge, what will you do?"

Li Guanyi's spirit sank into the cauldron, sensing the divine resonance emanating from the Nine Cauldrons, and suddenly understood: "I may have a solution."

"Oh? What is it?"

Li Guanyi looked at the Ancient Taigu Chilong:

"Reforging the Nine Cauldrons."

……………………

To recast the Nine Cauldrons was not like the legends said—gathering gold from all nine provinces to forge a single artifact; Li Guanyi lacked such ability, and even now, with only one-ninth of the Nine Cauldrons restored, he could not achieve this step.

He sensed the revived divine aura upon the bronze cauldron.

He planned to emulate the ancients, gathering iron and metal from the eighteen states of the south, forging a great cauldron—this metal need not be abundant, just a little from each state—and then channel the divine aura of the Nine Cauldrons within Li Guanyi's body, mimicking the Nine Cauldrons to gather the qi and fortune of the southern mountains and rivers.

To forge this cauldron.

As a substitute for the divine weapon required by the Son of Heaven Divine Art.

He told his idea to the Ancient Crimson Dragon, who pondered long before helping him refine the concept and details, saying: "Like the Tuyuhun melting thirty-six tribal seals and severing their heads; or the event of Wu Di three hundred years ago."

"Only when one's own aura is overwhelmingly strong, and at the peak of this fortune, can one forge a divine weapon to perfectly bind fortune and weapon together—you should also consider similar events as preparation."

"Only when such events push the qi and fortune of the southern mountains, rivers, and people to their limit can this cauldron be fully perfected; as for forging it, I do not think it will be difficult."

"The Murong clan has always been a family of weapon-forgers; Murong Longtu is here too—when you forge this, is it the full glory of the Nine Cauldrons?"

Li Guanyi, lost in thought, answered instinctively: "One-ninth?"

He immediately realized his slip.

The Ancient Crimson Dragon had already guessed the vastness of his primordial qi—and even the eight hundred years of lifespan he had lost—to awaken only one-ninth of the divine power of the 【Nine Cauldrons】. The sheer disparity left him without anger or ire, only a silent helplessness, as he sighed:

"Whoever forged these Nine Cauldrons must have been truly formidable."

"Yet even forging one of the Nine Cauldrons is surely far from their full glory—I truly wish to see what the 【Nine Cauldrons】 in their full glory truly look like."

Li Guanyi joked:

"Would the elder care to give me another six thousand four hundred years of lifespan's primordial qi to try?"

The Ancient Crimson Dragon seemed to laugh in irritation: "You insolent brat!"

"What a beggar—you've got a big mouth!"

With a sudden lurch, the colossal dragon whipped its tail.

Like swatting a small ball, it sent Li Guanyi and the Fire Qilin tumbling into the cloud sea.

The Ancient Crimson Dragon cried: "Go down!!!"

Li Guanyi and the Fire Qilin plummeted rapidly downward; his Foundation Establishment fifth-layer cultivation, compared to before, had surged in primordial qi by more than double. Li Guanyi clenched his fist and slammed it violently into the air beside him.

Boom—

The Xue family's Shattered Jade Fist revealed its ultimate explosive power.

Vast primordial qi erupted into the air, shredding the clouds; the reverse thrust slowed Li Guanyi's fall. He struck again and again, keeping his descent speed safely controlled.

Finally, he spread his arms, activating the Crimson Dragon Manifestation. Amid low, rumbling dragon roars, primordial qi around Li Guanyi collapsed inward, compressing into scales like crimson jade.

The scales glided, and Li Guanyi moved like a flying dragon, crashing down with a thunderous roar.

He snapped branch after branch, crushed fallen leaves.

He and the Fire Qilin plunged into the pond.

Splash—huge waves erupted. He was still only at the peak of Foundation Establishment fifth-layer; the Ancient Crimson Dragon's tail had sent him reeling, dazed for a long while before he regained his senses.

He shook his arms and rose from the water.

A fallen leaf clung to his black hair.

Then a finger prodded him.

A girl in a simple stargazer's robe crouched by the pond, silver hair falling, extending a finger to poke his cheek, leaving a small dent.

Poke. Poke.

Li Guanyi stared blankly: "Yao Guang, what are you doing here?"

The girl thought seriously, then answered: "Making a wish."

"What kind of wish?"

Yao Guang thought, then said: "I wish for endless steamed buns to fall from the sky."

Li Guanyi laughed heartily: "Too bad it's me."

"Pull me up."

The silver-haired girl pondered, picked up a branch, extended it, and watched him intently. The boy grabbed it and soared upward, landing on the shore.

The moment Li Guanyi crashed from the sky, he immediately looked down at the wine gourd at his waist. Seeing the herbs inside still intact, he exhaled in relief.

"Good, good—didn't lose them."

"Didn't lose them."

Li Guanyi relaxed.

Then he shook his body; a low dragon roar echoed, and under his peak Foundation Establishment fifth-layer cultivation, the Crimson Dragon Manifestation flared. White vapor rose from his body, instantly evaporating all the water clinging to him.

Li Guanyi and Yao Guang went to the military camp.

First, he handed the precious herbs to the Fire Qilin and Qi Laogui for study and cultivation by the Agrarian School.

Then he visited the old stargazer and told him the 【Fire Qilin Five Elements Circulation Method】 of Hou Zhongyu. The old stargazer pondered, then said: "Hou Zhongyu had some talent."

"Too extreme, though."

Li Guanyi asked: "Could the elder elder deduce it?"

The old stargazer gave no guarantee, only said: "I can try."

Li Guanyi bowed again and left.

Although Hou Zhongyu was dead.

But here was his ancestral master!

Old Hou, old Hou, rest in peace.

Li Guanyi sought out Yan Daiqing and others, ordering all regions to send in iron and metal—not pure metal, but items once used by common folk, now useless. When the order was issued, Yan Daiqing and the others did not understand, yet still faithfully carried it out.

"Forging the Nine Cauldrons…"

Though he knew the Nine Cauldrons he forged could only mimic their divine aura, for some reason, the mere thought of those four characters made his blood boil.

Cast the Nine Cauldrons, carve the Jade Seal.

All under heaven is one state.

One by one, thoughts rose in his mind.

Li Guanyi shook his head, gathered his true heart, unmoved by these myriad thoughts; slowly, they faded and sank away, and Li Guanyi directly cast out these notions that seemed to rise from his soul.

Together, these three formed almost a thought-steel stamp within Li Guanyi's soul.

In short—

Unification! Unification!

Those who do not seek unification are all rats!

"I wonder what changes will come after casting one of the Nine Cauldrons." Li Guanyi extended his hand; he faintly sensed that the cauldron, bearing a portion of the Nine Cauldrons' divine essence and bearing the mark of 【Ding】, had fused with the two-thousand-li territory of Jiangnan.

A transformation would arise.

But he did not know what kind of transformation it would be.

"The Son of Heaven's Divine Art?"

"The Nine Cauldrons of the Nine Provinces."

"Yet, which is higher, which is lower?"

………………

The order of Qin Wu Hou was transmitted down; though the common folk everywhere did not understand its meaning, this young lord's prestige in Jiangnan had grown so immense that people no longer knew the Emperor.

The Lord wants this metal—used but now useless.

What else is there to say?

Naturally, everyone brought it out.

Old Wen was an old farmer; having lived through decades of turmoil, he had one habit: frugality—not frugality with money, but frugality with things, picking up anything and everything to bring home.

"This thing will be useful; you never know when it might come in handy."

Saying this, he slowly gathered each item and carried it home.

As he walked, his family members died one by one in the wars.

He had one room, filled with these things.

Every piece of wood he passed, every broken chair or table from his home—he'd say, "It might be useful someday," and stuffed them all in; without realizing, he'd hoarded countless items. Today, hearing the decree, he broke his habit and went to dig them out.

Whoosh—

Old Wen merely brushed against them, and the decades' accumulation of collected items collapsed like an avalanche; had not the passing youth lent a hand, Old Wen might have been buried beneath them.

Old Wen hurriedly invited the youth to sit, saying he must thank him; he fetched a teapot, poured tea, brought out some fruit and a dish of peanuts.

After settling the youth, he returned to his work.

The youth looked seventeen or eighteen, dressed in faded, washed-out clothes barely discernible as blue; he seemed of humble origins, not wealthy.

As Old Wen chatted idly while searching, he finally pulled the items free, exhaled, and smiled: "I told you so—keeping this stuff would pay off!"

Only after speaking did he realize his wife had long passed, no longer there to scold him.

As was customary for old men, with no one to answer him, he muttered to himself: "I said it was useful—see, it's being used now."

"You used to say that, you used to say that."

"Look at this—what a grand occasion, how useful!"

The youth looked over and saw the object in Old Wen's hand: a hoe, but only the iron head remained; the wooden handle had rotted away, and rust coated the iron.

Old Wen brought a basin of water, sat by the well, and began polishing off the rust, saying:

"Young sir, forgive my clumsiness, but this thing—I must do it myself."

The poor youth, yet wearing a jade hairpin, said:

"This hoe is…"

Old Wen answered cheerfully:

"A hoe, of course—what else could it be?"

"I still remember—I forged it when I was fifteen. 'Forged' is too grand; I melted down my father's broken pot and had the village blacksmith make it—back then, I think, the Empress of the Ying state was ill, a few years before she died."

"Far from the Emperor's reach—hard to recall."

"After I forged the hoe, I married the girl from my village."

"Don't look at me now, thin as I am—I had strength back then. With this hoe, I tilled her family's fields; everyone said I was a fine young man. My wife married me because she saw how strong I was."

"Heh, not long after, we had a big, fat boy."

Old Wen looked at the hoe: "I fed my family with this hoe. When my son grew up, I gave him this hoe, forged him a new pot, and he found his own wife."

The youth asked: "Then what happened?"

Old Wen smiled: "Then? War. First taxes grew heavy, then conscription—every one or two years, it happened again, never stopping. When I was about forty, my son's village was separated from mine."

"It seemed some imperial troops passed through. A few days later, I went to look—my son's village was gone. His house was burned. I searched, but found nothing of my son's family—all burned clean, the house collapsed, yet this hoe remained."

"I took the hoe, and the two dried cabbages hanging outside, and brought them home."

"This was a good hoe."

"My son was gone, but the hoe had to stay—and those two pickled cabbages, we ate them for days. They were pickled so well, couldn't throw them away…"

Old Wen whispered:

"Old man was conscripted to haul grain."

"Bandits ambushed us. I saw my son with one arm cut off—among the bandits, holding a knife. He saw me, as if wanting to say something, but never spoke. Then imperial troops stormed out, slaughtered wildly, and my son was stabbed through."

"I still held this hoe."

"Blood drenched my head."

"Later, the imperial troops celebrated with drunken feasting. That night, while they were all passed out, I crept over and smashed the soldier who killed my son's skull with this hoe—CRASH! —it shattered, red and white splattering out."

"No harder than hoeing the fields."

"Just like smashing a dry, shriveled clump of dirt when you're hoeing."

Old Wen muttered to himself, finally polishing the hoe until all rust was gone, making it look as if it had just been forged decades ago: "This is truly a good hoe, really—strong and useful. All these years, it's still in perfect shape."

"But if the Lord wants something, this is the best."

The young man asked: "Aren't you keeping it now?"

Old Wen said: "No need. Black Soil's thing—"

"Oh, right, the Mohists. Those young fellows made some strange tools, better than hoes. I'm an old man now; I till the land, I get food. This hoe's been with me my whole life—I don't need it anymore."

"At last, life has settled down. But how many years will this peace last? In the past, they always said 'peace, peace,' but I never saw it. My whole life, I've watched battles flare here and there."

"These past two years have been truly peaceful and good."

He touched the hoe, all decades of his life passing with it. He stroked it, picked it up, and said: "Young man, come on, let's go together…"

At that moment, hooves clattered suddenly. A young man on horseback dismounted, saw the boy hurrying over, glanced at Old Wen, and said: "... There's news."

The boy smiled apologetically at the old man. Old Wen grinned proudly:

"I knew it all along—you're one of those scholars, aren't you? A minor official?"

Li Guanyi smiled: "Yes, a minor official."

"How big?"

"About the size of a sesame seed."

"How big is that?"

"Look, I still have to help you with your chores. How big could I be?"

"That's true. Back then, big officials had their heads chopped off, surrounded by dozens of attendants."

"If you were truly a big official, I'd never have seen you."

Old Wen stroked the hoe that had been his lifelong companion and handed it to him: "Since the Lord wants it, take it there for me. It's far—I'm too old to go."

"I'm chopping firewood to cook now. You helped me earlier—why not eat with me?"

"Then I'll trouble you."

Li Guanyi accepted the plain hoe with both hands. Old Wen waved him off and returned to rinse rice and cook. After watching the old man walk away, the scholar whispered: "Lord, Chief Secretary Wen has urgent news."

Li Guanyi unrolled the letter, his eyes lowering slightly.

It was news from Wen Lingjun: Li Guanyi's orders had reached all corners, and the common people were eager to assist. But the local aristocratic clans responded with hollow compliance, making excuses, even deliberately obstructing.

"This has happened several times already."

Since Li Guanyi took control of Jiangnan over a year ago, besides melting down the gold and iron of each province, he issued other orders. The clans could not block the melting of metals, but they all stalled or refused the rest.

Li Guanyi understood.

These clever clans saw that Li Guanyi ruled with the people.

Not like the eight-hundred-year-old Chi Emperor, who ruled alongside the great aristocratic families.

These clever men sought to use the rules to check Li Guanyi. This was not the first time. Behind him, smoke rose from chimneys. Li Guanyi smelled the scent of burning firewood. The scholar held paper and brush. Li Guanyi picked up the brush.

There were two inks.

One was black ink, the other cinnabar.

Li Guanyi closed his eyes.

He paused.

Qin Wu Hou opened his eyes.

He picked up the brush. His faded blue robe fell like clouds embroidered with Fire Qilin patterns. He dipped the brush in cinnabar and wrote only one character on the memorial, then laid the brush down.

The scholar glanced at it, his expression stirred. He looked at Li Guanyi, drew a deep breath, bowed, and said: "I receive the Lord's edict."

He turned, leapt onto his horse.

The horse galloped away.

Li Guanyi returned to help Old Wen chop firewood. Old Wen had thought him merely a scholar-official, but now saw the boy expertly stoking the fire and cooking—truly skilled. He couldn't help but raise his thumb in praise.

"Excellent skill!"

"With this talent, you'll surely find a good wife and live well!"

Li Guanyi smiled awkwardly, shoving more wood into the fire. Old Wen snorted: "Hey, what's there to laugh about?"

"When I was your age, I already had a son."

"Young man, you'd better hurry up!"

"Wait too long, and good girls will be gone."

Li Guanyi had no reply.

Old Wen took a sip of wine, speaking as old men of his age often did: "Besides, the Lord has governed this land so well—you can have several children later."

"One won't be enough. Two is a bit few."

"Three… that's about right…"

Li Guanyi couldn't hold back: "Five!"

Old Wen raised his thumb: "Blowing wind!"

"Hahahaha! Prove it—show me when you've got them!"

Li Guanyi deflated.

The scholar Zhao Jinzhi rushed into the Deputy Governor's office.

The Tiance Prefecture members glanced over.

The cinnabar ink bore only one character—domineering, indifferent.

Wen Lingjun closed his eyes and said: "Wen He, are you ready?"

Wen He smiled and said, "Ninety percent."

Wen Lingjun held the imperial edict in both hands, solemn and slow, and said:

"The Way of the King's decree: reward or punish."

"Merit must be rewarded; without reward, the people cannot be spurred. Crime must be punished; without punishment, the scholars cannot be deterred. Before the Lord departs for the Western Regions, we shall cast a cauldron, so the Lord may see that the threat of the noble clans has been quelled."

"Gentlemen, come here."

He placed the scroll on the table.

White paper, cinnabar ink — just one character.

Plain and unadorned.

It read —

【EXECUTE】.

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? Hope I can control my schedule today (peaceful)