Chapter 397

236—"Is this the Heavenly Dao running an ad for the Qinglong Society?"

"I accept the order, and I too believe only that my lord himself can act."

Li Si accepted the order.

Hearing Ying Zheng waved his hand and dismissed the two.

Staring at the Heavenly Dao Golden List, he could not help but mutter,

"Qinglong Society, Ximen Wudi—truly my only worthy rivals, heh! Po Yuan Dan…"

On the other side, Chang'an of the Great Tang.

"Po Yuan Dan—a single pill can let a Heavenly Being Realm expert advance to become a supreme Mythical Realm powerhouse?"

"Then can't the Qinglong Society, can't Ximen Wudi mass-produce supreme Mythical Realm experts?"

Empress Wu Zetian, too, cried out in astonishment the very first moment.

The martial spirit across the lands of the Nine Provinces ran thick; cultivating martial arts had become the fashion, and almost every person took up martial arts.

If one said that out of every hundred martial practitioners, one absolute martial artist would be born,

then only out of every thousand absolute martial artists could one Land Immortal be born.

And ten thousand Land Immortals might not give birth to even a single Heavenly Being Realm powerhouse.

As for going from Heavenly Being Realm to supreme Mythical Realm, that was even more the difference between cloud and mud!

How many Heavenly Being Realm powerhouses had vanished into the long river of the Nine Provinces' history.

Yet now Ximen Wudi, relying on a single pill, had produced one supreme Mythical Realm expert.

What does this mean?

It means that from now on, any Heavenly Being Realm powerhouse without entanglements would scramble to join the Qinglong Society.

After all, relying on oneself, a lifetime of bitter cultivation might still see one's lifespan exhausted without ever gaining a chance to advance further.

Take Lord Chuan Ying, for example—he had enjoyed the offerings of the Great Sui Dynasty for how many years now, yet still lingered at the peak of Heavenly Being.

But now, by simply joining the Qinglong Society and helping Ximen Wudi "serve with wholehearted devotion," one might obtain a "Po Yuan Dan."

Such benefits—anyone else would surely fight tooth and nail for them!

Is Ximen Wudi really not the Heavenly Dao's illegitimate son?

Now he's almost brazenly running "ads" for the Qinglong Society—how shameless can you get!

Empress Wu Zetian's heart was nearly bleeding.

She was so tired!

She too wished the Heavenly Dao would favor her!

She too wanted a Po Yuan Dan!

Unfortunately, all of this was merely wishful thinking…

She could foresee that in the days to come, even more people would surely rush to join the Qinglong Society.

As one side waxed and the other waned, the days of the three great dynasties—especially the Great Tang—would grow ever harder.

"Your Majesty… Your Majesty…"

Shangguan Wan'er, known as the tapeworm in Wu Zetian's belly, now saw Wu Zetian's soul absent because of the Heavenly Dao Golden List.

After a moment's thought, she figured out the key point within.

Her soft, gentle calls finally brought Wu Zetian back to her senses.

"What is it?"

"Is Your Majesty worried that the Qinglong Society will use this 'Po Yuan Dan' to recruit the world's powerhouses?"

"Isn't it obvious? Martial artists of the world, you and I included—would our hearts not be moved?"

Wu Zetian sighed. Though she was the Great Tang's empress, an empress unmatched across the ages, naturally she would not be easily struck down.

It was just that this Po Yuan Dan—even she was tempted and wanted one.

One must know that a pill that could directly break through the realm—even a minor realm—was a treasure.

And every rise in realm greatly deepened one's lifespan.

"Wan'er is naturally tempted as well, but Your Majesty need not worry."

"Does Your Majesty still remember who was ranked first on this re-shuffled Heavenly Dao Golden List?"

"First? Isn't it the Twenty-Four Solar Terms of the Qinglong Society?"

Wu Zetian naturally had the Nine Provinces' Heavenly Dao Combat Power Ceiling List memorized by heart; all the more so since the Twenty-Four Solar Terms being people of the Qinglong Society was a first-ever reveal—how could she not remember.

"Oh? I understand now."

In an instant, Wu Zetian's eyes lit up.

Although the Twenty-Four Solar Terms had twenty-four people listed at once and possessed a set of joint-strike formations, earning the Heavenly Dao Golden List's evaluation: divided, they suppress a region; united, they overwhelm the present age.

The evaluation could not be called low.

Unfortunately, the Heavenly Dao Golden List also exposed two major problems of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms.

The first was that the Twenty-Four Solar Terms only possessed mid-stage Heavenly Being cultivation, though their mid-stage Heavenly Being was surely no ordinary one.

But realm was realm, and strength was strength.

The second was that the Twenty-Four Solar Terms' potential had been completely squeezed dry!

The Qinglong Society's hidden Twenty-Four Solar Terms were said to be part of the Qinglong Plan, and were clearly one of the trump cards.

Even a trump card had its potential squeezed dry, reaching only mid-stage Heavenly Being.

Then what does this indicate?

It indicates that the Qinglong Society—or rather Ximen Wudi—is not omnipotent.

Or rather, the Po Yuan Dan either has inherent limits, or has limits on those who take it.

In other words, Ximen Wudi cannot mass-produce Supreme Mythical Realm experts!

Empress Wu Zetian was exceptionally shrewd; once Shangguan Wan'er gave her a gentle nudge, she understood everything at once.

"Wan'er, you truly are clever. It seems I have worried over nothing."

"However, even though the Po Yuan Dan has flaws, the other Heavenly Being Realm experts are unaware of them."

"I think you, Bu Liang Ren, should quietly make these flaws of the Po Yuan Dan public, which should be able to stop some people from going to join the Qinglong Society."

"Second, open the Luocang and recruit the world's experts."

"The Qinglong Society has Ximen Wudi and seven Dragon Heads — it is already terrifyingly powerful."

"Regardless of whether the Po Yuan Dan has flaws, regardless of whether he can truly mass-produce Supreme Mythical Realm experts."

"He poses a grave threat to our very survival."

"You must personally make a trip to Great Qin, and then another to Great Yuan — the matter of joining forces is urgent."

"I believe the matter of the Po Yuan Dan will certainly make them wary as well."

Luocang is one of the secret storehouses of Great Tang, storing over half of the cultivation resources accumulated by Great Tang over the past thousand years.

Now, because of this Po Yuan Dan, in order to deal with the Qinglong Society, Wu Zetian could be said to have gone all out.

"Your Majesty is wise."

Shangguan Wan'er breathed a sigh of relief and praised her repeatedly.

The Great Yuan Imperial Court.

"The Qinglong Society, always the Qinglong Society…"

Tie Muzhen was furious.

This Heavenly Dao Golden List, every so often, seems to have to mention the Qinglong Society, or bring up Ximen Wudi.

Sometimes, he truly wanted to ask the Heavenly Dao — is this the Heavenly Dao Golden List, or is it Ximen Wudi's personal list?

"Please calm yourself, Khan."

Si Hanfei's injuries had not yet healed, yet he still stepped forward,

"Although the Living Buddha's rumor says Li Taibai forcefully slew Jue Wushen and claimed the War God Palace for himself,"

"and now the Heavenly Dao Golden List has revealed the 'Po Yuan Dan,' in my view, this is not only not a good thing, but rather a bad one."

"Oh? What does Uncle mean?"

Tie Muzhen gradually calmed down upon hearing this; he faintly sensed something was amiss as well.

"Since the Qinglong Society emerged, it has acted with utter tyranny — those who obey thrive, those who resist perish."

"Although Ximen Wudi's forbidden strength and the Qinglong Society's unmatched power have allowed them to run rampant until now,"

"but since ancient times, fortune and misfortune are intertwined!"