Chapter 336: Threat of Destruction

A distant, deep toll rang out at every mountain gate of the Palace of Absolute Beginning. The bell tolled seven times in total and could be heard even by Avatar Truemen who were carrying out a mission outside.

The bell was ancient; an immortal artifact that had been passed down for thousands of years. When it tolled seven times, it signalled that the Palace of Absolute Beginning was facing the threat of destruction.

Trueman Chu He heard the bell and hurried to the merit hall. There, he received the latest news: Immortal Lord Pei Tinghai had returned gravely wounded and was on the verge of death!

The news struck like a bolt from the blue, shocking everyone.

For a few moments, the Palace of Absolute Beginning cultivators gathered in the place were conspicuously silent. Finally, Zhang Sheng said, “For now, let’s wait for further news and stay calm. The enemy might take advantage of the chaos to attack, so we must focus on strengthening our defenses.

“Don’t worry, the sky won’t fall. “Even if something were to happen to the Immortal Lord, we still have the Palace Lord. Furthermore, the Monastery Master of the Clear Sky Monastery and the Hallmaster of the Heavenly Mysteries Hall are both expected to ascend to immortality soon. Founder Xuan Yue especially will reach the pinnacle of his cultivation in a hundred years. For now, everyone should go about their business as usual. You may go.”

Wei Yuan felt more than a little unsettled. If he hadn’t established Qingming back then and caused a rift between the sect and the Xu Clan, Immortal Lord Tinghai would not have gone to war against Xu Wangu. For the bell to toll seven times, the Immortal Lord was probably going to pass away in a decade at most.

Suddenly, Wei Yuan recalled the vision he’d seen that day within the grotto-heaven fragment. He had been holding an infant aloft and laughing heartily, “A natural-born Myriad Vicissitudes Sword Body! The secret technique does work, hahahaha!”

Could this be the reason?

Wei Yuan strolled over to the merit hall. A long line had formed at the entrance, and there were both Palace cultivators and non-Palace cultivators. Specifically, anyone with merits to exchange was here. Right now, everyone had only one thought inside their mind: to convert their merits into strength as quickly as possible.

Wei Yuan also noticed that the Palace of Absolute Beginning had raised the exchange rate for nether soil once again. This time, he stopped holding back, took out a chest, and filled it with 1,000 catties of nether soil. Then, he offered it directly on the altar.

After the thousand catties of nether soil vanished, the price listed in the exchange register suddenly plummeted to less than 10% of its original value. The function to trade nether soil for supplies had been temporarily suspended as well, though the reverse remained unrestricted.

Wei Yuan’s mood finally improved slightly; it seemed the Palace of Absolute Beginning wouldn’t be short on nether soil for the time being.

Just then, a powerful perception swept across the entire core area—Ji Liuli had returned. Wei Yuan hurried back to the central peak; his Big Senior Sister should have the latest news.

Once everyone from the Palace had gathered, Ji Liuli began, “From what I heard from the founder, Palace Lord Pei had originally secured a decisive advantage in his battle against Xu Wangu. However, Xu Wangu pulled off a daring deception, rising from the ashes to be reborn as a youth. This still should have been his weakest moment, but someone intervened in secret and boosted him to peak condition. The Palace Lord’s cultivation was already inferior to Xu Wangu to begin with, and after several months of battle, his immortal energy was almost depleted, leaving him with no choice but to retreat.

“But as the Palace Lord[1] was retreating, he was ambushed again and nearly perished. If there hadn’t been a complication with Xu Wangu’s reincarnated sword body, he might not have made it back.”

“Who was the ambusher?” asked Trueman Chu He.

Ji Liuli shook his head. “The founder didn’t say.”

Wei Yuan asked, “Are there really no limitations to this kind of reincarnation and rebirth?”

Ji Liuli replied, “Of course there are. It has to be a severe limitation too, unless he willingly dissolves his physical form, reenters the cycle of reincarnation, and then undergoes spiritual enlightenment and retraining in a new lifetime[2]. The Exquisite Blossom Pure Land excels at this. However, no matter what hidden problems may exist in Xu Wangu’s cultivation, this is not a battle we can get involved in.”

Zhang Sheng mused, “The Xu Clan will likely start making moves after this battle, but they wouldn’t go too far. No one wants to see an Immortal Lord capable of infinite reincarnation after all, and the other noble clans won’t tolerate one clan dominating the scene. At the very least, the Lü Clan of the Gan Province and the Lee Clan of the State of Zhao may step in to keep them in check.”

Ji Liuli said, “I came back this time to let everyone know that my founder will be setting out for the northern mountain gate. We’ll be short-handed at the Heavenly Mysteries Hall during his absence, so I need to head back. In due course, I’ll be heading north as well in search of an opportunity in battle to advance to the Avatar-stage.”

Zhang Sheng said, “You’re just begun to scratch the surface of the true intent of Exquisiteness. Aren’t you going to continue refining it? If you wish to study it in depth, staying here would be a better choice. Besides, it’s not like this place is lacking in combat.”

Ji Liuli shook her head. “We are born in an age of strife. We can’t possibly hope to do everything flawlessly. If I were to ascend to the Avatar-stage, even late-stages with just slightly weaker aptitudes would have to give me a wide berth, and that would be quite useful to the Palace right now. In such perilous times, it’s only right that we take to the battlefield. There’s no time for gradual, painstaking cultivation anymore.”

Trueman Chu He’s expression grew a bit unnatural, and he coughed a few times.

“All right! I’m off!” Ji Liuli hugged Zhang Sheng and Wei Yuan in turn, though when she hugged Wei Yuan, she casually gave his butt a squeeze.

The northern frontier was treacherous, and any genius could meet their end there, especially since Ji Liuli was still only in the Dao Foundation stage. Who knew if they would meet again after this, if ever?

“I’ll see you off,” Feng Tingyu said suddenly.

“Sure.”

The two left the central peak and flew northeast. After they landed at the edge of the realm, Ji Liuli asked, “Is there something you want to tell me?”

Feng Tingyu replied, “I heard you have a nickname called ‘Two Zhang Five Big Senior Sister’? My innate foundation and fortune combined fall three chi short of yours, but my fortune is only eight chi long. Since you’re a member of the Heavenly Mysteries Hall, I’m guessing that your innate fortune must be pretty tall, right?”

Ji Liuli remained impassive and asked, “What are you trying to say?”

Feng Tingyu started doing chest expansions with her arms again and said, “What I’m trying to say is, don’t come back after you leave this time. This place isn’t suitable for skinny, flat-chest girls.”

“Oh ho! Trying to steal my man, are you?” Ji Liuli stretched and cracked her knuckles as she walked toward Feng Tingyu. “You’re a term behind me, so you probably don’t know the origin of my nickname. It’s no problem—I’ll let you know right now!”

At the edge of the realm, the ground suddenly shook, and a small mountain peak slowly toppled over.

A massive crater appeared in the ground. At its center, Ji Liuli cupped Feng Tingyu’s slightly chubby, baby-faced cheeks with both hands and pulled them into all sorts of shapes. While doing so, the woman let out a chuckle that didn’t quite reach the eye, “Didn’t expect this, did you? My fortune is actually even worse than yours. It’s only seven chi tall!”

After pinning Feng Tingyu down and roughing her up for a little while, Ji Liuli exposed one of her little secrets. On the surface, it looked like Feng Tingyu possessed an imposing figure. In reality, it was purely because she had flourishing muscles due to a formidable physical constitution. She was actually quite average if the underlying muscle mass was accounted for[3].

Her spirit unburdened, Ji Liuli let out three long laughs before finally taking her leave.

......

The Western Jin Royal Palace.

Dawn was just breaking, but several matters had already been discussed.

A general said, “King Ying intends to recruit and train at least fifty thousand new troops in the northern frontier, which will require five million taels of immortal silver. However, we have only received eighty thousand taels in military funds so far, meaning we're still four million and two hundred thousand short. Without these new troops, I fear it will be difficult to hold the front lines.”

An elderly minister said, “The national treasury is completely empty right now. Where on earth are we supposed to raise that amount of money?”

The King of Jin had been reviewing the documents. He said, “Why has the silver collected from the seven commanderies in western Ning Province decreased? It’s almost the end of the year, yet we’ve only collected one million and two hundred thousand taels of tax silver so far. I recall it was two million last year, wasn’t it?”

Another civil official reported, “The seven commanderies in western Ning Province were struck by disaster just last year and are still recovering this year. They simply cannot afford to pay anymore silver. Moreover, the disaster relief funds haven’t even been distributed yet in some areas, and the common people are struggling to make ends meet.”

The King of Jin furrowed his brows slightly and said, “But I’ve heard that many areas in Ning Province had a bountiful harvest this year.”

Chen Dao stepped forward and reported, “It is true that many commanderies in western Ning Province had a bountiful harvest, yielding as much as thirty percent more compared to the previous year. However, the fields that produced well were all private lands owned by noble clans. The public fields, on the other hand, suffered from neglected irrigation and mostly yielded poor harvests.”

The King of Jin said, “It is imperative that we train a new army. Since the national treasury is empty, let us all chip in. This lone one, too, will contribute some silver from my private treasury. Now, declare your contributions!”

The officials exchanged glances, then began pledging contributions one after another—some pledged 1,000 taels, others 500. In the end, the entire court, their teeth clenched as tight as they could be, pledged a total of 100,000 taels.

The King of Jin silently took note of several of them but did not dwell on the matter further. Although the general who made the report earlier was practically hopping on his feet with frustration, the high-ranking officials remained calm, composed, and unmoved.

At that moment, the Right Counselor stepped forward and reported, “Your Holiness, the annual revenue is stagnant, and the national treasury is empty. This is a dereliction of duty on the part of the Ministry of Revenue. I believe Xu Gong should be appointed the new Minister of Revenue and admitted to the Council of State.”

The King of Jin paused for a moment before replying, “Acceptable.”

The former Minister of Revenue simply stared at his own toes, showing no sign of objection.

Nighttime, the Vajra Zen Monastery.

The King of Jin and the woman with cyan eyes sat facing each other. Both of their eyes were closed in meditation. Suddenly, the woman with cyan eyes said, “Your mind is not at peace.”

The King of Jin snapped his eyes open and said, “King Ying has been asking for troops this whole time, yet forming a new army requires immortal silver, and there isn’t a single tael left in the national treasury. Of the seven commanderies in western Ning Province, aside from the one where the Xu Clan’s ancestral home was located—which, by custom, is exempt from taxes—the actual annual revenue from the remaining six commanderies amounts to ten million taels, yet they’ve only given me one million thousand hundred thousand! I haven’t even received twenty percent! At this rate, do they intend to give me not even ten percent next year?!”

He stood up abruptly and swung his fist, roaring, “I then ordered my officials to make some contributions, but the entire court managed to scrap together only one hundred thousand taels! Do they take me for a beggar?! Take Lü Jie, for instance. His family alone owns 400,000 of documented farmland, and the entire seat of Songjiang belongs to them, yet he has the gall to donate only two thousand!

“As if that wasn’t enough, the Xu Clan showed up today to pressure the court and robbed the Minister of Revenue from right under my nose. They’re trying to take control of my purse strings! Right now, out of the nine members of the Council of State, three are from the Xu Clan, four from the Lü Clan, and only two are my people! Who exactly is the ruler of this country again? How am I supposed to feel at peace under these circumstances?!”

Suddenly, the King of Jin’s tone changed as he asked, “Has that old ghost really reincarnated?! Can I use that method?”

The woman with cyan eyes replied, “He has indeed succeeded, but this method carries immense risks and is abhorred by Heaven and Earth. Otherwise, every immortal under the heavens would have achieved eternal life already. Some who’s neither here nor there like him would never have been able to become first.”

“This lone one would gladly accept such a method if it means regaining the body of a youth!”

The woman with cyan eyes smiled faintly and said, “Xu Wangu’s method severely depletes one’s secret virtue[4] and requires a vast number of bloodline descendants. If you dare to do such a thing, how could Lü Changhe possibly let you off the hook? There’s no need to rush—we have a better method now.”

The King of Jin ran his fingers over his slightly sagging skin and sighed. “It would be best if this could happen soon. This lone one is getting impatient.”

“We can begin right away as soon as we find that Chosen One.”

“Aren’t there many Chosen Ones? We don’t even need to go far. Isn’t Wei Yuan a Chosen One?”

“No, his fortune brings only harm. What we’re looking for is a fortune that doesn’t belong to this world—one that’s deeply hidden and can only manifest under certain circumstances. That’s why we need to be patient.”

1. This is dialogue, so sometimes they just address him as Palace Lord even though he’s technically the Deputy Palace Lord. ☜

2. In short, be reborn naturally LOL. ☜

3. For those who don’t quite get this paragraph, she’s saying that Feng Tingyu looks like she has huge tits only because it was padded by a thick layer of muscle. Otherwise, she’s just average. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ☜

4. I’m surprised to learn that there’s an official translation for this term. Normally I’d just translate it as yin virtue but I’ve decided to use the official translation this time. ☜