Longevity: Starting from Refining Gu
Chapter 520: 291: Return to the Mortal World_2

Chapter 520: Chapter 291: Return to the Mortal World_2

Very quickly, some soldiers rushed in, escorting the envoy from the Water Country to prison.

Yan Lie inquired slightly, and learned the reason, “The envoy from the Water Country actually said that since Wen Country currently has no queen, they offer the daughter of the Water King as Wen Country’s queen!”

You Huang angrily shouted, “This is truly presumptuous!”

“Does the Commandery Princess of the Water Country match our master?”

The Commandery Princess of the Water Country was always rumored negatively.

Yan Lie saw numerous courtiers scatter, and hurriedly said, “Let’s go quickly, Master is about to get angry, go take shelter with Yu Xu’er!”

Chen Qing was utterly baffled by the Water Country’s antics, what’s this all about?

Calling upon Su Yi, Chen Qing went to the dungeon of Prince Wen Palace and met Lan Jingtian again. After sending the others away, Chen Qing coldly said, “I know what you want. Now that no one else is here, just you and me, speak your mind.”

Lan Jingtian smiled and said, “I knew Prince Wen was not a reckless person.”

“My visit indeed is to discuss a marriage proposal.”

Chen Qing angrily retorted, “Are you done yet?”

Lan Jingtian asked, “Doesn’t Prince Wen want to know what the bride price is?”

Chen Qing was completely uninterested and only felt that Lan Jingtian was insulting him.

Lan Jingtian confidently smiled, “Is Prince Wen not interested in the position of True Monarch?”

At this point, Chen Qing carefully looked at Lan Jingtian and suddenly understood something.

He no longer wanted to listen to Lan Jingtian’s nonsense, he had already guessed the crux of the matter.

Whether the Water Country would be destroyed was not the key; the nation’s fate was already at its end.

The Nine Profound Temple letting them remove the nation might not have been without the Miao God’s direction.

Thus, the situation was very simple.

This was essentially a test from the Miao God and True Monarchs, to see if this newly appointed Prince Wen could resist the temptation of the True Monarch’s position.

It was a test for him.

Or rather, an evaluation of a newly appointed Prince Wen.

Once he understood these things, Chen Qing immediately felt relieved.

Earlier, he thought the Water Country had some special trump card, but now it seemed he was purely bewitched by the Tai Sui Gu.

With this understanding, it became simple.

Having figured out the twists, Chen Qing strode out of the dungeon, “The envoy from the Water Country was bewitched by evil and intended to assassinate the prince. Three days later, the sentence will be made clear, executed publicly, with the Divine Soul annihilated!”

After speaking, Chen Qing turned back to Prince Wen Palace.

It was time to continue his other plans.

Returning to Prince Wen Palace, the vast backyard of the palace contained only Chen Dan, holding a Pill Book and modifying its contents.

“Where are the other three?”

Chen Dan put down the Pill Book, “Father, they are all cultivating with Yu Xu’er.”

Chen Qing sat by the pond, “Call them over, let me see if you all have been diligent recently.”

The other three came over sheepishly, instinctively feeling some awe towards Chen Qing.

Chen Qing glanced at them, “You are all at the Mystic Gate Realm, and I am also at the Mystic Gate Realm now.”

“Allow me to instruct you for a bit.”

Chen Qing stood up, flicked his sleeve, “All four of you come at me together.”

Yan Lie said, “Master, this is the palace, what if something gets broken?”

Chen Qing chuckled, “Nothing will get broken, go all out, do not hold back.”

Yu Xu’er, fearless and unafraid, declared, “At the master’s command, this disciple shall offend!”

Before Yu Xu’er could see how Chen Qing struck, she cried out in pain, falling to the ground, “Ouch… it hurts, hurts, hurts… Master, it hurts!”

The other three attacked, but within a single move, Chen Qing easily defeated all three.

“Indeed, compared to the various kings who have experienced the King Struggle Battle, you are now only surface level, possessing only the King Gu without utilizing its power.”

Yan Lie and You Huang’s faces flushed with embarrassment, feeling somewhat ashamed.

Chen Dan’s participation was merely to make up the numbers; Yan Lie and You Huang knew well that Chen Dan excelled at the Law and Reason Elixir Book and was not very strong in actual combat.

Chen Qing said, “Fortunately, there is still a campaign of extermination that can give you some practical experience.”

“Prepare well and focus on tapping into the potential of your King Gu to create more uses.”

“Don’t just ignite some fire, summon rain or snow, that’s so unimaginative.”

“Find a way to concentrate the power of your King Gu to explode at a single point!”

After advising them a bit further, Chen Qing walked towards the palace, preparing to deal with the day’s affairs.

Seated in the side hall, below were Su Yi and his subordinates.

Currently, in Wen Country, civil wore Qilin and military wore White Tiger.

Heavyweights like Su Yi wore official robes embroidered with four Qilins.

Chen Qing sat down, Su Yi asked, “Your Majesty, was the envoy from the Water Country directly executed?”

“After all, before removing the country, he is still a son of another nation.”

Chen Qing replied, “This matter doesn’t need to be asked again; my decision is made, vowing enmity with the Water Country.”

Su Yi said, “Alright, in that case, the military side will probably be quite pleased.”

Chen Qing asked, “Why is that?”

Su Yi responded, “Our Wen Country still lacks a determined territory, and now the soldiers with great war achievements are all eagerly eyeing the land of the Water Country.”

Chen Qing inquired, “Enfeoffment?”

“I have no intention of enfeoffment.”

Su Yi’s expression turned grave, “Your Majesty, this move might be somewhat inappropriate.”

“The soldiers are all waiting for enfeoffment.”

“They all hope to have their own hereditary territory to guard the royal family.”

Chen Qing shook his head, “Enfeoffment feels too archaic to me.”

“Instead of enfeoffment, let’s give them hereditary privileges to become Mystic Gate Realm.”

“Over the years, the average quality of Loose Cultivator’s Foundation Establishment has been deteriorating, so I am not particularly interested in recruiting them.”

“Let’s give Wen Country’s slots to these meritorious officers’ descendants.”

Chen Qing earnestly explained, “Su Yi, I dislike fragmentation and sects; I want Wen Country to have only one Prince Wen!”

“I want to issue an order that all of Wen Country executes promptly rather than negotiating with fragmented tribes and summoning Cultivators to discuss decisions.”

“I want my commands to be implemented in every corner of Nanli.”

“I want the entire Wen Country to be at my disposal!”

Chen Qing desired a Wen Country centralizing power to the extreme rather than a scatter of enfeoffed states guarding him as Prince Wen.

He aimed for a streamlined state mechanism rather than numerous large clans surrounding the royal family.

Su Yi noted, “However, that approach will require substantial financial resources.”

“With tribal enfeoffment, Your Majesty only needs to grant land, and every year, the large clans will support the royal family’s cultivation.”

“But achieving Your Majesty’s vision means assigning every Cultivator tasks and providing salaries.”

Chen Qing said, “I understand your point; with enfeoffment, the royal family doesn’t need additional expenses and gains revenue from clans.”

“However, it can also create issues such as mutual aggression and severe internal conflicts between large clans.”

“Moreover, not every large clan will have an astute leader to develop and strengthen the tribe.”

“I intend for Wen Country’s court to control everything in Wen Country, with every matter handled by the court!”

“Under unified management, each individual has the opportunity to showcase talents.”

“Other nations cannot do this, but Wen Country can, as it’s a brand-new country.”

Su Yi emphatically stated, “If it were another country, it might be challenging.”

“But we in Wen Country, with Elixirs and Gu Books, have a substantial number of production-class Cultivators who might succeed.”

“I need to consult the two State Preceptors and Xuan Mang, assess our current treasury to see if we can sustain such large-scale salary distribution.”

Chen Qing accepted the tea sent by a maid, “Send people to call them over, and yes, bring Ting Yun too, let’s figure this out clearly.”

Su Yi walked out of the main hall, instructing subordinates to summon Xuan Mang and others, and thought inwardly: it seemed his role as Prime Minister might soon become a position of real power.

In reality, within various nations, the position of Prime Minister often represented a monarch’s favor rather than authority for a family.

Prime Ministers managed not the entire country, just the royal city.

Their way to manage the country was merely collecting offerings from big clans.

Now, he clearly sensed Chen Qing’s extraordinary desire for control.

Chen Qing seemed intent on transforming Wen Country into an integrated whole rather than a realm of distributed clans surrounding the royal court.

In truth, this was simply overthinking; Chen Qing purely felt that the enfeoffment system was too outdated.

Compared to an enfeoffed and independent system, Chen Qing preferred a highly centralized state.

If he didn’t have control over the Death Realm, he might not entertain such thoughts.

But now, holding the Authority of the Death Realm made him believe it was worth a try.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.