Chapter 123: Great Qian Imperial Dynasty!
“Your Majesty, the cultivation sects on Dongyang Island have all submitted.”
“Even Ancestor Dongyang has decided to join our Great Qian.”
“Heh heh, that old thing finally agreed.”
Within the resplendent golden hall, Gong Luo sat upon the head seat in imperial robes. Hearing the news from below, she immediately revealed a trace of delight.
“Counting Ancestor Dongyang, plus myself and the State Preceptor, our Great Qian now has three Nascent Soul cultivators!”
Sensing her own cultivation, Gong Luo’s eyes flickered.
Several years ago, when she had come to the Prison Dragon Realm from the Firmament Continent, she had been nothing more than a Golden Core cultivator.
Now she was a genuine Nascent Soul great cultivator.
She had even established her own Great Qian Imperial Dynasty in this realm!
This made a wave of pride and satisfaction rise in her heart.
And just then, a white-robed old man suddenly walked into the hall.
The old man had the bearing of an immortal, his whole appearance carrying a touch of white hair and youthful face.
“Hm? The State Preceptor is here.”
Seeing this old man, Gong Luo was somewhat surprised. She hurried out to greet him. “The State Preceptor graces us with his presence. Why did you not announce it earlier? I would have personally welcomed you.”
“Your Majesty is too kind.”
The old man smiled lightly and waved his hand dismissively. “You and I are the closest of friends. Why bother with formalities?”
Hearing this, Gong Luo gave a slight nod.
“In that case, please take a seat first, State Preceptor.”
For the Great Qian Imperial Dynasty to establish itself in the Seven Stars Sea Region, it was first and foremost inseparable from the Chaotian Sect’s help.
But Lu Qingyang had only helped her find a piece of land and sent some resources.
What truly allowed the Great Qian Imperial City to stand on its own in the Seven Stars Sea Region was this white-robed old man before her, whom she had honored as the Great Qian State Preceptor.
“Good. Your Majesty, please sit as well.”
The old man sat down with a smile.
After a few pleasantries, the two went straight to the point.
“Has Your Majesty considered it clearly?”
The old man slowly took a sip of tea, his tone soft and lingering. “If you want Great Qian to quickly unify the Seven Stars Sea Region, then the Chaotian Sect’s puppet-crafting technique is absolutely indispensable.”
“Otherwise, I fear it will be difficult for us to establish ourselves in the Seven Stars Sea Region.”
“How could I not understand the State Preceptor’s words?”
Gong Luo sighed, a trace of worry flashing through her eyes. “But the Chaotian Sect’s puppet-crafting technique can only be observed by members of the Sect Management Council.”
“Our Great Qian currently has no qualifications.”
“Heh heh… Your Majesty need not worry.”
The old man stroked his beard and smiled. “As long as Your Majesty nods, before long our Great Qian will also be able to sell puppets in the Seven Stars Sea Region.”
“Oh? What do you mean by that?” Gong Luo was puzzled.
“Has Your Majesty forgotten that this old one also knows how to craft puppets?”
“Hisss!”
Gong Luo sharply drew in a breath of cold air, a brilliant light rising in her beautiful eyes. “The State Preceptor means we craft puppets ourselves, then sell them in the Seven Stars Sea Region under the Chaotian Sect’s name?”
“Exactly.”
The old man gave a slight nod. “With the golden signboard the Chaotian Sect has built in the Seven Stars Sea Region over the years, as long as we can craft them and then lower the price a bit, they will surely sell well.”
“When that time comes, why worry about the dynasty lacking resources?”
“Isn’t this a bit unfair to the Chaotian Sect?” Gong Luo fell silent for a long while.
“Your Majesty need not worry. Your Majesty is a dragon among men, destined to rule this realm sooner or later.”
“When that time comes, at worst we can just give Sect Master Lu a few large provinces. That can count as compensating him.”
Hearing the old man’s explanation, Gong Luo’s brows drew tightly together, as if she were struggling.
Seeing this, the white-robed old man pressed his advantage.
“Your Majesty, after the dynasty took Dongyang Island, the mortal citizens within our borders have already reached five hundred thousand, yet our cultivators number only a little over ten thousand!”
“This situation has arisen entirely because our nation lacks resources.”
“If we can sell puppets in the Seven Stars Sea Region, then not only can we fill the national treasury, but we can also drive the development of our nation’s cultivators.”
“Within a hundred years, our Great Qian will surely have millions of subjects and over a hundred thousand cultivators!”
As he finished, the white-robed old man’s eyes brimmed with ambition.
Gong Luo pondered for a long time, and in the end gritted her teeth and agreed.
“In that case, then everything will rely on the State Preceptor!”
“Your Majesty is wise!”
At these words, the white-robed old man let out a breath of relief.
He knew Gong Luo’s character was upright and staunch. If she had not agreed, it would likely have taken considerable effort to persuade her.
Fortunately, things had gone smoothly.
Heh heh, a mere puppet-crafting technique. It’s something I already grew tired of playing with in the Immortal Realm. How could a lower-realm sect possibly compare to me?
If not for this Gong Luo’s Fate Pattern being that of a proper Human Race sovereign, I would not be wasting time here!
As long as I can assist her in ascending to the Immortal Realm, achieving a Heavenly Immortal position in the future isn’t impossible. In any case, it’s better than waiting to lose my cultivation.
The white-robed old man calculated inwardly, then took his leave and withdrew.
As for Gong Luo, she fell into deep thought.
This Mo Chen was the first cultivator I recruited in this realm.
Though his cultivation is only Nascent Soul, his knowledge is broad and his skills numerous.
With him as my State Preceptor, he can save me quite a bit of trouble…
It’s just that I do not know whether this move will draw the displeasure of that Sect Master…
Gong Luo shook her head and sighed softly.
But matters had come to this. She could only choose to trust this white-robed old man.
Never mind. Soldiers come and are blocked; water comes and is dammed by earth!
She rose to her feet and turned toward the outside of the hall. “Xiao Zi, come out and stroll with me.”
…
The Great Qian Imperial Dynasty was located on Huangji Island in the Seven Stars Sea Region.
The island held several hundred thousand mortal citizens.
At this moment, construction was underway everywhere on the island.
Occasionally, streaks of cultivator light would slice across the sky.
What a flourishing scene of immortals and mortals living together.
Gong Luo, bearing a sovereign’s Fate Pattern, was no fool.
She knew how to establish a cultivator dynasty.
She also knew how to make mortals and cultivators coexist.
After all, she had already experimented with it back in the Firmament Continent.
Therefore, the moment she ascended the throne, she issued a decree encouraging cultivators and mortals to cultivate and marry together, granting them many preferential treatments.
She also spent enormous sums to build Great Qian Academy throughout the nation.
With this, she gathered commoner students from across the land who possessed Spirit Roots into the academy to cultivate.
If Lu Qingyang learned of this woman’s measures, he would surely not be able to help but give a thumbs up.
After all, the benefits of such a move were nearly countless.
And just as Gong Luo was wandering the streets with her maidservant, she suddenly heard a clamor coming from the distance.
Her brows furrowed, and she lifted her foot to head toward the direction of the sound.
There, beside the street ahead, a crowd had gathered.
“Bah! Damned lowborn!”
“You dare to offend an Immortal Master! You deserve to die!”
Within the city streets, a Qi Refining youth with the bearing of an immortal held a longsword, looking arrogantly down at a child in tattered clothes kneeling on the ground.
Beside the child lay a woman barely breathing, her eyes wide open, refusing to close in death.
“Scram!”
The youth barked harshly, sweeping his longsword across.
With a “pfft,” the child was cut in two at the waist.
Blood splattered across the ground, a shocking sight.
“Ah—”
The child’s mother fainted from terror.
The onlookers around them all drew back, not one daring to say a word.
And Gong Luo, who had happened to witness this scene, was furious beyond measure.
After all, ever since Great Qian was founded, she had issued laws forbidding the arbitrary killing of mortals.
Cultivators who committed crimes were to be punished the same as mortals, with no exemptions.
This Qi Refining youth had knowingly broken the law. The audacity was simply heaven-defying!
“Courting death!”
Gong Luo snorted coldly, about to erupt on the spot.
“Eh? Who are you? You dare to obstruct this Immortal Master’s business?”
The Qi Refining youth had originally been about to leave, when he suddenly felt waves of threat coming from behind.
He whirled around, and saw Gong Luo in her imperial robes.
“Die!”
Without any nonsense, Gong Luo flicked a finger.
Whoosh!
In that instant, a silver true gang energy difficult to discern with the naked eye shot out, arriving in a flash.
Crack!
The expression on the Qi Refining youth’s face froze abruptly, his pupils slowly dilating, and his whole body exploded with a bang.
Blood sprayed across the ground.
“Ah~”
The onlookers all screamed in unison and scattered in flight.
Yet when mortals had died just now, though they had been afraid, they had not thought of fleeing.
Now that an Immortal Master, lofty in their eyes, had died, they were frightened into scattering in all directions.
It seems that if I want to truly establish my Great Qian, I must rule by law and improve the hearts of the people.
No, I must go find the State Preceptor! Have him craft a Dharma Artifact for a penal code!
From now on, in my Great Qian, there will be no more title of Immortal Master!