Chapter 142 - 141 New Task
For cultivators, the vast expanses of the Nine Provinces were a good thing, offering them more room for development and a bigger stage to perform on.
However, for the great dynasties, things were not so friendly, as the establishment of a dynasty relied on force, and the maintenance of it not only required force but also the economy.
Thousands of years down the line, the industries of the dynasties had all reached a bottleneck. Domestic demand was saturated, and they had to look for new markets.
The new demand naturally pointed to other dynasties.
For example, the dynasty of Great Wei had a type of red fruit that tasted delicious and was inexpensive. Consumption of the fruit was beneficial for cultivators. Other dynasties all wanted Great Wei to sell this fruit in their territory, but the problem was that the spiritual energy within the fruit would dissipate completely within months of it being harvested, rendering it tasteless and worthless.
The Storage Ring could only be used for storage, and the time flow remained unstoppable.
Similarly, the spirit beasts of the Beast Emperor Sect were liked by many cultivators, especially the female ones, who loved their fluffy, tiny appearance.
The issue being, it took a few years to transport these spirit animals to other nations. By then, the animals would’ve grown up and lost the cuteness of their youth.
The Nine Provinces were so vast, it took years to transport to other dynasties.
With transactions taking years to be completed, it was debatable whether a dynasty could profit from them. Still, it was certain that they would not be able to make big money. The ratio of input to return just wasn’t proportionate, and no force was willing to go down that path.
All the great dynasties were aware of this problem but could not find a solution. Getting anxious was of no use either.
With the news from the newspaper about the existence of the space channels, they were naturally overjoyed. They would risk everything to secure their own space channel.
“Elder Liu, I’m leaving this matter to you.” Inside the Imperial Palace, Jiang Li spoke with an old man.
Sitting nearby, Jiang Li could feel the old man’s vigorous vitality, like the
arrival of spring.
Among the six leaders of the Imperial Palace, he was the longest-serving, the highest-ranking, and the most reliable leader.
A tough person who had crossed the transcendence tribulation twice, Achieving Transcendence Tribulation Stage was Leader Liu.
Leader Liu was originally an ancient willow tree of ten thousand years old. It absorbed the essence of the sun and the moon and received the blessings of Heaven and Earth; it nurtured its core and finally awakened its spirituality and began to cultivate.
As a plant turned sentient, Leader Liu was a treasure of immense nourishment for the other cultivators. This led him to not dare to join any sect or expose his identity, so he could only act as a cautious wanderer, struggling to gather resources for cultivation.
The twenty-seventh Human Emperor discovered the naive Leader Liu. Recognizing his potential, he advised him to join the Imperial Palace. After much consideration, Leader Liu agreed.
Being a ten-thousand-year-old willow tree, his foundation was incredibly deep. Moreover, plants that could gain sentience were the favorites of Heaven and Earth, with unparalleled aptitude. Leader Liu reached the peak of the Body Integration Realm in a very short time.
The twenty-seventh Human Emperor proposed several times to appoint Leader Liu as the Leader of the Imperial Palace, but Leader Liu always felt that the Human Emperor sheltered him to nurture him for the supply of great medicine, and he could not help but be wary.
During one instance when they fought against the Heavenly Demons from the outer regions, Leader Liu was trapped and almost killed by a Heavenly Demon. He was rescued by the twenty-seventh Human Emperor which saved him from his predicament.
Unfortunately, in order to save Leader Liu, that Human Emperor went at a disadvantage. Although he managed to kill the Heavenly Demon in the end, he himself suffered fatal wounds which shook his foundation, and he could not be saved by any elixirs.
Feeling guilty, Leader Liu cried and claimed his ten-thousand-year-old Green Heart and his thousand-year-old Human Heart could reverse life and death if taken. He asked the Human Emperor to consume him.
The Human Emperor shook his head, stating that he didn’t take Liu in to use him as medicine but rather hoped that he could cultivate well and protect the Nine Provinces. After advising him a few words, the Human Emperor let go and passed away.
Since then, Leader Liu has taken up the responsibility of being a leader. During one of the battles against the outer Heavenly Demons, he led the charge and broke through his limits on the brink of death, becoming a Transcendance Tribulation Stage cultivator.
It has been six thousand years since.
In these six thousand years, Leader Liu had seen countless Human Emperors with heaven-defying talents and in the prime of their lives. They were the best of their times, but none of them could compare to Jiang Li.
He couldn’t defeat Jiang Li even sixty years after he took the throne.
This generation’s Human Emperor was incredibly formidable.
“Your Majesty, rest assured. I’ll handle the matter of the space channels.” Leader Liu laughed heartily, his vitality even making the door frame sprout new buds.
Jiang Li nodded with relief. Among the six leaders, only Leader Liu gave him peace of mind. He was the perfect leader among them all.
Various forces would soon come to the Imperial Palace, vying for the endpoints of the space channels. Where these points will be would depend on the price each force was willing to pay.
Even if Jiang Li did not need resources, he still had to consider his subordinates.
Of course, a part of the price that each force would pay had to be given to Mount Sumeru, being the creator of the channel.
To mediate relationships between the various forces and make the best of choices, it was something Leader Liu was experienced and skilled in. Hence, Jiang Li left this matter in his hands.
Jiang Li left the tower here, advising it that after establishing the space channel, it could return to Mount Sumeru on its own.
After uttering these words, Jiang Li left the Imperial Palace.
He needed to make a trip to the Great Sui Dynasty.
Just a few days ago, the system had issued a new task.
Originally, Jiang Li undertook system tasks with the hope of unlocking the space-transportation function to transport him to the Immortal Realm.
Who could have thought that this system would give him a shock by revealing that, although the space-transport function had been unlocked, it needed the coordinates of the Immortal Realm to be able to transport anyone. What was the use of that!
Considering all possibilities, Jiang Li recently asked the system another question.
“Can you get the coordinates for the Immortal Realm?”
[Coordinates of the Immortal Realm can be obtained as future task rewards.
Please wait patiently, Host.]
This rekindled Jiang Li’s excitement about system tasks, expecting something new from them.
Although he had activated the ‘Search for Fragments of the Ascension Ladder’ task, Jiang Li did not know when he would be able to collect all the fragments. Given that the situation was like Luo Ying’s, there probably won’t be fragments lying around everyvvhere. Trying both paths might allow him to find the coordinates of the Immortal Realm first, then there would be no need to collect fragments everywhere.
[Task issued: You graduated top of your class from the Academy of the Great Zhou Dynasty Royal Family and became a Golden Core Stage. Because of this, you drew the attention of many forces, including the Great Zhou Dynasty Family, who wanted you to marry into their family. Feeling it was too early to join a force, you declined their offers]
[You had the desire to travel the Nine Provinces and witness all the regional customs and people in order to broaden your horizons]
[Upon arriving at the Great Sui Dynasty, you heard that the Sword Tomb was going to open. You entered the Sword Tomb, and despite many gifted swordsmen looking down on you, thinking that students from the Great Zhou Dynasty Royal Family Academy only knew theories and didn’t understand the Sword Dao, asked you to go back where you came from. Please pass the test of the Sword Tomb, reach the final stage, obtain the recognition of the Sword Monarch’s spirit, and let the Sword Monarch’s spirit follow you out of the
Sword Tomb]
[The task cannot be given up]
[Task reward: Soul Nourishing Ring, a Broken Sword-shaped Daoist
Instrument, a martial arts technique called ‘Big Power Slab Hand’]
[Friendly Reminder: To accomplish this task, the system temporarily activates the Origin Sensing Function which can help the host comprehend the Sword Dao]
“The Sword Tomb, the Sword Monarch.” Jiang Li murmured these familiar terms, reminiscing the past..