A sudden silence fell over the royal court. After a brief pause, the Crown Prince stepped forward and said, "From Bishui to the border is a full eight thousand li. Even a highway of the lowest grade would cost an immense fortune and take more than a decade to build. Your servant believes this touches upon the very foundation of the realm and must be approached with caution. As we are currently engaged in hostilities with the State of Ji, it is not an opportune time to embark on massive civil works."
The King of Zhao replied, "These are seasoned words from one mindful of the state. We shall shelve this matter for now."
Li Chengfeng lowered his head. "As you decree."
The Crown Prince took care to conceal the flash of smug satisfaction in his eyes. In recent years, this Fourth Brother of his had amassed strong soldiers and sturdy mounts, his power swelling so rapidly that it had begun to threaten the Crown Prince's own position. Naturally, the heir apparent kept a wary eye on him.
Yet today, for reasons unknown, this usually shrewd brother had made a foolish blunder by suggesting the construction of an imperial highway. Was that the sort of proposal a prince ought to bring forward?
After court was dismissed, the King of Zhao summoned Li Chengfeng to his study. His expression turned chilly as he demanded, "A highway of ten thousand li—it is impossible that you are unaware of how vast a sum it would consume. And all for your little Bishui? Speak. What were you trying to accomplish by raising such a proposal in open court?"
Li Chengfeng had come prepared. "Royal Father, though building this road will indeed be immensely costly, it is unquestionably worth far more than the expense. Your son has prepared a memorial detailing the tax revenues Bishui contributed to Great Zhao over the past year. Please look it over."
The King of Zhao took it and read. His expression changed at once. "Forty million taels? That much?"
"Though Bishui has fewer than a million subjects, its contributed tax revenues already exceed a tenth of Great Zhao's annual income—and this is merely the beginning," Li Chengfeng replied.
The King of Zhao examined the memorial thoroughly, then pointed to a line of figures and asked, "What does this profit share mean? How is this single line over twenty million?"
Li Chengfeng said, "Your son has established trade with Qingming, reaping handsome profits. Thus, taking the initiative, your son allocated seventy percent of all earnings from the flow of goods directly into Your Majesty's private treasury—which is this very profit share. As for the remaining thirty percent, your son used it entirely to recruit troops and artisans, settle the domain's populace, and clear farmland."
The King of Zhao's face softened considerably. "Such a thing happened? Why did I know nothing of it?"
"The volume of trade only began surging drastically within the past year. After your son had thoroughly audited the figures, all the shares were escorted into the treasury just last month. Since the mid-year accounting has not yet arrived, the formal report had not been submitted, which is why Royal Father was unaware."
The King of Zhao nodded and reviewed the memorial carefully once more. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "That you have such filial devotion is truly commendable. Still, is trade with Qingming really this lucrative?"
"Qingming's products boast superior quality at low prices. Resold within our borders, whether armor, swords, machine-woven brocade, or even firearms and ammunition, every item yields profits of more than double. At present, Bishui is the only domain in Great Zhao trading with Qingming; all goods pass through your son's territory, making it easy for me to maintain control. Not a copper of profit will slip into outsider pockets."
The King of Zhao naturally grasped the unspoken implication. Li Chengfeng held a monopoly over trade between Zhao and Qingming, which generated these exorbitant returns. Li Chengfeng funneled the lion's share of this wealth straight into the king's private pockets. If open trade were permitted throughout the realm, tax revenues might increase slightly, but this personal profit share would vanish entirely.
The King of Zhao asked, "What does any of this have to do with building an imperial highway?"
Li Chengfeng explained, "At present, Bishui transports cargo entirely by airship. The existing overland routes are discontinuous and wind through massive detours, adding over six thousand li of unnecessary travel. However, if we cut into the middle segment of Mount Yicang and carve out a path through the stone, the overland route can be shortened by a full eight thousand li—running in nearly a straight line. Furthermore, it will accommodate heavy-haul transport wagons."
"What sort of cargo exceeds the capacity of airships to the point of requiring heavy wagons?"
Li Chengfeng said, "What your son wishes to transport is spiritual wood, coal, and ore."
A sharp light glinted in the King of Zhao's eyes. He spoke slowly: "I sent you to the Western Regions to tie down Wei Yuan, and perhaps see if you could seize Qingming back along the way. Yet look at you—this business of yours has only grown larger and larger."
Li Chengfeng was silent for a moment before replying, "...Your son had no choice. We are simply making far too much."
The King of Zhao fell silent as well. After a pause, he muttered, "No wonder the national treasury has been quite flush lately, and the Grand Chamberlain of the Inner Palace has stopped crying poverty. Originally, I planned to spend a tenth of our annual revenue just to drive a spike into the Western Regions. Never did I imagine that not only would that tenth remain unspent, but you would bring back another tenth on top of it. Without this double shift of two-tenths of the realm's revenues, I would have had to think very carefully before waging war on the State of Ji."
With that, the King of Zhao brought over the sand table, channeling Dharmic power to activate it. He studied the terrain for a time, then mused, "The elevation of Mount Yicang at this section is relatively modest—only around a hundred zhang. Mm, if two or three Scenery Command cultivators lend a hand, it can be cleaved open in a few months."
Overjoyed, Li Chengfeng dropped to his knees, repeatedly saying, "Many thanks, Royal Father!"
The King of Zhao bade him rise and sighed. "I have always valued you brothers for your military leadership. Yet now you have turned into a master of generating wealth. Does this mean you no longer seek the supreme seat?"
Li Chengfeng said, "Royal Father is in the prime of your years, and the throne remains in the far distant future; why should I ponder such things now? To enrich the state and strengthen the military, the realm must first grow wealthy before the army can become mighty. Royal Father still has ample time to forge peerless, immortal achievements. All your son desires at present is to ease Royal Father's burdens."
The King of Zhao gave a slight nod. "Advancing by taking a step back. Well done."
For reasons he could not explain, hearing those words caused Li Chengfeng to break out in a sudden cold sweat.
***
Less than half a month after sending his letter to Li Chengfeng, Wei Yuan received a reply. Reading that the King of Zhao had decided to cleave open Mount Yicang to construct a road, Wei Yuan could only sigh. This would make it rather awkward to wage war on Zhao now.
At this moment, Zhao was simultaneously fighting Western Jin and the State of Ji, and now they were dispatching hundreds of thousands of corvée laborers to build a highway, even deploying Scenery Command cultivators to breach the mountains. The nation's strength was stretched to its absolute limit.
The King of Zhao's move was essentially telling Wei Yuan: *I have no strength left to come after you, so go about your own business as you please.*
Wei Yuan saw through this calculation clearly enough. That the King of Zhao could not spare a hand now did not mean he would never be able to. As soon as the wars with Pu or Ji concluded, the Zhao army could cross the border and strike at any moment.
Whether the King of Zhao was genuinely offering goodwill or merely playing for time made no difference to Wei Yuan. Right now, Qingming's scale was expanding far too quickly. Wei Yuan needed time to digest these gains, reorganize domestic affairs, and improve the people's livelihood before launching a westward campaign. A few years down the line, when the King of Zhao finally freed up his hands, he would find Qingming an even tougher bone to gnaw.
Wei Yuan spread out a map and began studying the western terrain. At that moment, a stray thought crossed his mind: *Is that fellow Hongye actually dead or alive?*
Those wives and children of Hongye's—whether genuine or fake—were all kept under Wei Yuan's tight surveillance. Yet after years of monitoring, Wei Yuan had not discovered a single one who looked like Hongye's trueborn son.
When it came to talent, every last one of those children could be described in only two words: utterly ordinary.
***
Ancestral grounds of the Xiao family.
On this day, the weather was exceptionally scorching. The sun hung in the sky as though it could barely cling to the firmament, looking far larger and lower than usual. Sunlight poured across the earth like liquid fire, scorching the land so intensely that none dared venture outdoors.
Suddenly, many elders and senior cultivators within the clan felt an intuitive stir. Simultaneously, they turned their gazes toward the great sun in the sky.
They watched as the sun warped slightly, and from it dripped a single drop of fire, descending straight toward the ancestral secret realm!
When that bead of flame first parted from the sun, it was merely a tiny droplet. Yet it grew larger and larger as it fell, until it became an entire lake of fire tipped over from the heavens!
The Scenery Command elder on duty in the ancestral grounds suddenly snapped his eyes open, blurting out in shock, "That is the True Fire of the Sun! Who in the clan is undergoing a tribulation?!"
Before the servants could answer, another crimson sun rose from within the secret realm, soaring up to meet the descending celestial flame.
The two suns collided. In an instant, a scorching wind swept across a hundred li, and the world was swallowed in pure white!
For a time, Dharma Idol cultivators were left as blind as if their eyes had been put out. Only several Scenery Command elders who rushed to the scene could see that in the heart of the pure white flames stood an immortal figure dressed in an archaic robe, with features like a painted portrait and an aura vast and boundless. In his arms rested an ignited immortal sword, its blazing brilliance not a whit inferior to the celestial sun above.
This immortal possessed an extraordinary presence, and the Scenery Command elders instantly recognized his identity—it was none other than Star Lord Shaoyang!
The sword was the Great Sun Immortal Sword. That in itself was remarkable, yet the Xiao family had produced more than one such sword in its history. But the one wielding it was no ordinary immortal; it was Star Lord Shaoyang. That was truly formidable.
When one forged a dharma idol from the Dao Foundation of the Immortal Sword Great Sun, the theoretically perfect sword-wielding immortal should have been Star Lord Taiyang. Yet Star Lord Shaoyang was not inferior in the slightest; though he lacked a fraction of pure, searing intensity, he possessed far greater versatility.
Both Star Lords had existed only in theory. None had expected that today, someone would actually manifest Star Lord Shaoyang as a dharma idol.
Among the Xiao clan members who cultivated the immortal sword, one could not say none would ever surpass him in the future, but at the very least, he was without precedent. On the strength of this dharma idol alone, this youth would likely become the Xiao family's next Immortal Ancestor. When the contemporary Immortal Ancestor had been at the Dharma Idol stage, he had been half a step behind this boy.
Just then, a voice as clear and resonant as a ringing stone chime echoed from the ancestral grounds below:
"Who is first to awaken from the great dream?
Throughout my life, I myself know—"
Xiaoyu emerged from his seclusion, standing side by side with Star Lord Shaoyang, his bearing godlike!
Even facing a gathering of Scenery Command elders, Xiaoyu showed not the slightest trace of unease or constraint. With effortless composure, he said, "Several years of secluded cultivation, completed this day. During these past few years, has anything concerning me transpired?"
Gazing upon Star Lord Shaoyang beside Xiaoyu, none of the Xiao family Scenery Command elders dared pull rank on him. One elder spoke up: "Nothing of great consequence. Only, someone has written you quite a few letters, all of which have been placed in your study."
Chapter 814