The Heavenly Emperor's Qi as an Anchor

Fortunately, Li Fan was no longer that mortal Grand Preceptor who had just stepped into the cultivation world. After numerous cycles of reincarnation, he had already mastered countless secrets of the cultivation world. Past scenes flashed rapidly through his mind, and he soon found a feasible countermeasure. "To minimize the chance of alerting the Faceless True Immortal, it is best that my cultivation realm does not undergo any drastic shifts. Yet I must increase my strength as much as possible—which means reinforcing my 'existence' in this world..." "The Heavenly Emperor's Qi Canon." A secret manual that did not belong to the Xuanhuang Realm instantly surfaced in Li Fan's sea of consciousness. This was a peerless art that Senior Slate had reeled in from the fishing pond. Senior Slate had taken no interest in it at the time, tossing it casually to Li Fan. Now, however, it had become the perfect lifeline. The Heavenly Emperor's Qi Canon forged an earthly sovereign, consolidating the destiny and qi of the myriad living beings and the dynasty. Without the need for standard cultivation, one could attain power rivaling a Longevity realm expert. Granted, becoming a Longevity realm powerhouse required several centuries and the shared, unbroken efforts of more than a dozen successive generations. But Li Fan had no expectation of reaching the Canon's ultimate pinnacle. All he needed was to gather the destiny of the masses to help him weather his current crisis. "There is no time to lose. A late Foundation Establishment cultivation is more than enough to sweep across the mortal realm." Standing atop Mount Jieli, Li Fan gazed toward Xuanjing in the distance. His figure drifted, and he sped away in a flash of light. *** Three days later, news spread like wildfire throughout the world. The Emperor of Great Xuan was depraved and tyrannical, provoking both heaven's wrath and the people's resentment. Fortunately, a Destined Holy Emperor had descended to this world, executing the tyrant, slaying corrupt officials, inaugurating a flourishing age, and remaking heaven and earth. The proclamations sounded miraculous and divine, but the officials and commoners across Great Xuan understood at a glance that a change of dynasty had taken place. Though it was indeed an earth-shattering event, after several days of turmoil, everyone quickly settled down. After all, since ancient times, imperial authority had never extended into the villages. No matter how the throne changed hands above, the people who truly controlled the land remained the same. That was what the people of Great Xuan initially thought. Before long, however, the Destined Holy Emperor's extraordinary nature gradually revealed itself. Overnight, towering platforms rose from the ground across Great Xuan. No one knew how these structures, standing hundreds of zhang tall, had come into being, but these creations—known as the "Holy Emperor Thrones"—completely transformed the bureaucratic landscape of the Great Xuan Empire. For these Holy Emperor Thrones could project the image of the Destined Holy Emperor onto the firmament. Every single commoner, even those living in the remotest mountain valleys, could listen to the Holy Emperor's teachings through these thrones scattered across the empire. What terrified local officials even more was that these Holy Emperor Thrones actually possessed the power to connect directly to the capital. A drought had previously struck the lands of Qing Prefecture; for three months, not a single grain had been harvested, and corpses of the starved littered the wilderness. Yet shortly after the Holy Emperor Thrones were erected, a detachment of the Imperial Guard stepped out from one, bearing vast quantities of grain for disaster relief. While saving countless lives, the incident also spread across the world in an instant via the Holy Emperor Thrones. Furthermore, Emissaries of the Holy Emperor subsequently emerged from the thrones to summon local officials, confirming the truth of the disaster relief efforts. News that the Destined Holy Emperor was the reincarnation of an immortal, who had previously displayed various divine abilities before the imperial court, also spread everywhere in a short time. "Commoners across all lands may pray to the great Destined Holy Emperor through the Holy Emperor Thrones. Any local official found guilty of incompetence or corruption shall be severely punished without mercy once verified." Such was the guidance the Emissaries of the Holy Emperor imparted to the people of Great Xuan. "Do not think you can escape through a simple death. The Destined Holy Emperor's methods are beyond your imagination. The hundreds of fat pigs tied up at Xuanjing's vegetable market crossroads are the very officials who once preyed upon the people. Even now, they are forced to use their trotters every day to write confessions of remorse on the ground. I have come this time precisely to take you all to admire the sight." Such was the warning the Emissaries gave to the officials across Great Xuan. And after the bureaucrats of Great Xuan took a collective tour of the capital's vegetable market, their faces turned utterly pale. Upon returning to their respective jurisdictions, they all became upright, incorruptible, and strictly disciplined in short order. *** Xuanjing. Floating above the imperial capital, Li Fan looked down at the dynastic destiny shifting slowly from black to azure, nodding slightly. "By utilizing the Holy Emperor Thrones to enforce strong centralization, the Great Xuan Dynasty has completed its transformation in a short time. Next, it is simply a matter of steadily gathering the hearts of the people and sublimating this destiny." Li Fan inspected his own body. The hundreds of millions of living beings of Great Xuan were now bound entirely to him. It served as a weighty anchor, securing his existence in place. His body was no longer flickering and translucent like a wraith. However, that state of nothingness would still recur from time to time. Evidently, he had not yet completely stabilized. "It is no major issue. As long as Great Xuan remains stable and grows increasingly prosperous, I should be able to completely shed the side effects of 'Nothingness' in another three years. "Yet that only resolves the side effects. If I truly want to break free from the Web of the True Immortal, I must still journey to the You Realm to perform True Reversion." Li Fan gently threw a punch forward. He did not channel any of his own Foundation Establishment spiritual power, relying solely on the dynastic destiny gathered by the Heavenly Emperor's Qi Canon. A whistling sonic boom tore through the air, cleaving a distant white cloud in two. Faintly, the illusion of an azure dragon manifested in the sky, raising its head to roar. "White, azure, crimson, purple, gold. "Of the five major realms of the Heavenly Emperor's Qi Canon, I have already mastered the second in merely a month. "Right now, my strength is equivalent to an ordinary late Golden Core cultivator. Cultivating so quickly is due, first, to Great Xuan's solid foundation, which could passably be considered a feudal golden age. And second..." Li Fan glanced down at the towering Holy Emperor Throne below. "To a mortal dynasty, immortal methods are an absolute dimensional reduction strike. Severely punishing a batch of corrupt officials, resolving local disasters, and then proclaiming it to the realm through the Holy Emperor Thrones unified the people's hearts almost instantaneously. "If an ordinary feudal mortal monarch wanted to achieve what I have, it would take at least ten or more years of effort, not to mention having to weather backlashes from officials and local powers. "Yet I have no need to worry about any of that." With these thoughts, Li Fan descended slowly from the clouds into the palace courtyard. "Greetings, Holy Emperor!" "Greetings, Teacher!" The guards in the courtyard immediately dropped to their knees. "You may rise." Li Fan raised a hand, lifting them all to their feet. The young men's faces instantly flushed crimson with excitement. They had all been personally selected by Li Fan from across Great Xuan. Aside from their imperial palace guard duties, their primary mission was to execute corrupt officials and intimidate petty schemers across the realm, maintaining the Great Xuan Dynasty's prosperous and undefeated destiny. Among them, the two who called Li Fan "Teacher" were the extraordinarily gifted youths from the foot of Mount Jieli: Sun Erlang and Wang Xuanba. They bore an even more vital mission. "Erlang, how is your cultivation of the Sitting Immortal Art progressing?" After dismissing the others, Li Fan looked at Sun Erlang and asked in a low voice.