At this moment, Wei Chi’s expression was almost murderous.
Those were hundreds of thousands of battle-hardened troops; how could his King Zheng’s guard, barely three thousand strong, possibly hold them off?
Yao Daoist’s face remained expressionless, but there was something subtle in his eyes. In fact, the secret message contained another piece of information, which was that the Golden Maiden Sect’s followers had given up on King Zheng and decided to sever ties completely.
He reassured Wei Chi verbally, his face remained impassive, merely telling King Zheng not to worry. The hundreds of thousands in the expeditionary force, after a long march, might not have as much combat power as expected. For now, he advised King Zheng to be patient and calm while he contacted other vassal kings for further planning.
That very night, Yao Daoist took advantage of the darkness to lead dozens of disciples from the Golden Maiden Sect away from King Zheng’s guard.
Two days later, King Zheng’s guard, which stood in the path of the expeditionary force, became the first ’souls of the departed’ under the claws of the Divine Strategy Army, a ferocious tiger.
An Ruming conveniently used the charge of ’rebellion’ to take King Zheng Wei Chi’s head directly.
However, the death of Wei Chi, this ’foolish king’, caused no disturbance among the people.
After years of relentless ’self-discrediting’, King Zheng really had become a foolish king!
...
Prime Minister’s Mansion
The news of King Zheng Wei Chi’s death arrived, and Zhang Jian merely glanced at it briefly before setting it aside.
To him, these vassal kings were like grasshoppers after autumn, incapable of causing any significant waves.
At this moment, he held a peculiar bronze wine goblet, his eyes showing a hint of surprise.
He had extracted this bronze wine goblet from Liu Rui’s sea of consciousness, remembering how, when he drew it out, Liu Rui appeared to be in heart-wrenching pain.
After a period of experimentation, Zhang Jian gradually came to understand its mystery.
On the desk, there were several fiery red spirit dates.
These were from the same batch produced by the date tree in the courtyard, containing spiritual energy and a strong essence of life force—essentially a type of spirit fruit.
Zhang Jian casually picked up two, tossing them into the bronze wine goblet.
Visibly, the bronze wine goblet suddenly emitted a layer of red light; moments later, the two fiery red spirit dates flew out from the goblet.
As they emerged, they were entirely fiery red, glowing with spiritual light.
A pure and boundless spiritual mechanism flowed out from them.
Zhang Jian swiftly grasped them in his hand, and as his vast primordial spirit divine sense swept over, numerous data points were analyzed for him.
"The purity of the spiritual mechanism has been refined more than twice, and the life essence inside has also been enhanced, seemingly amplified by another fold. Whether taken directly or used in alchemy, their effect would be significantly boosted. Even the innate ability nurtured within the date stones has been slightly strengthened, leading to an all-encompassing enhancement!"
Zhang Jian promptly swallowed the two spirit dates and then retrieved a thousand-year-old Nine-leaf Purple Lingzhi and a small section of Ten Thousand Years of Cyan Sky from the Blood Embryo Bag.
These were the possessions from Zi Yuan Daoist.
Zhang Jian then continued to put both the Nine-leaf Purple Lingzhi and Ten Thousand Years of Cyan Sky into the goblet, noticing the changes on these two Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects upon emerging again.
The purity of the spiritual mechanism and life force contained within the Nine-leaf Purple Lingzhi had been refined.
The Wood Spirit Liquid inside the Ten Thousand Years of Cyan Sky was no exception.
Both had their spiritual mechanism purity refined by at least over twice.
Since ancient times, the purer the spiritual objects, the higher the grade, and the absorption efficiency is significantly improved.
After some thought, Zhang Jian also took out a Primordial Pearl.
It was a Primordial Pearl with a purple thunder pattern shimmering all over it!
In his palm, purple electricity crackled!
Inside appeared to be a small beast enveloped in purple electricity, running swiftly!
This was an Innate Thunder Pearl nurtured by a Thunder Beast.
The Thunder Beast being a Divine Beast, its Thunder Pearl is naturally incredibly precious, an excellent King Medicine for practicing Thunder Technique, refining Thunder Attribute Elixirs, and Spirit Treasures.
Its value surpassed the other three spiritual objects.
Zhang Jian once again placed this Innate Thunder Pearl into the goblet; moments later, a thick layer of innate Thunder Essence Spiritual Mechanism flowed out from this Innate Thunder Pearl.
Grasping the Innate Thunder Pearl, Zhang Jian immediately perceived the internal circulation of the innate Thunder Essence Spiritual Mechanism; the thunder essence qi had also been refined once, though the refinement and amplification were slightly weaker.
Nevertheless, it was more than double in effectiveness.
Yet there was an apparent sign of diminished amplification.
This suggests that the upper limit of this bronze wine goblet might be higher than imagined!
But it has a limit, too.
However, this does not detract from its value in any way.
It has both refinement and amplification capabilities.
"It’s very well suited for novice cultivators and can serve as a treasured heirloom for the Zhang Family!"
Zhang Jian thought silently.
As an emerging cultivation clan, the Zhang Family currently lacked depth and needed one or two exotic treasures to help the family prosper.
For him, it also offers numerous benefits.
It can be used in artifact refining and alchemy.
Zhang Jian checked over his other belongings one by one.
He could be considered to have accumulated a small fortune.
You could call him a wealthy man!
Most of these assets were seized, with the main contributors being Liu Rui and Ziyuan Daoist, followed by several Primordial Spirit Masters he had defeated.
The bulk came from Liu Rui and Zi Yuan Master; just these two contributed three Golden Body level Spirit Treasures and the exotic bronze wine goblet in his possession.
Additionally, he had five or six various Primordial Spirit Treasures!
The Top-grade Spirit Crystals alone exceeded one million.
"These Primordial Spirit Treasures and Primordial Spirit Spirit Treasures are precious, but are temporarily unusable. I’ll keep a portion as the Zhang Family’s assets, while the remainder can be sold to major sects’ trade caravans to exchange for some practical cultivation materials!"
Zhang Jian thought silently.
Counting carefully, those with successful cultivation usually excel at family management and finances.
After sorting through some of his assets, Zhang Jian once again turned his attention to the multiple new Daoist techniques in his possession.
Ever since advancing to Primordial Spirit, he has been constantly putting out fires here and there, or stabilizing the court’s situation, without properly planning his cultivation direction.
His Sheji Emperor’s Primordial Spirit has an exceptionally high limit.
If not for the situational constraints, which required him to devote energy to dealing with court changes, he would much prefer to settle down and focus on enhancing his Dao practice.
However, with the situation gradually stabilizing, he could now begin making preparations in that regard.
On the court side, with the Daqian Dragon Vein collapsing, he now stands as the sole Primordial Spirit Master capable of fully unleashing power. With his Dao practice, he can stabilize the situation and speak with authority.
Additionally, by gradually gaining control of Daqian’s Imperial Guard and most of the Border Army, he can secure the overall situation.
Even minor troubles require no personal intervention, as under his command, there are elite soldiers and talented individuals ready to handle them.
Now is the time for him to settle down and rapidly enhance his strength.
This is also in preparation for the Saint King’s Ascension.
Assuming the throne as a Saint King, it’s foreseeable that those remarkable cultivators beyond the common realm won’t sit idly by.
Even with the mediations from the Tongshan Dao Lineage, the fear and apprehension cultivators hold for the Ancient Saint King cannot be underestimated.
Ultimately, being strong yourself is the key!
...
Currently, he has multiple paths to enhance his strength.
As long as he systematically practices the eight Primordial Spirit Immortal Techniques he possesses, he can achieve that goal.
Presently, he has eight extraordinarily powerful Primordial Spirit Immortal Techniques, with six obtained from King Jun Golden Man’s belongings and two exchanged from True Monarch Zhanmo.
The ones Zhang Jian covets most are the "All Heaven Entwining Silk Technique" and the "Nine Dragon Scripture."
The former allows him to refine the King Jun Golden Man, turning it into a puppet.
The latter is an ancient Saint King secret inheritance of Primordial Spirit Immortal Technique.
This technique’s priceless aspect lies in its ability to condense the Nine Vein Golden Dragon, ultimately forming the Nine Dragon Fate.
The Nine Dragon Fate is a type of Human Emperor’s Fate, comparable to the Supreme Fate in terms of rarity and potency.
Moreover, the Nine Vein Golden Dragon possesses combat strength equivalent to a True Dragon of the same level. For instance, as a Golden Body Level Primordial Spirit Grand Master, Zhang Jian refining a Dragon Vein Golden Dragon endows him with an ally at an equivalent level.
In battle, this effectively turns the fight into a two-on-one.
If he could refine nine, combined with the Nine Dragon Fate for protection, he could even withstand challenges from cultivators several tiers ahead.
The power of this technique is undeniably immense.
It is a core inheritance within the Ancient Saint King lineage.
Of course, Zhang Jian is also eager because he possesses a complete Dragon Vein, meeting the preconditions for practicing this technique.
Moreover, with the temporary stabilization of Daqian’s power structure, Zhang Jian plans to conduct another ancestral worship ceremony.
This time, his successful control over Daqian’s political landscape extends his influence across the Eastern Continent Fertile Land.
In his view, this ancestral ceremony will surely yield some valuable treasures from the ancestral hall.