Then, Li Wei turned his attention to the clan's main territory.
Ten years had passed, and Merit City had now become the Li family's Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land.
Though on the surface, little seemed to have changed, with Liu Bo'er now serving as City Lord, and the city still divided into its three layers of Outer City, Inner City, and the Li Family's Core Grounds.
Now that its people had received a blessing from the heavens, not only was their vitality restored, but their innate aptitudes for cultivation had also been enhanced.
Now, within this transcendent haven, every single person practiced cultivation.
An administrative office had been set up in the Outer City.
There were now three points of entry into Merit City: the original site in the Azure Cloud region, the Azure Cloud border, and the Prefecture Lord's mansion.
All of them required a Spirit Seal left behind by Li Yaowen for access.
The Azure Cloud region had now become the Li family's primary military staging ground.
They had established a 'Hundred Treasures Mountain', which served as their logistics and supply base.
At a single command from the Li family, a million cultivators stood ready to join the battlefield at a moment's notice.
Li Yunbing, still operating under the guise of Region Prince Jiang, had become the very model of a vassal lord who commanded his own army and held immense power.
Whenever a missive arrived from the Imperial Capital, his reply was invariably a single word: "Scram."
It was clear his prejudice against the Imperial Dynasty ran deep...
Those who entered Merit City from time to time using the Spirit Seals were mostly old friends of the Li family, just stopping by for a cup of tea.
If any important matters arose, the Outer City's Lord, Liu Bo'er, could resolve them on the family's behalf.
Just a single glance was enough to see how immense the Li family's power had become. Even Li Wei was shocked by the changes of the past decade.
[The Azure Cloud Army]
Even with a temporary truce in place with the Wu Clan, there were still three hundred thousand stationed soldiers. All were battle-hardened veterans, elite troops who had survived the major and minor conflicts with the Wu Clan over the past two centuries.
As for the other military forces, Li Dalong's first command after becoming Prefecture Lord was that every Region, city, and town within the Eternal Sun Prefecture was to be placed under the direct control of the Azure Cloud Army.
Anyone who dared to disobey was more than welcome to try and make trouble with the people of Azure Cloud.
[Hundred Treasures Mountain]
This was the center for the consolidation of the Azure Cloud region's resources, now under the jurisdiction of Li Kuangren. Just like when he had been the region's 'uncrowned prince', he continued to manage the entire Azure Cloud region from the shadows.
Whenever a conflict arose in any locality, Li Kuangren would personally intervene.
All tax revenues from across the Eternal Sun Prefecture passed first through the hands of Hundred Treasures Mountain.
All the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, artifacts, spirit items, and cultivation manuals from every sect in the Azure Cloud region would flow to Hundred Treasures Mountain.
From there, they were sold through the Hall of Heavenly Principle, which was now in the process of opening branches throughout the entire Azure Dynasty.
Conversely, when the people of Azure Cloud needed something, they too would go through Hundred Treasures Mountain to procure goods from all corners of the Azure Dynasty.
This system allowed the people of Azure Cloud to acquire all kinds of necessary Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, ensuring that new talents emerged every single year.
However, this prosperity was also largely thanks to Li Yaowen, who had siphoned the Qi Luck of the Wu Clan for Azure Cloud all those years ago.
[The Hall of Heavenly Principle]
Beyond its commercial enterprises, the covert division of the Hall of Heavenly Principle had regrouped and rallied its forces.
Their covert agents spread out to all corners of the world; these spies had even reached as far as the Auric Empire.
This was largely thanks to the thousand-plus geniuses who had been rescued from Qilin Mountain; eighty percent of them had chosen to remain with the Li family, taking up positions within the Hall of Heavenly Principle.
Even the four hundred-plus geniuses from Eternal Sun Prefecture who had emerged from the Tian Xing Cultivator Abode were now, without exception, members of the Hall of Heavenly Principle.
Li Changsheng continued to serve as the Master of the Hall of Heavenly Principle.
Beneath him were the so-called 'Seven Great Demon Kings'... though everyone else in the Hall of Heavenly Principle acted as if these seven didn't exist, keeping their distance at all costs.
There was also the Heavenly Secret Division, which was the former 'Heavenly Secret Pavilion (Fake)' from Azure Cloud, led by the elusive Li Yaowen.
It was no exaggeration to say that if the Hall of Heavenly Principle so willed, they could, within three months, summon ten Divinity Transformation experts and a hundred Nascent Soul cultivators from any corner of the Azure Dynasty!
Within the borders of the Eternal Sun Prefecture, if the Hall of Heavenly Principle so desired, even intelligence on which powerful figure was engaged in intimate affairs would find its way into Li Changsheng's hands.
And now.
This great aristocratic family, whose power in Eternal Sun Prefecture was overwhelming and could even influence the entire Azure Dynasty, was facing its first major problem.
It had thrown all the plans, which had been set in motion after Li Dalong convened the clan for their secret council, into complete disarray.
Li Changsheng rushed hurriedly back to the clan compound.
The moment he arrived, a handsome young man appeared at the entrance. As soon as this man stepped inside the Li family residence, a spiritual array rose, shielding the area from both sound and spiritual perception.
The young man cried out, panic-stricken.
"Terrible news! My Twelfth Brother—he's been captured!"
The moment he arrived.
The Li family's Primordial Blood Tree began to sway.
Within their Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land, dragon phantoms soared and roamed.
The Li clansmen, led by Li Dalong, advanced step by step towards Prince Xingyu, who had rushed from the Imperial Capital, their faces dark and grim.
Prince Xingyu raised his head in horror. In an instant, he saw it: the great array within Merit City began to teleport one powerful master after another to their location.
The Li family's spirit tablets rose into the air, and from black holes that suddenly tore open in the sky above the city, puppets and zombies leaped forth.
It was like a great lion that had been slumbering over the Eternal Sun Prefecture, now opening its eyes in hunger.
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