Chapter 333: Great Zhou’s Crisis, Meeting Empress Ming Qiong Again
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Actually, to ordinary people, it did not matter who the Emperor was.
As long as they could live and work in peace and have a certain amount of room for improvement, it was enough.
It would not be a problem to not change an Emperor for hundreds of years.
This was the situation in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Under the rule of the Empress, the Great Zhou Dynasty became stronger every year. Whether it was the standard of living of the people or the level of martial cultivation, they were all rising steadily.
Now that it was the 371st year of the Supreme Phoenix Era, the Great Zhou was still developing rapidly.
The entire country was like a wave flowing into the sea, constantly advancing as if it would never stop.
Compared to 200 years ago, the current Great Zhou Dynasty had already improved too much.
First was the vastness of their territory.
The current Great Zhou Dynasty already occupied more than 50% of the Heavenly Void World’s land. From the mountains to the plains, from the land to the sea, they were all the territory of the Great Zhou.
In the entire Heavenly Void World, there was only the Great Xia Kingdom that could barely compare to it.
However, the Great Xia Kingdom only occupied a little more than 30% of the Heavenly Void World’s land. In terms of size, it was only slightly more than half of the Great Zhou.
As for the remaining 10% of the land, it was filled with hundreds of small countries. As a buffer zone for Great Xia and Great Zhou, it reduced the border between the two superpowers.
As Great Xia and Great Zhou had quite a deep relationship, there was almost no serious conflict. The two countries had their own methods of governing their country, and they could guarantee harmony inside and outside.
Therefore, in the past 200 years, it could be said to be the most stable period in the history of the Heavenly Void World. There were almost no major conflicts.
If not for the fact that more than a hundred small countries often fought each other for small benefits, ordinary people probably would not have the concept of war in their minds.
Other than that, there was the population and overall martial arts level.
The current population of the Great Zhou had already exceeded 15 billion, and martial arts education had been popularized. As long as one was an adult, they could reach the Xiantian realm.
The slightly more outstanding people could reach the Inner World realm or even the Deity Realm.
The best of them could even become Human Immortals and Earth Immortals. Even the Deva, Heaven Immortal, and Heaven Monarch realms which were unreachable 300 years ago often had ordinary people break through.
All of this seemed to represent that the Great Zhou would become stronger and stronger, and it would move from one greatness to another, growing stronger and stronger forever.
However, many knowledgeable people saw the hidden danger under this prosperity.
And it was a huge crisis!
It was the rapid expansion of the population and the serious lack of land in the future.
This was not only a crisis for Great Xia or Great Zhou, but also for the entire Heavenly Void World.
The people of the Heavenly Void World lived in a stable environment for a long time. Their desire to raise their descendants was very high, and the increase in their overall martial cultivation level also brought about a huge increase in their lifespan.
An ordinary couple would probably have four or five children, or even more.
This caused the population of the Heavenly Void World to expand at an extremely fast speed.
There was still enough land for now, but in another hundred years, two hundred years, even five hundred years, a thousand years…
That might not be the case.
… .
In the Empress’s bedroom in the Great Zhou Imperial Palace.
Li Wei wore a bright red official uniform and rushed over. Then, she bowed very respectfully. “Greetings, Your Grace.”
She had long recovered her cultivation and taken a step forward. She had successfully reached the Myriad Techniques Return to One realm and became a Sage.
Although Li Wei was already more than a thousand years old, her face was still young and beautiful.
However, in order to become the ruler of the dynasty, she no longer looked like a young girl. Instead, she looked a little more mature and looked to be in her twenties.
In the Great Zhou Imperial Court, Li Wei was also Li Mingqiong’s right-hand.
For nearly 130 years, Li Wei had been the Prime Minister. Many specific government decrees had also been implemented by her.
In fact, she was already one of the most powerful people in the Great Zhou Dynasty besides Li Mingqiong.
However, Li Wei had always known her position very well.
She knew very well that she was only the Empress’s personal aide. Her goal was to perform well and strive to be taught cultivation techniques that did not require the Immortal True Essence.
She was definitely not a powerful official.
It was even more impossible for her to become the person who truly controlled the country.
Moreover, the Empress of the Great Zhou, Li Mingqiong, had already occupied an extremely important position in Li Wei’s heart.
She would do her best to assist her and make the Great Zhou even greater.
“Yes.” Li Mingqiong’s slightly lazy voice sounded from behind the screen.
Then, she walked out in a moon-white silk robe.
As a Sage King, the past 200 years had not affected her appearance at all. She was still beautiful.
Of course, calling her a Sage King was just an estimation of her realm.
Actually, she did not know what realm she was in.
As the Great Zhou grew stronger, Li Mingqiong’s cultivation in the path of national fate also continued to increase.
Under the nourishment of the country’s luck, her Soul Golden Core already possessed extremely dense rationality. Her Niwan Palace even transformed into a golden sea.
She was extremely powerful in terms of strength. With just a thought, she could destroy thousands of Limitless Golden Immortals on the spot.
Moreover, due to the uniqueness of the power of the country’s fate, she could appear anywhere in the Great Zhou at any time.
To a certain extent, this could even be called “omnipotent”.
“Your Grace, the ratio of population to land statistics you ordered has been done.” Li Wei took out a jade slip very respectfully and handed it to Li Mingqiong with both hands.
“Not bad.” Li Mingqiong smiled and nodded slightly.
Then, she casually raised her hand and the jade slip landed in her palm.
Light flowed on it. She quickly read the information inside and frowned.
“The Heavenly Void World is still too small.” Li Mingqiong sighed softly. “If I can’t break through in terms of land and population, it’ll probably be very difficult for my cultivation to improve in another hundred years.”
The core of the path of national luck was the strength of the country.
The strength of the country was mainly affected by three things: the size of the country, the population, and the cultivation realm of the local martial artists.
In the past 200 years, the Great Zhou’s national strength had developed rapidly, and Li Mingqiong’s cultivation realm had naturally soared.
The increase in her cultivation realm could also be reflected back to the country, allowing the local martial artists to cultivate with half the effort, thereby further increasing the country’s martial cultivation level.
This was a very benign cycle.
However, this cycle of mutual improvement was limited. With her current cultivation realm, she could at most make cultivation below the Mystic Deity realm faster.
When one reached the Mystic Deity realm, their cultivation speed would naturally slow down.
This would cause most of the people to stop at the Mystic Deity realm. They were the main source of the country’s growth.
However, if no new population was born for a long time, there would be no new Devas, Heaven Immortals, or Heaven Monarchs. The growth of the country’s strength would become extremely difficult.
According to the results of Li Wei’s investigation, this situation would appear in a hundred years.
The core problem was that the territory was not enough to accommodate so many people.
At that time, Li Mingqiong’s cultivation would almost become stagnant.
“Your Grace, can we swallow the Lower World?” Li Wei suggested. It was the only way she could think of.
The land of the Heavenly Void World was limited, and the Great Xia next door was established by the descendants of Immortal Venerable’s disciples. It was impossible for the Great Zhou to invade their land. The Daozhou Star in the Lower World was undoubtedly the best choice.
“No.” Li Mingqiong shook her head gently and said, “The Heavenly Void World and Daozhou Star can only communicate once every hundred years. If we extend our territory to the Lower World, it will be irresponsible to the people of the Lower World. Moreover, if that happens, I can only stay on Daozhou Star and have no chance to leave.”
“Leave?” Li Wei was a little surprised.
“Yes, at this point, I won’t hide it from you,” Li Mingqiong said in a low voice. “In at least a hundred years or two hundred years, I should have a breakthrough. At that time, my cultivation should have reached a bottleneck and I won’t be able to improve anymore.
“However, at that time, I should be able to use my divine power to gather the power of the country’s luck and bring the entire Great Zhou with me. That way, I can step into the starry sky and follow in Master’s footsteps.”
“Bring the entire Great Zhou away?!” Li Wei’s beautiful eyes widened as she said in disbelief, “What kind of great divine power is this? Your Grace, what realm are you in?”
“I can’t say for sure.” Li Mingqiong shook her head gently and sighed. “I’m afraid I’ll only know the path ahead after I see Master.”
Actually, she had tried to explore the path ahead herself, but without an effective reference, it was too difficult to walk a path alone.
Especially when she was exploring a path that was higher than her current realm.
It was almost impossible to do that.
Seeing that Li Mingqiong was worried, Li Wei hurriedly said, “Is there anything I can help Your Grace with?”
“You can’t help much.” Li Mingqiong shook her head and smiled. “I can only work hard on my own or ask for guidance…”
At this point, she suddenly paused and looked towards the northeast with wide eyes. She said in surprise, “The passage between the Heavenly Void World and Daozhou Star has been opened!”
“Cross-border passage?!” Li Wei said in surprise, “Isn’t it not the intersection period yet? How can there be a cross-border passage…”
At this point, she was also stunned, and a surprise appeared on her face.
The Heavenly Void World was essentially an alternate space outside Daozhou Star. It was not connected to Daozhou Star every moment.
There was only a short intersection period every hundred years.
Now that the intersection period has passed, there should be no way to establish a passage between the two.
Unless someone used a great divine power to forcefully connect the two.
And in her understanding, there was only one person who had such great divine power.
“Is it Immortal Venerable?” Li Wei asked in surprise.
“It should be Master, it should be Master!” Li Mingqiong also became excited.
Then, her figure swayed, and the silk robe on her body instantly turned into a proper dress.
“Follow me to welcome Master.”
… .
Cui Heng went into the Heavenly Void World and did not deliberately hide his aura.
As long as Li Mingqiong did not fall behind in her cultivation of the country’s luck, she should have directly sensed his arrival.
Therefore, as soon as he landed, he saw two lights flying over from the southwest. They were extremely fast and arrived in front of him in the blink of an eye.
Li Mingqiong was the first to appear from the light and knelt in front of Cui Heng respectfully. “Disciple greets Master!”
Li Wei followed closely behind and bowed very respectfully. “Greetings, Immortal Venerable!”