Taking Charge

Xuan Tian said, "Boy, although I don't like those pedantic scholars either, a false peace is still a peace. These people do have the means to govern the world and stabilize people's hearts. Many things cannot be done well by force and coercion alone, by killing people with swords."

That fellow surnamed Wei certainly has the abilities of a prime minister; even with his repeated advice, you wouldn't change your mind. But you're certainly not the type to simply withdraw from the world. Could it be... that you already have other plans in mind?"

Xuan Tian was, after all, a generation of sword ancestor. Although he did not seek peace and disdained the imperial court, he had seen through the intricacies of the situation over the years.

Li Fan didn't hide anything; he did have some ideas, but how to implement them required careful consideration, especially the experience and wisdom of Xuan Tian, a local native.

"Yes, if this world were a feudal society with only Three Great Sects, then it would be entirely possible, and the most efficient way to achieve short-term peace quickly, by using Li Yi's background to make peace with these gentry, powerful families, and scholar-officials, with the fewest casualties."

But in this world, some problems are beyond the capabilities of the Three Great Sects to solve. If things continue like this, once the Legion Corporation's attention is focused on the situation, it might even degenerate into a semi-feudal, semi-colonial society—that would be the best-case scenario...

So I want to take the Moshan Trail."

Xuan Tian exclaimed, "Mo Shan? What kind of Dao does Mo Shan have? They can't even refine a magic weapon properly!"

"... Ahem, everyone has their own expertise, right? Of course, many classic works of Mo Shan have been lost and need to be reorganized. I also have some personal ideas that I want to repackage using the Mo Shan skin... No! Now I'm the biggest in Mo Shan! I'm the ninth generation leader! How can you call it personal ideas! No matter how I make it up, it's still the Way of Mo Shan!"

Anyway, the core values aren't that different, so I can just copy and modify them myself. It's easier than messing with the systematic set of things from the literati.

My general idea is to first find the future path of Taisu cultivation, reform the Moshan cultivation method, and incidentally incorporate Moshan's values as a method of cultivating the Dao heart, all bundled together as a buy-one-get-one-free deal. In this way, future Tai Su Dao cultivators will all uphold the Moshan way of cultivating their hearts, which will ensure that the most fundamental cultivator group serves as a strong support force!

Those who cannot cultivate the transformations of Ink Mountain, that's alright too. As long as our values align, everyone can become an Ink Practitioner! The Five Arts and Six Arts, scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants—all can learn the Way of Ink Mountain! In this way, we can fundamentally achieve a people-centered approach and unite everyone as one! What do you say?

Xuan Tian said, "Regardless of what your Mo Shan Dao is, the idea of 'teaching without discrimination' sounds like a religious cult, which probably won't be very attractive to independent cultivators and powerful clans..."

Li Fan laughed heartily, "Who wants to attract them? I want to attract all the mortals in the world! The Three Great Sects are nothing! My Mo Shan sect truly teaches without discrimination! Anyone can cultivate!"

Xuan Tian, "... Are you crazy?"

Li Fan laughed wildly, "How can you not see it! The world has changed!"

Those who can react to Taiji Immortal Qi are one in a hundred, and those who can achieve the initial stage of the True Person Realm and enter the Daoist path are one in ten thousand! With such a small number of people, what is there to fawn over!

Even the slightest touch of malevolent energy can cause a person to mutate! The only difference is that some become malevolent corpses, while others become demon gods! When the Way of Primordial Chaos truly descends, whoever controls mortals will control this universe!

Only when all the mortals on this planet master the Dao of Primordial Essence and the power of demons and gods can they contend against what lies beyond the gate! Moreover, those 'Non-Thing' clearly sensed the existence of the 'gate,' which is why they descended in droves! This is no longer subject to human will! The Way of Heaven has already changed!

This world becoming the true Tai Su Realm is an inevitable trend, only a matter of time! And what I must do, what I can do, is to seize this last window of opportunity and find a way to make the 'Non-Thing' destined to exist on this planet remember that they were once 'humans'! Hahaha! Hahaha! Hahaha!"

Li Fan laughed loudly, laughing so hard that the world turned black. No, it was as if black ink was gushing out from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth like blood, staining the entire world black. Then Li Fan's shadow stood up, gently patted his shoulder, placed a tetrahedral crystal in Li Fan's palm, and whispered in his ear.

"Ah~~~ Li Yi ~~~ Your sacrifice satisfies me~~~~"

"Vomit--!!"

Li Fan knelt on the ground and vomited almost violently, first spraying ink, then blood, and finally even bile.

After vomiting for a while, Xuan Tian's voice finally came closer, as if it were coming through a layer of mist in his ear.

Xuan Tian, "... Qingyue... Qingyue... Qingyue, how are you!"

"Ptooey, ptooey... It's okay, you'll get used to it after a while..."

Li Fan shook his head, wiped the blood from his mouth, and stood up. The madness and laughter in his heart gradually faded, and he finally confirmed that 'that guy' had left.

Xuan Tian said, "People say I'm crazy, but your problems are much bigger than mine... Have you thought about what to do with that guy just now?"

"Sigh, I guess I'll just have to take it one step at a time..."

Heaven knows why this Thousand-Faced Immortal suddenly decided to come and glance at Li Fan, even bringing him a small gift. Unfortunately, this visit was anything but thoughtful; such a favor from Tai Su wasn't free, but came with inevitable consequences.

One consequence was that Li Fan's mood collapsed; all three of his flowers were destroyed, and his maximum skill level dropped by 1200, leaving him with only 5400.

The second consequence was that the Gui Xu Nascent Soul also collapsed. Even after rebuilding, it was much smaller, and it would collapse every time an immortal possessed it, further slowing down the progress towards the Divine Transformation stage. It was utterly ridiculous...

The third consequence was that all the people in his sleeve went mad.

"... You really only want to 'bring me back alive'?"

Real Person Wei wore a bitter expression, glaring with an aura of misery, his body covered in tears, snot, excrement, and urine, reeking of the Yellow Sea.

There were another twenty or thirty people, all looking like ghosts. Li Fan took them to the backyard of Lou Guan and threw them out to avoid scaring the children.

These people had just broken free of the Thousand-Faced Immortal at close range. His soul had already dissipated and vanished, leaving only his empty shell twitching. However, the hair and skin flakes on his face were already turning to sand and falling off, aging and decaying at a visible speed, as if his cells had lost their ability to regenerate. His flesh and blood were like ice and snow under the scorching sun, visibly melting away.

"What kind of curse is this? I've never seen anything like it before..." Then he turned and glared at Li Fan, "Wipe your nosebleed."

"Ah, oh..." Li Fan no longer needed to pretend; he weakly wiped the blood from his nose. "The Nangong Family is despicable and shameless, actually resorting to such underhanded tactics! Dean, you must stand up for me..."

"The Nangong Family actually possesses such abilities?" Real Person Wei was also conflicted for a moment. After thinking for a while, he handed a bamboo skewer to Li Fan. "Alright, I'll take over. You've accomplished this task."

"What is this?" Li Fan looked at the bamboo stick and could tell that it was Magic Treasure made of ink bamboo from Ink Bamboo Mountain, with pointed ends and some incantations engraved on it.

"This is a bamboo talisman. Because of the lack of raw silk, paper talismans are not easy to preserve and their power is also lacking. Chen Fushi and Pharmacist Xia used newly cultivated bamboo to research a substitute for paper talismans."

Real Person Wei explained, "Our Ink Bamboo Mountain has now joined Yuntai Peak, but the Central Plains are issuing money indiscriminately, and Ink Bamboo Mountain's silk production is insufficient. The Spirit Coins needs to be used to raise Pixiu, which will take some time. Moreover, we are currently fighting against the Demon Race in the south, and there is a severe shortage of elixirs. Therefore, we are now using bamboo talismans to record merits."

This bamboo talisman represents your contributions to the Discipline Institute and to Ink Bamboo Mountain. You can exchange it for supplies at Lou Guan Tower.

Of course, if you are proficient in talismanic arts, you can also inscribe talismans yourself for use. This bamboo talisman has the power of Golden Core level talisman. If you collect more and bind them into a bamboo book, you can even release Nascent Soul Stage level spells."

Oh, it's equivalent to a Golden Core talisman, that's not bad. Speaking of which Li Fan's specialty is invisibility talismans, but Golden Core level talismans are quite expensive, so he usually performs hand seals himself.

Xuan Tian said, "This thing is alright. That Chen Fushi must have learned from the experience of Sword Talismans. One talisman isn't strong enough, but if you combine several, you can create a Thunder Talisman or a sword talisman. But your talisman skills aren't up to par yet, so keep it and don't waste it."

Wow, he draws talismans like a printer! How can you call that a waste?!

Xuan Tian: "So the talismans you drew have no soul!"

Li Fan really wanted to roll his eyes at it...

So, he traded a bunch of brain-dead idiots for a bamboo skewer, thus concluding the mission. Li Fan then went to the front hall to pick up Li Tangyuan, who was gnawing on a chicken leg and had oily skin, and prepared to fly directly back to Ink Bamboo Mountain.

So Li Fan took to the air, flew for less than two miles, then turned around and flew back.

Li Tangyuan said she needed to change her clothes...

It took Li Fan a while to realize what was happening... Sigh, mortals are so troublesome... This is great about immortals, they can just spit out any impurities...

Just as Li Fan was squatting in a daze at the entrance of the Daoist temple, a fast horse suddenly galloped over. It was a nobleman dressed in scarlet robes with a jade belt and a silver fish-shaped pouch at his waist. He dismounted and rode into the temple.

Li Fan glanced at him out of boredom, and the other man looked over as well. Suddenly, he stopped abruptly, turned around, and ran over to Li Fan, bowing respectfully, "This humble one greets the Guan Nei Hou."

"You are... the Captain of the Guard of the Imperial Guards who lent me a horse that night?"

Li Fan glanced at the other person sideways and recognized him as the son of Grand Commandant Wang E, one of the four notorious playboys of Changsi City, known as "Wolf" among tigers, Tiger Leopard Jackal Wolf, and wolves.

"Guan Nei Hou, you still remember me! It's truly a coincidence! I am Wang Ji, currently serving as the Honglu Shaoqing Li Country. My father is hosting a banquet tonight and would like to invite you to his residence for a chat."

I remember that bloody night in Changsi City. This Wang Lang followed his father in rebellion, dressed in full military attire, and even personally strangled a prince. Today, however, he is dressed as a civil official, with a polite demeanor, like a steward delivering an invitation. It's as if he and Wei Hu have switched places. It's really quite bizarre.

Li Fan narrowed his eyes and glared at him, guessing that the powerful families from Li Country were coming to curry favor again. This Wang Lang was quick on his feet, but he was too lazy to engage in such pretense with these powerful families, and simply said...

"What, did Li You do a bad job? I already said I didn't want it, but you jackals and tigers insist on pushing me to seize the throne, and each of you comes to persuade me? What happened to loyalty?"

This Wang Ji, the Honglu Shaoqing, was clearly not a true scholar; he was a wolf at heart. Hearing Li Fan call the emperor by his childhood name and openly discuss deposing and installing a new ruler, he not only showed no fear but grinned, raised his head, and fawned.

"Guan Nei Hou has wronged us. We serve the King wholeheartedly and have no intention of disloyalty. My father also said that Guan Nei Hou is very busy and that if he does not wish to come to the mansion, there is no need to force him. However..."

I've heard that Your Majesty has been overworked lately... perhaps due to damage to your health in the past, leaving you weak and prone to catching colds and feeling fatigued... therefore, there are some matters I must inquire of the Guan Nei Hou, what his opinion is."

Li Fan was stunned for a moment, then realized what was happening. "What? Li You is going to die? So soon... oh, it's been almost five years..."

Wang Ji gave a wry smile, "Actually, it's not quite there yet... but it'll be soon..."

Well, it really is time. Back then, the real and fake Prince of Jian'a Li You, caused a huge commotion all night, almost leading to chaos. In the end, 'Li Yi' disdained to be the ruler, and the throne fell to Li You. Now, his reign is almost over in just a few years. No wonder Wei Hu wept and urged Li Fan to ascend the throne when he saw him...

Driven by curiosity and a desire for gossip, Li Fan inquired with Wang Ji about Li You's actions over the years, Li Fan somewhat speechless.

He risked his life to save this brother from certain death. Although it might seem like he was trying to shift the blame, he genuinely hoped that this guy could understand the hardships of ordinary people, work hard to govern the country, and become a wise and virtuous ruler, instead of causing so much trouble for the people.

These past few years, to be honest, should have been the golden period for the Li Country's royal family to grow stronger. After all, the abbot went to the north to fight the Divine Sect, and the Nangong Family was also distracted by the Kun Country. Neither of these two powerful families had time to deal with the local affairs of the Li Country.

But Li You completely missed this golden opportunity. In the end, he was still pampered and spoiled by the Guo Family. After suffering a little hardship, instead of repenting, he became even more unruly. He dared not set foot among the common people anymore, spending his days indulging in pleasure in the Forbidden City without any restraint. Every day, he would feast and play with Guo Bao and his gang of nobles. Apart from Guo Bao and his group of dissolute close advisors, all other powerful figures were driven out of the Jingji. Civil and military officials had no chance to even show their faces. All matters of the court were left to the Imperial Censor Li Hongxian to handle alone.

Yes, Li Hongxian is the guy who had Yang Si'an write a note accusing him of twenty-one crimes, including cheating in the examination, embezzlement and bribery, forming cliques, abusing power, selling official positions, and nepotism, which resulted in Yang Sheng being stripped of his academic degree.

If those in power at the top are all such petty and narrow-minded people, how can things possibly go well? Absolutely not...

Wang Ji cautiously probed Li Fan's expression and asked, "My father said that the Guan Nei Hou has already reached the True Person realm and probably looks down on the meager estate of the Liqiu Palace. So, taking advantage of our previous meeting, I have shamelessly come to see you, just to ask in private, if something were to happen... who would the Guan Nei Hou intend to appoint to head Liqiu Palace?"

"... You ask me who I entrust with the throne?" Li Fan was puzzled. "I don't hold a single official position in the Li Country. You're asking me who will inherit the throne?"

Unlike Wei Hu, who openly accused him of usurpation, Wang Lang simply smiled obsequiously and said, "The one in Taiping Temple may not want to admit it, but you do hold the title of Marquis of Sanyuan, receive offerings from the guardian of Ink Bamboo Mountain, and possess genuine True Lord cultivation. Therefore, you are naturally the current leader of the Li Country's royal family, and you hold considerable influence. To be honest, isn't the Liqiu Palace yours? Of course, you should first ask Guan Nei Hou's opinion."

Li Fan was momentarily dazed. Well, just a moment ago they were spouting off about how powerful and influential families were, and now, in the blink of an eye, he himself had become the patriarch of a powerful family and the backer of a clan in other people's eyes...

Family lineage? Lineage is a strange thing. Even if you're completely unrelated, as long as you share the same surname, someone will always come knocking to pass down the old debts from generation to generation.

Li Fan had always thought that the matter from back then was over and the cause and effect had been settled, but today he realized that nothing was actually over.

To put it bluntly, he just spent a few years traveling around the Central Plains, escaping for a while. But as soon as he returned to Li Country, the grudges and entanglements of the past, and the various family heirlooms, would come knocking on his door one after another, and it was never truly over.

To leave the world of martial arts is to become part of it; how does one truly leave?

Li Fan shook his head. "I don't mean anything by it. Anyway, I'm not taking it. Whoever wants it can take it. If you insist on asking, then it's done the proper way: father to son, brother to brother. Just follow the rules. As long as it doesn't cause a huge uproar and harm the people, it doesn't matter who sits in that position. Unless everyone ahead of me in the line of succession dies, don't bother me while I'm cultivating immortality, understand?"

Wang Lang bowed deeply. "I understand what the Marquis of Guan Nei Hou means."

"Really understand now? "Li Fan didn't even know what he meant... Oh well, as long as he understands...

So Li Fan simply waved his hand, indicating he understood, and chased the man surnamed Wang away.

Li Fan doesn't have time to play games of intrigue and dynastic power struggles right now. His long-term goal, as mentioned before, is to lay a solid foundation for the cultivation methods of the Moshan Tai Su Dao.

The short-term goal is to improve cultivation, break through to the Transformation Stage as soon as possible, and assist Ink Bamboo Mountain in resisting the siege of various forces. We'll start by conquering the Ten-thousand-mountains, proceeding from south to north to avoid fighting on two fronts. Oh, and while we're at it, we also need to raise a couple of fish...

"Ugh! This is so annoying! I'm not accepting any more side quests! Back to the mountain! Li Tangyuan, are you done yet?! Back to Ink Bamboo Mountain!"

So Li Fan took to the air, flew for less than two miles, then turned around and flew back.

Sigh, Li Tangyuan ate too much and got an upset stomach...