Blessed by Karmic Fortune

The Pill Furnace in Princess Guantao's residence has been sitting there for a long time.

The structure of this Pill Furnace is not particularly remarkable; its special abilities originate from the coal and stones inside.

All it takes is to ignite it, and this Pill Furnace will have a strong enough flame; moreover, Princess Guantao's residence also has a basket of coal.

This Pill Furnace Pill Furnace had been ignored until the new emperor went to Princess Guantao's residence to request it, at which point it was brought out.

"Someone, light the fire!"

The new emperor had seen burning wood and charcoal, but he had never seen burning soil or stone.

They rode their horses out of Shanglin Garden and traveled more than sixty li before reaching the location where they discovered the discovery.

The person in charge of the search at Princess Guantao's residence was Dong Yan.

Dong Yan still maintained his elegant demeanor, and his hands were free of coal dust, clearly indicating that he was the one sent by Princess Guantao's residence to receive the reward.

The new emperor gave an order, and Dong Yan, unfamiliar with the properties of coal, almost ordered his men to set the mine ablaze.

"Take it out and test it with a spark; this place can't tolerate even the slightest spark!"

Zhang Xuezhou had no choice but to speak up, lest a spark accidentally ignite the coal and cause further trouble.

"Take it out! Take it out!"

The new emperor waved his hand, signaling the staff of Princess Guantao's residence to do as instructed.

Someone took a hoe and dug around until they dug out about half a basket of coal, which they then piled on the open ground and kept burning it with a tinderbox.

The outer layer of coal was not of high quality; it took quite a while for black smoke to rise after it was ignited, and sparks continued to emerge.

"This soil can indeed be burned, but what about the black stones inside?" the new emperor asked.

"Reporting to the Commander, the black stone can only be unearthed by digging through ten feet of black soil!"

Unable to give a precise answer immediately, Dong Yan quickly summoned an elderly cultivator.

This answer made the new emperor nod, and he began to ask the old monk about this area of black soil and black stone, the depth that could be dug, and even the possible yields.

These questions sound simple, but they are extremely difficult to answer.

The old monk struggled to give a definite reply, gesturing for a while before still stammering.

"This place should be a mountain; while it may not be inexhaustible, it's more than enough for alchemy and metallurgy!"

The amount of coal needed for alchemy is limited; the real purpose of coal is for smelting and forging items such as swords.

Based on what the old cultivator had said, Zhang Xuezhou felt that this open-pit coal mine was quite large, and if the underground veins were deep, its uses would be extremely considerable.

An open-pit coal mine isn't unusual, but proving that coal can burn is a low-probability event. Few people would dig three feet into the ground in the middle of nowhere just to dig up soil for a fire.

Furthermore, the poor combustion quality of the coal and soil at the top layer further raises the bar for its use.

Zhang Xuezhou guessed and uttered a word, causing the new emperor's eyes to gleam with a red light.

The new emperor knew about swords but not about smelting, but the Pingyang Marquis's family was knowledgeable about smelting. Princess Pingyang complained more than once that the flames in the blacksmith's furnace were impure, which resulted in weapons that were not tough enough and were easy to break. Good fire was also necessary for smelting.

"Guards, dig up the black stone deep inside. Bring it back to Chang'an City and bring this special order into the city!"

Now that the investigation was complete, the new emperor only had to go to the Marquis of Pingyang's residence to conduct smelting and verification.

He looked excited; although he hadn't managed to execute the sword-drawing technique in one go, he was quite lucky.

In just two short months, the source of this combustible stone was discovered, and the amount of combustible material at the source was far greater than he had imagined.

If elixirs alter the body's internal structure, thereby enhancing individual strength, then smelting alters the body's external structure.

Weapons such as spears, swords, armor, and arrows are inextricably linked to metallurgy; even a slight improvement can tip the scales of victory or defeat.

The advantage of cultivators in combat and war is not entirely determined by their cultivation level; both internal and external factors must be considered to increase the chances of victory.

The advantages were clearly accumulating little by little, some of which the new emperor had never anticipated.

"The art of destiny is indeed infinitely profound, but unfortunately, I've been intimidated by the King of Huainan for years, and my father has warned me, so I've never dared to practice it rashly. Fortunately, this art doesn't require arduous daily cultivation..."

The new emperor was extremely happy.

He felt a sense of bittersweet joy, and even a regret for not having discovered the secret of fortune sooner.

Anyone who can experience the wonders of this art can find it truly addictive.

The new emperor felt wonderful that everything was going smoothly.

Whether it's mastering the Sword Drawing Technique or improving smelting technology with black stone, as long as there's real gain, the new emperor feels that the backlash from using the technique is nothing to worry about.

No matter how much backlash he suffers, the technique can never take back the skills he has learned, and a well-forged weapon cannot suddenly become brittle and break.

After pondering it repeatedly, the new emperor couldn't help but feel slightly tipsy.

"Dongfang Shuo, what happened when you first experienced the power of destiny, and what happened afterward?"

While everyone was digging for coal, the new emperor couldn't help but ask Zhang Xuezhou about his fate. He wanted to hear what kind of luck Zhang Xuezhou had encountered, what misfortune he had suffered, and how he ended up in his current state.

"I feel like I've benefited, but at the same time, I feel like I haven't. If you're asking about the first time, it goes back to a trip I took with Master Dong. At the time, we only hoped for a safe journey..."

Zhang Xuezhou spoke eloquently, mentioning his first encounter with the "Tomb Classic".

At that time, their thoughts were simple. After being robbed by the Beast Taming Sect, they only hoped to make their way to the North smoothly.

This wish was eventually fulfilled, but unfortunately, Dong Zhongshu and his companions were imprisoned upon arrival and suffered just as much torment as they had.

"The situation in the north is very unstable, and Han Anguo faced tremendous resistance during his inspections," the new emperor murmured. "This time, the chaos over there caused by breaking up the Southern and Northern armies is considerable!"

Although he did not personally go to places such as the Northern Military District to conduct on-site investigations, the problems in the North lasted for more than just one day.

Li Guang's garrison in the north seemed secure, but Li Guang mostly led his personal guards. His hundreds of thousands of troops were mostly stationed in various places, and he rarely engaged in large-scale military operations.

This is also one of the reasons why Li Guang has been stationed in the Northern Border for more than 20 years without ever achieving any great merit.

The new emperor sent Cheng Bushi to Yanmen Pass in the Western Border and Li Guang back to the north. Although their positions seemed to remain unchanged, the new emperor had the idea of replacing the generals and was even putting it into practice.

For example, his support for Wei Qing to Cheng Bushi was a kind of exploratory approach.

If there are no major problems, Wei Qing can stabilize the situation, and Cheng Bushi to accept the situation, so this power may be transferred smoothly.

As for replacing Li Guang, it was quite difficult, and the new emperor couldn't think of any suitable candidate at the moment.

He arranged for Han Anguo to join his forces several times, and even helped Han Anguo become the general in charge of the ambush at Mayi, but Han Anguo's performance disappointed him somewhat.

This True Self Realm cultivator's abilities are slightly inferior.

Having experienced the sword-drawing technique and with Zhang Xuezhou's explanation, the new emperor understood the difference between Han Anguo and Li Guang, and no longer insisted that Han Anguo force his way to the throne.

He set his sights on newcomers, hoping that one of them might be a formidable figure who could replace Li Guang.

The new emperor didn't doubt Li Guang's decision to abandon the greatest military general of the Great Han Dynasty; rather, he discovered that Li Guang had significant flaws, particularly his narrow-mindedness.

Li Guang's inability to effectively manage the Northern Border Military Region and the lack of success in small-group operations over the years proved that Li Guang military strategy of deploying elite troops was ineffective.

The imperial court had given Li Guang twenty years, but the new emperor felt that his reign was unlikely to grant him another twenty years.