Chapter 1686: Progress With the Golden Seed!
Several hours later, Zhang Que rushed into the main hall of the King of Foreign Lands Residence with a letter.
“Reporting! Your Highness, we’ve just received word that the First Prince has banished Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi to Siam!”
“What?!”
The others in the hall glanced at each other in speechless shock. Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian Wang Zhongsi was the First Prince’s teacher, and he had been banished without the slightest forewarning. This was truly too abrupt, and no one knew what could have possibly happened.
“The Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian is a loyal subject of the Great Tang. This is simply too much from the First Prince.”
The others began to complain in the place of the Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian. Wang Zhongsi had been withdrawn for many years and rarely showed his face, but all of the Great Tang regarded him with utmost respect. For the First Prince to banish Wang Zhongsi, and to a place as distant as Siam, would naturally stir up everyone’s discontent.
But on the other side, Wang Chong quietly sighed in relief.
It seems like the meeting in the restaurant had an effect. The Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian probably went to see the First Prince, and given his personality, it probably wasn’t a very happy conversation!
With Wang Zhongsi exiled to Siam, so far away from the reach of the emperor, no matter what happens in the palace, it will have nothing to do with him. At the very least, he won’t be drawn into this matter.
The exile of the Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian was a signal to all the people of the realm that the Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian and the First Prince were at odds with each other, and this had been precisely Wang Chong’s goal in meeting with Wang Zhongsi.
“There’s no need for everyone to worry about this. While Siam is far, given the status of the Crown Prince’s Junior Guardian, he will return to the court one day. We have even more important matters to concern ourselves with. Zhang Que, how goes the investigation of the names on the list I gave you?” Wang Chong asked.
Zhang Que bowed and said, “Your Highness, everything is proceeding smoothly, and the arrangements have been handled. They have people watching them day and night. The moment something happens, our men will move to take them away!”
He would always carry out Wang Chong’s orders to the letter. Given the importance with which Wang Chong had regarded that list, Zhang Que would naturally not dare to neglect it.
The discussions went on for about an hour. Wang Chong handed down many more tasks before dismissing everybody.
Once everyone else was gone, Wang Chong fell quiet for a few moments, then he took a small booklet from his bosom. This booklet was about the size of his palm and half a finger thick. Upon opening it, one would see that it was densely covered in tiny characters. It was written in a rather casual style, but the writing still possessed its own unique flavor.
Not too long ago, Wang Chong’s master, the Demonic Emperor Old Man, had sent him this booklet on his observations of the Supreme and Infinite Origin Immortal Art.
The Supreme and Infinite Origin Immortal Art was the greatest of the ten great arts of the Central Plains, and its contents were profound and abstruse. Even Wang Chong found comprehending it a rather trying task.
This was particularly the case after Wang Chong cultivated to the eleventh level and ascended to the Subtle realm, whereupon the difficulty spiked upward and his comprehension slowed to a snail’s pace. He very naturally thought about the Demonic Emperor Old Man, so he sent a message to him with the mantra to the Origin Immortal Art.
Ever since the end of the northwest expedition, the Demonic Emperor Old Man and the Wushang Village Chief had been moving around mysteriously as if they were planning something. But when the Demonic Emperor Old Man received Wang Chong’s request, he still made time to carefully ponder the Origin Immortal Art together with the Wushang Village Chief and delve into its secrets.
A few days later, the Demonic Emperor Old Man came to visit the King of Foreign Lands Residence, where he gave Wang Chong this booklet.
‘The Supreme Ultimate has an ultimate, a fusion of the tangible and intangible. The one of the all-encompassing origin contains the myriad things of the world, all the creations of nature…’
Wang Chong carefully read through the book. The text of the Origin Immortal Art was written in the language of the Spring and Autumn Era, and the wording was completely different from how it would be in the present era. When it came to the martial arts language from that era, even many experts of the martial arts world would find it hard to understand.
But the Demonic Emperor Old Man had spent his entire life immersed in martial arts, and he possessed an extraordinary understanding of these things. He was able to condense these profound and abstruse words into a simple and digestible explanation within this booklet.
Wang Chong derived great benefit from reading the booklet, easily resolving many of his trouble spots.
“So that’s how it is!”
Closing the book, Wang Chong felt like many weights had been lifted off his mind. He quickly sat cross-legged on the floor and began to cultivate.
Buzz!
Streams of golden energy began to rise from Wang Chong’s body, the air trembling as his seething Stellar Energy resounded with peals of thunder. If one looked carefully, one could see tiny arcs of lightning crackle back and forth within the golden Stellar Energy.
More and more of these tiny bolts of lightning appeared. This was a phenomenon that had never previously appeared.
Boom! The entire hall trembled, and the Trayastrimsa Heaven manifested. One floor, two floors, three floors, four floors… Ever since Wang Chong had reached the thirteenth level, he had found it difficult to make any more progress. But now, Wang Chong’s Stellar Energy was thriving and vigorous, and it was showing clear signs of growth.
Buzz!
Energy from the higher dimension came surging down into Wang Chong’s body, and the golden light around him grew increasingly dazzling. The thirteen-floor pavilion began to grow, and with a loud bang, Wang Chong’s Trayastrimsa Heaven reached the fourteenth floor and continued to grow.
A few moments later, with another bang, Wang Chong’s Trayastrimsa Heaven reached the fifteenth floor, but the momentum was still not spent. It was only after reaching the sixteenth floor that things finally began to slow down.
Wang Chong was in no rush. He continued to circulate energy through his body while pulling more energy from the higher dimension to stabilize his foundations.
Buzz!
While cultivating, Wang Chong felt his mind tremble, and the Stone of Destiny suddenly spoke into his mind.
“Initial analysis of the golden seed is complete. This possesses vast amounts of World Origin Energy and is currently in a sealed state. In order to open this seal, user must expend 1,000,000 points of Destiny Energy. Does user wish to expend this Destiny Energy and unlock the seal?”
“Ah?!”
Wang Chong was stunned by the voice in his mind. The legendary Origin Immortal Lord had given the golden seed to Wang Chong before their final parting, and he had also mentioned that this seed was connected to the safety and well-being of the entire world.
The Stone of Destiny had been analyzing the seed for a very long time, but it had given no result until now. Wang Chong had never imagined that the Stone of Destiny would need several months to complete the analysis.
“Wonderful!”
Wang Chong was elated. This was enormous progress. The seed had spent more than one thousand years with the Origin Immortal Lord with little change.
“Yes!”
Unlike before, Wang Chong almost immediately agreed to the exchange. But the Stone of Destiny’s response left Wang Chong feeling rather embarrassed.
“Exchange failed! User does not have enough Destiny Energy to unlock the initial seal!”
One million points of Destiny Energy?
After a moment’s daze, Wang Chong took in a long breath. He had only heard that he needed to expend energy to unlock the seal, not taking notice of the number behind it.
How could it be so much!?
Wang Chong had exchanged Destiny Energy for many items within the Stone of Destiny, including the Heavenly Mandate Battle Armor, but one million points of Destiny Energy was far beyond what Wang Chong had imagined. Wang Chong had already obtained many points of Destiny Energy, with the battles of Talas and Khorasan granting him hundreds of thousands of points, but they all paled in comparison to the number needed by the Stone of Destiny.
Shock! Remorse!
But Wang Chong quickly shook off his regret and reluctance.
What is this golden seed? Why does unsealing it require so much Destiny Energy? If not for those large-scale wars from before, then even with the Stone of Destiny, it still would have been completely hopeless!
What a pity! It seems that I’ll have to think of something new, to be able to deal with this golden seed! Wang Chong commented to himself.
One million points of Destiny Energy was needed to open only the first seal of this object, and while it left him with his jaw on the floor, it also stimulated his curiosity. From what Wang Chong understood about the Stone of Destiny, the greater the expense, the more important something was. Wang Chong wanted even more to know what this seed the Origin Immortal Lord had given him was, and what abilities it possessed.
But Wang Chong was in no rush after this momentary setback. In the future, he just needed to accumulate enough Destiny Energy to unlock the seal, though this would probably take some time.
The day soon passed and the darkness descended. After dinner, Wang Chong went to his study to look through documents. Now that he was the temporary Minister of War, he naturally had to tend to the numerous affairs of the Bureau of Military Personnel.
Thwish!
As he was looking through the documents, he heard a rush of air. Raising an eyebrow, he raised his head and looked out the window. At that moment, his eyes seemed to flash with countless cold pinpricks of light.