532: Chapter 532 I've struck gold!

Inside the Imperial Study, the laughter of the young Emperor, Xuanyuan Hong, echoed for a long time, causing the candle flames to flicker three times.

The golden memorial in his hand seemed to have become a supreme treasure that could stabilize the Foundations of the empire.

“Good! Well done, Han Yi! Truly a pillar of my state!”

Xuanyuan Hong paced back and forth excitedly in front of the dragon desk, his face filled with uncontrollable ecstasy.

Those old fogies in the imperial court, relying on the support of the Sects and great families behind them, opposed him at every turn. The Yao Beasts in the southern borders and the droughts in the northern regions had left him utterly exhausted.

Now, a peerless Master suspected to be at or above the Soul Transformation Stage actually wanted to join the court as an official?

This was simply like rain falling after a long drought!

Beside him, the lamp-bearing Eunuch Fu An stood with a bowed back, even lightening his breathing significantly for fear of disturbing His Majesty's high spirits.

“Your Majesty, regarding this matter... should we consider it more carefully?” Fu An reminded him cautiously. “Those lords in the court... might have objections. To have a first-rank official appear out of thin air, and one of unknown origin at that...”

Hearing this, Xuanyuan Hong stopped laughing and walked back to the throne with a powerful stride, sitting down heavily.

He glanced at Fu An with a sharp gaze.

“Objections? Of course they will have objections! I want them to have objections!”

Xuanyuan Hong snorted coldly and slapped the memorial onto the dragon desk.

“A bunch of useless fools who only know how to form cliques and attack outsiders! If this Senior Li truly possesses the heaven-defying means described in the memorial, let alone a first-rank official, what would be the harm even if I made him a King or a Prime Minister?”

“If he has real ability, he will naturally make those old things shut their mouths obediently! If he has no ability, it won't be too late for me to deal with him then!”

The art of imperial manipulation was fully revealed.

Fu An felt a chill run through him and immediately lowered his head: “Your Majesty is wise!”

“Draft the decree!” Xuanyuan Hong wasted no more words, his voice decisive. “I shall personally issue the decree to promote Li Heng to the Guardian Dharma Master of my Eastern Wasteland Divine Dynasty, with a rank equal to the first-rank and enjoying the salary of a Prince! Order him to set out immediately and come to the Divine Capital for an audience!”

“Furthermore, you shall personally go to Qingshi City and make sure to invite him back with the utmost respect! Remember, he is to be invited!”

Xuanyuan Hong specifically emphasized the word “invited.”

“This servant obeys the decree!”

Fu An did not dare to be the least bit negligent; he immediately took the command and withdrew, though his heart was in a state of upheaval.

Guardian Dharma Master!

This position had been vacant for three hundred years! Now, His Majesty was giving it to a mysterious person who only existed in a memorial!

It seemed the heavens of the Eastern Wasteland Divine Dynasty were truly about to change... Under the Emperor's personal supervision, the Divine Dynasty's efficiency was incredibly high.

Only two days later.

A luxurious carriage escorted by a squad of Imperial Guards arrived grandly at the remote Qingshi City.

When City Lord Zhou Yuan received the news, he nearly fell off his chair and scrambled to lead all the city's officials to kneel and welcome them at the city gate.

When he saw that the leader was Fu An, the Emperor's most favored lamp-bearing eunuch, his legs shook even more violently.

“Eunuch Fu, your presence is a great honor. This lowly official failed to welcome you from afar and deserves ten thousand deaths!” Zhou Yuan buried his head very low.

“City Lord Zhou, rise.” Fu An's voice was neither light nor heavy, yet it carried the majesty of one who had long held a high position. “I have come by His Majesty's decree to invite a Master. Is Senior Li Heng in the residence?”

Hearing that he was here for Li Heng, the heavy stone in Zhou Yuan's heart finally dropped, and he hurriedly replied: “In response to the Eunuch, Senior Li is currently at the city's academy, teaching the children.”

“Teaching?”

Fu An was stunned for a moment, somewhat surprised.

A peerless Master who roamed the mortal world actually had such an elegant interest?

“Yes,” Zhou Yuan did not dare to hide anything. “The Senior saw that the cultivation methods of the children in the city were crude, so he felt compassion and personally opened an academy to teach improved Cultivation Techniques. These past two days, any child in the city with even a bit of talent has run off to listen to his lectures.”

“Oh?” Fu An's eyes flickered as his mind became active.

He waved his hand, signaling the honor guard behind him to stand by on the spot.

“City Lord Zhou, take me over to have a look. There is no rush to announce the imperial decree; I also want to see what kind of demeanor this Master, whom His Majesty values so highly, possesses.”

This could be considered as checking things out in advance for His Majesty.

“Yes, yes! Eunuch, please follow me!”

Zhou Yuan didn't dare say a single word of refusal and hurriedly led the way in front.

The two of them concealed their auras and silently arrived outside a courtyard in the west of the city that had been temporarily converted.

Before they even got close, they could hear bursts of clear reading voices from inside, mingled with the tender voices of children.

The courtyard gate was not tightly closed. Fu An and Zhou Yuan stood outside the crack of the door and peeked inside.

They saw twenty to thirty children sitting cross-legged in the courtyard, each with a focused expression.

In front of them, a young man wearing a simple green robe was pacing and explaining with his hands behind his back.

That person was precisely Li Heng.

“...The ‘Green Wood Formula’ you usually practice focuses on Guiding Qi into the Body and following the Meridians. This is not wrong in itself. But the mistake lies in the fact that the technique is too rigid, treating your Meridians as a fixed riverbed.”

Li Heng's voice was flat and gentle, yet it clearly reached the ears of every child.

“Riverbeds can silt up and change course. Human Meridians are even more so. Blindly forcing a flush not only yields half the result with twice the effort but also easily damages the Foundation. True cultivation should be like water management; dredging is better than blocking.”

He pointed casually at a slightly chubby-faced boy.

“You, when the Qi reaches the Shanzhong point, do you feel chest tightness and a stinging pain?”

The boy was stunned, then nodded like a chicken pecking rice: “Teacher, how did you know?”

“Because your Cultivation Technique only taught you how to push the Spiritual Qi through, but not how to let the Spiritual Qi ‘flow’ through.”

Li Heng smiled and walked to his side.

“Imagine that your Meridians are not hard pipes, but a piece of soft land. Spiritual Qi is not a flood or a fierce beast, but a stream that nourishes all things. Let it find the smoothest path on its own, rather than using brute force to excavate.”

He flicked his finger, and an imperceptible wisp of Spiritual Qi entered the boy's body.

The boy's whole body jolted, and then a look of ecstasy appeared on his face.

“It's through! Teacher, I feel... I feel that blocked Qi has dispersed on its own! It's so comfortable!”

Outside the courtyard, Fu An's pupils suddenly contracted upon hearing this!

Although he was not a combat-type Cultivator, as the Emperor's close attendant, how high was his vision! He had dabbled in the most top-tier Cultivation Techniques and Secret Manuals within the Divine Dynasty!

But the “water management” theory Li Heng had just mentioned was simply unheard of!

This was no longer at the level of technique; this was talking about the ‘Dao’!

The Great Dao is simple!

To explain such profound cultivation principles in such a simple and easy-to-understand way to a group of beginner children... what a terrifying Realm and level of understanding this was!

Fu An was certain that even if the Sect Master of the Divine Dynasty's number one Sect, the Taixu Sect, came in person, they would definitely not be able to say these words!

He only felt his scalp go numb, and a massive surge of ecstasy welled up in his heart.

Stumbled upon a treasure!

This time, His Majesty has truly stumbled upon a treasure!

Standing to the side, Zhou Yuan watched the fluctuating expression on Fu An's face, his heart in his throat, not daring to even breathe loudly.

Just then, inside the courtyard, Li Heng finished a section and his gaze seemed to inadvertently glance toward the courtyard gate.

“Alright, that's all for today's lesson. After you all go back, reflect on it well.”

“Yay!”

The children immediately let out a cheer and dispersed in a swarm.

Li Heng looked at the empty courtyard, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly as he picked up a teacup from the stone table and took a light sip.

“Friends outside the door, you've been listening for so long, won't you come in and sit?”