231: Rewarding Merit

Under the setting sun, the sea breeze gently caressed their faces.

Li Wenbo and Zhou Yan lay in their respective lounge chairs. Li Wenbo sipped his mysterious drink, while Zhou Yan drank tea brewed with spring water.

"Junior Brother, seriously, won't you try some of mine..."

"Ugh, take your stinky water away, stay far from me."

Seeing Zhou Yan's look of disdain, Li Wenbo could only sadly enjoy his drink alone.

After they lay in silence for a moment, Zhou Yan took the initiative to ask when Li Wenbo still hadn't spoken.

"Senior Brother, why exactly did you bring me here? It can't just be to enjoy the sea breeze and relax, can it?"

Li Wenbo comfortably shifted in his lounge chair.

"Of course, that's partly the reason. Your complexion wasn't good when you first woke up, so it wasn't suitable to deal with too many things immediately. It's good to cool down with the breeze first."

"But I see you're fine now, so let me show you this."

With a wave of his hand, a rectangular jade box appeared before them.

Zhou Yan sat up, looking at the box then at Li Wenbo, opening it at the latter's signal.

The moment it opened, Zhou Yan's vision blurred.

The light from inside the box was simply too dazzling.

"Th-this is..."

"What is this?"

Hearing the first half of Zhou Yan's shocked tone, Li Wenbo was secretly pleased, but the latter half made him quickly get up and look inside the box.

He saw a pile of glowing stones in the box. He then slapped his forehead as he recalled.

"Oh, sorry, sorry! Seeing Junior Martial Uncle coming, I instinctively made some preparations and moved the good stuff ahead of time."

Saying that, he took out an ordinary wooden box and a dilapidated iron box.

Before Zhou Yan could ask, Li Wenbo explained on his own.

"Just making a few extra preparations."

He took the jade box from Zhou Yan's hand, opened the three boxes one by one, poured out the miscellaneous items inside, then stacked the empty boxes together. Flames rose from his palm, enveloping them, and he pressed down firmly.

A brand new jade box was thus formed.

Taking the jade box that Li Wenbo handed him again, Zhou Yan could only lament the Fifth Elder's "reputation" and had nothing more to say.

"Holy crap, the little Emperor is so generous?"

As the lid opened, the first thing that caught his eye was a golden fish tally, with seven large characters engraved on its front.

"First Rank, Great Yu Imperial Tutor."

Zhou Yan held it in his hand. Under the setting sun, the fish tally became even more dazzling, making him momentarily reluctant to put it down.

No choice, his DNA was stirred.

During those few days on the throne, he had touched the imperial seal, worn the Dragon robe, and acted as Emperor. Now that his addiction was satisfied, he had no interest in that position. After all, it wasn't his, and if it were truly given to him, it would only be trouble.

But this was different; this was a legitimate official position. As long as Great Yu existed, he could continuously enjoy this benefit.

He originally thought this enfeoffment would only be a second or third rank, with an honorary title. He never expected to be given the position of Imperial Tutor directly, the highest possible treatment. Regardless of actual power, the share of national destiny was real.

Seeing Zhou Yan's satisfied expression, yet not as overjoyed as expected, Li Wenbo secretly nodded.

This Heart-Nature was indeed rare.

He didn't know what Zhou Yan had experienced then, but with such a Heart-Nature, he should be fine.

Afterward, Li Wenbo recounted what happened at the court assembly that day.

"This time, I didn't actually do much, but fortunately, The Emperor appreciated me and still promoted me to Censor-in-Chief."

"This position has been vacant for many years, more of an honorary title, but after this incident, the Censor-in-Chief position has returned to a practical role, and I've been promoted to it. I can be considered the first person from a Sect background in Great Yu to enter the center of power."

"Perhaps in the future, there's even hope for Body Integration."

"General Chen Wei was meritorious in protecting The Emperor and took over Chen Jingyuan's military duties, while Disciple Zhang Feng assumed the position of Prime Minister."

"Prince Kang's mistakes were not major, and his achievements were still commendable. He was only stripped of his Regent position and sent back to his fiefdom to live out his retirement."

"It was the Grand Princess who was unexpected. She infiltrated the Truth Cult as an undercover agent, disrupted their operations, and then led a group of Prodigies to assist the defenders in eradicating demons. With these merits, she entered the court as an official."

"With such changes in the royal family, it was necessary to support suitable individuals to take over some power and balance the court. Even if not much, new forces needed to be cultivated to fill the vacancies."

"The Grand Princess actively requested a lower treatment, only asking for leniency for some officials and retainers of the Prince Kangs Residence lineage. Thus, her actual power isn't much, but she has taken over some of Prince Kang's forces."

"I didn't expect this. The Grand Princess seems simple-minded, yet she could achieve such a feat."

Li Wenbo couldn't help but sigh.

"Next are your rewards."

"Wang Yao and others have special identities, unlike you who already held an official position, so they were not granted actual positions and do not enjoy national destiny. However, they received honorary titles, allowing them to enjoy some benefits and assistance while in Yu."

"Originally, there were also resource compensations, but with everything needing to be rebuilt, resources shouldn't be squandered, so it was changed to Spirit Stone compensation. However, almost all the Spirit Stones they just received were taken by the Fifth Elder."

"Except for Xiao Sheng, who is from out of town and needs to go home, so the Fifth Elder left him travel expenses. Only the Spirit Stones left by that girl Shi Suiyan remained untouched."

With that, Li Wenbo looked at Zhou Yan with a smile.

"Finally, it's you, Junior Brother. This time, your contributions were immense. Without you, Great Yu might no longer exist."

"Therefore, The Emperor, against all dissenting opinions, directly promoted you to the First Rank and reinstated the Imperial Tutor position from the previous dynasty."

"You can enter the hall with your sword and shoes, not bow in court, directly admonish The Emperor, strike down incompetent monarchs, and punish sycophantic officials... all necessary authorities are basically there. Although your actual power is similar to the Regent, your income is comparable to The Emperor."

"Plus the large amount of resources and Spirit Stones awarded, Junior Brother, you've struck it rich this time! With this accumulation, breaking through to Core Formation Perfection will be no problem."

Seeing Li Wenbo ecstatic, Zhou Yan merely forced a smile to cooperate.

Actually, he was in a terrible mood.

The sight he witnessed that day still made his heart pound.

If he had to describe the sky he saw then, only one word could sum it up: a birdcage.

His experience reading a large number of novels in his previous life made him particularly sensitive to such imagery. That oppressive feeling overhead was unsettling, causing him to lose interest in many things.

But as Li Wenbo talked endlessly, Zhou Yan's eyes suddenly lit up, and the gloom in his chest vanished.

"Senior Brother, if I enter seclusion now, can I break through to Nascent Soul in one go?"

Li Wenbo choked on his words, staring at him in disbelief, then jumped up and pointed.

"Kun Gou! I knew you weren't dead, get off my Junior Brother quickly!"

Seeing Li Wenbo's sudden change of expression, Zhou Yan said helplessly.

"Senior Brother, I'm serious."

Li Wenbo then put away his serious demeanor and sat back in his chair.

"You should understand from my reaction just now."

"Although you, Junior Brother, have extraordinary talent, how can anyone form a Nascent Soul in one year? Leaving aside other things, your Mortal World experience is insufficient."

"Achieving Nascent Soul requires overcoming the Heart Demon Tribulation. Your Foundation is excellent now; once you Breakthrough, you'll be at the Core Formation Middle Stage. Later, by filling your dao body with spiritual objects, if resources are sufficient, it will be easy to reach Perfection."

"But even without mentioning your Foundation, you won't even be able to trigger the Heart Demon Tribulation. How old are you? You need at least several years of Mortal World experience."

"Even at the shortest, you need to experience ten years as a Mortal, and it cannot overlap with your previous life. You must experience it from different perspectives."

"Cultivation must not aim too high..."

Zhou Yan didn't hear the rest of the words at all.

Because he suddenly realized something.

He might actually be able to break through to Nascent Soul in one go!

And once he broke through to Nascent Soul, there might be a chance to learn the truth about that matter.

"Senior Brother, since I am the Imperial Tutor, can I use this authority to apply for a secluded cultivation environment?"

"I told you, you can't break through to Nascent..."

"I'm not in a hurry."

"I want to first consume the resources, advance to Core Formation Perfection, and then slowly refine my Foundation."

"Refining the Foundation also takes time. Perhaps the Mortal World experience can be completed at the same time?"

Upon hearing this, Li Wenbo thought that refining the Foundation during the Mortal World experience made sense. The other party had abundant resources, a stable Heart-Nature, and a solid Foundation. If he only cultivated within Great Yu and advanced to Perfection, it didn't seem like a bad thing.

Oh no, the casual joke he made earlier might actually come true for this kid!

Reaching Core Formation Perfection in less than a year, plus his brilliant achievements in this battle, this kid wouldn't enter the top twenty of the Heaven Ranking before he's twenty, would he?

Thinking that some people hadn't made the list even at two hundred years old, while he was about to enter the top twenty before he was twenty... this blow completely extinguished Li Wenbo's earlier excitement.

Forget it, forget it. I'll just be my Censor-in-Chief honestly.