Chapter 147: A God-Like Man?

The palace gates open and close beneath nine layers of heaven, determining the myriad affairs of the mortal realm.

Li Shimin felt that the officials had an exceptional number of matters to discuss today. The moment one topic concluded, before anyone even had a chance to catch their breath, another person would jump forward to present a new issue, as if speaking more quickly might somehow increase their official salary.

Nevertheless, Li Shimin was quite pleased. If the officials were this proactive every single day, why worry that the empire would not enjoy peace and prosperity?

Yu Zhining was so anxious he felt like leaping out of his skin. Had this group of officials gone mad today? Matters were being raised one after another without a single pause. Why won't any of you talk about the divine miracle of today? Such an extraordinary and miraculous event! It must have been an arrangement by the heavens, so why is no one mentioning it?

My dear Prince of Yue! As your subordinate, I am dying of anxiety here, yet you and that scoundrel of a Marquess of Chang'an are actually leaning against a pillar dozing off! He is your enemy!

Finally seeing that the current business had concluded, Yu Zhining lifted his foot and blurted out, "Your Humble Servant..."

"Your Humble Servant has a matter to report. A dispatch from the magistrate of Hexi states that an auspicious beast was discovered in a mountain within his jurisdiction—a thousand-year-old divine turtle. Unfortunately, it was captured and cooked by ignorant mountain folk. The villagers have already been arrested, and the Hexi magistrate is asking how they should be dealt with."

Someone jumped out and shouted, his voice completely drowning out Yu Zhining. The interruption made Yu Zhining clench his fists so tightly that he wanted nothing more than to bite this official to death.

"Absurd! If it were truly a divine beast, how could those mountain folk possibly manage to kill it? Tell him to release the people, compensate the villagers with some grain and copper coins, and forbid anyone from making arrests over such matters in the future!"

Li Shimin rebuked directly. Nowadays, miraculous signs were appearing all over the world, and now even divine beasts were supposedly showing up. Next, what was expected—the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise?

"Your Humble Servant has a memorial to present!"

Yu Zhining shouted at the top of his lungs, giving Li Shimin quite a start. Yu Zhining could no longer bear it; dammit, more than a dozen people had already hijacked his turn to speak. If he let them keep cutting in, he wouldn't even get a chance to voice his thoughts today.

Watching Yu Zhining trip over his own feet in his haste and tumble out of formation, Li Shimin was about to grant permission when an attendant walked in and announced, "Reporting to Your Majesty, Li Chunfeng requests an audience, stating that the elixir of immortality has been successfully refined and is brought here as an offering to Your Majesty."

"Wonderful! Quickly summon him!" Li Shimin called out joyfully. As for Yu Zhining, he was completely ignored and could only crawl back into the ranks in dejection and disgrace.

Li Chunfeng sported a slender beard and wore a long, grey Daoist robe, holding a jade box in his hands. The grey robe on him did not look worn or old at all; instead, it lent him an air of tranquil detachment.

"This humble Daoist pays respects to Your Majesty."

"Daoist master, quickly rise. Is the golden elixir successfully completed?" Li Shimin asked impatiently.

"By the grace of heaven, a total of seventy-two golden elixirs have been successfully refined, and all of them are within this jade box."

"Splendid! The Daoist master truly possesses profound magical power. Present it to Us at once." Li Shimin said with mounting excitement. After the attendant inspected the box and confirmed everything was in order, it was immediately handed over to the eagerly waiting Li Shimin.

Upon opening it, Li Shimin saw golden pills rolling around inside the box. He picked one up and took a whiff, instantly feeling an invigorating wave of medicinal fragrance that refreshed his spirit.

Reluctantly placing the golden elixir back into the box with extreme reluctance, he said with feigned fortitude, "We hear that Xuiling's health is gradually declining, and We grieve for it. We bestow one of these golden elixirs upon you. Subao committed too much bloodshed in his past battles and is now plagued by ailments; grant him a golden elixir as well."

Du Ruhui immediately dropped to his knees, weeping and kowtowing in gratitude. Li Shimin generously recounted a host of past achievements to prove that this reward was well-deserved before Du Ruhui consented to stand up.

Everyone else stared longingly at Li Shimin, thinking, Your Majesty, how about reminiscing about the past with us too? Even half a pill or a single pill would be fine!

Giving away two pills already made Li Shimin's heart ache so much he trembled, so he chose to pretend he couldn't see the others. With a beaming smile, he said to Li Chunfeng, "The Daoist master has worked hard. From now on, Liuyun Temple shall be presented to the Daoist master as a place for cultivation. Tomorrow, I will have someone thoroughly renovate Liuyun Temple for you."

"This humble Daoist thanks Your Majesty. Renovation is hardly necessary, though. If these funds were instead used to relieve the impoverished, this humble Daoist would be even more pleased."

Li Chunfeng remained neither surprised nor elated, speaking with serene composure. Li Shimin praised him highly and said with a sigh of regret, "Daoist Li already possesses transcendent Daoist arts, and your senior martial brother has long been in My thoughts as well. It is a pity he is still cultivating in Sichuan and Bashu; I know not when we shall finally meet."

"Heh heh, when destiny arrives, we will naturally meet," Li Chunfeng said with a smile, before adding, "This humble Daoist has come today to report another matter for Your Majesty's awareness."

"And what matter might that be?"

"A locust plague! A massive locust plague," Li Chunfeng declared with certainty. Li Shimin furrowed his brow; why bring this up so abruptly?

"Over the past few nights, this humble Daoist continually dreamed of our ancestral master. He said that a locust demon escaped from the Heavenly Prison, suffered severe injuries at the hands of the Military Star Lord, and ultimately fled into the mortal realm, where it has remained for nine years already. At first, I simply thought I was missing our ancestral master too deeply, causing such dreams in the night.

"Unexpectedly, last night I received a letter from my senior martial brother, stating that he too had dreamed of our ancestral master for over a month, and his dreams were identical to mine. Only then did I realize a great disaster is about to descend, and I have come specifically to report this to the Human Sovereign of this age."

Li Chunfeng's words held little attraction for those present; who wasn't aware of locust plagues? Did they really need him to state the obvious?

"Oh! Then did your ancestral master tell you how to deal with it?" Li Shimin asked with a smile. In his view, out of all those words, only the final sentence was of any use.

"We, this humble Daoist and the others, are powerless to resolve this. This is a mighty demon from the heavens whose injuries have now somewhat healed. It intends to transform into myriads of avatars to devour all things and restore its vitality. We mortals have not attained true immortality and cannot defeat it. However, in this mortal realm, there are precisely two people who do not fear this demon!"

"Who are they?" Li Shimin immediately pressed. True or false, as long as someone could eradicate the locusts, he would give them whatever they asked for.

"Our ancestral master said that the first is the Marquess of Chang'an, a true immortal of the present age. Currently, he simply lacks sufficient accumulated merit, otherwise he would have already ascended to the immortal realm and taken his place among the immortals."

As soon as Li Chunfeng finished speaking, Cai Cong was instantly hit by a fierce glare from Li Shimin. Didn't you say there were no immortals? To think you were putting in so much effort to save the people all along just to accumulate merit—you have deceived Us bitterly!

Cai Cong smiled wryly in silence; this time, he had truly been played by the Daoist sect, and he had no idea how he would explain this to Li Shimin later.

"As for the second..." Li Chunfeng paused, making everyone's expressions turn bizarre as they glanced between Li Shimin and Li Chengqian. You, the father, are an emperor yet you couldn't handle locust plagues; your eldest son is the crown prince and he can't do it either—how is it that your second son supposedly can?

"I can understand Li Daoist mentioning Cai Cong, given that he comprehends the heart of heaven and wanders freely through the great void; calling his abilities that of a half-immortal of the earthly realm is hardly an exaggeration. But this son of mine..."

Li Shimin looked at Li Tai, who still had sleep crust in the corners of his eyes and a vacant, half-asleep expression, and simply could not go on. What kind of capability did this rascal possess?

"Ha ha... Your Majesty perhaps does not know. When the Military Star Lord saw the locust demon escape, he chose to be reincarnated into the mortal realm, awaiting the opportune moment to subdue this monstrosity. Our ancestral master said that the Military Star Lord was born into the most noble womb in the realm and has now lived for nine years. After calculating, I find that only the second son born directly of the Empress meets the criteria."

Li Chunfeng stroked his beard, laughing heartily, and even bowed respectfully to Li Tai.

"Is the Daoist master saying that my son Li Tai is the Military Star Lord reincarnated?" Li Shimin was somewhat bewildered. His thoughts had just wandered far afield, even imagining that Li Chunfeng might declare Li Tai to be the true Son of Heaven and his successor—he had never expected Li Chunfeng to pull this twist.

"Precisely so. Only the reincarnated form of the Military Star Lord and a person like Master Cai can pray to the heavens to capture and eliminate demons and pests. The heavens will bestow blessings and protection, and the demon's resentment cannot harm them. I imagine Your Highness the Prince of Yue has also encountered some unusual celestial phenomena recently? That is the heavens reminding you."

As Li Chunfeng spoke slowly, all the court officials recalled the scene from that morning. Goodness, Your Majesty is truly formidable; even a stellar deity has turned out to be his son. That must mean Your Majesty himself is the reincarnation of the Polaris Emperor Star!

"Ahem... Tai'er, have you encountered any unusual celestial phenomena recently?"

"No, none at all!" Li Tai was still somewhat dazed. So it turns out I am an immortal descended to earth? Mother! If you find out about this, won't you be endlessly proud? At this thought, he couldn't help but reveal a foolish grin.