Chapter 614 94: Special 'Power Pill

Mountain Peak Dojo.

It was now the dead of night. Xia Wen Yi, who had been busy for the better part of the day, was reporting to Wang Ping on the tasks he had assigned.

"We will purge the Imperial Court in the Emperor's name. Even if heads roll, it will have nothing to do with our Qianmu Temple. A small amount of gossip will not affect the grand scheme of things."

With no outsiders present, Xia Wen Yi and Wang Ping sat as they spoke. Wang Ping listened quietly while skillfully brewing tea.

"We will make our move tonight. There are two targets: first, Fan Lian, the Chief Envoy of the Imperial Secretariat; second, Yang Qing, the Vice Chancellor of the Central Secretariat. The families behind them were both once great clans of Yongshan County. The Yang Family, in particular, are the clansmen of Yang Hou, the disciple of Uncle-Master Zhao Qing. Choosing them also serves to prevent any gossip."

Xia Wen Yi watched Wang Ping as he spoke. Seeing no change in Wang Ping's expression, he continued, "First thing tomorrow morning, the court officials will surely kneel before the palace gates in protest. This will draw a crowd of commoners. At that time, the Emperor will personally ascend the palace gate's walls and proclaim the crimes of those two."

"Won't that throw Jinhuai City into complete chaos?" Yu Lian asked curiously.

"Exactly. A little chaos is fine. It will serve to distract from the rumors about Master circulating in the city and also provide cover for our purge."

Xia Wen Yi explained, looking at Wang Ping.

An image of Junior Brother Zhao Qing flashed vaguely through Wang Ping's mind, followed by that of his disciple, Yang Hou. When he had first started cultivating, those two had attended to his every need for over a hundred years.

"How are Junior Brother Zhao Qing's descendants doing now?" Wang Ping asked.

"The Water Institute is now managed by the disciples of Uncle-Master Zhao Qing's lineage!" Xia Wen Yi replied.

Wang Ping nodded. He lifted his cup and inhaled its fragrance but did not drink. Instead, he toyed with the cup in his hand and said, "The moment you have control of the Chu Kingdom Court, you are to prepare the army for war. Lishui Prefecture has been restless lately."

"Yes, sir!"

Wang Ping set down his cup, took out a formal invitation, and instructed, "Have Xuanling deliver this invitation to the Six Heart Sect. I will be visiting Wan Zhi Daoist in five days."

Xia Wen Yi also put down his cup and received the invitation with both hands.

Wang Ping continued, "Tell Xuanling that he can enter secluded cultivation with peace of mind when he returns. Also, send Zhao Mingming to Xuanling's Dao Field as well."

Xia Wen Yi looked up at Wang Ping for a moment before replying, "Yes, sir!"

"Alright, you may go and attend to your duties."

"This disciple takes his leave!"

Xia Wen Yi rose and departed.

Wang Ping picked up his teacup again, slowly savoring the fragrant brew. Yu Lian's tail curled around the teapot and refilled her own empty cup. She said, "Don't all the books talk about burning one's bridges? Why are you still thinking about leaving yourself a way out?"

"Heh heh…"

Wang Ping smiled. "This isn't an escape route. It's a necessary arrangement."

As he spoke, he rose and walked toward the courtyard. Yu Lian downed the tea in her cup in one gulp, then rode a cloud over to land on Wang Ping's shoulder.

Under the night sky, as Wang Ping walked along the garden path, a light as bright as day automatically illuminated his way. Before long, he arrived outside the Alchemy Room to the north.

Entering the Alchemy Room, one could see five puppets taking turns refining 'Power Pills'. These puppets had strength equivalent to the Qi Cultivation Stage and could each refine two to three special-grade 'Power Pills' per day. With five puppets working in rotation, they could produce about ten to fifteen 'Power Pills' a day.

After all this time, they had accumulated over four thousand enhanced 'Power Pills'. If sold at the price he set, they could fetch nearly one hundred million taels of silver. However, this was only theoretically possible. If they flooded the market all at once, their value would plummet; getting even half that amount would be considered a good outcome.

Therefore, Wang Ping planned to sell one thousand pills first. As for the buyer, he already had one in mind: the First Sect. Qianmu Temple and the First Sect already had a trade agreement for 'Power Pills'.

Selling these one thousand Power Pills would not only recoup the production cost for this batch but also turn a small profit!

As for the remaining three thousand-plus 'Power Pills', if Lishui Prefecture truly intended to attack, he would let their navy experience a real war!

He believed that at this world's current level of civilization, as long as the enemy soldiers dared to form ranks on land, a mere one thousand 'Power Pills' would be enough to send them packing. If the other Dukes didn't change their battle tactics, he could even sweep through all of Zhongzhou with 'Power Pills' alone.

After all, a unit equipped with enhanced 'Power Pills' facing an ordinary army would be like a modern short-range missile unit facing an ancient army with cold weapons. The image was almost comical to imagine.

"Are you planning to use these to deal with the attack from Lishui Prefecture?" Yu Lian asked.

"It's a good solution, isn't it?" Wang Ping revealed a faint smile, but his tone was filled with killing intent.

"I'm suddenly looking forward to it," Yu Lian said, her eyes shining.

Wang Ping took out a new storage pouch, placed all of the refined 'Power Pills' inside, and then checked the puppets' condition. After confirming there were no issues, he left the Alchemy Room with Yu Lian.

「Two mornings later.」

A troop of Silver Armored Knights, holding imperial credentials, arrived in the northern part of Zhonghui County Town. They marched straight to the plaza in the Inner City, summoned the various great families of Zhonghui County Town and the nearby commoners, and proclaimed the decree of His Majesty the Emperor:

"An edict from the Emperor:

Vice Chancellor Yang Qing of the Central Secretariat and Chief Envoy Fan Lian of the Imperial Secretariat were entrusted with the instruments of state power. They were meant to be paragons for all officials, to support the Emperor above and bring peace to the common people below, setting an example for future generations. Yet, with the hearts of savage wolves, they deceived the Emperor above and preyed upon the common people below. Now, they have even raised troops in rebellion. Upon hearing this, We are heartbroken, but the discipline of the Court must be upheld. Therefore, the three clans of the Yang and Fan families are to be exterminated.

By Imperial Command!"

Once the imperial edict was read, the County Government Office escorted the several hundred members of the Yang Family to the execution platform that had already been prepared in the plaza. Before long, heads were rolling!

Mountain Peak Dojo.

Xia Wen Yi was reporting to Wang Ping on the operation. "The two large garrisons outside Jinhuai City did indeed attempt to mutiny and storm the palace the next day. Furthermore, hundreds of civil and military officials, along with several thousand scholars, caused a disturbance outside the palace gates. The Emperor's edict was useless; we had no choice but to deploy the Imperial Guard to suppress them by force!"

Wang Ping had already learned of this matter through his puppets in Jinhuai City. After listening, he simply asked, "We will not handle the aftermath. The Emperor should do the work of an emperor."

Xia Wen Yi fell silent for a moment upon hearing this, then said, "The Emperor wishes to continue the purge. If this goes on, I fear tens of thousands will be implicated."

Wang Ping looked up at Xia Wen Yi with some surprise. "As long as the Imperial Court remains obedient, do not interfere. However, the Jinhuai City garrison must not fall into chaos. They are an important chess piece for our future northward expansion."

With that, he took out the storage pouch containing the special-grade 'Power Pills' and instructed, "Inside are the new Power Pills I've refined. Take them with the First Sect's merchant caravan and show them what these can do. Then, sell them and acquire more raw materials."

"Yes, sir!"

The stern expression on Xia Wen Yi's face relaxed slightly. For the past year or two, the Mountain Peak Dojo's finances had been like a bottomless pit, and he was struggling to keep things afloat. Now, he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

He accepted the storage pouch, then took out a reply that he had kept at his chest. He presented it respectfully and said, "This is Daoist Wan Zhi's reply!"