Enlightenment: Attaining the Dao at Age 8

Li Chang’an smiled. “We only took out a group of incarnations. The real Cultivators haven’t even shown their faces yet, so it’s still far too early to celebrate.”

Lu Shang said earnestly, “But isn’t this enough? As long as people see the truth and believe they have the power to solve the problem, someone will be willing to start trying, no matter how difficult it is… And as long as someone is willing to try, that’s enough!”

He had a very positive outlook.

Perhaps it was because Elder Hun had told him something similar, which was why he now seemed so adept at comforting Li Chang’an.

Li Chang’an remained noncommittal. After cleaning up the battlefield, he immediately returned to the Imperial Palace.

Over the next year, Li Chang’an began to mobilize his armies to conquer the defiant neighboring states.

While on his way to various battlefields, Li Chang’an had eliminated the entire core ruling class of both Great Yuan and Qiangman.

With the deaths of those dozen or so Cultivators, the remaining soldiers had long since lost all will to fight.

Thus, while launching a massive propaganda campaign, Li Chang’an sent his troops to occupy the two nations’ territories. In just one year, he doubled the size of the Great Zhou empire on the map.

[Ding! You have succeeded in Defying Fate!]

[At nineteen years old, you suppressed all dissent and successfully ascended the throne in the Great Zhou Imperial Palace, becoming the youngest monarch in the Nine Provinces and Twelve Kingdoms. Because you imparted the Martial Scripture to your soldiers, your word became law in Great Zhou, placing you above all others!]

[Rebirth rating has increased. You have been awarded an additional 20,000 Rebirth Points!]

…

[Ding! You have succeeded in Defying Fate!]

[At twenty years old, you traveled alone to the Da Yuan Imperial Palace and personally slew seven Cultivator Divine Soul Incarnations that had been sent to deal with you!]

[Rebirth rating has increased. You have been awarded an additional 30,000 Rebirth Points!]

…

[Ding! You have succeeded in Defying Fate!]

[At twenty years old, you publicly slew twelve Cultivator Divine Soul Incarnations on the battlefield as they stood upon their Array Patterns. With this single act, your fame spread across the world, proving to everyone on the Jiuzhou Continent that even Immortals are not invincible!]

[Rebirth rating has increased. You have been awarded an additional 50,000 Rebirth Points!]

Three messages from the Rebirth Mark popped up one after another. At this point, Li Chang’an had already made a fortune from this reincarnation.

But Li Chang’an wasn’t satisfied yet. He had finally found such a golden opportunity, so he was determined to fleece it for all it was worth.

Besides, he also wanted to test the Cultivators further and see what other tricks they had up their sleeves.

…

「Over the next three years.」

Li Chang’an began dispatching his armies to rapidly conquer the Jiuzhou Continent.

—To unify the Jiuzhou Continent and eliminate all the fail-safes left behind by the Cultivators. This was the agreement Li Chang’an had previously made with Elder Hun.

Having received such immense benefits, it was only natural for Li Chang’an to do his part.

Without the Cultivators’ protection, the remaining eleven countries were like sitting ducks before Li Chang’an—nothing to be feared.

In just three short years, six of the Twelve Countries had been annihilated, and the territory of Great Zhou had expanded nearly tenfold!

Of course, the main reason for this rapid advance was that—thanks to the relentless propaganda from the God Rebel Association and White Jade City—the hearts of the people across the Jiuzhou Continent were in turmoil.

Upon learning that their own nations were traitors colluding with the “Immortals” to sell out their people’s interests, everyone from Martial Artists and soldiers to the millions of ordinary folk lost all sense of national loyalty.

In this environment, the various national armies became completely disorganized.

They could no longer mount a spirited resistance.

Much of the time, Great Zhou barely had to do a thing. As soon as the army arrived and unfurled its banners, all it took was a few shouts to the local populace.

Soldiers and citizens alike would surrender in droves.

…

「In the 13,361st year of the Great Zhou Calendar, Li Chang’an was twenty-four years old.」

With the fall of the final kingdom, the Twelve Countries were swept into the dustbin of history. Through Li Chang’an’s efforts, the Jiuzhou Continent was unified for the first time ever!

After briefly overseeing the initial post-war reconstruction efforts, Li Chang’an began to standardize the writing systems, languages, and units of measurement across the nations. He also began promoting the complete Martial Scripture to the entire world.

To ensure the Martial Scripture would be adopted more smoothly, Li Chang’an told everyone that this was the only Cultivation Technique that could help them gain the power to stand against the Cultivators.

Having captured the attention of countless Martial Artists and common people throughout the land, it wasn’t long before the Martial Scripture swiftly became the Core Techniques practiced by Martial Artists across the Jiuzhou Continent.

As the complete Martial Scripture was disseminated and put into practice, the strength of the Martial Artists on the Jiuzhou Continent increased by leaps and bounds. Many came to worship the Cultivation Technique with feverish devotion, utterly captivated by it.

Of course, the Martial Scripture alone wouldn’t be enough to deal with the Cultivators.

Fortunately, Li Chang’an had already accumulated a great deal of relevant experience in his past life. Once the empire began to truly stabilize, he immediately set about establishing numerous research institutes.

Most of these institutes were engaged in the same lines of research he had pursued in his past life.

This included upgrading the Martial Scripture, as well as modifying and perfecting the Cultivation Technique itself.

But Li Chang’an was clearly not content to simply rest on his laurels.

Building on the foundations of his past life, he added two new fields of study. One was dedicated to studying the Cultivators—their societal structure and power hierarchy.

The other was for researching Arrays.

Li Chang’an now possessed the Martial Scripture: Array Chapter, but at the moment, the only truly viable Array it contained was the Five Elements Immortal Array.