Qin Renhuang just became an immortal, and you told me this is the prehistoric time

hum!
An indescribable and mysterious fluctuation emanated from his Purple Mansion! At the core of his primordial spirit, a wisp of pure golden aura, thinner than a hair, yet exuding eternity, immortality, and supreme yang and strength, slowly emerged and condensed, like a seed sprouting!
At the very moment this wisp of pure yang energy was born—

Ying Shaoyang's primordial spirit suddenly shrank again, becoming less than five meters tall! A turbid stream of grayish-black energy, carrying various impurities and inert energy, was forcibly forced out from the deepest part of his primordial spirit, like exhaling a breath of turbid air that had accumulated for ten thousand years. It was then completely annihilated and purified in the aftershocks of the surrounding thunder!
"Hahaha! That was great!!"

As Ying Shaoyang felt the unprecedented lightness, clarity and purity of his primordial spirit, and the faint yet powerful pure yang energy at its core that represented a higher level of life, he couldn't help but burst into a hearty laugh!

Although, strictly speaking, he did not completely complete the entire process of "crossing the heavenly tribulation" in the traditional cultivation system—that is, completely rejecting all yin energy, condensing pure yang, and transforming the primordial spirit during the heavenly tribulation.

He cleverly used the unique lightning tribulation of the Yangshen world, which targets the soul, to introduce its power and complete the deepest purification and refinement of his own primordial spirit, thus giving birth to a trace of pure Yang origin in advance.

But this is already a huge success! The appearance of this pure Yang aura means that he has already stepped halfway into the threshold of Earth Immortal, and his primordial spirit has undergone a leap! The rest is just a matter of time and effort to slowly transform his primordial spirit into pure Yang.

The reason he chose to take this step in this world, rather than in his own Qin world, is precisely because his foundation, his path, and all his plans are closely connected to the Qin world.

Only by undergoing the true tribulation of immortality in one's own world can one obtain the greatest gift and recognition from the world's origin, perfectly combining one's own path with the world's advancement, and maximizing benefits!

……

Just as Ying Shaoyang was tempering his primordial spirit and beginning to condense pure yang amidst the tribulation of lightning, the attention of various forces in the Yang God World had already been drawn to this massive and prolonged tribulation. The energy between heaven and earth was being frantically extracted by the tribulation, causing the spiritual energy within a radius of tens of thousands of miles to become much thinner.

At the summit of a solitary mountain, Meng Shenji, dressed in snow-white robes, stood with his hands behind his back. His indifferent gaze seemed to pierce through space, staring directly at the place of tribulation, where dark clouds gathered and lightning flashed.

He could clearly "see" that the strange formation that had caused him trouble before was floating in the tribulation clouds. Not only was it not damaged by the lightning, but its aura was even stronger and more condensed than when they last fought. It even faintly formed its own space, which was extremely mysterious.

"This treasure... can actually draw power from the lightning tribulation and grow on its own?"

For the first time, Meng Shenji's usually calm and composed state of mind was disturbed by a magical artifact.

He recalled his brief encounter with Ying Shaoyang; there had actually been no direct conflict between them. Logically, he should have ignored this man's existence.

but……

"Number one in the world..."

A faint hint of fierceness flashed in Meng Shenji's eyes.

He has always considered himself the greatest person in the world and regarded all living beings as ants. Last time, when he retreated from the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends Formation, he could use the excuse of insufficient preparation and damage to the Eternal Kingdom.

But now that he has witnessed the opponent's magic weapon become even more powerful during the tribulation, if he remains inactive and stagnant, how will he maintain his title of "Number One in the World" and his unwavering belief in invincibility?

"It seems it's time to conserve our energy and prepare for the eighth, or even... ninth, tribulation."

A chilling sword intent flashed from Meng Shenji's body; he had made his decision. Only by breaking through his own strength once again could he suppress all variables and re-establish his supreme position.

……

Meanwhile, the various schools of thought and sage families scattered throughout the land were also observing this tribulation through various secret methods.

Their expressions were far more complex than Meng Shenji's.

Recently, Emperor Yang Pan of the Qianlong Emperor implemented new policies.

The policies of "officials and gentry paying taxes together" and "re-measuring all the land in the country" were like two sharp knives, piercing the lifeblood of these ancient families! And that wasn't all; the new policies even required the descendants of sages to pay taxes and perform corvée labor just like ordinary commoners. In their eyes, this was an utter disgrace, a trampling of the sages' honor underfoot!

They were already seething with anger towards Yang Pan, who was hiding in the Ark of Creation and seemingly unshakeable, and had nowhere to vent their frustration.

Now, Ying Shaoyang's sudden emergence has given them new hope.

"Has the matter been investigated? Is this child truly not the reincarnation of some ancient Yang God, or the incarnation of some old monster?"

An elderly man dressed in a Confucian robe, exuding a profound aura, asked in a deep voice. He was the head of a certain sub-saint family.

"Master, we have verified through various channels that this young man has indeed risen to prominence in recent years. He had no prior background and is definitely not an ancient monster. Judging from his actions, he is domineering and direct. He must have reached his current level through extraordinary encounters and his own talent. He is definitely not very old."

The clansman in charge of intelligence at the next seat respectfully reported back.

"Excellent! What a rising star!"

Another patriarch clapped his hands, his eyes gleaming with calculation.

"Youth means that passion has not cooled and it is easy to form alliances."

Moreover, he is not a native force of this realm, and has already clashed with Yang Pan and Hong Xuanji, making him precisely the 'external force' we can rely on!

"Excellent! If we can win them over, their strength—capable of directly confronting the Creation Ship and forcing back the Dream God Machine—makes them perfect vanguards to clash head-on with the Great Qian Dynasty!"

Another person chimed in, their tone filled with excitement.

"We can cheer from the sidelines and provide assistance."

Even if we ultimately fail to eliminate Yang Pan, we can use this opportunity to remove those stumbling blocks in the court who are dependent on imperial power, allowing us, the descendants of the sage, to regain control of the court!

"As for what happened afterward... the pen of history is like a knife, but it is in the hands of us scholars."

The old man who spoke first stroked his beard and sneered, his eyes filled with an air of absolute confidence.

"Changing the emperor and cursing him as a tyrant is something our ancestors have long been adept at."

As long as history doesn't record it, and with the world's voices, who dares to criticize us, the descendants of sages?

In an instant, many families of saints began to plot how to contact and ally with this newly emerged "righteous man" Ying Shaoyang, to push him to the forefront to fight against what they saw as "tyranny," while they remained calm and prepared to reap the final victory.

An undercurrent surrounding Ying Shaoyang began to surge across the states.

Standing before the entrance to the void passage, Ying Shaoyang was completely unaware of the undercurrents brewing in the world behind him; even if he were aware, he would only laugh it off.

He glanced one last time at the still raging, dark, and oppressive sky of the Yangshen World, a satisfied smile on his face.

With the help of this tribulation, he successfully tempered the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Array, removed the subtle incense and impurities from his spiritual roots, medicinal herbs, and his own primordial spirit, and even cultivated a trace of the crucial pure yang energy ahead of time. He has already exceeded his goal.

"Nine layers of lightning tribulation, passing through the first layer is enough."

He felt no regret. The higher-level tribulations that followed contained too much of the unique will and causality of the Yang God World. For him, an outsider, this would not only be of no benefit but might even be a form of pollution and constraint. Moreover, although the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Array was powerful, it could not completely resist the influence of the world's will within the higher-level tribulations. He did not want his natal magic weapon to go out of control because of this.

Knowing when to stop is the mark of a wise person.

With a thought, the colossal Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Array, which covered thousands of miles, transformed into a stream of chaotic light and slowly entered his brow dantian for nurturing. Then, he stepped into the spatial passage in front of him, and his figure completely disappeared from the Yang God World.

The instant he left, in the world of Yang God, the dark clouds that had been stirred up by him seemed to lose their target, becoming even darker and heavier. The violent lightning struck the void below aimlessly, causing the space where he had stood to collapse and turn into nothingness.

After a long time, the thunder gradually subsided, and the energy between heaven and earth slowly gathered, beginning to repair the damaged space.

……

Deep within the Xianyang Palace, in the world of Qin.

The space rippled slightly, and Ying Shaoyang's figure quietly appeared.

As soon as he appeared, he felt the stone gate connecting the mysterious space within his body silently expand, making the internal space more spacious and stable.

"It seems that this trip to the Yangshen World has been very fruitful."

Ying Shaoyang nodded slightly.

He knew perfectly well that although the main storyline had not fundamentally changed—even though Hong Yi had obtained the Supreme Dao's "Cosmic Second Scripture" ahead of time, he still seemed to have followed the old path of the Great Zen Temple's cultivation method—making it difficult for Shimen to draw much power from the world's main storyline.

However, his "destruction" in the side storylines was real! Killing the two Great Demon Immortals, the Fragrant Fox King and the White Ape King, completely emptying the Dragon's Tomb, and taking care of the Champion Marquis, the chosen one of destiny... These actions undoubtedly seriously disrupted the original operating trajectory of the Yangshen World.

Stone Gate draws considerable world power from these destroyed and altered "branches," thus enabling it to grow and expand.

Just then, a streak of light flew down from the sky with incredible speed and entered Ying Shaoyang's body.

That was a message transmitted from the core of the world. At the same time, he clearly sensed that a vast and pure energy was rapidly merging with the Great Qin world!
boom……

The entire Qin world seemed to tremble slightly, its borders slowly but steadily advancing beyond the chaos before stabilizing. The world's origin became even more abundant, and the spiritual energy between heaven and earth seemed to thicken slightly.

"This fusion energy... is so immense!"

Ying Shaoyang was surprised as soon as he sensed it.

"Did it actually completely devour the Tang Dynasty world?"

Based on his previous experience in integrating the Great Song world, he judged that only by completely devouring and digesting a world could such a massive amount of primordial energy be provided.

This means that from the time he left until his return, the Qin world had successfully absorbed the entire population and origin of the world that was connected to the late Sui and early Tang dynasties!

His divine sense immediately spread out like a tide, sweeping towards the key node of population migration—the Shu region.

Sure enough, on the rivers throughout Shu, boats bearing the character "Qin" were shuttling back and forth, and the docks were bustling with activity as countless newly migrated people were registering and being distributed under the organization of officials.

The entire Sichuan region was at its peak of popularity!

Due to the explosive growth of the population in a short period of time, the flow of celestial and terrestrial energy in the Shu region has shown a clear trend.

The vast gathering of living beings, their daily breathing, activities, and even unconscious thoughts all consume the energy of heaven and earth.

Although most of the energy dissipates after circulating among living beings and is absorbed by the land of Shu, causing the spirituality of the mountains and rivers of Shu to rise rapidly, second only to the core area of ​​Qin, which Ying Shaoyang has managed for the longest time, this huge consumption and transformation is still clearly discernible, like an energy vortex.

"It seems that during my absence, the migration of the people of the Great Sui Dynasty has been much faster than expected."

Ying Shaoyang understood instantly.

"Even though the cabinet later issued an order prohibiting the retention of people in Sichuan, by the time the news reached them, tens of millions of people had probably already been settled in Sichuan. People who migrated later, seeing that those who came earlier had settled down and lived in peace and contentment, were naturally more willing to stay."

He could imagine the cabinet's current predicament. The population explosion in Shu meant that resources originally allocated to downstream counties to accommodate immigrants needed to be urgently redistributed to Shu; new population divisions and administrative management also had to be implemented immediately.

The last time a group of Song Dynasty officials were appointed, the effect was good, but if a large number of Sui Dynasty officials are appointed again this time, the old ministers in the cabinet, especially Wang Guan, Zhang Juzheng and others, will definitely not agree.

It was inevitable that capable officials would be transferred from other parts of the Qin Dynasty to Shu to assist in its administration.

“Zhang Dun, oh Zhang Dun…”

Ying Shaoyang sighed inwardly, feeling both admiration for the man's abilities and a touch of regret.

"You have managed the Shu region and attracted population, which has been of great merit to the Qin Dynasty. However, the troubles you have brought to the cabinet are also real. Considering your merits and demerits, it is unlikely that you will be promoted. Whether you can sit securely in the position of governor in the future is still uncertain."

He knew this fell under the purview of cabinet affairs. Since the Inner Study had already been entrusted to the four women—Lü Zhi, Qu Ruo, Jing Rou, and Zhao Shan—and they were cooperating well with the cabinet, he didn't need to directly intervene. The way of the emperor lies in balance and delegation of power.

His gaze fell upon the winding Shu Road below.

A large number of imperial guards and civilians with their families were seen marching along the widened and reinforced Shu Road towards the Qin region.

The long convoy was loaded with all kinds of goods, including Shu brocade, medicinal herbs, and minerals. The variety and quantity of these goods demonstrated the prosperity and wealth of Shu, the "Land of Abundance," which was unparalleled in the Qin Dynasty.

"Zhang Dun's ability to develop the economy and revitalize the local area is indeed beyond doubt."

Ying Shaoyang nodded to himself.

"Officials from the Song Dynasty seem to be particularly adept at this."

But while he may admire him, he will never change the cabinet's decision on how to handle Zhang Dun, much less promote him to a core position like Grand Secretary.

"I spend most of my time traveling through the heavens and neglecting daily state affairs, leaving all government matters to the cabinet. The position of Grand Secretary is crucial to the foundation of the nation and must be filled by someone I can completely trust and who shares my ideals."

Ying Shaoyang pondered.

“Zhang Dun is capable and has his own foundation. Many Song Dynasty officials in the Qin court will support him.”

If I were to remain in a certain world for an extended period, Zhang Dun, as the Grand Secretary, with his audacious nature, might very well alter the established national policies of the Great Qin Dynasty. For example, he might slow down or even halt the core task of absorbing and refining the energy of heaven and earth, and might even implement a nationwide ban on martial arts for the sake of so-called 'stability'... By the time I return, I fear the situation will be beyond repair." (End of Chapter)