I just reached the maximum level, and you want me to be a puppet emperor?

Chapter 82 You have been honing your skills for twelve years and finally completed this!

Upon hearing this, Guo Poyun replied respectfully: "Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I am in good health. I can still eat eight bowls of rice at a meal, draw a hundred bows, and march and fight without any problem."

Both his words and his implicit confession revealed Guo Poyun's eagerness for the Northern Expedition.

Li Chen heard it, but ignored him.

At today's court meeting, the atmosphere was unusually solemn. It seemed that many people had received the message and did not stand out to show off.

At this moment, a middle-aged man in official uniform and with a resolute face strode into the hall. He was Peng Zhao, the envoy of the Tiance Dynasty who was on a diplomatic mission abroad.

Peng Zhao was already extremely capable when he was young, and he had a profound understanding of geology.

The court officials in the hall all looked at him with respect. They all knew that this young envoy must have brought extraordinary news when he returned this time.

Peng Zhao was followed by several people, who were carrying a huge scroll.

He first knelt down to pay homage to Li Chen, and then spoke in a loud voice: "I, Peng Zhao, have been on a diplomatic mission for twelve years, traveling to the countries surrounding the Tiance Dynasty and conducting in-depth explorations of various terrains. Now, I have made a brand new map, and I would like to present it to Your Majesty."

When these words were spoken, all the court officials were shocked.

Twelve years, that’s a full twelve years!

In order to make this map, Peng Zhao endured unimaginable hardships. Just based on his perseverance, who in the hall could not help but admire him?

This is also the reason why Guo Poyun kept testing Zhao Wenyuan when he was in court.

In fact, they both knew the news, but no one told it.

Even though Guo Poyun hadn't attended court for a long time, he knew that among the ministers, he was not the protagonist today.

At Li Chen's signal, Peng Zhao asked several followers to slowly unfold the precious map.

On that map, the mountains, rivers, cities and fortresses were all depicted vividly, as if a vivid picture was displayed before everyone.

Li Chen walked down to take a look at it himself, examining the map with his eyes, and a look of admiration gradually appeared on his face.

During the period, Peng Zhao also gave explanations based on where Li Chen's eyes were, as if his figure could be seen in every part of the map, and he had walked out of it down to earth.

He could even tell Li Chen some stories that happened in the local area.

"Great! What a great map!" Li Chen said happily, "Lord Peng, you have worked hard for twelve years to finally complete this map. It is a blessing for our Tiance Dynasty! I have decided to confer you the title of Marquis of Zhaoyuan and grant you a thousand taels of gold to commend your outstanding contribution!"

Normally, Li Chen didn't know what to seal, so he would probably ask Zhao Wenyuan, the tool man.

But Eunuch Cui had already told Li Chen about this matter yesterday.

Several ministers in the court also knew the news in advance.

Li Chen looked up how to reward and told it directly today.

Actually, to put it bluntly, today's event is just a formality for Peng Zhao.

He was an envoy sent by the previous emperor. He had been away for twelve years and even the emperor had been replaced.

Seeing this new map, which is several times larger than the original map, Li Chen was deeply moved.

There is actually a country north of the Northern Royal Court.

To the south of the southern countries, there stands a similar great country.

It turns out that this world is so big.

As an emperor, he naturally had a thought in his mind: How much time and energy would it take if I wanted to conquer all these places?

Peng Zhao was extremely excited when he heard this. He knelt on the ground and bowed respectfully, saying, "Thank you for your grace, my Lord! I will continue to work hard for Your Majesty and the Tiance Dynasty until my death!"

Twelve years of hard work to finally be crowned a marquis. It all seems worth it.

The court officials congratulated Peng Zhao one after another.

The two leaders of the civil and military officials were also generous in their praise.

Guo Poyun, in particular, knew very well that this detailed map would become an important strategic resource when going to war with the Northern Royal Court.

As an emperor, Li Chen also knew that only by giving sufficient rewards could he make his subjects work wholeheartedly.

The following morning meeting was some normal work reports.

Minister of Revenue Liu Minghan presented a list of official transfers.

With his ability as a child prodigy, Li Chen still believed in it very much. He just took a quick glance and said that as long as he checked it carefully, it would be fine.

Today's morning court ended early. After going to the Imperial Study to review the memorials submitted by officials from all over the country, Li Chen could go home from get off work.

In the imperial study, Li Chen was carefully looking at the map presented by Peng Zhao, as well as the detailed annotations on the map. At this time, Li Si Ning walked in and said that she had cultivated 12 meridians and now had reached the middle stage of the Kaimai realm, and asked Li Chen what to do next.

As for cultivation, it was Li Chen who taught her, and she only believed in Li Chen.

If Li Sining hadn't said it, Li Chen would have forgotten about it. He had completed the task yesterday, but he hadn't even looked at the system reward.

[Congratulations to the host for completing the mission 'Ferocious Secret Realm', and reward: Dragon Pattern Jade Pendant X1. ]

[Limited time mission: destroy the evil spirits (danger). ]

[Task requirements: This mission is very dangerous. The host needs to work hard to improve to the late stage of Kaimai Realm before going to Luoxing Mountain to search for the traces of the demon spirit. The time limit is 90 days.]

Dragon-patterned jade pendant: It is made of the purest essence of dragon blood, and has gone through countless years and been nourished by the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and finally condensed.

Those who wear dragon-patterned jade pendants can not only feel the powerful protection from the dragon clan, but can also use the dragon blood essence contained in it to improve their own cultivation speed.

Li Chen knew that most of these things were matching items.

Since the dragon-patterned jade pendant is the essence of dragon blood, it will be of great help to Li Si Ning in practicing the "Nine Heavens Dragon Vein Art".

It seems that when Li Si Ning cultivates to the great perfection of the saint realm in the future, it will not be an ordinary great perfection.

But Li Sining looked so cute now, as if she was completely unaware of this.

I thought I was just an ordinary practitioner practicing for fun.

After handing the things to Li Si Ning, Li Chen said: "After a few more days of calming down, you can start the awakening ceremony. You must take this ceremony seriously, as it is related to your future cultivation."

Seeing Li Chen say this, Li Sining said seriously that it was no problem.

It doesn’t matter whether the dragon-patterned jade pendant is precious or not. As long as it is given by Li Chen, she likes it.

After finding out that this was something that even Chu Ruoyan didn't have, Li Sining became even happier.

Doesn’t that mean that in Li Chen’s heart, she is more important.

She was so satisfied that she actually wanted to continue staying with Li Chen.

However, she still had to visit her mother today, so she said goodbye and left the imperial study.

After Li Si Ning left, Li Chen started to study the system task.

The mission location is in Luoxing Mountain, which is some distance away from the imperial capital and much farther away than the secret realm in the wild.

And this mission is indeed dangerous in a sense.

The demon spirit is actually the same creature as the extraterritorial demon, just at a different level.

The power of the evil spirit is not as great as that of the extraterritorial demon. If you are not careful when dealing with it and it is possessed by you, your mind will be corrupted by it and you will become its puppet.

Of course, the danger only applies to practitioners in the late stage of Kaimai Realm.

If Li Chen went over there, not only would he be able to defeat the evil spirits, but even the heavenly demons would be defeated.

According to Li Chen's judgment, since the system has arranged it this way, no evil spirits should appear in Luoxing Mountain in a short period of time. He will go and take a look when he has time after some time.

After returning to the bedroom, Chu Ruoyan is still resting because the battle lasted too long last night.

Hearing that Li Chen had returned, she lazily stood up.

There was only Li Chen here, so Chu Ruoyan was not very alert and walked over in disheveled clothes.

Feeling Li Chen's gaze, she immediately begged to be let go, saying that there was a banquet tonight.

In order to invite Li Chen to the Chu family for this banquet, she tried her best last night.

"Your Majesty, haven't the other concubines chosen by the Queen Mother arrived yet?"

If there was no one to share the burden, Chu Ruoyan really wouldn't be able to bear it.

The last time she went to visit the Queen Mother, she had already explained all these things to her.

Her words reminded Li Chen of someone, the woman who could transform into a black gold holy tiger whom he met in the secret realm yesterday.

If she is in good condition, she can be included in the harem.

It just so happens that Luoxing Mountain is quite far away, so it would be convenient to have a mount.

You can ride it during the day when you are traveling, and you can also ride it at night, which is really killing two birds with one stone.

(End of this chapter)