Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 936 - 774: Take a Risk (Asking for Guaranteed Monthly Votes)

Chapter 936: Chapter 774: Take a Risk (Asking for Guaranteed Monthly Votes)

"I hope Shenqi Union can expedite the repairs of these five warships, and in addition, we need twelve Yunzhong warships, thirty-two thousand sets of Black Gold Divine Armor, as well as the corresponding weapons. Also, regarding Tianxingtai, aside from the Solar Furnace that is currently being constructed, I want to add two more,"

After his wallet swelled again, Li Xuan was emboldened.

The construction and electromagnetic gun costs of a Yunzhong warship amount to fourteen million silver yuan, plus the one hundred and twenty onboard cannons, coming to a total of twenty million.

Twelve Yunzhong warships would be two hundred and forty million silver yuan.

The cost of Black Gold Divine Armor with all its weapons is twelve thousand silver yuan per set, which totals three hundred and eighty-four million for thirty-two thousand sets.

Each Solar Furnace costs as much as fifty-five million silver yuan.

All these orders put together have already exceeded seven hundred million.

But Li Xuan was full of confidence; he still had over three hundred million assets unused in his pocket.

Besides, the items he had plundered from ’Clean-Heart Pure World’ were a whopping one point eight billion in solid value.

Although Leng Yurou only had a little over seven hundred million available for immediate use, it didn’t mean the rest was worthless.

"The order I am placing this time is rather large," Li Xuan said, fixing his gaze on Leng Yurou, his eyes filled with a determination to succeed, "Peacock Manor must give me a discount of eighty percent!"

He knew that these military armament orders were mainly the responsibility of Peacock Manor.

The steel mills, shipyards, all were owned by Peacock Manor, and many of the Mo elite had changed their allegiances to work for Peacock Manor.

Most of the twelve sects within Shenqi Union were now merely doing grunt work for Peacock Manor, earning hard-earned wages and not able to negotiate prices further.

So to reduce the profit margins, the cuts had to be made from Peacock Manor.

Leng Yurou furrowed her brow slightly, seemingly reluctant, before saying helplessly, "The best I can do is a discount of ninety percent."

She thought the price was still quite profitable, especially considering the significant recent advancements in the refining technology of Peacock Manor’s electric furnaces. The cost of producing one set of Black Gold Divine Armor could now be reduced to eight thousand seven hundred silver yuan.

After a pause, Leng Yurou’s tone shifted, "However, the cost of the Yunzhong warships may need to be increased. The Spellcasters we’ve hired have recently succeeded in modifying the core array of the warship’s power furnace, increasing the output efficiency by fifteen percent.

"This increased power means that not only can the speed be increased, but an additional electromagnetic gun can also be fitted at the bow of warships, using a parallel turret configuration. However, this will require an additional three million silver yuan in construction costs."

Li Xuan raised an eyebrow, immediately recalling the Buddha Palace they had managed to blast open after nearly one and a half shichen with great difficulty.

Losing any hesitation, Li Xuan, with a magnanimous wave of his hand, said, "Then let’s use parallel turrets! Moreover, it would be best if the existing five warships have their turrets and power furnaces replaced."

The logic was simple: the more electromagnetic guns a fleet had, the stronger the destructive force would be.

If there were thirty-four electromagnetic guns, then even if Moon Lotus personally defended ’Clean-Heart Pure World,’ they could shatter the pure white Buddha Palace within a quarter of an hour.

"However, I hope that these warships and armor can be completed before February of next year, can this be done?"

Only after receiving a satisfactory response from Leng Yurou did Li Xuan remember that he still had to share the spoils with Master Zhongliu and Lord Tushan.

Turning to look at them, he said, "The contributions of both of you in this campaign have been remarkable. Of all the spoils of war, Master Zhongliu can have ten percent and Lord Tushan can have thirty percent. The value of the Buddha Armor cannot be calculated, but I will distribute it according to this ratio. The rest of the assets will be calculated based on the total of one point eight billion. I can give you half in kind, and half in silver yuan."

These two were different from Lan Yu and others; Lan Yu and Fu Youde were Li Xuan’s retainers, whereas Master Zhongliu and Lord Tushan were investors and thus entitled to a share of the profits.

Master Zhongliu, without a second thought, swept his sleeve, "I do not need cash nor materials. Your Majesty, please help me order three thousand sets of Black Gold Divine Armor and two Yunzhong warships, to be completed by February of next year."

Nine-tail Tushan showed a pensive look; she thought her contribution was roughly equal to Master Zhongliu’s; why should he receive thirty-six million silver yuan more than her?

Was it because of the three thousand ’Divine Army of Zhongliu’ under his name?

And why did Li Xuan need to have these warships and Black Gold Divine Armor finished by February of next year?

Suddenly, Nine-tail Tushan bit her lip and said, "I will do the same as Master Zhongliu. Three thousand sets of Black Gold Divine Armor and two Yunzhong warships."

Li Xuan looked at her in surprise upon hearing this.

Three thousand sets of armor would be thirty-six million; two Yunzhong warships would be forty-six million.

With her share of the spoils alone, that was nowhere near enough.

"If there’s not enough money, my Tushan lineage will cover it. All outstanding balances will be in place within a month. Moreover—" At this point, Tushan also looked intently at Li Xuan, wondering if the ’Xuanhuang Great Emperor’ was worth another gamble.

Tushan made her decision in a flash of thought, "After the collapse of the Heavenly Court in bygone days, our Tushan lineage preserved a fragment of Heaven comparable to eighty percent of the Tianxingtai. I can merge it into Your Majesty’s Heaven. However, half of this land must belong solely to the Tushan Fox Clan."

Li Xuan was thrilled as the space inside Tianxingtai was becoming increasingly cramped.

Especially after the construction of those four three-li wide Solar Furnaces, there wasn’t much land left for use.

The piece of Heavenly Court Tushan brought out was like timely help in a snowy season to him.

※※※※

After sending all the warships back to the Tianjin shipyard, Li Xuan did not return to the Tianxingtai but flew directly with Master Zhongliu and others to the Tiandi Altar south of Beijing.

Owing to the Court recently having ample financial resources, the frequently troubled Tiandi Altar had been essentially restored.

Whether it was the underground foundation previously destroyed by Master Zhongliu, or the Huang Qiongyu, the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, and the Hall of Imperial Zenith, which had been burned by Lin Youzhen and others, all had been refurbished anew.

Upon arrival, Li Xuan directly descended to the Earth Altar, which is the ’Fangze Altar’ for worshipping Houtu.

At this time, many people were already waiting at the Earth Altar.

——Regent Princess Yu Hongshang, Jiang Yunqi, Master Zhang, Shaofu Yu Jie, the current Minister of Rites Hu Ying, Beijing’s Chenghuang Wen Zhonglie, Immortal Master Shuide Ao Shuying, Shaosiming Yuan Taiwei, Liudao Venerable Zhu Mingyue, Xuanwu Hall’s honored Qiu Qianqiu, and so on, were all gathered here.

Outside the Earth Altar, there was a rune array covering a ten-mile radius around it, impressively monumental beyond measure.

Once Li Xuan stood at the altar, he expressed his gratitude to the crowd with a fist and bow, "Li Xuan here thanks you all for your noble support!"

As he rose to his feet after his formalities, he specifically looked at Yu Hongshang.

The arrangements on the side of the Tiandi Altar this time were all managed single-handedly by Yu Hongshang, who, with the help of thousands of Jin Dynasty royal spellcasters, had managed to create this formation.

That she would agree to his use of the ’Tiandi Altar’—a matter involving the rise and fall of the Jin Dynasty—was already a surprise to Li Xuan.

However, Yu Hongshang was silent. She felt that this was what she should do anyway, let alone its benefits to the nation.

"Prince Fenyang is too formal."

The rest of the people returned the courtesy, while Shaofu Yu Jie and Minister of Rites Hu Ying, upon standing, gave Master Zhongliu and Tushan, the Demon Fox, a cold glance.

Beijing’s Chenghuang Wen Zhonglie remained expressionless and unadorned in speech.

Although he was a comrade-in-arms with Master Zhongliu, after the White Lotus uprising, they had denounced each other and diverged on separate paths.

Zhu Mingyue laughed and said, "It is rare for you to ask me so seriously for a favor, and besides, it involves a great general of my Liudao Division—how could Zhu possibly not show up!"

He then glanced over the people present: "Prince Fenyang, you’ve set up quite the imposition today, and the purpose of this formation must be more than just to calm the spiritual forces, right?"

Li Xuan candidly admitted, "I can’t conceal it from Venerable Zhu! Regarding the remnants of Xinyuelian’s spirit, indeed, I have other intentions."

Zhu Mingyue, upon hearing this, simply shook his head unconvincedly: "Luo Yan is extraordinarily talented, even surpassing me. Once she steps into the heavenly level, creating the Rule of Extreme Heaven would be but a flip of the hand, in just over a decade or so.

Xinyuelian’s cultivation of the mind is strong, but it may hinder Luo Yan’s own path in the future, delaying her time to independently develop the Rule of Extreme Heaven."

Li Xuan replied with a bitter smile; he was all too aware of this principle.

The problem was that they might not be able to wait that decade.

’Xinling’ methods of Xinyuelian are vital to him in the upcoming few years.

The key point is, in the long run, this is also beneficial for Luo Yan.

Why does Xinyuelian covet Luo Yan? Isn’t it because of Luo Yan’s innate gift in Illusion Technique, which complements the mind perfectly—a chance for Xinyuelian to achieve Buddha fruition."

Zhu Mingyue could tell by Li Xuan’s expression that his mind was made up.

He wanted to say that Buddhism would not give up easily and would not just stand by while Luo Yan seized Xinyuelian’s true Buddha fruition.

But Zhu Mingyue immediately thought that Li Xuan inviting so many top figures of the day, and arranging the ’Twelve Heavens Divine Suppression Array’, was precisely to prevent any accidents, wasn’t it?

"So be it!" Zhu Mingyue flicked his sleeves: "Let’s gamble this once. At the very least, we must ensure the safety of General Luo’s true spirit!"

He thought that once Luo Yan obtained the ’Rule of Extreme Heaven’, he could finally kick this Prince Fenyang out of the Liudao Division.

Zhu Mingyue had refused Li Xuan’s request for resignation before the year’s end, initially because his own foundation had been damaged in the battles in the Western Region and would be difficult to recover quickly. Thus, he wished to deter the evil spirits of the world using Li Xuan’s name, but this man had done nothing but draw a salary for the past year, which had greatly annoyed Zhu Mingyue.

At that moment, the void at the center of the Earth Altar suddenly opened.

Jiang Hanyun, supporting Luo Yan, appeared on the altar.

Several days after giving birth, Luo Yan’s Yuan Qi had not yet recovered, and her delicate face still looked slightly pale.

Li Xuan gave her an inquiring look, then saw Luo Yan respond with a gaze of resolute, undiminishing regret.

At that instant, the heavens and earth surged with wind and clouds. The clear sky suddenly filled with dark clouds, and countless thunderbolts began to breed and flash.

All the people at the altar felt a surge of a powerful and imposing, yet strangely scattered and disordered, intent descending upon them.

At the same time, in the Void outside, a ’Buddha’ radiating Unlimited Light also suddenly opened his eyes.

At this moment, his eyes were full of disdain, mockery, and anticipation.