No taboos in the world

Chapter 495: Imperial Edict to Wei Zheng
Datang.

On the fourth day of June in the ninth year of Wude, the Xuanwu Gate Incident marked the beginning of the Zhenguan Reign.

After ascending the throne, Li Shimin worked hard to govern the country and ensure the safety of the people, while at the same time he launched military campaigns to the east and west and made great military achievements.

That night, Li Shimin had just fallen asleep when he suddenly saw a dragon flying in his dream.

The dragon descended, transformed into a human body with a dragon head, and immediately knelt down and shouted:

"Your Majesty, I beg you to save my life!"

Li Shimin was startled at first, but then he suppressed his shock and frowned as he asked, "Who are you? Why do you want me to save you?"

"Your Majesty is a true dragon, and I am a karma dragon. I have violated the laws of heaven and should be executed by your majesty's wise minister Cao Weizheng, so I come to beg for worship, hoping that your majesty will have mercy and save me."

Li Shimin thought for a moment and nodded: "Since Wei Zheng is the one who will be executed, I can save you."

The Dragon King was overjoyed and bowed to express his gratitude before leaving.

……

Two Boundary Mountains.

Hundreds of years ago, fairy light descended from the sky here, making it difficult for mortals to see and approach. After the fairy light dissipated, people discovered that the mountain topography of Liangjie Mountain had undergone tremendous changes.

Thousands of fairy mists are swirling around, and tens of thousands of colorful clouds are flying.

Birds are singing in the green bamboos, and pheasants are fighting among the wild flowers.

It looks like a fairyland.

Within a few years, a complex of buildings stretching from the foot of the mountain to the top rose from the ground and stood tall.

That is the temple of "The Great Emperor Xuanzhen Lingying, who is blessed by the Three Realms".

According to the monks who serve the emperor in the palace, behind the temple is the emperor's dojo on earth.

Although no mortal has ever entered the Taoist temple, more than one devout believer has seen Emperor Xuanling with his own eyes and received his blessings, healing and guidance.

Hundreds of years have passed, and people have become more and more convinced that the Taoist temple of Emperor Xuanling is here.

Liangjie Mountain was quietly renamed "Xuanling Mountain", and Xuanling Palace was also very popular every year. Every day, believers from other places came to worship, or pray for marriage, or for children, or for good health, etc.

Also.

Also because of the Xuanling Palace, during the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty, Yang Jian, sent military generals to occupy the natural border with the countries in the Western Regions and expanded the territory outward by more than a hundred miles.

At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the border troops were ordered to leave. The small countries in the Western Regions attempted to invade this place and made the soldiers disguise themselves as bandits. The common people could not bear the harassment and had to go to the mountains to seek protection.

Those fake bandits attacked the mountain in a frenzy and even intended to set it on fire.

But in the blink of an eye, the white clouds in the sky turned into sharp swords that fell down and killed the bandits to pieces.

The legendary degree of Xuanling Palace thus increased by another ten percent.

After the Tang Dynasty was founded and Li Shimin ascended the throne, he incorporated this place into the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

Because the belief was widely spread, mortals came from all over the Central Plains and Jiangnan, which promoted the economic and trade development in the western part of the Tang Dynasty.

This day.

The Xuanling Mountain is shrouded in mist and the sun generously gilds the green tiles in the palace.

The curling green smoke from the incense swirled up and then disappeared, as if it had really floated into the ninth heaven.

The entire Xuanling Mountain was bustling with activity.

Suddenly, a cry of surprise rang out from the crowd, and then quickly spread to all directions. Finally, everyone looked up at the sky, shouting in horror or joy:

"dragon!"

There were indeed two real dragons appearing and disappearing between the clouds, and they were flying quickly towards Xuanling Mountain.

When it got closer, it could see that they were two extremely large and powerful blue dragons and white dragons.

However, when they flew to the top of Xuanling Mountain, they suddenly flashed and disappeared.

This scene also makes people believe more that the Great Emperor's Taoist temple is here. Otherwise, where else could the Azure Dragon and the White Dragon go?

Dojo.

Although it is called a Taoist temple, it is actually a palace complex refined with the power of incense and fire. Its specifications and appearance are very similar to the imperial palace in heaven.

Incense is the elixir of Shinto practitioners, and the Shinto incarnation's actions are equivalent to a mortal building a house with gold.

Nothing else, just rich.

The Azure Dragon and the White Dragon landed outside the palace and transformed into human bodies with dragon heads. They were Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the East Sea, and Ao Run, the Dragon King of the West Sea.

Although it was not their first visit here, they were still shocked by the rich and pure power of the incense here.

After calming down, the two dragons rushed towards the palace, shouting in unison:
"Your Majesty! Help, Your Majesty!"

Arriving at the Xuanling Palace, they saw Hong Chen's incarnation of the gods leisurely sipping tea. Ao Guang's face lit up with joy, and he took Ao Run and quickly stepped forward to bow deeply: "Your Majesty, please have mercy on the small number of dragons and generously rescue them! The old dragon is willing to open the Dragon Palace treasury again and let the emperor choose!"

Ao Run continued, "Your Majesty, please save my useless brother-in-law. I am willing to open the Dragon Palace treasury for the emperor to choose from!"

Hong Chen calmly drank a sip of tea and said, "Sit down."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Take your seat.

Hong Chen put down his teacup and said, "The Dragon King of Jinghe River has done evil and deserves retribution. The dragon clan is indeed rare nowadays, but it is not so rare that there is only one like him."

Ao Guang's face turned bitter and he told the story slowly.

First of all, the Dragon King of Jinghe River is the brother-in-law of the Dragon King of West Sea, which means he is also the brother-in-law of Ao Guang. But this is actually the least important.

The key point is that although the Dragon King of Jinghe River is incompetent, he has nine sons. The four most capable of these nine sons occupy the positions of the Four Rivers respectively.

Although the Four Rivers are not as big as the Four Seas, due to their special status in the human race, these four dragons are extremely important to the dragon clan, which has deep karma, and they must never be allowed to rebel against the dragon clan.

The four rivers are Yangtze River, Yellow River, Huai River and Ji River.

Therefore, the territory of the Dragon King of Jing River is actually a tributary of the Wei River, a tributary of the Yellow River, which is controlled by his son Red Bearded Dragon.

The Sidu River Basin nourishes countless human beings and carries the lifeline of their survival and development.

As the four dragon gods, the merits and incense they gain are crucial to the dragon clan's cleansing of karma.

Therefore, the Four Seas Dragon King, as the leader of the Dragon Clan, had to come. The death of the Jinghe Dragon King was not important, but if the Four Rivers Dragon Gods became dissatisfied or felt that the Dragon Clan was unreliable and switched to other forces, it would also be a heavy blow to the Dragon Clan.

"Why don't you ask the Jade Emperor for help?"

Ao Guang paused, and stammered, "This... after all, he did violate the Heavenly Law..."

The Jade Emperor is the defender of the Heavenly Rules and the Lord of Heaven. Let alone a mere Jinghe Dragon King, even the entire dragon clan cannot make him actively violate the Heavenly Rules.

Hong Chen asked back: "Then can I break the heavenly rules and save him?"

Ao Guang: "My third brother and I are willing to open the Dragon Palace treasure house..."

"Don't open the treasury. I don't dare take too much of your treasures."

The two dragons were silent for a moment. After exchanging glances, Ao Guang asked, "I wonder if the Great Emperor has any requests? Just speak up, and I will always respond!"

Hong Chen laughed.

"Okay, my request should be very simple for you. Over the past few hundred years, I have often heard believers say that rivers overflowed, causing people to suffer, or that there were evil spirits in a river or a lake, causing chaos, and only by throwing boys and girls into the river as sacrifices could it calm down... I don't know how many people died every year due to these things."

Hearing this, Ao Guang and Ao Run stood up immediately.

Ao Guang: "Your Majesty! When I return, I will immediately gather the dragon clan, with the four sea dragon kings as the leaders, to investigate the water veins and river systems in the world. We will definitely punish or kill those who do evil!"

"No." Hong Chen shook his head.

Ao Guang was stunned.

Hong Chen said: "The four Dragon Kings are in charge of the four seas. They have worked hard and made great contributions. How can I trouble you again? Let my subordinates do this for you."

The two Dragon Kings fell silent again.

But Hong Chen didn't give them more time to think, and asked: "Don't want to?"

Ao Guang and Ao Run looked at each other, then bowed their heads and saluted: "Old Dragon is willing!"

"Very good." Hong Chen smiled faintly, "Also, the death penalty for the Jinghe Dragon King can be spared, but he cannot escape punishment alive."

"Your Majesty, please be merciful. This is only natural!"

"Then let him dig a river channel, starting from Xuanling Mountain and ending at the South China Sea. The day when the river rushes into the sea will be the day he is released from prison."

The two Dragon Kings could not help but smile bitterly. Considering the Jinghe Dragon King's Xuanxian realm cultivation, his sentence would be at least three thousand years.

But the dragon race has a long lifespan, and three thousand years will pass in a flash. It is better to suffer a little bit than to lose your head.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Hong Chen nodded, pointed his sword at the pen, and wrote in the air.

The vermilion characters are sharp and the sword energy is dazzling.

After writing, he took out the emperor's seal. This emperor's seal had been replaced by the Heavenly Court, and now it was at the level of a post-natal treasure, worthy of the status of a second-grade emperor.

As the imperial seal was pressed, a golden imperial decree immediately condensed in the void, with all the words contained in it.

With a wave of his hand, the imperial edict rolled up and then turned into a stream of light and disappeared into the distance.

Seeing this, the two Dragon Kings bowed again: "Your Majesty, be merciful!"

After standing up, Ao Guang asked with a smile: "Your Majesty, your main body has been in seclusion for hundreds of years, I wonder if you have made any breakthroughs?"

Hong Chen shook his head: "Not even close."

"Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. Throughout history, countless people have been rejected by the Golden Immortal Realm. And most of the Golden Immortals have practiced for thousands or tens of thousands of years or even longer. Your Majesty has stepped half a foot into the Golden Immortal Realm in just a few hundred years. It is truly a natural talent, rare in the Three Realms!"

"You are overpraising me, Dragon King."

Ever since he had seen the innate divine creatures in the ancient times, he no longer dared to regard himself as a genius.

People are born as Golden Immortals and Taiyi, and can achieve Daluo with a little practice.

How can this compare?
After chatting for a while, Ao Guang and Ao Run put down the large amount of gifts they brought and said goodbye.

After the two men left, Xun Yu came to see them.

Hong Chen smiled and said, "As Wen Ruo expected, they agreed. When you get back, let them lead the troops to investigate the water veins of the world."

"I obey!"

Taking on this job from the dragon clan, firstly, it can train soldiers by clearing out the evil dragons; secondly, it can spread the belief in Emperor Xuanling along the water veins of the world. Living creatures live near water, and there are many villages and cities near the water veins, which are the main settlements of the human race; thirdly, it can find talented people in the world and recruit them under his command; finally, it can establish connections with human gods such as mountain gods and land gods.

Get more in one fell swoop.

When it comes to rebellion, they are all professionals.

Chang'an City, Imperial Palace.

Li Shimin originally wanted to use the excuse of playing chess to delay Wei Zheng and prevent him from going up to the sky to slay the dragon.

But Wei Zheng changed his mind, pretended to take a nap, and his spirit left his body.

Just as it was about to fly up to the sky, a scroll emitting bright golden light suddenly descended.

Before the scroll was unfolded, the sharp sword energy contained in it seemed to chop Wei Zheng's soul into pieces, forcing him to quickly turn around and return to his body to avoid being torn apart.

After waking up, Li Shimin looked at the sky in astonishment and asked, "My dear, what is this?"

Wei Zheng looked up, his expression suddenly changed, and he bowed his head:
"Cao Weizheng, I pay my respects to the Great Emperor Xuanling!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the scroll opened and large vermilion characters appeared.

Li Shimin followed the look and suddenly realized: It turns out that Emperor Xuanling and I have the same goal. However, this emperor ordered the Dragon King of Jinghe River to dig a new river channel. I should discuss this matter with my ministers as soon as possible.

Upon hearing the emperor's order, Wei Zheng bowed again: "I will obey the emperor's order!"

Immediately, the imperial edict quickly transformed and finally turned into a golden sword and sank into Wei Zheng's body.

Wei Zheng was stunned at first, but after a little sense, he was overjoyed and turned around to bow in the direction of Xuanling Mountain.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your generous gift!"

This golden sword can not only guide him, a mortal, on the path of cultivation from now on, but also burst out with power to protect his life at the critical moment.

Although as a human official, Wei Zheng could ascend to heaven and become a god after his death, but cultivating to become an immortal while alive and becoming a god after death are two different concepts.

(End of this chapter)