Textile, mining, tallurgy, transportation... It would be a profound industrial revolution, and the small farr economy of n plowing and won weaving would be no match for the force of industry.
Li Ang ca to his senses and, without leaving any trace, his gaze swept across Li Si’s face.
Having experienced the case of Prince Changxiang’s son, Li Shenbin, he no longer held any trust in the Li Yu Royal Family or the so-called wise and saintly Emperor Yu.
In most of the artistic works from Otherworld mories, emperors are always portrayed as enlightened, or at least as victims of deceit by evil ministers. It seems that as long as the evil ministers are dealt with and the emperor is earnestly inford of the pros and cons, the problems always seed solvable. To a large extent, this was not the chanical deus ex machina laziness of the creators of artistic works; in that environntal background, the emperor was indeed the source of secular power. Evil ministers making mistakes could still be executed, but if the emperor strayed, there was no straightforward solution. Emperor Yu had spared Li Shenbin with a lift of his hand due to the ancient Eight Deliberations. Would he then intervene when he realized the potential "horrific" impact that engines and the industrial revolution could have on imperial power? If he and the court decided to restrain and hinder industrial developnt, would the Academic Palace stand against the court as Li Ang predicted?
Li Ang was not one hundred percent confident about this.
Science and technology were not omnipotent. They needed the nourishnt and upbringing of social systems, as well as the protection and guidance of secular power.
Facing the future ruler of Yu Country, Li Ang still maintained a calm smile.
The position of Academic Palace Master... eh?
His idle chat with Li Si and He Siping was quite pleasant. After confirming that the Yu Kingdom’s Court still recognized the value of the engine, Li Ang also received so insider news—insider news regarding the Crown Prince could almost be considered facts not yet officially announced.
The health of the Emperor of Nanzhou had recently improved again. During New Year’s, he had been bedridden and continuously taking dicine. Now, however, he could leave his bed to handle political affairs and even attend court to et with his officials. His complexion appeared no different from ordinary people.
The Nanzhou Envoy was originally tasked with seeking dicine. As a result, they did not request Doctors from Yu Country to return to Nanzhou to treat the Emperor this ti. Instead, they perford the normal duties of an envoy, such as inquiring about Emperor Yu’s health and presenting gifts from their own country. They also sent so of the best Nanzhou Disciples to the Academic Palace for an exchange program.
As for another matter, it was even more significant.
The Head of the Haotian Taoist Sect had left his seclusion.
If the health of the Emperor of Nanzhou affected the security of Yu Country’s southern border, then the news from the Haotian Sect was related to the movents of All Nations.
The history of the Haotian Taoist Sect could be traced back to the Yin Shang period, when the earliest Haotian Prophet descended from Taihao Mountain and spread the doctrines of Haotian among the nations of the world.
For thousands of years, the Haotian Taoist Sect controlled most of the faith in the mortal world. In so Kingdoms, the change of kings even required the presence of a Haotian Priest to personally confer the new king. The Haotian Taoist Sect also maintained a transcendent status and power, balancing the relations between All Nations. They diated wars between countries, punished heretics of the Evil Path, and exterminated Demon Sects and the like.
When internal problems in the Haotian Taoist Sect prevented external intervention, the turmoil between nations often spiraled out of control. For instance, one of the reasons for Forr Sui’s downfall was that the previous few Haotian Sect Leaders had mysteriously disappeared or died for inexplicable reasons. This caused intense internal conflicts within the Haotian Taoist Sect, leaving them no ti to balance external disputes.
The impact of this event lasted for two hundred years. Even now, the Haotian Sect Leader spent more ti in seclusion than not. Even when he erged, he rarely proclaid his will to the outside world.
Those devout followers of Haotian might beco even more devout and zealous due to the Sect Leader’s reergence, but as for Li Ang...
He just hoped the Sect Leader would devoutly worship Haotian and not interfere with the secular world.
「West of Jing Country.」
「Taihao Mountain.」
At the foot of the mountain, the plain stretched as far as the eye could see, its green grass like a carpet. In the mountains, all trees vied for glory, ancient trees soaring to the sky.
A young man with a face as fair as jade, wearing a black robe, stepped across the stone path built by devout believers and entered an imposing grand hall.
The hall was solemn and quiet, with only the crisp sound of wooden clogs tapping on the blue jade stone floor.
Wherever the young man went, Priests discussing affairs in low voices would subconsciously quiet down. They would lower their heads slightly as a sign of respect.
TAP, TAP, TAP.
With a gentle smile, the young man walked through the corridor and across the walkway. He paused at a turn and looked up at the towering do above the narrow passage.
Haotian had no specific form. Therefore, the do of the temple did not portray his image, as so temples might. Instead, there was an entire complex pattern made up of countless tals and gemstones. The colorful gemstones symbolized the stars and heaven, while the tal wires woven from Fine Gold and Mithril represented the trajectories of the stars.
Any one of these gemstones, if circulated, could cause a frenzy among collectors and the powerful elite. Furthermore, the ingenious system controlling the movent of the gemstones and tal wires was the product of exceptional craftsmanship and the work of outstanding astronors. This pattern not only displayed the starry sky but also reflected the actual positions of the stars in real ti.
In the eyes of the Haotian Taoist Sect, Haotian created all things, including humans. He set the rules for the functioning of everything in the Netherworld. Otherwise, no other theory could explain why the movent of the stars is so regular and full of beauty.
The young man looked up, entranced by the ever-changing pattern on the do, before he finally snapped out of it and stepped through the doorway.
WHOOSH—
Though it was the height of July’s sumr, goose-feather-sized snowflakes howled past.
The young man’s expression did not change as he walked slowly through the snow, his wooden clogs compressing the white snow beneath him as he stepped onto a Stone Tablet engraved with intricate patterns.
The Haotian Taoist Sect had one Head and four Cardinal Priests; this palace belonged to the Torch Language Priest—responsible for perceiving the will of Haotian and making prophecies. Because the Torch Language Priest hailed from the Northern Territory and enjoyed the snow, he activated an Array buried in the do and rock strata of the palace. In the midsumr heat of July, he created a world of ice and snow.
PLOP—
A carp was pulled out of the ice hole by a fishing line, thumped onto the ice surface, and was caught by a pair of old, wrinkled hands, then gently tossed into a bucket filled with water.
"You’ve returned."
The old man, or rather the Torch Language Priest, fishing by the ice lake, did not turn as he continued fishing.
The young man straightened his black robe and kneeled respectfully in the snow. "Teacher," he said, "the results of my star observation on the Endless Sea are consistent with those of Taihao Mountain. The Star Constellations Can Su, Xin Su, Xu Su, Ojuku, Xu Su, and others had all dimd to various extents over the past two years."
"..."
The Torch Language Priest paused slightly in his casting of the fishing hook, then resud as usual, speaking indifferently without turning his head, "I know."
"Teacher..."
The young man’s lips moved slightly. As the esteed major Disciple of the Torch Language Priest, he believed that every action of his ntor held profound significance. Therefore, he did not beco angry when his two years adrift on the Endless Sea were dismissed with a light word from his ntor. He was rely genuinely curious, and after hesitating for a long ti, he asked softly, "Does the dimming of the stars signify anything?"
"It doesn’t signify much; it just...confirms a groundless worry I had," the Torch Language Priest muttered to himself, then suddenly lifted his head and said with a light chuckle, "The Haotian Sect Leader rarely leaves seclusion; surely, like , he saw the sa thing. Perhaps even more than I did. By the way, rest on the mountain for a few days and prepare to depart with the envoy to Yu Country."
The young man was slightly taken aback. "Yu Country? Aren’t we and the Academic Palace..."
The Academic Palace had risen opportunistically while the Haotian Taoist Sect was in internal turmoil. Supported by the Academic Palace, Yu Country did not show the Haotian Taoist Sect the absolute respect and loyalty other countries did—they did not need a Priest to witness the royal succession, and the taxes they paid to the Haotian Taoist Sect annually were pitiful. The most critical reason was that the philosophy of Natural Science spread by the Academic Palace largely contradicted many scriptures previously compiled by the Haotian Taoist Sect. For instance, the Sect claid all birds, beasts, flowers, and fish were created by Haotian, adhering to the rules, moving in perfection. Whereas the Academic Palace improved plant varieties by forcefully changing the traits of crops.
Various complicated reasons led many on Taihao Mountain to view the Academic Palace as a thorn in their side, an irritant in their eye. The two sides had been waging both overt and covert fights for centuries.
"It is the command of the Haotian Sect Leader," the Torch Language Priest paused briefly and calmly continued, "Accepting the invitation of the Academic Palace Master, outstanding youths are to be selected from each Divine Temple. They will go to Chang’an to exchange experiences with the Academic Palace and compete on the sa stage. Jing Country, Zhou Kingdom, Turkic, and other Kingdoms will also send Disciples to participate. The victor will get the opportunity to enter Zhanquan."
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