"It seems we must prepare for becoming immortals," Turquoise Pool said with a smile, "historically, Jiajing will surely agree to our terms."
"Has the Human Tribulation passed?" Bi asked.
"It should have passed," Li Qianxia was not very sure, "after killing so many people, and with Shao Yuanjie dead, only Tao Zhongwen remains."
It wasn't that Li Qianxia underestimated Tao Zhongwen, but in an era where no one could become an immortal, having more people meant greater power.
"You must not underestimate him," Turquoise Pool said while staring at the expression of Tao Zhongwen on the water screen, "This man is hiding something from Jiajing, he has seen a clearer future."
"Hmm—" Li Qianxia sat on the pit, feet facing each other, left hand supporting the right hand, right hand supporting her chin, "An enemy who knows the future, indeed very dangerous."
"Then there are those players who haven't made their move," Yang Qinglan said, "We four might not be the only ones trying to become immortals through tribulation, nor are Bi and the others the only ones trying to stop us."
"Why do I feel... that the Human Tribulation has just begun after Shao Yuanjie died?" Li Qianxia looked up at them.
"Did you think becoming an immortal was that easy?" Li Changzhou glanced at her, intending to correct her tourist-like attitude.
"This time went rather smoothly." Compared to Li Changzhou's preaching, Turquoise Pool laughed warmly, "Your brother overwhelmed the four Flood Dragon Kings as soon as he arrived, made it snow in the Capital, and gained Jiajing's trust—"
"The snow was Miss Yang's doing." Li Changzhou smiled more complacently than if he had done it himself.
"It was a joint effort." Yang Qinglan pursued objectivity and fairness.
She then added, "Only through joint efforts could we trustfully gain Jiajing's support with a snowfall under those circumstances."
"—And then came New Year's Eve," Turquoise Pool continued, "After killing the four Flood Dragon Kings and then facing an attack by twelve true individuals, any one of us, alone under those circumstances, would at the least fail the mission, and with a bit of bad luck, lose our lives."
"Hearing you say that, it seems very difficult," Li Qianxia woke up to reality, "Such a tough mission and I only took action twice, spitting out tons of sunflower seed shells."
Turquoise Pool laughed, "You see why I absolutely had to have your brother with us, right?"
Li Qianxia giggled like a little girl, cracking sunflower seeds and shaking her head, "Don't understand, don't understand, I'm only fifteen, I don't get these twenty-something-year-old uncles and aunties' thoughts."
She was the one who talked about twenty-year-olds as young girls!
Bi glared at her from the side, the true young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes showing disdain.
Yang Qinglan looked at Li Changzhou, seeing him deep in thought, and asked softly, "What are you thinking about?"
"The Golden Crown," Li Changzhou raised his eyes, "What material can withstand the Dragon Vein for the Golden Crown, and can we tweak something inside it?"
"Tweak something? Are you planning to skimp? No, what is there to embezzle in this case?" Li Qianxia leaned on the couch, pfft-ing out a sunflower seed shell into a dish.
Collapsed down, the five female players from Russia, and Turquoise Pool's five subordinates, sat ten people around a big round table, the table laden with all kinds of food.
After all, being modern people, although there was a hierarchy, most of the time they interacted in a casual way, eating and drinking casually.
"Are you thinking of taking the Golden Crown back to reality?" Yang Qinglan asked.
"Yes." Li Changzhou nodded, "One of the effects of my 'origin' is that as long as I have enough permissions and Game Coins, I can exchange any item from the game after it ends."
"Only the Zhu Clan bloodline can use the Dragon Vein, what use is it to take it?" Turquoise Pool asked.
"So we need to tweak something." Li Changzhou said, "The Zhu Clan are not the born Emperors; the Dragon Vein was never solely owned by them, as long as someone more favored by the Dragon Vein than Jiajing appears, they qualify to wear the Golden Crown."
"I understand now, from holding equal electors appointing Jiajing, to making it competitive." Li Qianxia slowed her speed of cracking seeds, "But what can we do with this Golden Crown?"
"Yeah, what to do with it? I'm too lazy to wear a crown, do you want me to give you one?" Bi said.
"Princess..." the five female players from Russia started to say something.
Is the Emperor's crown really something you can just give away?!
"So we need to tweak something." Li Changzhou repeated his phrase.
After a brief contemplation, he smiled and said, "How about collecting all the Daoist Books in the world? Jiajing would definitely support that fully."
Yang Qinglan nodded in approval, then looked at him with a teasing smile, "Can you afford them?"
He winced as if in pain from a toothache, Li Changzhou looked at Turquoise Pool, "You—aside from funeral services, do you have anything in loans? Introduce me."
Just joking—loans are real, next, fifteen people together envisioned going against Tao Zhongwen's plans, and how to deal with other players when encountered.
"Any ideas on the materials for refining the Golden Crown?" Li Changzhou finally asked.
"It should constrain the Dragon Vein, and be capable of engraving scriptures, the only thing I can think of is the Jade Seal," Turquoise Pool laughed.
"The Jade Seal... indeed the best choice."
"And the Buddhist golden body," Yang Qinglan mused.
"Buddhist golden body?" Li Changzhou looked at her.
"I've been thinking about faith recently, so I thought of it— the Buddhist golden body gathers the faith of all beings, and scriptures are often engraved on it as well," Yang Qinglan explained.
Li Changzhou nodded slowly.
"In that case, Daoism... oh, the Three Pure Ones are made of mud," Li Qianxia continued her thoughts, chewing on a chicken claw.
"Apart from that, there are the golden bodies of Confucius, Guan Gong, and Kong Ming, but their faith isn't comparable to the Buddhist golden body," Yang Qinglan said.
"Then let's choose the Jade Seal and the Buddhist golden body," Li Changzhou decided.
"The Jade Seal might be fine, since Jiajing has already been handled by your strategy of feigned retreat," Turquoise Pool looked at him with twinkling eyes, "Buddhist golden body... if you're sure, it will surely start another Human Tribulation." For origınal chapters go to 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝·𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚·𝔫𝔢𝔱