My Simulated Road to Immortality Chapter 3 - 3: Mortal Desires for the Immortal

Time appeared to accelerate rapidly.

Li Fan executed his strategy with meticulous precision and order.

Drawing from the wisdom of two existences, the process unfolded flawlessly, as smoothly as a river following its natural course.

He participated in the Imperial Examination once more.

Yet now, armed with decades of administrative expertise, his exam compositions surpassed those from his prior incarnation. He claimed the top spot in the Provincial, Metropolitan, and Palace Examinations, achieving a perfect triad of victories, and his fame resonated throughout the realm!

Subsequently, citing the need for early practical training, he requested assignment to a remote post. His chosen location remained Wen County.

While numerous courtiers expressed puzzlement and dismay at his choice, they ultimately granted his petition.

In this way, during the third year of the Anchoring Era, he returned to Wen County.

This iteration proved far smoother than before. Thanks to his widespread renown and intimate knowledge of the local officials' dispositions, Li Fan swiftly brought the entire county under his influence with minimal resistance.

Following that, he advanced and groomed the loyal aides from his past life, steadily bolstering his authority.

Concurrently, he sketched designs for flintlock firearms, directing artisans to fabricate them per the plans while sharing insights on production hurdles. Later, he dispatched agents to quietly enlist expert craftsmen nationwide, aiming to advance firearm technology further.

Mining operations in the hills proceeded without pause. Li Fan purged the nearby mountain bandits and compelled them into labor at the mines. Leveraging these resources, he founded numerous workshops amid the rugged terrain, churning out vast quantities of goods and metalwork. Meanwhile, he covertly assembled merchant convoys to peddle wares across the land, amassing fortunes.

During the fourth year of the Anchoring Era, Li Fan uncovered Emperor Xuanjing’s body double through a covert hunt. This duplicate had nearly derailed his assassination scheme in the previous timeline. Thankfully, Li Fan's habitual prudence and array of contingencies ensured success. He personally instructed the double, and within six months, it displayed virtually no imperfections.

In the fifth year of the Anchoring Era, the devastating drought ravaged Jiangnan. Li Fan instructed his trusted allies to disguise themselves as displaced folk and assault the Langya King’s estate. He then guided forces posing as saviors, but truly orchestrated the internal strike, slaughtering the Langya royal clan and unveiling the impostor.

From that point, Li Fan usurped the rival's stronghold, covertly dominating the Langya King’s Mansion.

The revelation of the Langya family's massacre, sparing only the King himself, stunned the imperial court and the empire. The Emperor, enraged, mobilized soldiers against the supposed rioters. Li Fan earned accolades for his valor and rose to Prefect of the Jianghuai Administration.

Li Fan's influence swelled even more. Yet afterward, he proceeded with greater vigilance. Rather than pushing external growth, he quietly emphasized technological progress and industrial expansion.

In the seventh year of the Anchoring Era, the anticipated Locust Plague descended. Li Fan, having prepared thoroughly, shielded the Jianghuai region from calamity. He petitioned the court to release grain stores for the afflicted masses, and approval came swiftly.

Seizing this chance, Li Fan absorbed a vast influx of people. These survivors eventually rooted themselves in his domain, propelling his dominion to surge dramatically.

In the ninth year of the Anchoring Era, the Langya King's nuptials with the Chief Scholar's granddaughter unfolded on cue. That evening, Li Fan stormed the wedding quarters, terrifying the Langya Queen nearly to her end. Upon learning he had slain the true King and seized the mansion via a substitute, she branded him a villainous usurper. Li Fan dismissed her words with a hearty laugh. He demanded she document this explosive revelation in writing.

Disguised as a courier for King Langya, Li Fan slipped into the capital bearing the missive to meet the Chief Scholar.

Maintaining composure, Li Fan informed the Chief Scholar of his total command over the Langya King’s Mansion. He further revealed consummating the union with the Scholar’s granddaughter on their wedding night. Though startled, the Chief Scholar inquired evenly about Li Fan’s aims.

Li Fan stated plainly that the Chief Scholar had amassed countless foes over his tenure. With his heirs lacking prowess, safeguarding the lineage post-mortem would prove arduous. Provided the Scholar aided him at key junctures, Li Fan vowed to secure the family's glory for centuries.

The Chief Scholar pondered deeply before inquiring softly what assistance was required. Li Fan merely grinned, assuring clarity in time, and departed with poise.

In the tenth year of the Anchoring Era, the Langya Queen bore a son. Evidently, the child was Li Fan’s own. He penned a note and visited the Chief Scholar’s home to share the joyful tidings.

By the fifteenth year of the Anchoring Era, the Emperor succumbed to grave illness. Upon obtaining the imperial decree for inheritance, Li Fan and his inner circle hurried nonstop toward the capital.

Once the Langya King's double claimed the throne, Li Fan, invoking the Emperor’s mandate, orchestrated sweeping appointments in the court. Aided discreetly by the Chief Scholar, he stabilized affairs seamlessly, without fanfare.

In the sixteenth year, uprisings erupted nationwide. Li Fan exploited this to embed his adherents in the forces. Through quelling the insurgents, he lavished rewards on his men. Within a mere three or four years, he forged ironclad military dominance.

By the twentieth year, the realm steadied after the upheavals of dynastic shift and imperial transition. At that juncture, Li Fan slyly administered poison to the false Emperor Kangning, snuffing out the final peril at its source.

With his biological heir enthroned, Li Fan bestowed upon himself the rank of Grand Master, stepping from concealment into prominence, once more wielding absolute sway over the domain.

Following this, the Da Xuan Kingdom's advancement not only persisted but accelerated under Li Fan’s directive, thriving with renewed vigor!

In the thirty-fifth year, at the Grand Master’s residence.

Li Fan’s brow furrowed faintly while perusing the confidential report from his underling.

“Are you informing me that the fog over the Abyssal Ruin clears every fifteen years for about half a day?”

“Answering the Grand Master, yes, that is so. Our Antiquities Exploration Squad was commanded to vigil at the Abyssal Ruins’ edge. We monitored ceaselessly, day and night, and just prior, we noted some discoveries,” the kneeling Antiquities Exploration Squad member recalled the vision, his features etched with lingering awe. “Once the mist lifted, a subtle glow emanated from the Abyss’s depths. Through spyglasses, we beheld countless inverted marvels.”

“Perceptions varied among us, but immense peaks spanned the skyline, with grand edifices shimmering obscurely amid them; sprawling urban fortresses rose on the flatlands, alive with vibrant glows and clamor, housing no fewer than a million souls; floating metropolises encircled by auras harbored diverse mythical avians and beasts soaring about, it was utterly …” The Antiquities Exploration Squad member hesitated briefly, then voiced his profound wonder. “Inconceivable, truly beyond imagination.”

“Yes, it originates from the Abyss.” Even though Li Fan anticipated this intelligence, his subordinate’s firsthand account still ignited a spark of thrill in him. Long-honed discipline, however, masked his sentiments masterfully.

He queried steadily: “Have you devised a means to descend into the Abyss’s depths?”

The Antiquities Exploration Squad member’s breathing faltered, his complexion paling. He prostrated himself instantly, confessing, “My failure, sire. We attempted diverse approaches, yet at a specific depth, ferocious Gang winds tear us apart. These Gang winds are relentless, pulverizing even our sturdiest plating in moments.”

Li Fan showed no trace of letdown upon hearing this.

Dismissing the Antiquities Exploration Squad member with a gesture, Li Fan murmured to himself: “It seems I must await your arrival.”

…

In the fiftieth year, in the Da Xuan Kingdom’s Xuanjing City.

The typically vibrant Xuanjing fell into an unnatural hush.

By decree of the reigning Grand Master, the bulk of residents had been compelled to relocate to adjacent towns a month earlier, under the guise of fleeing impending peril. Savvy observers dismissed this pretext. The Grand Master refrained from harsher tactics, merely advising resisters to excavate shelters in their dwellings for safety. Such folk regarded it as mere jest.

Even with these updates reaching him, Li Fan paid them no mind. He had fulfilled his duty.

Now, the elite forces he had meticulously assembled over decades patrolled Xuanjing’s thoroughfares and byways, primed to confront a pair of immortals.

Everything stood prepared, awaiting the opportune instant!

As night fell, beneath lustrous lunar beams, the duo of immortals descended right on schedule!

“Dao Xuanzi! Cease your relentless pursuit!”

Kou Hong’s wrathful bellow reverberated across Xuanjing City.

“Da da da da …”

Myriad fiery bursts erupted abruptly, as innumerable projectiles cascaded like a torrent upon the immortals’ forms!