...

However, this was not the end of Wu Mingyan's nightmare.

The [Great Enchantment Curse], as a major move of the Yincha Demon God, is a technique with endless wonders but extremely dangerous. If the enchantment fails, it is highly likely to backfire.

Under the rebound of Wang Shouzhe's Dharma Aspect, the power of the heavenly law formed by the Great Enchantment Curse turned back and enveloped Wu Mingyan.

Wu Mingyan's face immediately showed a look of fear, and she hurriedly tried to dodge.

However, how could the power of the Great Enchantment Curse be so easy to avoid?

Just as she moved slightly, preparing to dodge, the power of the heavenly law formed by the Great Enchantment Curse had already enveloped her, continuously penetrating deep into her soul.

If this soul were the complete soul of the Yincha Demon God, the result might still be uncertain. But Wu Mingyan's soul was merely a wisp of the Yincha Demon God's split soul. Although its essence was not ordinary, its soul power was ultimately too weak to resist the erosion of the Great Enchantment Curse.

Under the impact of the Great Enchantment Curse, her wide-open eyes gradually began to lose focus, and in just a moment, she completely fainted.

At the same time, the Dharma Aspect behind Wang Shouzhe gradually retracted.

He looked at Wu Mingyan with a somewhat complicated gaze.

Although he had anticipated the methods of the demon race, he had not expected the Yincha Demon God to have planted such a big trap.

The power of the law in her move just now was extremely profound, accompanied by the shadow of the Yincha Demon God, clearly not an ordinary move. If he had been caught by it, he would have been in big trouble.

Fortunately, his soul had a built-in defense mechanism, and his bloodline power was also very strong, so she did not succeed.

In the current situation, Wang Shouzhe had nothing else to do for the time being, so he could only patiently stand by and wait for her to wake up, his eyes full of vigilance towards Wu Mingyan.

In just a few moments, Wu Mingyan slowly woke up.

When she opened her eyes, she seemed a bit confused about the situation, her gaze somewhat dazed. However, when her eyes fell on Wang Shouzhe standing by the bed, a strong fervor and obsession suddenly erupted in her eyes.

"Mingyan greets the master."

She scrambled up from the bed and bowed deeply to Wang Shouzhe. Her actions were so respectful, her expression so fervent, that she was just short of prostrating herself completely.

Was she backfired?

A trace of doubt arose in Wang Shouzhe's heart, but his expression remained calm as he looked at her and asked, "What was that move you used just now?"

"Replying to the master, that was the [Great Enchantment Curse] sealed in my spiritual platform by the main soul of the Yincha Demon God," Wu Mingyan answered honestly. "Once cast, even a Demon King or a human Void Realm cultivator would find it hard to escape its enchantment control, unless their divine sense and consciousness were exceptionally strong."

"Can you cast it again?" Wang Shouzhe asked.

"I cannot. The Yincha Demon God only sealed one [Great Enchantment Curse]. In fact, even the Yincha Demon God would not use this move lightly to control a Demon King or a Void Realm cultivator," Wu Mingyan explained in detail. "Firstly, this heaven-defying move consumes a great deal of one's soul power. Secondly, it is very dangerous to use; if it backfires, it is very likely to result in reverse control. Thirdly, the enchantment curse has a time limit, controlling a Void Realm or Demon King level strong person for at most a hundred years, after which the control weakens."

Wang Shouzhe nodded, feeling slightly relieved.

Such an indefensible move, if the Yincha Demon God could use it without restriction, she would be too terrifying.

"Why did you choose me?" Wang Shouzhe asked another question he was puzzled about. "I am just a mere Purple Mansion Realm cultivator. Wouldn't it be a waste to use such a big move on me?"

"Replying to the master, I originally intended to control True Lord Yunhe, but I later discovered that you, master, were a better target. Controlling you was the optimal solution," Wu Mingyan replied.

True Lord Yunhe.

Wang Shouzhe sighed inwardly, not expecting that he had inadvertently shielded True Lord Yunhe from a disaster.

"Moreover, you, master, are Wang Yingxuan's grandfather and Wang Lici's uncle..." Wu Mingyan explained her reasoning with some trepidation, "I attempted to control you, master, also out of a sense of revenge, wanting to take the opportunity to retaliate against Wang Yingxuan and Wang Lici."

Uh...

Wang Shouzhe was speechless.

It seemed that Yingxuan and Lici had hurt the Yincha Demon God deeply, provoking her to seek revenge on him, Wang Shouzhe.

"Tell me, what is your purpose in infiltrating the human race this time?" Wang Shouzhe continued to ask.

"Reporting to the master, everything is to welcome back the Great Demon Lord," Wu Mingyan's eyes grew even more fervent. "In the final battle back then, although the Great Demon Lord fell in the human world, his soul was not extinguished. As long as we can welcome back the Great Demon Lord's soul and use the demon race's secret method to resurrect him, our demon race can regain its former glory."

"The Great Demon Lord?"

Wang Shouzhe's heart skipped a beat.

Even though he only had a vague understanding of history, he knew what the title "Great Demon Lord" signified. It was an existence above the Demon Gods!

He quickly asked, "How do you know the Great Demon Lord's soul was not extinguished?"

"Naturally, we received a message from the Great Demon Lord," Wu Mingyan explained. "The Yincha Demon God and several other Demon Gods have secret treasures left by the Great Demon Lord, which can receive messages sent back by the Great Demon Lord using secret methods. Many years ago, the Great Demon Lord had already awakened and sent messages to the demon world through secret methods. In recent years, he has sent messages twice consecutively. To welcome back the Great Demon Lord, several Demon Gods have even formed an alliance."

"Damn those other Demon Gods, they talk a good game, but when it comes to actually putting in effort, they make excuses, sending only low-level troops to fool us. In my opinion, they are clearly reluctant to give up their power and unwilling for the Great Demon Lord to return."

"The Yincha Demon God, knowing she couldn't rely on them, devised her own plan to welcome back the Great Demon Lord, called the [Puppet Lord Welcome] plan, which involved me infiltrating the human race to welcome back the Great Demon Lord."

"I see."

Listening to her detailed explanation, Wang Shouzhe suddenly understood the whole story.

No wonder the demon race had been intensifying their attacks in recent years, increasing the pressure on the human race's defenses. It turned out it was all to welcome back this so-called Great Demon Lord.

The revival of the Great Demon Lord was a major event. The question was whether the Immortal Emperor and the Immortal Sovereign were aware of it.

"Where is the Demon God's soul?" Wang Shouzhe continued to ask.

But this time, before Wu Mingyan could answer, he realized it himself: "Is it in the Shenwu Heavenly Abyss?"

"That's right!" Wu Mingyan's eyes were filled with fervor. "The Great Demon Lord's soul is trapped in the Shenwu Heavenly Abyss. As long as we can infiltrate it, we will surely be able to welcome back the Great Demon Lord."

Wang Shouzhe half-closed his eyes, pondering for a moment before saying, "In that case, there is only one last question remaining."

"Please ask, master." Wu Mingyan's eyes were fervent and fanatical.

"Take your own life."

Wang Shouzhe suddenly locked eyes with her and handed her a sword.

"Yes, master." Wu Mingyan took the sword and, without hesitation, slashed it across her neck, blood splattering...

"Sigh..."

Wang Shouzhe sighed, and a pure life profound energy immediately enveloped her, continuously pouring into her body...

...

The Great Qian Imperial Palace.

Zhuozheng Pavilion.

Wang Shizhao sat in his usual office spot, looking at the financial report in his hand, his brows furrowed into a "川" character.

It was only the beginning of the second half of the year, with at least three or four months until the autumn harvest, yet the court's accounts were once again out of money!

To be honest, this situation had to be traced back to the administrative system reform of the Great Qian.

The Great Qian had established counties under the commandery, which on the surface seemed like just adding a new administrative level, but the actual situation was far more complex.

In their plan, the head of this newly added county-level administrative unit, the County Guard, would be held by Purple Mansion Realm cultivators.

Within the County Guard's mansion, many positions were to be newly created, to be held by Celestial Realm cultivators.

Moreover, the original Commandery Governors would gradually be replaced by Divine Realm cultivators in the coming years. The officials in the Commandery Governor's mansion would all be promoted by one level, with the Commandery Governor's right-hand men all being Purple Mansion Realm cultivators.

This meant that the Great Qian needed a large number of high-level cultivators to support this massive structure.

To this end, after discussions with the Holy Land, the court had set aside some cultivation resources specifically for talent cultivation.

In the future, the court would even find ways to acquire several inheritance grounds to specifically cultivate Commandery Governors.

In this way, those family members from major clans who had not secured opportunities or inheritance qualifications within their own families could gain resources and inheritance by joining the bureaucratic system.

Even rogue cultivators, as long as they had sufficient management ability, could gain various cultivation resources, including improving their qualifications, by joining this system. If they achieved outstanding merits, becoming a Divine Realm cultivator was not impossible.

In the future, as time passed and the system structure gradually improved, this bureaucratic system of the Great Qian would become the third advancement channel within the Great Qian, alongside the military system and the Holy Land academy system.

This was a grand plan, but its implementation was extremely challenging.

The first major issue was money.

Cultivating talent required money, and cultivating a large number of talents required even more money. Not to mention that this system was just being established, and many things needed to be built from scratch, which required even more money.

The financial situation of the Great Qian was already tight, so where could they find more money?

For this, Prince An had to swallow his pride and managed to borrow a "loan" from Wang Shouzhe.

With this loan of two billion immortal crystals, the funding problem was supposed to be resolved.

However, Prince An was someone who couldn't hold onto money. Seeing that he had ample funds, he couldn't help but start the "Railway Plan," which was originally planned to start in another thirty to fifty years.

The so-called "Railway Plan" was the "National Railway Track Transportation Plan," which aimed to lay railways nationwide to achieve national railway transportation.

The origin of this plan was when Prince An visited Wang's industrial park and saw the rail transportation there, which he couldn't forget.

That wasn't all. Prince An even placed an order with Wang's Clan for several ironclad ships.

The result was that two billion Qian gold was spent in just half a year, almost entirely.

Now, the Great Qian's accounts, aside from the absolutely untouchable reserve funds, had no money left at all.

Wang Shizhao was almost worried to death.

How did he end up with such an unreliable prince?

If he had known this would happen, he would never have agreed to assist Prince An in Guilong City.

Just as he was fretting, a young man in the uniform of an inner attendant leader walked into Zhuozheng Pavilion and gently knocked on the door of the inner room.

Seeing Wang Shizhao look up, he bowed slightly and saluted, "Little Cabinet Elder."

"Leader Ji, please don't tease me." Wang Shizhao smiled wryly, "This 'Little Cabinet Elder' is not an official title. You should call me Wang Commandant."

His official position was actually the Commandant of the Three Talents Office, a proper fourth rank. However, he spent most of his time in Prince An's Zhuozheng Pavilion and rarely went to the Three Talents Office.

"Yes, Wang Commandant." Leader Ji smiled.

Although Prince An was not present, he still treated Wang Shizhao with great respect, bowing his head and reporting, "An inner attendant just reported that your father sent you a letter from the northwest. Since it was urgent and you were not at home, they sent it directly to the palace."

Under normal circumstances, an official's private letters wouldn't be allowed into the palace, but Wang Shizhao's status was special, and the inner attendants and guards at the palace gates wouldn't be so tactless.

"My father sent a letter?" Wang Shizhao's eyes lit up, "Quick, let him in."

Soon, the Wang Clan's family guard who delivered the letter was led in.

Wang Shizhao took the envelope from him, quickly read the letter inside, and then showed a look of joy: "Great, my father sent me five million immortal crystals."

His father, Wang Zong'an, now managed the Northwest Grand Canal, the Western Capital Grand Canal, and the newly developed Dala Commandery, all of which were the Great Qian's money bags.

The two canals were transportation hubs, naturally making a lot of money.

As for Dala Commandery, it was originally a barren desert, but after over a hundred years of development, it had been transformed into a vast grassland.

It had become the Great Qian's largest pasture, exporting large quantities of beef and mutton every year. The fire crystal grapes and various spices produced there were extremely popular, contributing significantly to the Great Qian's tax revenue.

With control over these areas, Wang Zong'an was naturally well-off.

When his eldest son Wang Shizhao wrote to him asking for a loan, he readily lent five million immortal crystals, which was equivalent to five billion Qian gold.

"With these five billion Qian gold for emergencies, we should be able to get through the next few months. Once the autumn harvest is over and this year's tax revenue comes in, we can last a long time again." Wang Shizhao counted the immortal crystal tickets, feeling much more at ease and no longer frowning as before.

He now understood that Prince An couldn't have money in his hands.

When he had no money, he could be stable and steady, taking things one step at a time. But once he had money, he would start floating, wanting to complete all planned projects at once.

But how could things in this world be accomplished in one go?

Even his grandfather, with his incredible money-making skills, did things step by step, with five-year plans, ten-year plans, twenty-year plans, and hundred-year plans, all in perfect order.

As his grandfather said, haste makes waste.

While Wang Shizhao was counting money and muttering to himself, outside Zhuozheng Pavilion, Leader Ji's respectful greeting was heard, followed by a hearty laugh.

"Hahaha~ Shizhao, look what I brought back!"

Accompanied by the laughter, Prince An, dressed in a blue robe, strode in.

"Your Highness, you're back?" Wang Shizhao paused his counting, instinctively put the money away, and then looked at him with suspicion, "Could it be that Your Highness really got the money?"

"Hahaha~ Of course. Who do you think I am? With me personally involved, how could the money not be obtained? Look, look, look at this! A full ten million immortal crystals!" Prince An took out a stack of immortal crystal tickets and waved them at Wang Shizhao, his face full of pride, "Didn't you say I definitely wouldn't get the money? Face slap, right?"

The term "face slap" was something he learned from the younger generation of the Wang Clan. In this context, it felt particularly satisfying and enjoyable.

"Your Highness is indeed impressive."

Wang Shizhao stared at the smug Prince An for a moment, then suddenly reached out and took the stack of immortal crystal tickets, decisively putting them into his storage ring, and said slowly, "In that case, I will accept this money. Rest assured, I will use it well, ensuring every penny is spent wisely, without wasting a single copper."

"..." Prince An was dumbfounded.

...

Around the same time.

At the Wang Clan's main residence, Xianrenju.

After class, Wang Fugui, who had nothing to do, was video chatting with Yun Mengyu through a crystal screen.

Wang Lixian, who was also idle, sat nearby, helping to transmit the signal while flipping through the newly released fourth volume of "The Daily Life of the Overbearing Princess," with two additional branches from her sleeves holding drinks and snacks, looking extremely leisurely.

"Fugui, our royal clan school is so boring." Yun Mengyu's complaining voice came from the crystal screen, "The teachers are rigid and have too many rules. Most importantly, the learning progress is too slow. At this rate, I'll have to stay in this clan school for fifty years. The exam content is also monotonous and boring..."

She rambled on, clearly having a lot of complaints about the clan school.

"It's normal for the learning progress to be slow since you're not the only student in the clan school. I understand this well." Wang Fugui nodded in understanding, then took out some elementary and intermediate clan school teaching materials and test papers, "If you're bored, you can choose to self-study like me, adjusting your learning pace according to your situation, so it won't be boring. I have textbooks and test papers here. If there's anything you don't understand, I can teach you..."

"Wang Fugui..." Yun Mengyu's eyes widened.

She had said so much, mainly wanting to hear some sweet words from Wang Fugui to cheer her up, but this?

"Look, Mengyu, this book [Elementary Physics Theory and Practical Application] is a classic work of our Wang Clan's elementary clan school..." Wang Fugui was enthusiastically starting a lesson.

Wang Fugui was indeed a genius, explaining things clearly and logically, but Yun Mengyu wasn't interested in this.

She felt mentally exhausted listening, while pretending to be interested, inwardly lamenting.

Fugui, oh Fugui, I just want to talk about love with you, not listen to your lectures.

"Oh, I forgot something." Wang Fugui, who was enthusiastically lecturing, suddenly slapped his forehead, "Mengyu, you can only see these textbooks and test papers on your side. Hand-copying them is too troublesome. How about I have Yao's Air Transport send them to you?"

"Yes, yes." Yun Mengyu smiled happily, "Since today is inconvenient, let's not have a lesson now. I'll wait for your textbooks..."

"I got it!" Wang Fugui's mind suddenly lit up, "I heard that our Wang's Research Institute is researching base station communication technology. They plan to convert sound into energy signals for transmission, then use refining equipment to reverse compile and release the sound. Based on this, could we also compile the text and image information of textbooks... If we develop a refining device that can reverse compile and print..."

"Wang Fugui!!" Yun Mengyu was so angry that her little mouth pouted.

"We're chatting right now, don't multitask."

"Mengyu, you're right, multitasking is not a good habit." Wang Fugui nodded seriously, agreeing with her, "Then let's end the video chat for now, and I'll go discuss the feasibility with Forty-seventh Uncle..."

"..." Yun Mengyu was almost in tears.

Just as Wang Fugui was about to end the video chat, Wang Shouzhe walked into Xianrenju.

He immediately spotted Wang Lixian in the pavilion and Wang Fugui happily video chatting with Yun Mengyu.

Wang Lixian quickly put away her little notebook, drinks, snacks, and pretended to be just a signal transmission tool tree.

"Ancestor Grandfather." Wang Fugui hurriedly stood up to salute.

On the other side of the crystal screen, Yun Mengyu also quickly stood up, smiling sweetly as she saluted, "Greetings, Ancestor Shouzhe."

"Mengyu, did Fugui upset you again?" Wang Shouzhe glanced at Wang Lixian before looking at Yun Mengyu on the crystal screen with a smile, "If so, I'll give him a good scolding for you."

"No, no." Yun Mengyu quickly hid her displeasure, smiling even more sweetly and cutely, "Fugui is giving me a physics lesson, he wouldn't bully me."

Although she was angry with Fugui, she would feel distressed if Fugui was scolded by Ancestor Shouzhe.

"Physics lessons are indeed important, but I have urgent matters to report to the Immortal Emperor, which might delay you for a while." Wang Shouzhe smiled kindly, "After we're done, I'll have Fugui give you double the lessons."

Double, double lessons...

"Thank you, Ancestor Shouzhe, for your love." Yun Mengyu forced a smile, "I'll send someone to invite the Immortal Emperor Ancestor."

With that, she indeed sent someone to invite the Immortal Emperor.

Before the Immortal Emperor arrived, Yun Mengyu could only engage in awkward small talk with Wang Shouzhe, resembling the previous conversation between the Immortal Emperor and Wang Fugui.

The generational gap was too large, and they weren't familiar with each other, so whatever was said could only be met with polite agreement.

Wang Fugui could only accompany awkwardly, occasionally receiving a scolding from Wang Shouzhe.

Fortunately, the Immortal Emperor's projection arrived quickly, ending the awkward conversation between the juniors and the elder.

"Shouzhe, are you here to make me fulfill my promise?" The Immortal Emperor's projection was dressed casually this time, lacking some of the high and mighty aura, instead exuding a homely beauty vibe.

As she spoke, she even playfully winked at Wang Shouzhe, inviting him with a smile, "Would you like to visit the Immortal Dynasty for a while?"

"Cough, cough~" Wang Shouzhe coughed twice, "Your Majesty, Shouzhe is usually too busy with work to visit the Immortal Dynasty for now. I'll visit when I have some free time."

He secretly thought to himself, the children are still here, does Her Majesty really think they don't understand anything now?

Before the Immortal Emperor could respond, Wang Shouzhe quickly changed the topic, "Your Majesty, the investigation of the captives you instructed has results..."

"So soon?" The Immortal Emperor was slightly surprised, "Considering the timeline, these hostages should have just arrived at Wang's Green Immortal Island, right? Tell me the details~"

"It's like this..."

Wang Shouzhe quickly explained the cause and effect of the situation.

"The Great Demon Lord?" The Immortal Emperor's expression gradually became serious, "Goodness, this is indeed a big catch. I didn't expect the recent disturbances in the Shenwu Heavenly Abyss to be caused by the Great Demon Lord's remnant soul."

"Does Your Majesty have a way to enter the Shenwu Heavenly Abyss?" Wang Shouzhe asked.

"Entering is possible." The Immortal Emperor was also quite helpless, "But whether one can come out alive is the question. Even True Immortals and True Demons of past generations dared not venture in."

Wang Anye picked up a half-step immortal sword just by passing by, so one can imagine how many treasures are inside the Shenwu Heavenly Abyss. If it were possible to enter, True Immortal Realm experts of past generations would have done so long ago, instead of waiting until now.

"..."

Wang Shouzhe hadn't expected the interior of the Shenwu Heavenly Abyss to be so dangerous, even True Immortals and True Demons feared it.

"You may not know, Shouzhe." The Immortal Emperor sighed, "In the final battle back then, the demon race, led by the Great Demon Lord, almost came out in full force, and the Holy Emperor of Shenwu also led the battle against them. Unfortunately, our side was insufficient in strength and gradually fell into a disadvantage. It was for this reason that the Holy Emperor, after luring the demon race's main force into the Shenwu Heavenly Abyss, decisively used the final trump card, perishing together with them."

"This also caused a void hole to appear inside the Shenwu Heavenly Abyss, surrounded by countless space storms and fragments, making it too dangerous to venture into, for fear of being swallowed by the void hole."

As she spoke of this, the Immortal Emperor's expression was also filled with dread.

"What was the final trump card?" Wang Shouzhe was intrigued, "If we could obtain another final trump card, could we use it to threaten the demon race, preventing them from attempting to invade?"

"The final trump card was known only to the Holy Emperor of Shenwu, the outside world only knows it had world-ending power." The Immortal Emperor explained, "However, the Holy Emperor of Shenwu managed to control its world-ending range within the Shenwu Heavenly Abyss, which is why it blasted out a void hole. But even so, its aftermath turned the sea into land, causing significant changes in the world's geography. Even the outer region demon domain was disconnected from our world."

"These changes only gradually stabilized tens of thousands of years ago. But at the same time, the remnants of the outer region demons began invading our world again, and humanity faced another crisis."

Such secrets were something Wang Shouzhe was hearing for the first time.

He said solemnly, "The revival of the Great Demon Lord is no small matter. If it returns to the demon race, it could potentially unify the currently fragmented demon race. At that time, humanity could face an existential crisis."

"This matter is of great importance, and I will invite the Immortal Sovereign for a small internal meeting, and then communicate with the Demon Emperor and Demon Sovereign." The Immortal Emperor said seriously, "This is a common predicament for humanity, there's no reason for only our Immortal Dynasty to make an effort. As for Wu Mingyan... do you have any plans, Shouzhe?"

"Well... I haven't thought it through yet, just have a rough idea." Wang Shouzhe said, "Wu Mingyan is a split soul puppet, and due to the boundary rift's isolation, as long as she is in our human world, she cannot directly connect her soul with the Yincha Demon God. Given this opportunity, why not turn the tables..."

"Shouzhe means... using the Great Demon Lord as bait? To lure the Yincha Demon God and eliminate her!?"

The Immortal Emperor, having experienced countless events in her life, was incredibly astute.Wang Shouzhe had just started speaking when she instantly understood, involuntarily taking a sharp breath. She looked at Wang Shouzhe and murmured to herself, "You're quite ruthless. Now I finally understand who that kid Fugui takes after."