In the first year of the Jingyuan reign, Prince Li Congke, King of Luo, started from Fengxiang and raised a rebellion.
After Li Congke's rebellion, he had an edict drafted and distributed to various regions, using the excuse of clearing the way for the emperor by eliminating traitors. He requested that all military governors unite in sending troops to attack the capital and kill Zhu Hongzhao, Feng Yun, and others.
Li Congke ordered Wang Si Tong to lead the army to suppress the rebellion.
Wang Si Tong gathered troops from all paths and besieged the city of Fengxiang.
The city of Fengxiang is not a major fortress; the walls are low, and the river is narrow with shallow water, making it impossible to defend.
Wang Si Tong's army had a significant advantage compared to Li Congke's.
Under the heavy attack of the imperial forces, the east and west gates of Fengxiang city were sequentially captured. Li Congke's subordinates suffered considerable casualties as well. If the fight continued, it would be hard to keep the city intact.
Li Congke stood on the city wall, feeling extremely anxious. He cursed himself for having such a weak army, which led him to the brink of being beheaded.
In a moment of desperation, Li Congke quickly removed his upper garments, revealing the numerous scars on his body. He then stood on the city wall and cried out, "I have followed the late emperor in life and death since childhood, participating in countless battles and enduring numerous wounds. Only then did we achieve today's domains and rule. All of you have witnessed these things together. Now, the court trusts in evil ministers and suspects its own kin; what crime do I commit to deserve such punishment?"
At the critical moment of life or death, Li Congke cried passionately, appealing to emotions and reasoning, which touched the compassion of many attacking troops. They then turned to support him. Successively persuading former subordinates such as Yuan Siquan, commander of the Fei Lin Army, and Dou Zhiwei, commander of the command troops, to surrender. He also seized the opportunity to defeat all troops dispatched by Li Conghe and quickly advanced eastward with his forces, pointing directly at the capital Luoyang.
Along the way, all counties and prefectures surrendered upon sight.
Troops sent by the court to suppress the rebellion also joined Li Congke's side successively.
Within a span of a few months, the troops reached Suzhou and advanced on Luoyang.
Upon hearing the news of the defeat of his troops at Fengxiang, Li Conghou was frightened and flustered. On the imperial throne, he said to Zhu Hongzhao, Feng Yun, and others, "At the time of the late emperor's passing, I had no intention of fighting for the throne. It was all due to your support that I was enthroned. Since I ascended the throne at a young age, I entrusted state affairs to you all and never disagreed with any major national policies you set. This time, when we raised an army to suppress Fengxiang, all of you boasted confidently, claiming that putting down the rebellion would be no concern. Now that things have come to this pass, what methods do you have left to turn around this disaster? If none, I will go west to welcome Prince Luo and renounce my throne. Even if I were to die from this guilt, it would be my willing sacrifice."
Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun were terrified and silent, unsure of what to say.
Li Conghou sent an envoy to summon Shi Jingtang to court, hoping he would lead troops to resist the Fengxiang forces advancing eastward.
Commander of the palace guards Kang Yicheng planned to surrender to Li Congke and requested to lead the capital's imperial guards army into battle.
While commander of the mounted troops Zhu Hongshi advocated for the imperial guards to defend Luoyang.
They argued fiercely, each accusing the other of trying to seize power.
Unable to distinguish right from wrong, Li Conghou had Zhu Hongshi executed.
He spent all the funds from his treasury and lavishly rewarded the imperial guards, promising them heavy rewards after the disturbance was settled.
The imperial guards, however, showed no gratitude towards the emperor and instead grew even more arrogant. On their way, they behaved recklessly and boldly claimed they would receive another reward upon their arrival in Fengxiang.
Not long after, Li Conghou ordered the execution of Li Chongji and Li Huiming.
It was precisely because of Li Conghou's actions that Li Congke became thoroughly enraged.
After capturing Suzhou, Li Congke sent a letter to the officials in the capital, assuring them that he would only punish the families of Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun upon his arrival. He urged them not to worry.
Meanwhile, the imperial guards, having just reached Xingan, had already gathered in groups of a hundred or more, all eager to head towards Suzhou.
When Kang Yicheng arrived at the Qianhao Pass within Shaanxi, he found that he had only a few left in his command. He then surrendered to Li Congke.
Li Conghou hurriedly commanded eunuchs to summon Zhu Hongzhao into the palace to discuss strategies.
However, Zhu Hongzhao thought that the emperor wanted to hold him accountable and committed suicide by jumping into a well.
An Congjin, the city's inspector, had already harbored a desire to surrender to Li Congke. He seized the opportunity to attack and kill Feng Yun and annihilate his family.
Then, he sent someone to deliver the severed heads of Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun to Li Congke's army.
Seeing that Luoyang could no longer be held, Li Conghou decided to abandon Luoyang and flee to Wei Prefecture, plotting to rise again.
He ordered Meng Hanyuan to go ahead and make arrangements for various matters in Wei Prefecture.
He also ordered his trusted official Mo Runing to command the Guo Hu Military Guard to guard the Xuanwu Gate.
But Meng Hanyuan immediately rode away from the city gate and headed to Shaanxi, where he also surrendered to Li Congke.
That night, Li Conghou fled from Luoyang through the Xuanwu Gate with fifty guards, heading for Wei Prefecture.
Mo Runing initially promised to lead his troops to follow, but when Li Conghou left the city, he closed the gate and sent someone to contact Li Congke.
The following day, upon entering the palace, Premier Feng Dao discovered that Li Conghou had already fled.
Soon, Empress Dowager Cao ordered the various departments of the palace to go to Qianhao and welcome Li Congke into the capital.
On the third day of April, Li Congke led his army into the city of Luoyang.
Premier Feng Dao led the officials and military leaders in urging Li Congke to assume the throne. Li Congke feigned reluctance.
The next day, the empress dowager issued an edict deposing Li Conghou as the King of E and appointing Li Congke as the acting regent.
On the sixth day, he was made the emperor, thus he ascended the throne and became the last emperor of the Later Tang Dynasty. He changed the year to Qingtai.
During his escape to Wei Prefecture, Li Conghou encountered Shi Jingtang, who was leading his troops to the capital, several miles east of the city of Weizhou.
Li Conghou informed Shi Jingtang of the recent events and asked for his advice on how to restore order.
Shi Jingtang feigned that he needed to discuss matters with the prefect of Weizhou, Wang Hongzhi. He then placed Li Conghou in a guesthouse.
Wang Hongzhi believed that Li Conghou had no hope of regaining power.
Shi Jingtang then ordered Yao Nandong, the commanding officer of the inner guard, to lead troops into the guesthouse and kill all of Li Conghou's attendants and guards. Afterwards, he led his army to Luoyang.
Li Conghou was left alone in the guesthouse and later confined to the prefectural mansion by Wang Hongzhi.
After Li Congke ascended the throne, he did not keep his promise to Chen Yun.
Li Congke ordered the palace guard Wang Lian to go to Wei Prefecture and kill Li Conghou.
By this time, the Later Tang Dynasty was already falling apart like a house of cards, teetering on the brink of collapse at any moment.
...
In the state of Liao, at the Laojun Pavilion.
Chen Yun had witnessed all the events of these two to three months in the southern region.
He let out a cold laugh towards the direction of Luoyang, thinking to himself, "This Li Congke did not keep his promise with me and deserves to suffer the consequences of his nation's downfall and his own demise."
If Li Congke had listened to Chen Yun's advice and spared Li Conghou's life, perhaps not deposing himself and assuming the throne, instead acting like Cao Cao, who used the emperor as a figurehead to order the vassals, then the Later Tang might have continued for some time, even flourished under Li Congke's rule.
Unfortunately, this fool did not keep his promise and killed Li Conghou.
Chen Yun thought to himself, "If you dare to be the first to act, why won't others follow suit on the fifteenth?"
It could be said that Li Congke's position as the Last Emperor of Later Tang was entirely self-inflicted.
Chen Yun was too weary to argue with such a faithless person as Li Congke. After all, he had achieved his goal.
Next, only waiting for Shi Jingtang to borrow troops from the Liao Dynasty and then launch a rebellion, the historical process would be pretty much set in motion.
At that time, I could finally come out of retirement, officially support Zhao Kexing, and plot to conquer the world.
Moreover, at this moment, Chen Yun had no interest in what happened to Li Congke.
Because after several months of cultivating the elixir of refinement and spiritual cultivation, he was close to breaking through to the mid-stage of human immortal realm.
...
April 9th, before noon.
In the seclusion chamber, Chen Yun sat cross-legged on a rush mat, quietly waiting for the elixir's energy to ascend within him.
He had a sense that after he refined this batch of elixir, there was a seventy to eighty percent chance he would be able to break through to the mid-stage of the Human Immortal Realm.
At that time, he should be able to fully understand and master the "Slaughter" Law within the "Tiger Disappearance" cultivation technique.
After sitting quietly for a moment, Chen Yun felt a surge of heat within his body, knowing that the elixir's energy had begun to ascend.
He expelled all distractions, immersing himself completely in the process of refining the elixir's energy.
Waves of heat continuously rose and diffused, spreading a layer of purple over the Golden Dan.
The immense energy condensed from the elixir, resembling a bursting river, madly elevated his own power.
Chen Yun continuously observed the situation within his body.
He found that the originally pale purple Qi, seemed to be undergoing a qualitative change, and the color was gradually becoming deeper.
"It appears that my previous speculation was correct, the Qi of the Dan and true Qi are both capable of growing and undergoing qualitative changes with the cultivation realm."
He continued to refine the elixir's energy.
Every breath, he felt the Qi of the Dan in his body was abundant, and a faint purple aura surrounded him.
It was different from the previous stronger golden light and weaker purple aura.
Now, the purple aura was clearly more numerous than the golden light.
It's not just more numerous, there's a subtle sense that the purple aura is about to "swallow up" the golden light completely.
Moreover, although Chen Yun was still shimmering with faint purple and golden auras while refining the elixir, these auras did not leak out and diffuse into the surroundings.
It was obvious that after months of refinement, he had gradually reached a level where he could completely absorb it.
Chen Yun was neither pleased nor saddened by this, he just continued to refine the elixir's energy.
After some time of refinement, he found that the Qi of the Dan within his body had become abundant, as if his entire body was filled with it.
After the body was filled with the rich Qi of the Dan.
Suddenly, the Qi of the Dan within his body all shook violently without control.
This situation was not the first time Chen Yun encountered it.
He knew that it was the Golden Dan accumulating strength, attempting to return to the Lower Dantian.
The unfortunate thing was, before, his own Golden Dan's power was weak, and it couldn't return to the Lower Dantian.
This time, he didn't take it seriously at first, thinking it would be the same as before, shaking a few times and that would be it.
Little did he expect that as soon as this thought arose, a "gurgling" sound came from within his body, followed by a surge of heat straight towards the Lower Dantian.
Instantly, Chen Yun felt a warm sensation in his heart, his body was at ease, and his mind was agitated.
That kind of extreme comfort, as if one had ascended to heaven, was so soothing that he couldn't help but moan.
At the same time, a powerful force rose from the Lower Dantian and spread throughout his limbs and joints.
Suddenly, Yin and Yang were harmonized.
Chen Yun felt that his physical body, which was originally composed of Yin and Yang, gradually merged into a singular entity.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes, and a purple aura filled the room.
Chen Yun couldn't believe it and muttered to himself, "Not only did the Golden Dan return to the Lower Dantian, but Yin and Yang also transformed into a unified form?"
He had never expected that the realm he originally thought would take several hundred years to reach, after consuming the Elixir of Refinement and Spiritual Cultivation, could be achieved in just a few months!
He had easily cultivated to the mid-stage of the Human Immortal Realm!
Moreover, his physical body had also completed the second level of Yin-Yang Transformation in the "Pangu True Body Art"!
Chen Yun finally realized how absurdly wrong he had been to think that he could have achieved the same without the help of the elixir!
While others would need hundreds of years of hard cultivation.
The elixir could allow him to reach the realm in just a few months!
Chen Yun couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "I never realized that with the elixir, the speed of one's cultivation realm progression can be so swift."
Most importantly, the energy of the elixir of refinement and spiritual cultivation had not been completely consumed!
Chen Yun pondered that if he were to absorb all the energy of the elixir of refinement and spiritual cultivation, might he be able to reach the late stage of the Human Immortal Realm?
At that time, if he could find some earthly treasures and cultivate himself further, he might be able to break through to the Immortal Realm of Earth, then gather the materials needed for the Elixir of Transcendence. At that point, he might have a chance to become a God!
Alright, those thoughts are too far-fetched.
Chen Yun calmed his excited mood and thought to himself, "Now that I have broken through to the mid-stage of the Human Immortal Realm, I can try to contemplate the 'Slaughter' Law. I hope I can understand it successfully."
(Chapter complete)
