Chang'an
The transition from entering the Dao to transcending the ordinary is a simple one, as it requires no comprehension or opportunity; simply practicing to a certain level can lead to a qualitative change through quantitative change. However, it is also a difficult one, as there are no shortcuts and one must cultivate to the critical point of breakthrough. Without sufficient talent, it may be difficult to achieve in one's lifetime.
No matter what, after this breakthrough, Xiao Wan'er became the only powerful person in the Divine Dragon Guard who had reached the Transcendent Realm.
The emperor was overjoyed when he heard the news and sent palace servants to invite Xiao Wan'er into the palace to meet him.
When Xiao Wan'er entered the Mingtang, the emperor and several ministers were already seated there, including the commander of the Divine Dragon Guard. They looked as if they had been talking for a while. Upon seeing her enter, the emperor dispensed with her formalities, allowing her to sit in the only remaining empty seat and explaining the reason for her visit.
"Move the capital to Chang'an?" Xiao Wan'er was surprised. "Do all the adults agree with this?"
An old minister explained to Xiao Wan'er, "Xiao Xiansheng may not know this, but Chang'an was originally the capital of the Tang Dynasty. This cannot be called a relocation of the capital; it should be called a return to the capital."
Unfortunately, Xiao Wan'er was not unaware of this.
"Chang'an has not been the capital for a long time. The palaces in the city should need repairs, right?" she asked tentatively.
"Yes." replied the emperor sitting in the main seat.
Xiao Wan'er stretched out her fingers and began to calculate. "Repairing the palace will require a large number of craftsmen and money. When it comes time to move back to Chang'an, His Majesty will have to bring his concubines and palace maids, and the officials of the Divine Capital with their families and servants. This will be even more tiring. After the capital is returned to Chang'an, some people will probably have to give up their properties in the Divine Capital and move to Chang'an in order to make a living."
After she finished calculating the bill, she looked up at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, returning the capital is easier said than done, but it will cost a lot of money and effort."
Seeing that the long-cherished wish was about to be implemented, it was finally poured with a bucket of cold water. The faces of the ministers present were not very happy. On the other hand, the emperor's mood did not change.
"Your words make sense, Immortal. However, returning the capital to Chang'an has been my long-cherished wish," he said with a troubled look on his face. "Could you please divine for me?"
"I dare not disobey your command."
Xiao Wan'er immediately began to divine. She divined for a long time, but all she saw was chaos.
"It's neither good nor bad," she concluded. "It won't do any good or harm."
Immediately, an official requested the emperor to order the return of the capital to Chang'an. His eyes were blazing, and the emperor was also very happy. After a few rounds of discussions, the matter was finalized.
One of the ministers took the opportunity to suggest, "Your Majesty, why not send a team of Divine Dragon Guard monks to Chang'an to repair the palace and then move back to Chang'an after preparations are complete?"
"That's very good," the emperor accepted with pleasure. "Do you have a suitable candidate, my dear?"
"How about sending Captain Xiao?" The minister mentioned Xiao Wan'er with a malicious look on his face. "Captain Xiao is very powerful. I think he will be able to repair the palace faster than other cultivators."
The other ministers either looked at Xiao Wan'er openly or furtively, waiting for her to react. To their disappointment, Xiao Wan'er did not react at all.
"I also think this plan is excellent. However, I alone may not be able to make progress fast enough. Why not have the entire A-Team go to Chang'an?"
Amidst everyone's watching gazes, Xiao Wan'er directly accepted the task.
"Excellent! Immortal Xiao is truly a national hero!" Xiao Wan'er immediately accepted the responsibility. The emperor was delighted and, in his delight, assigned her other tasks. "All preparations for returning to Chang'an before the capital are now in your charge, my dear Xiao."
"Yes." Xiao Wan'er accepted the order, and then a eunuch took over the imperial edict and notified each member of Team A one by one.
After leaving the Mingtang, Xiao Wan'er felt someone watching her subtly. She turned her head and met the minister's gaze, who turned away uncomfortably.
"It's incomprehensible." Xiao Wan'er frowned and complained in her heart.
Inside the Mingtang, there was still an old minister who refused to leave and stood before the emperor.
"Your Majesty," he said anxiously, his words earnestly, "that demon has repeatedly disobeyed Your Majesty and has no loyalty to the Tang Dynasty. I beg Your Majesty to execute him!"
"Kill her?" the emperor asked. "Even the rest of the Dragon Guards combined couldn't possibly defeat her. How can I kill her?"
The minister said anxiously, "With the support of the troops stationed in the capital and the monks of the Divine Dragon Guard, we will definitely be able to bring her to justice!"
"Then the Divine Dragon Guards were nearly wiped out, and the troops stationed in the capital also suffered heavy casualties?" Shangguan Wan'er happened to be accompanying Empress Wei into the Mingtang. Upon hearing the minister's proposal, she raised her brows and pointed at him, questioning, "This lord intends to sacrifice all the cultivators of the Tang court and the elite troops in the capital just to eliminate an immortal who has done nothing harmful to the Tang Dynasty and is currently loyal to Your Majesty?"
The high-sounding words were broken down into their original meaning after passing through Shangguan Wan'er's mouth, making the minister kneel on the ground and dare not say a word.
At this time, Empress Wei laughed softly.
"Since he can make Your Excellency so afraid, I would like to meet this Immortal Xiao."
After hearing this, the minister felt that something was wrong and was about to speak out to dissuade the queen from doing so, but the emperor stepped forward to rescue him.
"Xiao Xianzhang is indeed very powerful. If there is an opportunity in the future, I will definitely bring Zi Tong with me to summon her."
The empress and her capable female officials had both arrived, and the emperor didn't want to see the minister's old face again today, so he kindly asked him to leave the palace and go home.
He failed to get what he wanted and had no choice but to leave the palace.
Just when this minister was wasting time in Taichu Palace, Xiao Wan'er also arrived home.
"I have accepted the mission to lead Team A to Chang'an to repair the palace. We will set off tomorrow."
"Why do we suddenly have to renovate the palace in Chang'an?" Liu Mingyin asked curiously.
"The capital is moving, isn't it?" Pei Yingguan replied. "I've heard rumors before. But why are they asking you to renovate the palace? Doesn't the Tang Dynasty have any more craftsmen?"
"We're planning to move the capital," Xiao Wan'er confirmed. "Chang'an is home to both the Taiji Palace and the Daming Palace. Sending craftsmen to repair it would be time-consuming, labor-intensive, and expensive. It would be better for cultivators to use their magic. I plan to settle down in Chang'an during this trip and move right in after the capital is moved."
Neither of them objected.
"Should we sell this house now?" Liu Mingyin asked Xiao Wan'er.
Xiao Wan'er thought about it and shook her head.
"No, it's not a bad idea to stay here."
Liuyun's prophecy from that day was still fresh in her memory. After learning that the capital was about to be moved, she had made other arrangements.
At noon on the second day, Xiao Wan'er led the entire Team A1 to leave the capital.
With the emperor's order in hand, the entire team marched at full speed, arriving in Chang'an in just two days. After entering the city, everyone headed straight for the Chang'an County Magistrate's Office.
"Shenlong Guard, please." Xiao Wan'er produced the token that symbolized her status, and the gatekeepers immediately stepped aside. She ordered her team members to follow the clerks' instructions and wait elsewhere. She located the Chang'an County Magistrate and headed straight for him, the imperial edict in hand.
"Is the Magistrate of Chang'an here?" Hearing the call, the Magistrate came over and saw Xiao Wan'er holding the imperial edict. "Your Majesty has a decree."
She unfolded the imperial edict and read it word for word. After finishing, she said to the Chang'an County Magistrate, "Your Excellency, please accept the edict."
"I obey your order!" the excited Chang'an County Magistrate shouted loudly.
Xiao Wan'er turned and left, leading her team straight to the palace.
For many years, the palace had always been staffed by a small number of palace servants, so although it was vacant, it had not fallen into disrepair. Xiao Wan'er assigned each team member a specific area based on their cultivation level. At her command, the team members rushed to their respective areas to repair the palace.
As team leader, Xiao Wan'er was directly responsible for the Daming Palace's Hanyuan Hall, Xuanzheng Hall, and Zichen Hall, along with their surrounding courtyards. She closed her eyes, her awareness instantly expanding to encompass the three halls completely. She then began to carefully inspect each area. Daming Palace, after all, was built during the reign of Emperor Gaozong, so it wasn't much in disrepair. Repairs were surprisingly easy, and progress was rapid.
Under the tepid winter sun, a wisp of spiritual energy swept across a broken brick, silently smoothing out the cracks. Xiao Wan'er wiped the sweat from her forehead and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Mission accomplished!”
With a single leap, she reached the top of the Purple Palace, overlooking the entire Daming Palace. While the other team members were still diligently working, she alone had already completed her work. She concentrated her attention on the Taiji Palace, which had been under construction for much longer, and no one had completed the task.
She jumped off the roof and walked out of the palace.
Unlike the Divine Capital, Chang'an City only had two markets, the East and West Markets, neither of which was as prosperous as the three markets of the Divine Capital. It was nearing the end of the year, and most shops were closed, making shopping difficult. Fortunately, after touring both markets, Xiao Wan'er finally found a real estate broker.
"A house near the east side," the broker slapped his thigh upon hearing the request, "I actually have one here."
He invited the seller to come over and discuss the matter with Xiao Wan'er. The seller looked down on the buyer when he saw she was a young girl.
"I do want to sell this house, but it's almost the end of the year, and you're not the only one who wants to buy it. So the price..."
Xiao Wan'er looked at the seller with a half-smile, counting on her fingers and nearly laughing. The seller was desperate to sell the house, but unwilling to sell it at a low price, so he was trying to bluff her and make a quick buck. As for the other potential buyers, at least at this point, there really weren't any.
"Forget it, I don't have to buy it now. I can wait until the New Year is over and look at it again." After saying that, she gave up with a look of regret on her face.
Seeing that the duck was about to fly away, the seller became anxious and called out to her.
"Girl, wait a minute—"
Xiao Wan'er turned around, spread out her hands with a helpless look on her face, and said to the seller, "I really don't have that much money. You can sell it to other buyers."
The seller had no other buyers, so he quickly lowered the price.
The price this time was still slightly higher than the market price, but thinking that housing prices would inevitably rise after the capital was moved, Xiao Wan'er agreed to the price with a painful look on her face.
Accompanied by their broker, the two men went to the city office. A contract was quickly drawn up, signed and stamped, and the sale was finalized. Both parties, holding the deed, were delighted, feeling they had made a good deal.
The furniture in the house had not been moved out, so the people could move in right away. Xiao Wan'er chose a room, which became her room from now on, and the other empty rooms were used as temporary accommodation for the team members.
By New Year's Eve, the renovation work was nearing completion, and Xiao Wan'er gave the entire team a day off. Just as she was planning a dinner for the entire team, a servant knocked on the door.
"Sir Xiao, our county magistrate invites all the immortals from Team A to a banquet at his home."
In this way, even the cost of ingredients is saved.
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