Communication Hive

According to the system's instructions, this Mother Matrix possessed absolutely no offensive power, nor could it enhance one's cultivation base. Its sole functions were "devouring" and "communication"!

As long as captured anomalies were fed into the intake on the left, the Mother Matrix would break them down and reconstruct them, producing miniature communication sub-nests, or "Terminals," from the exit on the right.

Devouring terrifying anomalies of the sixth tier or above would produce a "Ten-Thousand-Mile Terminal" covering an area of five square meters. Its display screen could accommodate long messages of up to three thousand characters, and its video and voice transmission clarity reached 98 percent, ignoring all terrain and covering a radius of ten thousand miles! Devouring third to fifth-tier anomalies would generate a two-square-meter "Thousand-Mile Terminal." It could send five-hundred-character short messages, its video and voice would occasionally have static, and it covered a thousand miles. Devouring low-level anomalies of the first or second tier would produce a half-square-meter "Hundred-Mile Terminal." It allowed for hundred-character messages with clear video and voice, covering a hundred miles.

The most brilliant aspect was its network architecture, which strictly followed "hierarchical binding." The Mother Matrix was the sole central server, directly connected to the Ten-Thousand-Mile and Thousand-Mile Terminals. Meanwhile, the grassroots Hundred-Mile Terminals could not communicate privately with one another; their messages had to be relayed and uploaded to the Mother Matrix via a Thousand-Mile Terminal, and then distributed by the Mother Matrix.

What did this mean? It meant absolute information monopoly and surveillance! The entire communication process was divided into a hundred encrypted channels that did not interfere with each other, with a delay of merely three breaths! Furthermore, each Terminal had an independent serial number. Once a node was discovered to be captured by the enemy, Wang Hao only needed to sit in front of the Mother Matrix and press a button to make that Terminal instantly violently explode and self-destruct!

The only problem is the backlash... Wang Hao narrowed his eyes, looking at the warning on the manual.

When devouring anomalies, the dying screams, mental corruption, and curses of the dismantled creatures would echo madly in the holder's mind through the garbled code on the screen and the shrill roars from the speakers, lasting for seven days and seven nights. Those with slightly weaker mental fortitude would be driven completely insane, hallucinating that they had become the shredded monsters, leading to self-mutilation and madness.

Heh, side effects? They are useless against me. Wang Hao was overjoyed. With the system's protection, this level of mental pollution was not even a gentle breeze brushing against a mountain to him.

That bunch of eunuchs under Sun Li finally have a backbone for their postal logistics network! Wang Hao stroked the cold bronze screen, his heart burning with passion. As long as he hunted enough anomalies, he could establish an instant communication network that covered the entire Great Zhou Dynasty and surpassed this era by a thousand years in an extremely short time!

Looking at the sign-in reward for today at Fengtian Hall on his panel, Wang Hao tapped it and updated today's intelligence.

Ding! Sign-in at Fengtian Hall successful! Congratulations to the host for obtaining twenty years of pure cultivation power!

Before he could even react, a muffled boom echoed! An entirely unreasonable, majestic wave of true qi, like a river bursting its banks, violently exploded within his defenseless dantian.

Oh no! This surge of qi... it's going to burst me apart!

Wang Hao's pupils dilated instantly, his eyes filling with terrifying bloodshot lines, and the muscles on his cheeks twitched violently from the piercing pain.

The berserk true qi completely ignored his agony, madly surging through his limbs and bones.

Muscle Forging Realm, Eighth Layer!

Muscle Forging Realm, Ninth Layer!

Crack...

An extremely faint sound of bone fracturing came from within his body, followed by an unbearable itch deep in his bone marrow, as if millions of ants were gnawing at it.

Breakthrough, Bone Forging Realm!

But this twenty years of cultivation power forcefully stuffed into him by the system had not even been half consumed. The true qi, like a ferocious beast freed from its cage, smashed through the next martial arts barrier without any pause, charging straight into his internal organs!

Organ Forging Realm First Layer... Third Layer... It wasn't until the Fifth Layer of the Organ Forging Realm that the swelling sensation that nearly tore him apart slowly subsided, thoroughly settling in his dantian.

Huff... Huff...

Wang Hao was like a dying fish, slumped limply on the dragon bed, his entire body soaked in cold sweat as if he had just been fished out of the water.

He greedily gasped for air.

But after only a few breaths, the terror in his eyes receded like the tide, replaced by an unbelievable, wild joy.

He slowly clenched his fists.

As his finger bones rubbed together, there was actually a faint sound of wind and thunder. The abundant power within his body made him feel that with just one punch, he could smash through the nanmu pillars of this Fengtian Hall, which required three people to embrace!

Organ Forging Realm Fifth Layer... The Fourth Realm of Martial Arts!

Wang Hao stared fixedly at his hands, his heart pounding wildly in his chest like a war drum, while stormy waves of emotion surged deep within his soul.

Wei Zhongxian trained bitterly for forty years, yet he only barely touched the threshold of the Fifth Realm. And I... just by changing locations and signing in, crossed a heavenly chasm in ten breaths that countless martial artists could never cross in their entire lives?

So... this is what it feels like for a transmigrator to use cheats.

Wang Hao's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, greed flashing in his eyes.

What is twenty years of cultivation? In the future, I will definitely be able to sign in for sixty years of cultivation, a hundred years of cultivation... all the way to the Martial God Realm!

He violently clenched his fists, his bones popping. This wave of rewards was simply so good it could drive a man crazy! Right now, he wished he could immediately rush to the next sign-in location and shear this sheep down to its roots!

Hehehe, in this world, who else can do anything to me?

Just as Wang Hao was caught up in his narcissism, the intelligence updated.

Ding, today's intelligence: The aristocratic officials led by Zhang Wuji are secretly plotting to use the authority of the Ministry of Personnel to compete for the positions of chief officials in the newly established local institutions. The humble-born officials led by Zhuge Huaijin are attempting to use the taxation department as a blade to force the aristocratic families to pay taxes, replenishing the national treasury.

In his mind, the system's cold prompt was like a gust of freezing wind, instantly blowing away the residual heat in Wang Hao's body from his successive breakthroughs. He took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing that majestic true qi in his dantian that was almost threatening to burst out of his body.

He slowly opened his eyes. There was no anger in his deep gaze, only a clarity that saw through everything.

Neither of them are pushovers.

Zhang Wuji, you rely on the deeply rooted aristocratic families behind you, wanting to use my opportunity of expanding local government offices to turn the Ministry of Personnel into your own backyard? You want those newly built offices to be filled with people from your aristocratic families?

Zhuge Huaijin, your original intentions are good, but how can you guarantee that all humble-born scholars will remain as true to their original intentions as you are? You must know that the predecessors of the aristocratic families were also humble-born. Aren't you right now also turning the newly established General Taxation Bureau into a blade in your hands to eliminate those who disagree with you?

Wang Hao shook his head.

Do you really treat the Great Zhou's empire as a horse racing track for you to divide up at will? You all seem to have forgotten exactly who sets the rules of this world.

You only have a job because I give you an official position; if I don't give it to you, you wouldn't even be able to catch a hot meal of shit.

Wang Hao snorted coldly and turned around abruptly.

Men! Pass my decree to the Grand Secretariat!

Zhang Li, the seal-holding eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial who was waiting outside the hall, immediately pushed the door open and entered.

Wang Hao strode over to the desk, grabbed the imperial wolf-hair brush, and with a flick of his wrist, his brush moved like dragons and snakes.

He didn't need to think, because he had already played out this game of chess a thousand times in his mind.

Three hours later.

The duty room of the Chief Minister of the Grand Secretariat.

When the shrill voice of Sun Li finished reading the three bright yellow imperial edicts, each stamped with the vivid red seal of the State Jade Seal, the Grand Secretariat—which had been so quiet you could hear a pin drop—reacted as if a powder keg capable of leveling the entire capital had been tossed into the room.

The first edict: Restructure the official system of the Great Zhou and explicitly define the ranks!

The Grand Secretariat was elevated to a Primary First Rank office. The Six Ministries, the Court of Judicature, the Censorate, and the General Taxation Bureau were designated as Primary Second Rank. Provincial Governors were set at Primary Third Rank, with their subordinate six departments and various branches at Primary Fourth Rank. Prefects were set at Primary Fourth Rank, with their subordinate six bureaus and branches at Primary Fifth Rank. County Magistrates were set at Primary Fifth Rank, with their subordinate six offices and branches at Primary Sixth Rank. A newly established township-level government office was set at Primary Sixth Rank, with its subordinate six bureaus and six agencies at Primary Seventh Rank, while grassroots clerks were designated from Primary Eighth to Primary Ninth Rank.

Upon hearing this first edict, the dim, aged eyes of the senior cabinet members instantly burst with terrifying, piercing gleams.

Sitting on the left, Zhuge Huaijin was breathing just as heavily. A rare flush of color crept onto his thin face, which was usually as placid as an ancient well.

Seated at the head of the right side, the Second Grand Secretary, Zhang Wuji, subconsciously tightened his grip on his jade thumb ring, his heartbeat suddenly accelerating.

The leaders of the two factions exchanged a subtle glance, both able to clearly see the burning ambition in the other's eyes. They were already calculating in their minds how to maneuver their protégés and former subordinates into the most lucrative positions during this first wave of personnel appointments.

However, before the smiles could fully bloom on their lips, Sun Li swept a slightly mocking gaze over the crowd and slowly unrolled the second edict.

"The second edict: From this day forth, government offices at all levels across the Great Zhou shall completely dismiss all unofficial advisors, legal secretaries, and accountants! Any chief official who privately employs commoners without official rank to handle official documents, judicial affairs, or state finances shall, upon verification, be immediately stripped of their post, investigated, and prosecuted for the same crime!"

Boom—

It was as if a mystical thunderbolt from the highest heavens had struck directly upon Zhang Wuji's crown. His vision went black, and his throat felt as though it had been stuffed with a chunk of raw iron soaked in ice water, rendering him utterly incapable of making a sound.

He jerked his head up, staring deathly hard at that bright yellow edict, the muscles of his face twitching wildly out of control.