Zhou Ming reached out his hand and touched the orb radiating soft light once again.

This time, it was no longer a tentative, gentle touch; he pressed his entire palm against it, his palm firmly resting upon the sphere that emitted a warm, gentle glow.

His mana began to flow slowly along the Meridians of his arm and into the orb, penetrating it strand by strand like a spring silkworm spinning silk, beginning to permeate the extremely complex Restriction patterns inside the orb.

Zhou Ming did not pour all the mana within his body into it at once.

He knew very well in his heart that doing so would be tantamount to suicide.

A current of heat surged from his Dantian; he would refine this heat before channeling it into the orb, then another current would surge, he would refine it, and channel it in again.

He did not touch the mana naturally present within his body at all; that was his Foundation, his Origin, and his final trump card—it absolutely could not be moved.

It was only because he had already reached the Soul Transformation Stage that his Meridians' capacity and refinement speed far exceeded those of lower-level Cultivators.

If it were an ordinary Cultivator at the Qi Refinement Stage, let alone refining the orb, they would have starved to death just being trapped in this secret chamber without food or drink.

While Zhou Ming was refining the orb in the cave, the Shangshu Mansion in Yongning City, Yuyang Commandery, had long since erupted into chaos.

Zhou Ming had just told the aristocratic families that he would give them three days to implement the new laws, but three days had passed, and there was still no movement from him in the secret chamber.

Five days passed, and he was still in seclusion in the secret chamber; ten days passed, and the door to the secret chamber remained tightly shut, with no sound from inside, not even a single lamp had been lit.

Vice Minister Wu Shijun paced anxiously in the front courtyard, while Empress Su Mingyue sent people every day to ask when Master Zhou would inspect the various commanderies.

He stammered and stalled day after day, his official robes soaked with cold sweat that never dried.

Later, Empress Su Mingyue sent someone directly to summon Zhou Ming. Steward Meng had no choice but to reply with a bitter face, saying that his master was still in seclusion, would not see anyone, and had forbidden the door from being opened—he certainly didn't dare to open it himself.

Finally, Empress Su Mingyue sent Dongmei personally to find Zhou Ming.

When Dongmei arrived at the Zhou Mansion, she was wearing a neat black martial outfit, with a short sword hanging at her waist, and a look of impatience on her face.

She had recently been assigned several tasks by Empress Su Mingyue, each one pressing down on her until she could barely catch her breath.

Hearing that Empress Su Mingyue wanted her to find Zhou Ming, she agreed verbally, but in her heart, she had already cursed Zhou Ming a thousand times.

She was as familiar with Zhou Ming as could be; others might fear Zhou Ming, but she certainly did not.

Standing outside the secret chamber door, she raised her foot and kicked the stone door with a loud thud:

"Zhou Ming! Zhou Ming! Get your ass out here! Your Majesty is summoning you to the palace, did you hear me!"

However, there was dead silence inside the secret chamber.

Seeing there was no answer from inside, Dongmei pressed her ear against the stone door to listen for a moment, frowned, and kicked it a few more times.

This time she used more force than before, shaking the door frame so that dust rained down:

"Zhou Ming! If you don't make a sound, this lady is going to break down the door, alright?"

There was still no response from the secret chamber; it was as quiet as a grave.

Dongmei's brows knitted tightly, and a bad premonition surged from the bottom of her heart.

She stepped back half a pace, gripped the hilt of the short sword at her waist with her right hand, and drew it with a swish, the sword light cutting a cold arc in the dim secret passage.

She took a deep breath, channeled her mana into the tip of the sword, and slashed at the hidden door.

Sparks flew everywhere, and the hidden door was split in two by her strike.

However, after the door was split open, the secret chamber was empty, with a single meditation cushion sitting lonely in the center of the stone bed, and a long sword placed beside it.

Dongmei recognized that long sword; it was the personal sword that Empress Su Mingyue had bestowed upon Zhou Ming.

Other than that, there was not a soul to be seen.

Dongmei's expression changed instantly.

She searched the secret chamber from inside to out; the four walls were solid granite, there were no hidden compartments in the floor, no mezzanine in the ceiling, and not even the dust in the corners showed any signs of having been disturbed.

The person had just vanished into thin air.

She turned around and strode out of the secret chamber, gathering all the dozens of people in the Shangshu Mansion into the front courtyard, from Steward Meng to the gatekeeper, from the Guard Commander to the servant sweeping the yard, interrogating them one by one.

No one knew when Zhou Ming had left the secret chamber, and even fewer knew where he had gone.

The last person to see Zhou Ming was Steward Meng, who had personally watched his master enter the secret chamber and close the door, after which he had never seen him again.

All the guards claimed that no one had entered or left the secret chamber for the past ten days or so; they hadn't even seen a fly enter or exit.

Dongmei also knew that these household servants were old hands from the Marquis's Mansion, loyal and devoted to the Marquis's Mansion, and had no reason to lie about this matter.

Standing in the front courtyard of the Shangshu Mansion, clutching that personal sword of Empress Su Mingyue.

Dongmei was silent for a good while, but in the end, she gritted her teeth, mounted her horse, and took the sword back to the palace to report.

After hearing Dongmei's report, Empress Su Mingyue was silent for a long time.

Dongmei stood in front of the Dragon desk, head lowered, not daring to speak.

After a long while, she heard Empress Su Mingyue say in an extremely calm and steady tone:

"Order the Nightingale to search for Zhou Ming's whereabouts with all their might. I want to see him alive, or see his corpse if he is dead."

Dongmei cupped her hands to accept the order and had just turned to leave when she was called back by Empress Su Mingyue.

"Tell the outside world that Minister Zhou's cultivation has shown signs of loosening, and he has gone into seclusion for a Breakthrough."

However, what Dongmei and Empress Su Mingyue did not expect was that, given the intelligence capabilities of the Nightingale, after several months, they had not found even the slightest bit of information about Zhou Ming.

In the following months, the Great Ming Dynasty benefited from the Foundation laid by Zhou Ming's previous thunderous sword strike and his iron-blooded methods of confiscating property and exterminating clans.

The promotion of the new laws throughout Youzhou never encountered any significant resistance again.

Although the aristocratic families hated the new laws to the bone, that Damocles' sword Zhou Ming had hung over their heads was simply too sharp.

Who knew whether he was really in seclusion or just pretending?

Who knew if he might suddenly walk out of the secret chamber one day, carrying that imperial-bestowed long sword that could cut iron like mud, and inspect every household?

They did not dare to gamble, so they had to hold their noses and accept it.

As for the common people and the soldiers in the army, they cheered for the promotion of the new laws.

Military merit could be exchanged for titles, titles could be exchanged for land, and cutting off an enemy's head could change the fate of one's entire family—this was a blessing cultivated over several lifetimes.

People signing up for the army lined up from the gate of the City Lord's Mansion to outside the city gate, the queue winding around several corners, stretching out of sight.

Three months after the new laws were promoted, Empress Su Mingyue officially appointed a group of officials.

With the institutional framework of the new laws, the absolute military power of the Sorcery army, and the popular support and morale ignited by the military merit titles.

The entire Youzhou began to operate efficiently like a machine with its spring tightened.

Conscription, training, farming, road construction, and weapon manufacturing—everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.

Then, Empress Su Mingyue began to expand outward, taking Youzhou as the center, starting the first step in the race for the world.

The first battle was fought against Luzhou.