The settling of the ancient full moon into place further elevated the completeness of the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, accelerating the pace of its transformation accordingly.
Yet as Wei Yuan gazed upon this singular full moon, a sensation grew increasingly distinct: the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World was still not in a state of perfection, and a vital piece remained missing from its world system.
Looking down across the entirety of the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, what was missing was self-evident—a sun.
It seemed an impossible task, yet once accomplished, the world system would achieve unprecedented completeness, stepping straight into Scenery Command... but into which stage? Wei Yuan could not say for sure himself.
Wei Yuan realized that his current cultivation seemed to have diverged vastly from the prevailing cultivation system of the present day. This issue was not particularly grave; he could simply consult an immortal later. If human immortals were not enough, there were still Heavenly Shamans. The more pressing problem right now was: where would a sun come from?
A faint path seemed to lie before him: in ancient times, supreme human cultivators could cultivate themselves into a moon, so had someone also cultivated into a sun? If someone truly had, where was that sun now?
Such a colossal mass would make an exceptional target for heavenly secrets divination arts and would hardly be easy to conceal. If no one had cultivated one, then Wei Yuan's opportunity had arrived.
Wei Yuan's ambitions were not overly grand; he did not intend to emulate the ancients by cultivating a genuine great sun that would leave no sun for anyone else to imagine.
What he intended to cultivate was the True Intent of the Great Sun. For the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, a single immortal artifact imbued with the True Intent of the Great Sun to serve as the foundation of a grotto-heaven would be more than enough.
As for the orbit of the Sixth Grotto-Heaven, Wei Yuan abandoned the notion of calculating it on his own. To truly compute the Sixth Grotto-Heaven's orbit, he would likely have to chew through all of Chapter Nine of *Preliminary Exploration of the Desolate Realm*, which was practically equivalent to finishing the entire book. The first nine chapters consisted entirely of mathematical tools, while the tenth chapter was the conclusion—using those tools to explain what the Desolate Realm actually was, spanning a mere three pages.
Wei Yuan now had a clear appraisal of his own limits, so he decided to break the Sixth Grotto-Heaven's orbit down into divisible tasks and dispatch them into the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World for computation. If even the Smoke and Fire could not calculate it, he was prepared to smash karmic luck into it by brute force until an orbit was forged.
With his plan settled, Wei Yuan stirred his thoughts, bringing about a subtle shift within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World.
A portion of the mortals in the cities underwent a sudden transformation, turning into burly aunties. Armed with water basins and wiping rags, they set about cleaning everywhere. The moment they caught anyone scribbling or painting graffiti on the walls, they seized the culprit on the spot and exiled them to overseas islands to plant sugarcane. These aunties possessed piercing gazes and keen perception, capable of tracing the culprit from writing left on a wall three days prior. Moreover, their martial prowess was quite formidable; ordinary young lads from the Battle Saint Hall were no match for them.
Wei Yuan felt that the mortals in the Smoke and Fire lacked sufficient pressure; defying the Creation Immortal Venerable had practically become a form of political correctness, as though one could display no individuality without hurling a few curses at the Immortal Venerable.
So Wei Yuan casually turned up the heat on them, letting these mortals know that every kind of "correctness" came with a price.
Originally, Wei Yuan had wished to display his magnanimity and tolerance, consistently reluctant to hold grudges. Yet the less he held them to account, the more stifled and aggrieved he felt. Zhang Sheng's killing tribulation had taught him many lessons, above all that a clear and untroubled Dao Heart was of paramount importance. If anyone dared disturb the clarity of his Dao Heart, he would toil their sinews and bones, starve their flesh, empty their person, and confound their undertakings...
Sure enough, once the aunties began appearing in droves, Wei Yuan's Dao Heart became remarkably clear and unburdened. He let out three hearty laughs and departed from the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World.
After Wei Yuan left, inside a modest courtyard in Central City, two maidens who had been sitting as still as stone finally came back to life. Xihe looked puzzled as she watched the rampaging aunties, asking, "What manner of creature is that?"
Maiden Yin-Yang was equally baffled. "I do not know. Only that they seem connected to his Dao Heart; seeing them put him in extraordinarily high spirits."
Just then, the fake monk of the Lotus Lamp emerged from the room carrying a tea tray, serving a cup of tea to each maiden. Being a talkative sort, he casually chimed in, "Seems the Immortal Venerable has quite a taste for this sort of thing."
***
Having stepped out of the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, Wei Yuan found that time was no longer especially pressing, so he carefully studied the two realm stones. Both were immortal-grade, but each covered an expanse of only five thousand li, and each possessed merely a single mystical power and trait—far inferior to Qingming.
Mirror Lake was predominantly Water-aligned and best planted in an area abundant in moisture. After a prolonged alteration of heaven and earth, it would spawn multiple lakes and yield a pool of spirit lake. Within the lake would bloom green lotuses, and along its shores would grow spirit trees, all of unique varieties. Furthermore, the scenery was unparalleled; Wei Yuan took a liking to it at first glance, thinking it would make a fine retreat for retirement in the future.
Shenghua, as its name implied, was centered on Wood-element vitality, forming a natural spirit wood forest and medicine garden, while also being well-suited for free-ranging spirit beasts. If put to agricultural use, it was suitable only for cultivating spiritual rice; planting mortal rice would be a waste.
Having understood the functions of the two realm stones, Wei Yuan made his way to Zhang Sheng's quarters.
The original county yamen had been utterly destroyed. Over the past two days, Wei Yuan had arranged hands to clear the ruins, intending to simply build a fully functional Castellan's Manor from scratch. In the meantime, he and Zhang Sheng were staying temporarily in a small neighboring courtyard.
The courtyard was not large, consisting of only two enclosures. When Wei Yuan entered, Zhang Sheng was in the study, eyes closed as she nurtured her sword. Clad in plain robes, her black hair cascading down, her faintly pale cheek was gently brushed by a shaft of sunlight. Sensing Wei Yuan come in, she did not open her eyes, only tilting her face upward slightly.
Wei Yuan walked over and pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek, right where the dappled sunlight rested. Soft, warm, and delicate, the lingering heat of the sun intertwined with her breath, yielding a unique, intoxicating scent. Unable to help himself, Wei Yuan kissed her once more. Zhang Sheng's eyes parted a sliver, her fan-like eyelashes fluttering, casting a tender shadow touched with a smile over her eyelids.
Wei Yuan's heart skipped two beats.
She then resumed nurturing her Heart Sword, while Wei Yuan unrolled maps across the desk, cross-referencing high-precision charts to plan the deployment of the numerous realm stones in his possession. The seven or eight realm stones obtained from the State of Ji, Wei Yuan intended to use entirely in the hill-folk territories beyond the borders of Ji. With so many realm stones in hand, he could plan everything thoroughly from the start, striving to maximize each stone's efficacy while claiming the ten thousand li of territory originally belonging to the hill folk.
Once this domain was properly planned, cities could be erected, fields cleared, and people settled upon it. Qingming already possessed a standardized development process, optimized specifically for hill-folk regions. Unlike the Wu domain, this place produced less grain and suffered from poor transportation, but was exceptionally rich in timber and mineral resources. In the future, it would be driven primarily by industry, with grain and medicinal herbs needing only to achieve self-sufficiency. Wei Yuan still planned to rely on Qingming as the principal grain-producing region.
In a few more decades, this place would become prosperous beyond precedent, faintly recreating the splendor of the otherworldly realms. Wei Yuan harbored grand ambitions, aiming to support at least several hundred million mortals in this region, which, combined with Qingming, would reach a total of one billion.
This would be an empire of one billion people who had broadly attained Body Casting, were generally literate, and were populated everywhere by template cultivators. Indeed, because template cultivators were so numerous and unique to Qingming, Wei Yuan planned to group them together under the title of the "middle-class template." A widespread middle-class template would become the defining emblem of Qingming's wealth.
Wei Yuan quietly worked on his plans, and in the blink of an eye, the moon had climbed to mid-sky. Having finished her Heart Sword practice, Zhang Sheng came up behind Wei Yuan and rested her hands upon his shoulders, asking, "Why not hand this over to the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World to handle?"
Wei Yuan shook his head. "How could I leave something of such importance entirely to a bunch of fellows who have never handled anything of the sort, who rely solely on task decomposition and synthesis to solve problems? If I don't grasp it thoroughly myself, what will we do if the Smoke and Fire gets it wrong?"
Zhang Sheng nodded slightly. "That makes sense. Right now Liumiao has just fallen, and the State of Ji is left defenseless. It is prime time to deploy troops on all fronts. Go tend to your affairs; there is no need to stay here keeping me company."
Wei Yuan said, "Though Liumiao is dead, the other side most likely still has cards up their sleeve. Besides, given the King of Ji's disposition, he will never yield power submissively. Ousting him would forfeit our righteous pretext and inevitably invite backlash from the Nine States. Right now, they are probably waiting for me to launch an offensive, so I choose not to budge.
"We currently hold the Eight Commanderies of Southern Jin, the entire State of Zhao, and a territory as vast as the State of Ji. The pressing priority is to digest them properly, to ensure that the people within our realms can truly live better lives than ever before. Only then can the world see that mortals do not have to live in squalor, tasting meat only at the turn of the year."
Zhang Sheng nodded. "I have the temperament of a sword cultivator; I was indeed too hasty."
Wei Yuan smiled, turned around, and pulled Zhang Sheng into his arms. Lowering his head, he buried his face in the soft hollow of her neck, drinking in her scent, and murmured softly, "So for this period of time, my main quest is: staying by your side."
Chapter 1009