Turning Point

The State of Ji was a long-term endeavor that had to be pursued step by step. Wei Yuan's strategy at the moment was to build high walls and store abundant grain—and besides, he did not possess enough boundary stones. Yet as the newly appointed Master of Water Moon Hall, Wei Yuan had to return to the main mountain, accept the official seal and authority of the hall master, and meet with the disciples to set their minds at ease. Once the meeting concluded and he had arranged the various affairs regarding the State of Ji, Wei Yuan set out for the main mountain. Midair, he first materialized his personal flying apparatus, which had been iteratively improved multiple times and was now fitted with sixty-four rear thrusters—an utterly ridiculous contraption. Wei Yuan settled inside, and as all the thrusters ignited simultaneously, he shot forward as though booted by the Human Sovereign himself, vanishing beyond the horizon in an instant. A journey that had once taken the flying boats carrying new Palace of Grand Beginning recruits months of travel now took Wei Yuan less than a single day. This speed utterly overwhelmed nearly any conventional movement, and with Wei Yuan's formidable physique, he felt he could easily withstand another sixty-four thrusters. Upon arriving at the Palace of Grand Beginning, Wei Yuan went to pay his respects to True Monarch Xuanyue. Xuanyue had set out earlier and had likewise reached the Palace of Grand Beginning's main mountain ahead of him. After paying his respects to Xuanyue, the two made their way to Water Moon Hall together. Seeing that Xuanyue was still wearing the Dharma Idol-grade robes Wei Yuan had gifted him previously, Wei Yuan promptly produced two boxes and presented them with both hands, saying, "Disciple has accrued far too many heavenly merits with nowhere to spend them, so I exchanged them for two sets of Scenery Command robes to honor you, Elder. In truth, there were only two sets left in the Hall of Merits; otherwise, I would have exchanged for more." True Monarch Xuanyue laughed heartily as he took them and stowed them away. "It is rare indeed to see such filial devotion. Scenery Command spirit treasures are already scarce, and defensive spirit treasures are inherently worth a grade higher. That the Hall of Merits even had two in stock is remarkable enough. For Scenery Command cultivators in other sects, unless it's an heirloom passed down through generations, they would have to scramble for a century just to procure a decent robe." Seeing True Monarch Xuanyue stow the robes away, Wei Yuan asked, "Aren't you going to put one on?" True Monarch Xuanyue waved a hand out of habit. "Never mind for now. I'll save them for a major occasion. Day to day, a Dharma Idol-grade robe is more than enough. If I had the silver to spare, I'd rather raise the main hall by a few zhang—now that is something that can be passed down for generations! ...Wait, seeing you take office is a major occasion too! A monumental one!" With a flick of his sleeve, True Monarch Xuanyue draped one of the Scenery Command treasures over his shoulders. The robe was embroidered with brocade carps of the Dragon Pond. The moment he donned it, several brocade carps swam out from the fabric, circling continuously around his body—not only pleasing to the eye, but also effective at repelling enemies. And so, patriarch and grand-disciple arrived at Water Moon Hall together. Water Moon Hall had already received word, and all disciples currently on the mountain had gathered in the hall, waiting. The handover ceremony was exceedingly simple. Xuanyue said a couple of sentences, and Wei Yuan said a couple of sentences. In other sects, when elders said they would say a few words, they would often speak for an entire day. But in Sky Azure Hall, two sentences meant two sentences; between the two of them, they spoke four sentences in total. The disciples of Water Moon Hall were perking their ears, expecting profound words of the Dao, only for both hall masters to conclude. True Monarch Xuanyue then pointed a finger, sending a speck of light from himself into Wei Yuan's sea of consciousness. Immediately, a miniature Water Moon Hall manifested within the Splendor of the Many Realms. With this imprint, Wei Yuan could access the hall's various functions, and the imprint itself conferred certain enhancements upon its bearer. However, to the current Wei Yuan, such enhancements were practically negligible. Wei Yuan then took his seat on the Hall Master's throne to receive the greetings of the disciples. Water Moon Hall presently had four Real Persons, headed by Real Person Lanhua. Her expression was quite complex. When she first met Wei Yuan, she had already been a Real Person of modest renown, while Wei Yuan was merely a child of six or seven. Back then, she had even toyed with the idea of competing against Fenhai to claim him. Over the subsequent decade, Water Moon Hall as a whole had tightened its belt for Wei Yuan's sake, contributing a great deal of immortal silver—even delaying the cultivation of ordinary disciples. Consequently, young talents like Fei Yutong grew resentful, eventually leaking secrets at Qingming and providing a target for the shamanic curse of karma. In the blink of an eye, more than thirty years had passed, and the little boy from back then had grown into someone capable of presiding over a hall. In terms of age, Wei Yuan was likely the youngest hall master in the entire history of the Palace of Grand Beginning. The four Real Persons bowed in unison to pay their respects, followed by the kowtowing of over thirty Dao Foundation disciples, and finally over twenty Body Casting disciples. This was the entirety of Water Moon Hall. Among the younger disciples, seventy percent were lovely young women, while the male disciples were also handsome and refined. Standing together, they were truly pleasing to the eye. Among the young Dao Foundation disciples, two female disciples standing in the back row were particularly striking. One appeared aloof, yet her gaze toward Wei Yuan was decidedly disrespectful, bearing a provocative expression that practically dared him: *Come on, bully me if you dare.* Though she looked gracefully slim and poised, she was actually under ten years old—none other than Wei Ying, the reincarnation of Fei Yutong. Wei Ying's current body was a supreme dharma vessel produced after a generation of Xu family youths had devoured one another, and she retained Fei Yutong's memories from her past life. Blessed with the memories of two lives, her talent was terrifying, and her cultivation advanced at flying speed. A descendant forged from the amalgamation of the Xu family youths could not be judged by conventional logic. Wei Yuan had sent Wei Ying into Water Moon Hall back then, and in just a few short years, she was already in the late Dao Foundation realm, nearing perfection. The other standout female disciple was named Nan Ningshuang, another prodigy who had emerged after Fei Yutong, a classic genius in the traditional sense. Currently only twenty-five or six, she was just shy of Dao Foundation perfection and stood a strong chance of achieving a dharma idol before thirty. She appeared aloof, and aloof she truly was. Her gaze toward Wei Yuan burned bright—filled with admiration, yet also defiance and a desire to challenge him. This look was practically standard among the young prodigies of the Palace of Grand Beginning. They yearned to emulate the legendary feats of their predecessors while refusing to accept second place, eager to forge their own legends and crash over those before them like waves leaving old masters stranded on the shore! It was just that the wave that was Wei Yuan was a bit too huge, making it quite hard to wash over. In fact, throughout the entire history of the Palace of Grand Beginning, someone who made waves quite like Wei Yuan was exceedingly rare. Then, Wei Yuan inquired into the basic circumstances of Water Moon Hall. Only after Wei Yuan repaid every debt that could be repaid had Water Moon Hall finally regained its vitality. Previously, all resources had first been funneled into sustaining Wei Yuan's cultivation, and later into rebuilding the main hall of Sky Azure Hall. True Monarch Xuanyue had also been blatantly partial, pouring everything into renovating Sky Azure Hall to the hilt, causing Water Moon Hall to stagnate for decades. Without immortal silver, development was naturally impossible, and the Real Persons of Water Moon Hall had all inherited True Monarch Xuanyue's flaw—namely, a total inability to manage money. They scraped by along their own Dao paths, leaving next to nothing to generously support the disciples. At present, the annual upkeep of Water Moon Hall alone cost one million taels of immortal silver, while the combined cultivation expenses for disciples at or below the Dao Foundation realm came to a hundred thousand taels. Lanhua and the other Real Persons supported themselves and could even contribute seventy to eighty thousand taels of immortal silver each year. The Palace of Grand Beginning allocated a baseline budget of one million taels annually, leaving Water Moon Hall to raise the rest on its own. As for the treasury, there were plenty of ancestral treasures, but simply no silver. Having heard all this, Wei Yuan gained a clear grasp of Water Moon Hall's current state. He asked Real Person Lanhua, "Is the immortal sect joint examination coming up soon?" "Yes." Wei Yuan pondered a moment, then said, "Report to the palace. For this joint examination, our Water Moon Hall will first recruit five hundred disciples." Real Person Lanhua was astonished. "Five... five hundred?!" Wei Yuan frowned slightly. "What, too few? It is indeed a bit low. Hmm, how about two thousand? Any more than that, and the other halls might object." The Real Persons were struck speechless, none knowing what to say. Yet they knew that Water Moon Hall had arrived at its turning point.