The Qingming army remained entrenched within the State of Ji, sweeping all before it. Bolstered by military qi, the vanguard commanders—whether Xiaoyu, Baoyun, Feng Tingyu, or Wang Hu—all possessed strength sufficient to go toe-to-toe with Scenery Command experts.
After suffering several crushing defeats, the morale of the Ji army had completely shattered. The moment they caught sight of Qingming banners, half their military qi dispersed before battle was even joined. For the commanding generals, the boost provided by such depleted military qi was practically negligible. That the army did not instantly rout was already proof that these were the finest troops Ji had to offer.
Previous engagements had made it abundantly clear that when the two armies squared off, Ji's soldiers were routinely decimated by artillery fire before they could even lay eyes on a single Qingming fighter.
As the war dragged on, over five hundred thousand Ji soldiers had been wiped out, while Qingming suffered just over a thousand casualties—most of which were due to an inability to acclimate to the local climate or food poisoning from sampling regional delicacies.
Wei Yuan was not overly greedy. Once Qingming's various columns seized the four commanderies surrounding Xiang and Han, they halted their advance, dug in, and opened negotiations with the King of Ji.
Wei Yuan placed no boundary stones in the four commanderies, signaling that he had no intention of occupying them permanently. By this time, the eight western commanderies of Ji had been reduced to a desolate wasteland devoid of human habitation; the local civilians were fewer in number than the Qingming troops stationed there. Without boundary stones for so many years, heaven and earth had degraded, gradually regressing toward the state of the Mountain Folk domain.
Looking at the territorial map surrounding the State of Ji at this moment yielded a curious sight. Beyond Ji's traditional southwestern borders lay what had once been the Mountain Folk domain, now dotted with boundary stones and transformed largely into human domain. Meanwhile, the eight commanderies within Ji's own borders had steadily deteriorated into an enclave of Mountain Folk territory hemmed in by human domains.
Only in areas closer to the Great Tang imperial capital would the removal of boundary stones merely result in barren desolation rather than reversion into foreign lands.
With hostilities temporarily paused, Wei Yuan stayed in Yizhou and began pondering the essence of human destiny and the Martial Ancestor's grand scheme.
Wei Yuan had read *History of Tang: Biographies of the Martial Ancestor* more times than he could count, knowing every major event during the Martial Ancestor's century-long reign like the back of his hand.
Yet, it was impossible to discern any clear connection among these scattered events or glean any clue to the Martial Ancestor's grand design. He could only surmise that it was likely tied to human karmic destiny. The rapid emergence of children of karmic destiny was a phenomenon of only the last several centuries, which was most likely linked to what the Martial Ancestor had set in motion.
Reflecting on recent developments, Wei Yuan recalled how Zhang Sheng's mortal tribulation and the pocket realm provided by the Scourge of the North had first drawn him to the State of Ji. There, he had encountered the Heavens-Severing World-Refining Grand Array. To save the tens of millions of innocent commoners in Ji, Wei Yuan had disrupted their formation twice in succession.
In the State of Zhao, after years of patient groundwork, Wei Yuan had finally aided the King of Zhao in ascending to Scenery Command. During the king's breakthrough, multiple immortals had intervened directly, waging an aerial clash across vast distances. At the critical juncture, the King Buddha had exerted supreme might to part the mists, allowing Wei Yuan to make his choice and enabling the King of Zhao to narrowly escape catastrophe.
Whether in the State of Ji or the State of Zhao, every move was aimed at the Martial Ancestor's scheme, attempting through diverse means to shake what the Martial Ancestor had established all those years ago. Meanwhile, another faction seemed bent on stopping them at all costs. Wei Yuan had unwittingly found himself at the very crux of this titanic clash between two mighty forces.
Yet, because Wei Yuan did not know what the Martial Ancestor's grand design actually was, he had no idea how to counter it. For now, he could only let nature take its course and respond to unfolding events according to his own conscience.
If Qingming were regarded as a nation, its modest population was offset by a formidable national strength anchored by hundreds of thousands of dao foundation cultivators and tens of millions in Body Casting—a foundation rarely seen across the realm. Even compared to the State of Zhao or Southern Qi, it lagged only in the sheer number of high-tier cultivators at the dharma idol stage and above.
Now that a roadmap for Golden Pellet Dharma Idols was in place, Wei Yuan made increasing the number of dharma idol cultivators his top priority.
First, Wei Yuan mobilized every propaganda tool at his disposal to spread knowledge of Golden Pellet Dharma Idols across Qingming. Simultaneously, he restructured the cultivation hierarchy, raised subsidies for mid- and late-stage dao foundation cultivators, and introduced a wide array of methods to enhance one's foundation. The two primary methods were soaking in hot springs generated by Desolate Realm boundary stones and ingesting medicinal pills.
As the Shenghua boundary stones gradually expanded their influence, the yield of Qingming's medicinal gardens rose sharply. Production of dao-foundation-grade herbs exploded, with annual yields of century-old herbs reaching hundreds of thousands of jin—enough to refine pills to support five hundred thousand dao foundation cultivators.
Spurred by the allure of Golden Pellet Dharma Idols and equipped with ample means to temper their foundations, the cultivation enthusiasm of Qingming's template dao foundation practitioners saw a slight uptick. However, it fell far short of Wei Yuan's expectations.
How to kindle their desire to cultivate became the core challenge facing Wei Yuan. In the spirit of making the best use of every talent, he immediately delegated the task to Splendor of the Many Realms, setting its cultivators to tackle the problem together.
Pooling their collective wisdom, the cultivators within Splendor of the Many Realms swiftly pinpointed the root cause holding template dao foundation cultivators back: they were simply too poor.
In Qingming, the vast majority of template dao foundation cultivators worked in various factories or mines, earning roughly comparable wages. By Qingming's average income standards, the pills and hot spring access fees required to cultivate to a Golden Pellet Dharma Idol amounted to roughly fifty years of normal earnings for a template dao foundation worker—even assuming only one rest day per month.
Qingming had achieved prosperity only recently, and the explosion of template dao foundation cultivators had occurred within the last decade. As a result, most spent their earnings on improving their families' lives and helping relatives advance through Body Casting, leaving them with little in the way of savings. Furthermore, the odds of achieving a Golden Pellet Dharma Idol were not yet high enough to warrant gambling everything on a single throw of the dice.
Consequently, most template dao foundation cultivators opted to save their money, buy property for their households, and ensure their loved ones were provided for before considering their own cultivation journeys. The modest daily surplus left over for body-tempering hot springs and pills was minimal. Thus, even though Qingming could mass-produce dao-foundation-grade pills, less than ten percent of them were actually sold.
Having identified the core bottleneck, Feng Chutang submitted a proposal: the Golden Pellet Dharma Idol Subsidized Loan Plan—or simply, the Dharma Idol Loan.
The Dharma Idol Loan was divided into thirty-year and fifty-year terms, with repayment options extending up to two hundred years.
Once a credit line was approved by the Qingming Bank, funds could only be spent on designated cultivation channels. The interest rate was modest—only ten percent—and repayment could be shared across a household, allowing sons to assume fathers' debts and grandsons to pay off grandfathers' loans.
Wei Yuan immediately recognized the immense potential of the Dharma Idol Loan, along with a crucial impact Feng Chutang had overlooked. Stepping in personally, Wei Yuan approved the proposal after slashing the interest rate to five percent annually. At the same time, applying the same mechanics, he introduced the Dao Foundation Loan.
As long as a dao foundation cultivator took out a Dharma Idol Loan, they would become remarkably stable until it was paid off. They would work diligently, cultivate earnestly, and form the backbone of Qingming's industry—all while leaving them with zero spare time to oppose the Creation Immortal Venerable... or rather, the Realm Lord.
The Dao Foundation Loan operated on identical logic.
Once Wei Yuan granted his approval and Splendor of the Many Realms polished the finer details, the Qingming Bank officially launched both the Dao Foundation Loan and the Dharma Idol Loan.
The moment the two initiatives were rolled out, they set the entire Qingming realm ablaze. Massive queues snaked out from the entrances of banks everywhere, crowded with eager applicants.
Adapting to actual conditions, Splendor of the Many Realms swiftly adjusted the loan terms, giving priority to cultivators with families and steady employment. Cultivators working in dangerous or grueling industries, as well as those serving in the Qingming military, were also granted preferential access.
Within a single month, more than fifty thousand people were approved for Dharma Idol Loans, while over three million received Dao Foundation Loans, nearly clearing out the Qingming Bank's coffers. In the blink of an eye, the prices of cultivation pills soared, demand far outstripping supply.
Fortunately, Xu Henshui's alchemy skills had improved dramatically. He was now capable of continuously refining six-foot square pellets. While this still could not rival Zhidan Sanren's one-zhang giant pellets, his accumulated pill merit already rivaled that of Patriarch Danming, second only to Zhidan Sanren. He had become the undisputed candidate for the next head of the Temple of Good Fortune, facing no competition whatsoever.
The introduction of the two loan schemes also reaped Wei Yuan a massive influx of cultivator karmic luck, an unexpected boon.
Qingming was once again a step ahead of the world. Having meat on every table was no longer a novelty; having a loan had become the new mark of wealth. Even Wei Yuan had not anticipated that these two loan programs—particularly the Dao Foundation Loan—would prove to be the critical catalyst propelling Qingming toward an era where every citizen was an immortal cultivator.
Within a few short months, the two loans caught on like wildfire across Qingming. When acquaintances crossed paths on the street, the customary greeting was no longer "Have you eaten?" but rather "Have you taken a loan?"
Collectively termed Cultivation Loans, the Dharma Idol Loan and Dao Foundation Loan nearly drained the Qingming Bank's reserves of Qingyuan. Ever since Feng Chutang took charge of the bank, he had strictly regulated the issuance of Qingyuan to stabilize its purchasing power. As a result, over the past decade and more, Qingyuan had not depreciated in the slightest; instead, it had appreciated modestly.
Western Jin and the State of Zhao had long embraced lightweight, counterfeit-proof Qingyuan. The King of Zhao had refused to give up, repeatedly attempting to issue his own currency, but each effort had ended in an utter mess, frittering away a great deal of the hard-earned karmic luck he had painstakingly amassed.
The unprecedented frenzy surrounding Cultivation Loans within Qingming meant that after a given period, the realm would see an explosion of newly advanced cultivators.
Wei Yuan accordingly adjusted his strategy, taking the initiative to enter negotiations with Cangwu and the King of Ji, but adopting an unprecedentedly hardline stance and putting forward exceptionally harsh terms.
At the Ji court, Sun Chao'en uncharacteristically urged an unyielding approach. As a result, when he served as envoy to Qingming once more and negotiated for several months, he finally got Wei Yuan to relent.
Although the revised terms remained severe, they were considerably more favorable than the initial demands. Just as the King of Ji and Cangwu were preparing to agree, Sun Chao'en pushed past the objections of the court, insisting that they maintain a tough stance against Qingming.
Trusting Sun Chao'en, the King of Ji dispatched him to Qingming yet again. After several more months of talks, Sun Chao'en genuinely managed to secure numerous concessions.
The King of Ji was overjoyed. Adopting Sun Chao'en's counsel, he refrained from signing any treaty, choosing instead to slowly drag things out with Wei Yuan. In any case, the territory Wei Yuan occupied was uninhabited land devoid of boundary stones; holding it for another decade would yield him nothing new.
Wei Yuan was more than happy to let time drag on. Over the previous five years, Wei Yuan had dealt Cangwu a massive shock; now, with every passing year, he could treat his enemies to a pleasant little surprise.
While Wei Yuan personally oversaw Yizhou and confronted Cangwu, Zhang Sheng returned to Qingming to take charge of the rear.
On this day, spring was blossoming across the mortal realm, while Qingming enjoyed an eternal summer.
A flying skiff cruised low at an altitude of a hundred zhang, gliding smoothly toward the Qingming Immortal City. The vessel was equipped with an identification formation plate that had already verified its credentials, allowing it to navigate freely within Qingming airspace. Otherwise, under the watchful gaze of the Great Array of the Heavenly Constellations, any unidentified vessel approaching Qingming would be spotted immediately. Failure to identify oneself or trespassing would promptly trigger an overwhelming barrage of missiles, artillery, flying swords, and cultivators.
Having established its identity without issue, this modest skiff was permitted to fly unhindered.
On the deck, Li Zhi stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking down at the earth below. The land was a sea of verdant green, covered in endless emerald fields neatly partitioned into orderly plots.
Rivers and streams formed a delicate lattice across the terrain, dotted with lakes large and small that looked like pearls scattered over a velvet green carpet. Villages were sprinkled across the landscape, linked by roads carrying an unbroken stream of traffic. Though ostensibly villages, their core structures were towering edifices dozens of stories high, standing magnificent and proud. Clustered around them were lower buildings, meticulously constructed, presenting an architectural style completely foreign to the ordinary villages of Great Tang.
Gazing at those soaring towers that resembled isolated peaks, Li Zhi felt a surge of endless emotion. His Zhenshan Fief currently spanned four thousand li, boasting a population of over ten million and an elite army of a million strong.
For Li Zhi to have built the Zhenshan Fief into such a powerhouse in under thirty years was enough to establish him as a lord of his generation by any kingdom's standard.
And yet, into this world had also come a Wei Yuan—and a Qingming.
Chapter 1086