Under Wei Yuan's impetus, the flames of war spread rapidly across the southern commanderies of the State of Ji.
After capturing Dingnan Pass, the rebel forces led by Wang Hu shifted to other fronts and seized two more formidable passes, blowing the southern gateway to the State of Ji wide open. Only then, on a certain day, did they quietly shed their rebel attire, pack up their heavy equipment, and board flying boats and airships to return to Yizhou.
Wei Yuan sat at his desk, ceaselessly attending to official business. The arrival of successive batches of displaced refugees injected a long-absent vitality into the territory of Yizhou. As for the resettlement of these refugees, Wei Yuan had long grown accustomed to handling matters personally, unwilling to rest easy until he had inspected every detail himself.
Over the years, this had become second nature to him. Whenever he immersed himself in managing the livelihood of the common folk, an extraordinary sense of tranquility settled over him.
A sphere of light drifted before Wei Yuan. With a shift of his divine sense, he read its contents. Contained within was a physical examination report on the latest cohort of transferred refugees. It indicated that the bodily functions of many refugees appeared to have been stimulated by some unknown technique, bearing distinct marks of severe exhaustion and depletion.
The report further revealed that following an in-depth examination of over a thousand refugees displaying the most prominent signs of strain, the results suggested that mortal karmic luck had very likely been forcibly induced from them, and their karmic luck had already been harvested. Finally, the report advised that the refugees whose karmic luck had been extracted required additional recuperation and would be unable to generate karmic luck again for several years, unless they successfully forged their bodies to the second realm of Body Casting.
The thoroughness of this study and its deep understanding of mortal karmic luck took even Wei Yuan by surprise. He glanced at the authors; Sun Yu's name stood prominently at the very top, followed beneath by a row of over a dozen other names.
Wei Yuan understood at once. Sun Yu must have provided guidance and charted the direction, while the dozen-odd authors below had collaborated to complete the work, with the first one or two names serving as the primary contributors.
With a flick of his divine sense, Wei Yuan pulled up the authors' files. They were all very young, all disciples of Sun Yu. The young woman listed first had already authored over a dozen heavyweight papers and reports, and those following her were hardly far behind.
Wei Yuan searched the Flourishing of the Many Realms to bring up all candidates of a comparable caliber, only to startle at the result—over a hundred names appeared. Half were in reality, and the other half resided within the Flourishing of the Many Realms.
Hardly any among them were children of karmic destiny. That they could conduct such profound research relied entirely upon intellect and genius. Wei Yuan had not realized that, unbeknownst to him, Qingming had already amassed so many exceptional talents. It was no wonder that every project had shown signs of acceleration lately.
Looking at these names and the achievements they represented, Wei Yuan felt immensely gratified.
Just then, Sun Yu's phantom projection materialized before him. The moment Sun Yu saw Wei Yuan, he fumed indignantly, "That Li Zhi brat is underhanded! Every last refugee he sent us had their karmic luck harvested! I already asked Ji Liuli, and she confirmed that these people had their latent potential and vitality stimulated by karmic luck formations! Now we'll have to let them recuperate for at least two or three years."
Wei Yuan appeared to have anticipated this, remaining completely calm. "Was the condition of the first batch of refugees we took in back then any better than theirs?"
The question struck Sun Yu into immediate silence.
Wei Yuan said, "Li Zhi isn't acting alone anymore. He now controls territory with a population of tens of millions. The factions under his banner are bound to be tangled and intricate, and many things are beyond his sole control. He has to balance his internal interests. So there is nothing surprising about them reaping a harvest of karmic luck from the people before sending them over."
"Still..." Sun Yu was still disgruntled. Ever since the unified examinations years ago, he had harbored a deep grievance against the Four Sages Academy, which had not diminished in the slightest with the passage of time.
This time, Wei Yuan had provided massive support to Li Zhi, practically carrying him on his shoulders through this war. Under such circumstances, Li Zhi still resorting to underhanded methods to harvest karmic luck left Sun Yu thoroughly displeased.
Wei Yuan did not mind much. "As long as the people settle down to live and work in peace here, they won't yield just a single strand of karmic luck. Factoring in peaceful livelihood, Body Casting, early enlightenment, and intellect awakening, they can contribute at least four strands of mortal karmic luck. As long as we have numbers, the lion's share lies ahead."
It was indeed true. Elsewhere across the Nine States, even in the State of Zhao, the only avenue available for harvesting karmic luck had previously been Body Casting.
Living in peace, early enlightenment, and intellect awakening were options unique to Qingming alone.
Having soothed Sun Yu, Wei Yuan found himself feeling inexplicably uneasy. Given his current cultivation, he naturally would not ignore such a sudden premonition. After pondering for a while without finding any clue, he went to seek out Ji Liuli, intending to divine what was happening.
Ji Liuli had erected nine Heavenly Mechanism Halls in Yizhou specifically dedicated to divining the heavenly mechanism. Nine Heavenly Mechanism Halls had naturally cost an exorbitant sum, but considering the importance of the art of the heavenly mechanism, Wei Yuan deemed it worth any price.
Consequently, Ji Liuli had ultimately submitted a grand blueprint comprising nine times nine, eighty-one Heavenly Mechanism Halls. If fully constructed, it would be capable of divining Scenery Command with considerable accuracy.
When Wei Yuan arrived at the Heavenly Mechanism Hall, Ji Liuli was lounging comfortably against a soft cushion, humming a tune as she browsed Preliminary Exploration of the Desolate Realm left behind by the Molten Dragon. Beside her lay a towering stack of books—all specialized mathematical treatises, the very sort whose titles gave Wei Yuan a headache at a glance.
"What brings you here?" Ji Liuli was visibly delighted to see Wei Yuan. After all, it had been a long time since they had spent time alone together.
Wei Yuan recounted his sudden premonition.
After listening, Ji Liuli spent a long while calculating the current heavenly mechanisms and fortunes before speaking. "This might be no small matter. Your Primordial Spirit likely sensed something within the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth—most likely something very ill-omened—which is why it warned you in this manner."
Wei Yuan looked grave. His situation was unique with a heavenly demon residing within him, so he occasionally perceived things that were fundamentally undetectable under ordinary circumstances.
Once Ji Liuli had clarified the details, she pondered deeply before suggesting, "There is a method that might serve: the Reflection Returning to Guixu Formation. This formation allows you to examine every memory, past and present, within your divine consciousness. It is a supreme formation for seeing through illusions or tracing karmic causes and effects back to their origins. Within this formation, even memories from when you were in the womb can be awakened. If you review everything from beginning to end, you should be able to roughly determine the cause of your premonition."
Wei Yuan nodded without hesitation. Ji Liuli spent seven full days making arrangements, and when Wei Yuan returned seven days later, the reflection formation was complete.
Following Ji Liuli's instructions, Wei Yuan ingested a pill prepared specifically for the formation and sat cross-legged in the center of the array. Only a brief moment passed before his mind blurred, and he drifted into sleep.
Wei Yuan suddenly opened his eyes. The scenery before him had shifted—to his astonishment, he was back at the Umbrella Company. He was still that entry-level intern researcher, confined to the tiniest cubicle.
The computer monitor in front of him flickered with a faint glow, typing out a single line of text:
*To think you could discover me.*
Chapter 1097