When Wei Yuan stepped out of his cultivation cave once again, it was already the early summer of the seventeenth year of Hongjing.
Ganzhou had a colder climate, yielding two harvests a year. This season was the most vital for grain production—crops were planted in summer and harvested in autumn, after which winter wheat was sown to survive the winter and be harvested in early summer the following year. Yet the winter crop was merely supplementary, far less crucial than the summer harvest.
This was also the first year after the resetting of the boundary stones, making it exceptionally important by all conventional measures. Previously, many of the senior cultivators responsible for related duties had been intensely nervous, bustling about from place to place out of fear that the earth veins had been disturbed somewhere and might suddenly trigger a natural disaster.
In Qingming, facing a natural disaster was not frightening; what was truly terrifying was poor disaster relief. Everyone knew the Realm Lord placed immense importance on mortals; if an ineffective relief effort led to massive mortal casualties, thunderous wrath would inevitably follow. Consequently, many cultivators in Qingming joked ruefully that cultivators were the second-class citizens of Qingming.
Fortunately, if template Dao Foundations were counted, the vast majority of cultivators in Qingming were locally promoted. With their families and kin rooted locally, there was none of the aloof detachment typical of high-and-mighty cultivators.
Moreover, the number of template cultivators was simply immense; they had become indispensable to Qingming's daily functioning. One could easily grab a handful of template Dao Foundations at any construction site.
Thus, after all these years, a consensus had formed among everyone: Dao Foundation cultivators were merely higher-grade wage workers. High grade or low, they were still workers at heart.
As for Western Jin's summer grain this time, however, Wei Yuan was not worried at all. From the moment the boundary stones were reset, Old Daoist Chuhe and the Eight Paragons of Jianmu had been preparing. After all, they were the ones who had moved the boundary stones; if any catastrophe occurred, they would be the first to bear the karmic backlash.
After a full winter of toil, Qingming had ultimately established central granaries in every commandery seat, along with several branch granaries across each commandery, storing canned military rations within.
Qingming's military rations contained meat, oil, and vegetables, and were seasoned heavily with salt to replenish fat and electrolytes—an incomparable delicacy in this era. In the event of a catastrophe, the stored military rations would immediately be deployed as emergency aid. So long as the initial days were weathered, subsequent grain supplies would pour in from Qingming in an endless stream.
With such concerted attention from top to bottom, the summer sowing across Western Jin passed without incident. For an entire month, not a single issue needed to be reported to Wei Yuan, affording him ample peace and quiet.
Emerging from seclusion this time, Wei Yuan had not entirely given up hope. In addition, he wanted to take stock of the karmic luck contributed by the Dharma Idols.
Ever since the previous batch of Huiye Sky-Transforming Pills had been distributed, Qingming had been shaken. The number of applicants for the Outstanding Cultivators Program had surged abruptly and continued to rise.
Xu Henshui had finally demonstrated the unique flair of the Creation Abbey. Upon sharply detecting that the pills provided by Wei Yuan possessed a faint effect of cleansing the dharma body and transforming latent aptitude, he had promptly coined the fearsome name "Huiye Sky-Transforming Pill." The emphasis lay on the words "Sky-Transforming," spotlighting its power to reshape one's aptitude.
It was common knowledge in the cultivation world that pills that altered aptitude and pills that merely supplemented daily cultivation were two entirely different matters—a difference as vast as clouds and mud. Compared to the function of altering aptitude, saving three years of painstaking cultivation was practically negligible, nothing more than a bonus gift.
Naturally, Xu Henshui had only claimed the pill could alter aptitude; he had never specified how much. If one could consume thirty to fifty of them, the effect would indeed be noticeable.
Every Dharma Idol selected for the Outstanding Cultivators Program received one pill as an initial reward, with another granted every three years thereafter. If that were all, it would already be impressive, but Xu Henshui had also selected the top one hundred Dharma Idols in Qingming ranked by contribution, granting one pill to each, and two to each of the top ten.
Furthermore, Xu Henshui announced that new evaluations would be held each subsequent year. Thus, as long as one worked hard, anyone had a chance to partake of a Sky-Transforming Pill.
Among the one hundred slots, Xu Henshui specifically set aside twenty for the Golden Pellet Dharma Idols. This measure caused a sensation among nearly a thousand Golden Pellet Dharma Idols, moving many to tears. For the first time in all these years, they truly felt they could stand on equal footing with genuine Dharma Idols. It was also the first time a major distinction disregarded cultivation realm and focused solely on contribution.
Naturally, while carrying all this out, Xu Henshui attributed every bit of credit to Wei Yuan, claiming that everything had been arranged by Wei Yuan. As a result, the vast majority of karmic luck from the Dharma Idol cultivators was directed toward Wei Yuan.
So much so that when Wei Yuan received over a hundred strands of Dharma Idol karmic luck in one go, even he was momentarily stunned. In the days that followed, karmic luck continued to arrive in an endless stream—dozens of strands on heavier days, a dozen or so on lighter ones. Only after nearly a month did it begin to taper off, though a few strands still trickled in from time to time.
Thus, Wei Yuan made a habit of checking every day whether his Dharma Idol karmic luck had increased.
While Wei Yuan took the lion's share of this wave of karmic luck, Xu Henshui did not walk away empty-handed either. A small number of cultivators had directed their karmic luck toward Xu Henshui, but he was not pleased in the slightest.
The main reason was that the karmic luck given to Xu Henshui was motley in color, visibly impure at a glance.
Therefore, even though all Qingming cultivators knew karmic luck aided cultivation, and most had reaped a bit of it to varying degrees, Xu Henshui alone avoided it like the plague—yet he always managed to attract variegated luck.
Back when the *Twelve Celestial Idols* was published across the world, Xu Henshui's true appearance had been exposed. Consequently, he had accumulated an untold amount of karmic luck, remaining cloaked in it for an extended period.
That period had also been when Xu Henshui's temper was at its absolute worst, for not a single strand of that karmic luck was pure.
All in all, during this routine emergence from seclusion, nothing of note occurred other than checking his Dharma Idol karmic luck. Just as Wei Yuan prepared to return and oversee the grand array, word suddenly arrived stating that a cultivator had come from the State of Ji, unexpectedly bearing a handwritten edict from the King of Ji to seek an audience with Wei Yuan.
When Wei Yuan saw the petitioner's name, his interest was piqued at once, and he ordered him brought in immediately.
A moment later, a handsome cultivator dressed in a green robe and silk headband walked into Wei Yuan's reception hall in the immortal city. Meanwhile, an avatar of Wei Yuan stepped out from behind the hall and took the seat of honor.
The cultivator sensed Wei Yuan's aura, then abruptly dropped to his knees and said, "This humble official, Wang Zhi, pays respects to the Military Commissioner!"
Wei Yuan's brow twitched slightly. This man addressed him neither as Realm Lord, nor Palace Master, nor True Monarch, but rather as Military Commissioner. That was quite intriguing.
Wei Yuan's official titles had undergone several updates; by now, those titles and ceremonial honors from Western Jin no longer mattered. His latest status within Great Tang was Military Commissioner of Qingyang concurrently serving as Military Commissioner of Yizhou. Because he had founded both Qingzhou and Yizhou simultaneously, the court had originally discussed conferring an additional title, but the matter had been indefinitely delayed.
It was not until Wei Yuan issued a proclamation to the realm declaring his intention to enter the capital to seek an imperial audience that Emperor Jing hurriedly conferred upon him a Pavilion Marquisate of some unspecified place, officially granting him a rank equivalent to First Rank, Secondary Class.
Everyone under heaven could see that this was merely an expedient measure under pressure. In the end, Wei Yuan only issued the proclamation without making any move toward the capital, instantly exposing the fragile weakness of the Tang dynasty.
Wei Yuan knew a fair bit about Wang Zhi's deeds and rather admired him. The man was like a paperhanger, constantly patching up the sinking ship of the State of Ji in hopes that the day might yet be saved.
Wei Yuan naturally appreciated loyal men—excluding those who stood against him, of course. He now said, "What brings you here today?"
Wang Zhi said, "This humble official shall soon advance to Scenery Command. Lacking an enlightened master, I have come to request some guidance from the Military Commissioner to extend my path."
Wei Yuan understood that this was an offer of discipleship, meaning he would become half a master to Wang Zhi, who would essentially obey all his commands. It was an alternative form of allegiance, and far more dependable than simple submission.
Wei Yuan remained impassive and asked, "And beyond that?"
Wang Zhi said in a low, solemn voice, "This humble official wishes to plead with Lord Wei to spare the King of Ji's life."
Chapter 1179