Wei Yuan sat motionless. After remaining silent for several breaths, he asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Wang Zhi did not perceive the slightest anomaly around him, yet a profound terror steadily welled up in his heart. Pressing his face against the icy stone floor, he said, "My Lord, you have stationed your troops in Yizhou, while on our southern border, Li Zhi raided the frontier and now clearly intends to remain indefinitely; our forces simply lack the power to expel him. Li Zhi's army is formidable, his troops superbly equipped, and one glance makes it clear that Qingming's hand is behind them. If My Lord were not backing him, then even with Southern Qi launching attacks from both flanks, we might still have mounted a resistance if we fought to the death.
"Yet since My Lord is backing Li Zhi, the cause is hopeless. Looking back on the history of dynasties and generations past, royal houses have often been slaughtered to the last soul. The King of Ji showed me great favor by recognizing my worth, and this humble official has sworn to repay him with my life. The present tide cannot be defied, so this humble official has come to beg the Realm Lord to grant the King of Ji a way to live. He could simply be settled somewhere within Qingming to live in seclusion and spend the rest of his days here.
"The King is already in the twilight of his life. A mere Dharma Idol cultivator with no hope of a breakthrough and no path forward—what threat could he possibly pose? The Realm Lord is bound to ascend to immortality; why trouble yourself over an ant like him? Why not simply let him live out his days?"
Wang Zhi held nothing back, laying out everything on his mind, and waited silently for judgment.
Wei Yuan asked impassively, "Who taught you to say this?"
Gritting his teeth, Wang Zhi replied, "No one. It came from this humble official managing court affairs by day and reading history by night, growing more alarmed with every page. That is why I took the liberty of coming here. I dare not ask for his throne, nor dare I dream of preserving our territory intact. I only wish to secure a peaceful end for the King."
Wei Yuan nodded slightly. "You see things clearly enough."
Wang Zhi remained prostrated, cold sweat breaking out across his body layer upon layer. Before this, rumors had spread far and wide about how terrifying the Realm Lord of Qingming was, but he had never believed them. Only now, lying beneath the steps, did he discover that this invisible pressure was far beyond what an ordinary man could endure. Even with his willpower, he had nearly lost his composure.
With a flick of his hand, Wei Yuan sent a medicinal pill drifting slowly downward before Wang Zhi. The pill seemed condensed from a mass of mist, simultaneously tangible and intangible, floating in midair.
Wang Zhi could see the pill, yet could not sense its presence in the slightest, leaving him utterly baffled for a moment.
"Observing your dharma idol, I see slight flaws remaining. Swallow this pill. As long as you can endure the tempering of the immortal power within, it should modestly improve your aptitude and prove of great benefit to your breakthrough into Scenery Command. After taking the pill, seek out Ji Liuli in Qingming; having her guard your breakthrough into Scenery Command will ensure total safety."
Yet Wang Zhi did not take the pill; he remained prostrated on the floor without rising.
Wei Yuan's voice turned cold. "You have seen how I conduct myself in Western Jin. As it was for the King of Jin, so it shall be for the King of Ji. What, do you expect me to write you a written guarantee?"
Wang Zhi shuddered violently. Two streams of hot tears broke free, and he choked out, "From this day forth, this subordinate's body and soul belong entirely to My Lord!"
Wei Yuan said, "I do not need you to do anything extraordinary—simply assist the King of Ji well. Remember, no matter how dire or precarious the situation becomes, do not slaughter the common people. That is my only requirement."
"This subordinate shall certainly do so!" Only then did he cup the pill in both hands and rise to his feet.
Wei Yuan warned, "This pill contains immortal power. Do not be careless when consuming it."
Great kindness called for no mere words of thanks. Wang Zhi kowtowed three more times before backing out of the great hall. Before he had even stepped through the doors, several cultivators filed inside one after another. All of them had Dharma Idol cultivation, yet their dharmic power was meager. Wang Zhi's heart stirred, recognizing them as Qingming's unique Golden Pellet dharma idols, and he could not resist stealing another glance.
Noticing this, Wei Yuan asked, "What, are you interested in Golden Pellet dharma idols as well?"
Seeing Wei Yuan inquire, Wang Zhi straightened up and replied solemnly, "Answering My Lord, though a Golden Pellet dharma idol is inferior to an ordinary dharma idol, it is still a dharma idol after all. Its combat strength is far greater than an Earth Tier Dao Foundation at perfection, roughly on par with a Heaven Tier Dao Foundation at perfection. Beyond that, a Golden Pellet dharma idol offers a lifespan of up to three hundred years, much longer than a Dao Foundation. Hence, many cultivators outside who are unable to break through to the Dharma Idol realm yearn greatly for the Golden Pellet dharma idol."
Wei Yuan's expression shifted slightly. "Then why do they not come to Qingming?"
Wang Zhi said, "Many cultivators possess only ordinary Dao Foundations, having barely crawled to the late stage or perfection through long, grinding effort. Most have familial ties in their homelands and find it hard to abandon everything to journey to Qingming. What is more, apart from the nearby State of Zhao and Western Jin, the distance from other states to Qingming is vast, and the road is fraught with immense danger—truly a nine-in-ten chance of death. Consequently, most cultivators cannot bring themselves to take that leap.
"Furthermore, many aristocratic clans and cultivation sects spread rumors claiming that once one enters Qingming, one can never leave, and that the Golden Pellet is no true dharma idol, but merely an instrument for the Realm Lord to control cultivators."
Wei Yuan pondered this, then asked, "When you say 'many,' to be more specific, roughly how many is that, and what proportion of all Dao Foundation cultivators do they make up?"
Wang Zhi replied, "Essentially, all cultivators who can reach the late stage but cannot attain a dharma idol fall into this category. Among all Dao Foundation cultivators, they make up about ten percent."
Wei Yuan sighed. "The immortal path is arduous indeed. To think only ten or twenty percent reach the late stage."
Wang Zhi immediately followed up, "I have long heard that Qingming's cultivators are like dragons among men, with the Realm Lord opening numerous thoroughfares along the Grand Dao. Surely this proportion is far higher here than outside."
Hearing this, Wei Yuan felt an old blush creep onto his face. His own template Dao Foundations were practically incapable of reaching the late stage, yet the sheer number of template Dao Foundations was immense, outnumbering normal Dao Foundations a hundredfold. If one excluded template Dao Foundations, roughly three or four out of ten Qingming cultivators could reach the late stage; but if the templates were counted, probably not even one in a hundred would ever see the late stage.
Thus, Wang Zhi's flattery had struck entirely the wrong nerve.
However, Wei Yuan's thoughts stirred, and he asked, "You mentioned earlier that many cultivators wish to transition to a Golden Pellet dharma idol, but cannot make it to Qingming?"
"The majority are in that position."
Wei Yuan pondered for a moment before saying, "Once you ascend to Scenery Command, then, do something for me."
"My Lord, please command me as you see fit!"
Wei Yuan said, "It is a good thing that so many cultivators wish to learn the Golden Pellet dharma idol. In a moment, I will have people compile several cultivation methods for Golden Pellet dharma idols and hand them over to you. After your breakthrough, return to the State of Ji and make these cultivation methods public. Set up multiple locations; as long as someone is willing to learn, teach them."
Wang Zhi was utterly shocked and hurriedly protested, "My Lord, you must not! The arts must not be lightly imparted! Moreover, the Golden Pellet cultivation methods break ground where none before have trod, continuing the immortal path for countless cultivators—they are truly rare, invaluable secret arts! Any single one of these secret arts would suffice to establish a sect across an entire commandery. How can they be made public so casually?"
Wei Yuan smiled faintly and said, "You yourself said this is to continue the Dao path for myriad cultivators. If they cannot learn it, how are they to continue their path? Thus, I have decided to make them public. Whoever wishes to learn them may do so; let no artificial barriers be erected in between."
Hearing the stern undertone in those words, Wang Zhi knew he had spoken out of turn and quickly replied, "This subordinate would never dare! I will ensure that the cultivation methods reach everyone who needs them!"
Only then did Wei Yuan nod with satisfaction. "Take the lead and let the State of Ji seize the first advantage. Then, after some time, I will progressively make them public throughout the other states as well. A wave of cultivators will inevitably head toward the State of Ji. As for how to turn that to your advantage, you should understand."
Wang Zhi said, "Rest assured, My Lord. This subordinate will never bind service to the State of Ji to receiving the cultivation methods. I will only recruit alongside them, strictly on a voluntary basis."
"You are a clever man; excellent. As it happens, I am about to distribute some pills to the Dao Foundation cultivators below. Help carry them."
Uncertain what to expect, Wang Zhi followed those few Golden Pellet dharma idols into a side hall. He had found it rather strange at first: they were only medicinal pills, so why would several Dharma Idol cultivators be needed to haul them?
Yet upon entering the side hall, what met his eyes was one massive crate after another, each weighing a thousand jin. The lead Golden Pellet dharma idol called out, "There are quite a lot of pills this time. Put some muscle into it, everyone—one crate per person, and be sure not to tip them over!"
Only then did Wang Zhi realize that these crates were filled entirely with medicinal pills! His cultivation was profound, and using Dao arts to lash several crates together, he hauled seven or eight of them single-handedly, more than all the others combined.
After leaving the hall, Wang Zhi subtly inquired about the quantity and purpose of these pills. The lead Golden Pellet dharma idol explained that these were distributed as semiannual rewards, one pill for every Dao Foundation cultivator, totaling over five hundred thousand pills. In Qingming, there was a specific term for it: the 'semiannual bonus.'
A semiannual bonus was merely a novelty to Wang Zhi, but the figure of over five hundred thousand left him momentarily stunned. Had he not witnessed it with his own eyes, he never could have imagined that Dao Foundation cultivators could be counted in hundreds of thousands.
Wang Zhi suddenly recalled a secret method he had obtained by chance, which could lay down a grand array to pool the strength of myriad cultivators and unleash an earth-shattering strike. The array's greatest feature was that arrays could be nested within arrays, stacking infinitely, meaning that in theory, the number of cultivators within could be limitless.
If five hundred thousand Dao Foundations combined their power to unleash a single blow... Wang Zhi dared not pursue that line of thought any further.
Hesitating for a moment, he suddenly excused himself, set down his crates of pills, returned to the main hall, and presented that array method to Wei Yuan.
Wei Yuan maintained his impassive demeanor. Sweeping his divine sense across the array, he offered a few encouraging words before dismissing him.
Once Wang Zhi departed, Wei Yuan entered the array into the Splendor of All Realms, and that was the end of that. If Qingming had an abundance of anything, it was template Dao Foundations.
Individual template Dao Foundations possessed weak combat strength, but their numbers were sufficient to overwhelm an opponent by sheer mass. Thus, Qingming had long poured tremendous effort into researching collective combat arrays. The most extreme was an array derived from the Great Array of the Zhou Celestial Stars, capable of accommodating thirty-six thousand five hundred Dao Foundations simultaneously.
Yet while this array was useless to him, the loyalty behind it was commendable. Wei Yuan therefore quietly bestowed a touch of karmic luck upon him; his upcoming breakthrough into Scenery Command should go smoothly without a hitch.
Wei Yuan was thoroughly pleased with this emergence from seclusion. Qingming's Golden Pellet dharma idols were in truth complete Dao paths capable of reaching the Dharma Idol realm, and their value was indeed immense.
It was easy to imagine that once these Dao paths were made completely public, before long, Golden Pellet dharma idols would blossom across the lands of the human race. The Dao Foundation ancestors of remote backwaters would face their doom, and the grip of local sects and regional magnates would be drastically weakened. After all, a Golden Pellet dharma idol was still a dharma idol; given a successful ambush, it was entirely capable of slaying a true Dharma Idol.
The traditional order and rules would inevitably unravel to some degree, but the overall strength of the human race would take another step forward. The vast ranks of rogue cultivators would no longer find themselves without recourse for a glimmer of a Dao path, and truly talented souls would not end up buried in obscurity.
Chapter 1180