In the immortal mountain, time held no count of days or months.
Each day, sixty percent of Wei Yuan's divine sense and magic power went toward weaving a colossal net to encompass the ancestral immortal mountain. Another thirty percent was dedicated to refining the essence of the immortal remains within the ancestral lands, while the remaining ten percent monitored the heavens and earth of Qingming to handle major affairs and guard against troublemakers.
Qingming was ever devoid of major crises.
Throughout the entire summer, the Eight States of Great Tang and the great prominent clans kept their eyes fixed on Western Jin, eager to see what upheavals would strike Qingming after the boundary stones were repositioned. To everyone's disappointment, however, nothing at all happened across Western Jin. When the immortal divine wills swept past, all they saw was an expanse of verdant green across the land, crisscrossed by rivers and canals and teeming with freshly reclaimed fields.
Old Daoist Chuhe harbored an intense obsession with neat uniformity, while the immortal chicken possessed an inexplicable fondness for straight lines, often staring blankly at a single straight line for half a day.
From this, Chuhe experienced sudden epiphanies, concluding that either the dividing lines between the fields were crooked or positioned improperly, and so he racked his brains to lay them out anew.
Thus, across the lands of Western Jin, vast tracts of fields were partitioned and tilled anew. Both newly opened and recultivated plots were square, orderly, and uniformly arranged with true industrial-grade precision. The variation in area between any two large plots did not exceed the size of a tabletop. Beholding this, the immortals in the heavens found the sight deeply pleasing to the eyes and clearing to the mind, and quite a bit of goodwill toward Old Daoist Chuhe welled up in them out of nowhere.
What was more, polychromatic light was brimming from the old Daoist's body, already surpassing five colors and shifting toward seven. It was just that the light of his karmic luck clearly leaned toward red and yellow, marking it as the light of merit, which differed from immortal radiance.
Consequently, the immortals in the heavens all understood what was happening and intended to see whether the old Daoist could truly tread the path of attaining sainthood through merit. If he succeeded, it would be equivalent to opening a whole new domain of immortal ascension, a tier above even opening a new Dao path.
Naturally, some did not wish to see Chuhe succeed. The problem was that the old Daoist's combat prowess was utterly pathetic—merely comparable to a potent Dharma Idol cultivator—so fragile that a mere touch could kill him, and a puff of breath shatter him. Yet the merit clinging to him was earth-shattering; the cosmic consequences of slaying him would be even graver than Wei Yuan cutting down three immortals. Faced with such a humanoid auspicious omen, the immortals naturally kept their distance with respectful caution.
Even Immortal Zhao Li, who had always maintained good relations with Wei Yuan, was unwilling to linger around Chuhe. The main issue was that Old Daoist Chuhe was simply too fragile, and no one could afford the responsibility if they accidentally broke him.
Across the lands of Western Jin, the crops in the new fields were growing conspicuously better than those in the old ones—more than twice as fast. The stalks were tall, sturdy, and plump; compared to the sprouts in the old fields, they were like giants beside infants. One could easily imagine how massive the final difference in yield would be.
In truth, peasants harbored a special attachment to their own land, treasuring their few mu of meager soil above all else. Thus, when Old Daoist Chuhe sent people down to unify the planning of the new fields, they ran into considerable resistance, and in some places, lives were even lost.
At this juncture, Wei Yuan finally found an opportunity to put his skills to use. He first had Old Daoist Chuhe bypass the areas where resistance to reallocating land was exceptionally fierce, then laid out the new fields right beside the old ones, applying spiritual qi fertilizer exclusively to the new plots.
The spiritual fertilizer produced by Qingming was countless times more effective than natural manure, showing immediate results once spread. Seeing this, some unruly peasants grew covetous and secretly stole the fertilizer to scatter over their own land. But because they did not understand the proper dosage, every crop across their entire field was burned to death.
A few obstinate troublemakers refused to take it lying down and tried to stir up trouble, only for Wei Yuan to dispatch their natural predators: yamen runners—and Western Jin yamen runners at that. In an instant, the unruly mob ceased their clamor, turning thoroughly meek and reasonable.
Even so, Wei Yuan told Chuhe that unruly folk would not remain unruly forever. Once they saw the results this year, they would naturally comply next year. In fact, it might not even take until next year; most people would agree to convert their fields by this coming winter.
As for the tiny handful of diehards who held out to the bitter end, Wei Yuan held not only yamen runners in his grasp, but also the dungeons.
Following this episode, Old Daoist Chuhe learned the strategy. No longer did he blindly try to be kind to everyone; instead, he rallied the majority, isolated the minority, and cracked down on the obstinate few, after which progress indeed went smoothly.
Troublemakers were only a tiny fraction. The overwhelming majority of the people were exceptionally eager about water conservancy and land reclamation, working with fervent enthusiasm, wishing they didn't even have to sleep.
The underlying reason was simple: during corvée conscription for land reclamation, the laborers were given dry rations and pickles, and allowed to eat their fill. For major projects, Qingming military rations were distributed, prompting everyone to step forward eagerly, ready to toil to the death. A few who possessed a modicum of literacy even secretly sewed several yellow Daoist robes for the old Daoist.
In the blink of an eye, summer passed and early autumn arrived as the summer heat gradually waned. Heaven and earth turned crisp and solemn, the Milky Way shone limpid and bright, and tens of thousands of mu of fields took on a golden hue as the soughing wind surged straight into the clouds. The waves of rice rippled with gold like an overflowing sea of precious gilt, and farmers stroked the ears of grain, full of gratitude for the benevolence of Heaven.
Wei Yuan reaped a massive harvest of over ten million units of karmic luck.
Thoroughly satisfied, Wei Yuan returned to the ancestral mountain to continue presiding over the World-Refining Grand Array. This was both an exploration and a form of cultivation; Wei Yuan's divine sense was constantly strengthened, and over the span of a few months, the number of simultaneous tasks he could process increased by several hundred, improving his refining efficiency.
At the same time, from the essence of immortal power refined by the array, Wei Yuan first absorbed the immortal power and karmic debt within, while the remainder was converted into medicinal pills and distributed to the Qingming cultivators under various pretexts. In addition, he set aside a portion for Xu Henshui to refine into pills and send to the Palace of Grand Beginning. This not only allowed fellow disciples of his ancestral mountain to benefit, but also ensured Xu Henshui's pill score stayed far ahead of his peers, nearly suppressing even Zhi Dan, thereby cementing Xu Henshui's position as the second candidate for Palace Master beyond anyone's power to shake.
At this stage, sitting upon a treasure mountain and excavating resources day in and day out, Wei Yuan refrained from any rash movement, remaining inside the ancestral lands every single day without stepping outside. His adversaries originally had no idea the Lu clan's ancestral lands were so rich, but now they could easily infer it merely from various clues. Wei Yuan therefore simply stayed indoors, offering his enemies no opportunity to "rob the rich to help the poor."
Back in Qingming, Wei Yuan commanded the power of the domain, capable of shaving off nearly half the strength of an immortal's blow. In the ancestral lands, he had the World-Refining Grand Array, which was manned by more than ten Scenery Command cultivators; a strike from an ordinary immortal could be diminished by seventy percent, and even a cross-realm blow from a Venerable Master could be negated by ten percent.
Yet Wei Yuan still felt this was insufficient. He simply transferred over ten thousand template Dao Foundation cultivators to form the Four Symbols Time-Sharing Grand Array, with 3,600 Dao Foundation cultivators per symbol. In ordinary times, three symbols were constantly active while one rested, rotating without pause. In this way, the array continually maintained the strength of three symbols, which could respond to Wei Yuan's will and instantly bestow its blessing upon him.
Unlike the World-Refining Grand Array, this Four Symbols Time-Sharing Grand Array was a specialized offensive formation, yet it too could withstand ten percent of the immortal power from a Venerable Master's cross-realm strike.
Mobilizing ten thousand Dao Foundation cultivators just to protect oneself—such an extravagant display left everyone both in the heavens and on earth utterly dumbfounded.
And so Wei Yuan comfortably retreated inside his turtle shell, steadily unearthing treasures and constantly expanding his might.
...
In the turn of a season, summer departed and autumn arrived. Wei Yuan sat cross-legged inside his secret chamber, wisps of immortal mist continuously breathed in and out through his mouth and nose. The immortal power and karmic debt contained within this mist were harmful to ordinary cultivators, yet to Wei Yuan, they held only benefit without harm.
The small Pure Land shrine continuously absorbed the karmic debt and resentment, to the point where a new lotus petal actually began to grow upon the lotus pedestal in the Buddhist shrine. Plump and lustrous, this petal was indistinguishable from a newly bloomed lotus.
As Wei Yuan inhaled and exhaled immortal power and resentment, subtle changes occurred within his heart-aspect world as well, though none were as pronounced as those in the small Pure Land shrine. Only the figure atop the lotus pedestal remained half-illusory and half-real; the King Buddha ought to have returned to his throne long ago, yet for unknown reasons, he remained stuck in this liminal state.
Just as Wei Yuan was gathering immortal spiritual essence, preparing to refine another million spirit pills to distribute as year-end bonuses to the Qingming cultivators, a sudden stirring moved his heart. Looking up toward the sky, he saw a small multicolored cloud abruptly form overhead, after which streaks of iridescent karmic luck cascaded down, plunging into his sea of consciousness.
These strands of karmic luck were as thick as pillars of vapor. Most of them were Dharma Idol karmic luck, along with a small portion from low-tier cultivators. The sheer volume of Dharma Idol karmic luck was immense—over a thousand streaks had arrived all at once!
Such a vast quantity of Dharma Idol karmic luck astonished even Wei Yuan. He could not fathom where so many Dharma Idol cultivators had sprung from, or why they had nothing better to do than contribute karmic luck to him.
Wei Yuan composed himself. Drawing upon the might of the World-Refining Grand Array, he activated a divine ability and calculated in silence. Only after a moment did he understand: Wang Zhi must have publicly released the Golden Pellet cultivation methods over on his side.
Publishing the Golden Pellet Dao path to the world was bound to cause tremors, something Wei Yuan had anticipated. What puzzled him was that once the Dao path was made public, shouldn't those contributing karmic luck to him be the Dao Foundation cultivators who had hit dead ends? Wei Yuan lacked Dao Foundation karmic luck not at all—after all, Qingming possessed several hundred thousand template cultivators, most of whom had already contributed their luck.
Because of this, Wei Yuan had originally harbored low expectations. But for over a thousand strands of Dharma Idol karmic luck to arrive all at once was a momentous matter. This much karmic luck was roughly enough to strike out and slay an immortal once more.
At this point, Wei Yuan could no longer sit still. He hastily left his cultivation cave to see what on earth had transpired. Since there was no one around to see him anyway, he did not care about keeping up appearances.
Stepping out of the cave, Wei Yuan issued orders through the Splendor of the Many Realms to investigate the recent major events across the realm, with special focus on what had occurred in the State of Ji.
Within half a day, hundreds of cultivators departed from Yizhou to gather intelligence across the State of Ji. Meanwhile, Wei Yuan remained stationed in the ancestral lands, waiting quietly.
Observing this, certain gazes in the heavens could only sigh, inwardly cursing Wei Yuan for clinging to life and fearing death, refusing to leave his nest even for an event of this magnitude.
Standing atop the ancestral mountain, Wei Yuan sneered inwardly. At this point, only another strike on the level of Immortal Lord Liuli could possibly obliterate him. Yet killing him would simultaneously wipe out the more than twenty thousand Dao Foundation cultivators manning the array on the ancestral mountain. The karmic debt and grievance from such an act would be sufficient to drag Immortal Lord Liuli down an entire realm; without several centuries of painstaking refinement and cultivation, he could never hope to regain his original level.
With karmic luck draping his person, Wei Yuan's thoughts were extraordinarily lucid. Then, as a million units of mortal karmic luck abruptly dissolved, he clearly sensed several gazes lingering upon him!
Those gazes immediately pulled back as though startled, yet that fleeting instant was enough for Wei Yuan to detect the malice and murderous intent within them.
Wei Yuan let out another cold laugh. Thoughts racing, he swiftly issued countless commands. The Splendor of the Many Realms responded with extreme speed. Moments later, all of Qingming stirred into motion. Countless cultivators received emergency orders, hurriedly packed their belongings, bid farewell to their families, and rushed to designated flying boat docks.
Airboats were already waiting, while more flying boats continued to arrive. As soon as one departed packed with passengers, another immediately took its place. In this manner, an endless stream of flying boats sailed north.
Within a few days, countless flying boats landed on the Lu clan's ancestral mountain. Scores of cultivators poured out like locusts, blanketing every corner of the mountain. Golden Pellet Dharma Idol cultivators stepped forward to assign duties. Each person only needed to handle their own small portion, without needing to know what anyone else was doing or what the greater whole was undertaking.
Just like that, the ant-like template Dao Foundation cultivators busied themselves, and in the blink of an eye, seven more Four Symbols Time-Sharing Grand Arrays were erected!
Together with the World-Refining Grand Array and the initial Four Symbols Time-Sharing Grand Array, there were now a staggering one hundred thousand template Dao Foundation cultivators guarding Wei Yuan in the ancestral lands! Such a spectacle was the first of its kind since the Human Sovereign descended into the mortal world.
To kill Wei Yuan now would require slaughtering one hundred thousand Dao Foundation cultivators along with him. Even if Immortal Lord Liuli arrived in person, doing so would knock him down a full major realm, with zero hope of ever recovering.
And so, once again, the heavens above and the earth below were left utterly dumbfounded.
Chapter 1181