With the heavenly tribulation dispersed, Wei Yuan retained ten Four Symbols Timing Grand Arrays as a precaution and stood down the rest of the Dao Foundation cultivators. He then dispatched tens of thousands of them to search for and rescue the mortals and cultivators caught in the tribulation, sent the remainder to rest and regroup, and specifically had Golden Pellet dharma idols come down to explain the tribulation's cause and how it had been broken, easing their Dao hearts.
To blast apart the heavenly tribulation, Wei Yuan had invoked the cause of counter-slaying the Heavens to avenge the innocent cultivators and commoners who had perished unjustly. Naturally, this slogan resonated widely across Qingming.
The mortals were one matter, but the Dao Foundation cultivators had already stepped onto the immortal path and understood the might of heaven and earth far more deeply than ordinary people.
As the lowest tier of the cultivation world—template Dao Foundations with virtually no room to fall any lower—they had previously believed that dying in a heavenly tribulation was simply bad luck, an unavoidable fate. Who could have imagined that today, the Realm Lord would harness the might of grand arrays, unite the strength of the multitudes, actually counter-slay the Heavens, and truly shatter the heavenly tribulation!
In an instant, countless cultivators felt their hearts shake, as if a whole new world had opened before their eyes.
Wei Yuan had long held positions of authority. When he first arrived in the Western Regions, he had started from single villages and towns, gradually transforming heaven and earth and bringing well-being to mortals. Few could match his grasp of the human heart.
He naturally knew that many things seemed eternal and immutable, and many people appeared untouchably high above, but in truth, all it took was a single stray thought taking root in people's minds; a gentle push might be enough to topple the entire order.
From the moment the hundreds of thousands of template cultivators around the Lu Clan Ancestral Mountain stopped blindly revering heaven and earth, the emerald lake within Wei Yuan's sea of consciousness expanded dramatically. In less than a month, it grew threefold! Beyond its broadening surface, the lake deepened considerably. Its azure waters were crystal clear, yet now the bottom was only faintly visible.
This represented an addition of over fifty thousand strands of Dao Foundation karmic luck. Of the more than three hundred thousand Dao Foundation cultivators gathered around the Lu Clan Ancestral Mountain, nearly twenty percent had now contributed their karmic luck.
Those capable of forging a Dao Foundation were all people of steadfast will. Obtaining karmic luck from them was far more difficult than from mortals. Mortals, at times, would offer up their karmic luck just for a few full meals.
At present, Qingming held a million template cultivators, yet prior to this, Wei Yuan had gathered less than twenty thousand strands of their karmic luck; the difficulty was plain to see. Many young template cultivators, especially those who had advanced in recent years, took achieving a template for granted and saw everything Qingming offered today as a matter of course. They cared little about who the Realm Lord was, much less worshipped him, making it all the harder to obtain their karmic luck.
Yet mortal luck had its own challenges as well. Its main drawback was that small amounts were useless; for it to be of significant use, an immense quantity was required, starting at a minimum of one million.
Once the numbers grew, however, the difficulty skyrocketed. Providing a temporary full belly to ten or a hundred people merely required a bit of spare wealth and a compassionate heart.
Yet one million mortal karmic luck required a population of at least ten million. And if one wished to keep millions or tens of millions well-fed, what was needed was no longer simple compassion, but the grand talent of governing a nation.
Thus, Wei Yuan had not expected that leading hundreds of thousands of young template cultivators to overthrow a heavenly tribulation would reap such a colossal amount of karmic luck—enough to sever an immortal's leg.
Following the tribulation, the Lu Clan Ancestral Mountain had been reduced to a scorched mountain. Of the famous Seven Graces and Thirteen Peaks, only four barren peaks remained, all sheared in half, while the other graceful peaks had vanished entirely.
Still, with hundreds of thousands of Dao Foundation cultivators present, tasks were easily handled. Tens of thousands spread out, scouring the outer mountains within a radius of a thousand li over several days, and rescued a handful of maimed and injured cultivators.
In truth, because these cultivators had been scorched by the heavenly tribulation's true fire, even a whiff of the scalding heat damaged their Dao Foundations beyond repair. However, Qingming's standing policy was to save anyone who could be saved, regardless of the expenditure of manpower and resources.
In the end, though only a hundred-odd crippled cultivators were recovered, every cultivator knew deep down: should disaster strike them one day, Qingming would rescue them just the same.
It was through such a multifaceted approach that Wei Yuan had gathered so much karmic luck.
Disaster relief was naturally left to his subordinates. Wei Yuan's true body remained stationed within the mountain to continue refining the immortal mountain, while dividing several thousand strands of divine sense to reexamine his treatise on karmic luck.
Prompted by the heavenly tribulation, Wei Yuan realized that the ramifications of redefining karmic luck were likely far greater than he had anticipated. It was by no means as simple as seizing an opportunity to compile a pastiche of earlier works.
Thus, he settled his mind, overturned every chapter he had already written, reexamined everything, and meticulously polished the work. Once immersed in this deep contemplation, months flew by, and in the blink of an eye, the twentieth year of Hongjing reached late spring.
***
At the border between Gan and Ning, inside a secluded, dilapidated temple, an elderly monk and a young monk sat in the courtyard, sipping tea while playing Go.
Seeing the young monk suddenly tenuki and place a stone in a seemingly inexplicable spot, the old monk paused in surprise. After contemplating for a long while, his expression gradually shifted. "This move of yours carries quite the air of that one in Qingming."
The young monk smiled faintly. "I studied his game records for several years before grasping even a fraction of it. A few of his moves seem beyond human conception. Not that they are brilliant, but rather they follow no human pattern at all. Indeed, not only non-human, but barely resembling the thought process of any living creature."
The old monk nodded. "He is indeed a rare talent, yet his Go style leans too far into bizarre eccentricities. Once one reaches the immortal rank, such tricks cease to be sufficient."
The young monk asked, "What of the heavenly tribulation that suddenly appeared several months ago? Watching from the Pure Land, I found it utterly bizarre. You were nearby, so you must have seen it more clearly."
Hesitation flickered across the old monk's face before he said slowly, "It was likely related to karmic luck and destiny, showing signs of a new Dao path manifesting in the world. That one in Qingming has long been famed for his karmic luck. In terms of karmic fortune blessing him, few in the present era could rival him, and he has even slain three immortals by the Dao of karmic luck.
"This old monk believes that the one in Qingming has likely forged a grand thoroughfare tied to karmic luck. Taboo to the Heavens, it brought down the Liusu Celestial Xuanli True Fire Tribulation."
The young monk smiled faintly and remarked, "Pioneering a Dao path is an act of merit. With his capability, it is hardly surprising he could open a path tied to karmic luck. After all, he shares countless intricate ties with *that* one. Over recent reincarnations, that one has delved ever deeper into the Dao of karmic luck, growing increasingly unfathomable."
"When will that one return to his position?"
The young monk shook his head. "No one knows where he has gone. All that is known is that his lotus throne remains, and his fruit of attainment is not vacant."
"How fares Spirit Mountain?"
The young monk let out a sigh. "In this Age of Dharma Decline, all manner of harrowing omens arise. External demons run rampant; by some unknown means, the very foundations were shaken, and now nearly half the mountain has collapsed. The flowers upon the mountain have turned into carnivorous beasts, the clear brooks have become putrid water, and at the foot of the mountain crawl all kinds of grotesque, foul-smelling creatures...
"On that collapsed mountain, who knows how many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas yet to return to their fruit of attainment will perish as a result? A hundred lifetimes of cultivation undone in an instant, unable even to reach the Netherworld."
The old monk felt a pang of sorrow and lamented, "Generations of our kind have practiced austere cultivation. Who would have thought that in the end, we cannot even safeguard Spirit Mountain?"
"Ultimately, it is because our foundation of believers has grown frail, giving external demons an opening. With the royal authority of Western Jin waning and powerful ministers running amok, now is the prime opportunity to propagate the Pure Land Buddhist sect. We..."
Before he could finish, heaven and earth suddenly shook violently. Both monks paled at the same time and stood up in unison!
Across the high heavens, a stream of fire invisible even to ordinary immortals swept through the sky, crossing tens of millions of li in a single instant!
The Pure Land quaked once more, the tremors far more violent than in the mortal realm. Upon Spirit Mountain, vast swathes of earth and rock slid away, and several lotus pedestals atop high peaks cracked and shattered. The fragments, along with the dharma idols resting upon them, tumbled down to the mountain's foot, rolling into the dust and mud.
In the eyes of the two monks, the karmic cause and effect this time were clear as day: the stream of fire originated from the Lu Clan Ancestral Mountain and sank into Pure Land's Spirit Mountain. Three lotus thrones had shattered, meaning the two Bodhisattvas and one Arhat yet to return to their positions would never return.
All three of these fruits of attainment were linked to karmic luck.
Fury colored the young monk's face. "At such a dire time for Spirit Mountain, he still meddles and kicks us while we are down—utterly abominable! Since it has come to this, the propagation of our sect must be accelerated. There is no need to be polite with him!"
The old monk nodded, though hesitation showed on his face. "I should still go and try to persuade him. If we could propagate the Buddhist realm in Qingming, it would also be a great merit."
"Pleading with a tiger for its hide!"
"In any case, this mortal vessel of mine is not far from being cast aside. At worst, should he harm me, it will only bind him with an additional layer of karmic fetters."
The young monk's long brows twitched. Suddenly, tears spilled from the corners of his eyes. Without a word, he rose and bowed three times to the old monk.
The old monk sat upright and calmly accepted the three bows.
***
At the Lu Clan Ancestral Mountain, Wei Yuan sat in his study, holding his brush as he wrote the final passage. He read it over several times, thoroughly satisfied.
On the desk before him lay a book that still exuded the faint fragrance of ink. The book was closed, its cover inscribed with four bold characters: *Grand Beginning Heavenly Luck*, signed by Wei Yuan.
After months of deliberation and revision, the book was actually complete. It only awaited an auspicious day to be entered into the Palace of Grand Beginning's Hall of Merits to be considered finished.
Yet in the process of writing this book, the more Wei Yuan wrote, the deeper his comprehension of the Dao of karmic luck became, and he uncovered many points of confusion he had previously not even recognized.
He realized then that whatever could not be clearly expressed was inevitably something he had not clearly understood himself; there was no other reason.
Thus, these months of writing were effectively Wei Yuan's systematic organization of all his lifelong insights into the Dao of karmic luck, culminating in a truly cohesive work. In this realm, he had formally surpassed the Patriarch... though the Patriarch had never intended to dabble in the Dao of karmic luck in the first place.
Armed with these brand-new insights, Wei Yuan smoothly supplemented several chapters to his unfinished *Three Realms Ruyi Sutra*. At this moment, as he looked upon the newly completed scriptures, he still felt something was missing.
This contemplation lasted several days before Wei Yuan finally lifted his brush again and appended several more passages. With these paragraphs written, what Wei Yuan wished to convey was at last brought to complete fulfillment. Only then was he satisfied, setting down his final stroke.
As that final stroke fell, Wei Yuan suddenly felt a sensation of vast, ethereal loftiness. Beneath the tip of his brush, he seemed to touch something, but that thing was exceedingly brittle and shattered upon contact.
With Wei Yuan's divine powers at this stage, he could neither tell what had occurred nor deduce it through divination.
It was said that a certain template Dao Foundation cultivator had devised a new algorithm that, drawing upon the power of the Splendor of the Many Realms, could calculate almost anything under heaven—it merely required an astronomical amount of computational power. In theory, if the current Splendor of the Many Realms were expanded several million times, it would roughly meet the bare minimum requirements.
Wei Yuan had read the beginning and end of that paper, thought the person was indulging in wild whimsy, shelved it, and put it out of his mind.
Wei Yuan was not rigid, nor was he one to stubbornly obsess over arithmetic. Dismissing the matter from his mind, he shook the newly written scriptures, stored them in his Pure Land shrine atop an altar, and admired them repeatedly, seeing that they would soon contribute karmic luck to him once again.
***
Halfway up Spirit Mountain, a little monk was climbing with great difficulty. By now, the mountain slopes had fractured, streams had ceased flowing, and many trails up the mountain had vanished, leaving only sheer precipices.
The little monk struggled upward, his hands, feet, and knees torn and bleeding, a mangled mess that left a bloody trail marking his ascent up Spirit Mountain.
Mustering the last ounce of his strength, he finally scrambled over a broken cliff face. Before his eyes appeared a small terrace where an empty lotus throne hovered, several lotus seeds dancing above it.
Delight finally washed over the little monk's face, and he took a step toward the lotus throne. But after taking merely two steps, he heard a crisp crack. The lotus throne actually shattered! It shattered right before his eyes!
The little monk stood stunned, tears streaming down like rain—not for himself, but for the lotus throne that was no more, for Spirit Mountain, and perhaps a little for the master who had heartlessly pushed him away all those years ago.
He wiped away his tears. Fortunately, Spirit Mountain was in chaos and no one was watching. Otherwise, if the contemporary Buddha Child were seen like this, it would surely invite criticism; those few mounts loved nothing more than filing petty complaints before the Buddha.
Just as he prepared to seek another lotus pedestal that might still remain intact, the ground beneath his feet suddenly split open. The cliff face he stood on collapsed, and he fell backward, plummeting along with countless fragments of rock and soil.
***
Inside the Pure Land shrine, Wei Yuan suddenly felt he had left out a few sentences and had not articulated the true meaning clearly enough, so he added two more lines before finally feeling satisfied.
The scripture rested quietly on the altar. After Wei Yuan departed, it began receiving incense offerings arriving from who knew where.
Chapter 1201