Wei Yuan's gaze finally settled on a project highlighted in orange: "The Regional Local Spiritual Qi Distribution Optimization Plan."
It was said that when the proposal was first submitted, its author had worried about provoking an outcry, and had therefore carefully sanitized the title.
The word "regional" did not refer to some mere village or town, nor did it mean a neighborhood within a city. Its true meaning was the entire territory inhabited by humanity within this world—in other words, the Great Tang.
As for "local," because it did not cover the entirety of the Great Tang, it was modestly described as local.
"Spiritual Qi distribution" was relatively easy to understand. The earth veins across the various states of the Great Tang differed, and so did the distribution of spiritual Qi. The most intuitive indicator was the amount of spiritual farmland, with Northern and Southern Qi at the top and Western Jin dead last. The State of Zhao ranked third from the bottom, only slightly better off than the State of Ji.
"Optimization," of course, meant adjusting the natural distribution of spiritual Qi, changing the status quo so that spiritual Qi would increasingly dwell where virtue resided. Taken all together, it was really the "Great Tang Spiritual Qi Redistribution Plan." Within the Palace of Grand Beginning, however, the cultivators had another name for it: the Realm-Grade Spirit Gathering Formation.
The core array of this grand formation measured roughly five thousand li in diameter. Given Qingming's current engineering capabilities, it would still require two million templates and five full years of construction to complete, with a total cost of five billion qingyuan.
Qingming presently had a population of just under eight hundred million, with each person generating a little over ten qingyuan in value annually. By contrast, the State of Zhao, famed for its affluence, had a population of eleven billion, yet its per capita production barely exceeded half a qingyuan. That meant this grand formation would devour half of Qingming's annual revenue. For the State of Zhao to afford such a project, more than half the country, from top to bottom, would have to forgo eating and drinking to practice cultivation around the clock for a whole year.
And this was merely Phase One of the Realm-Grade Spirit Gathering Formation.
A Phase Two would follow, adding four auxiliary arrays, each roughly equal in scale to the core formation. The fully completed array would span over ten thousand li in diameter and cost approximately twenty billion.
For an undertaking of such staggering expense to command so much of Wei Yuan's attention, and for him to prepare in secret for several years, its effects were naturally terrifying.
Phase One's core array alone could draw in the heaven-and-earth spiritual Qi from a radius of a hundred thousand li. Once gathered, this tremendous concentration of spiritual Qi would permanently alter Qingming, drawing the world's primordial Qi toward it as well. After a few years, new earth veins would sprout beneath Qingming. Rare spiritual resources and ore veins would appear in abundance, and the amount of arable spiritual farmland would increase tenfold.
Once Phase One was built, Qingming's spiritual Qi would match the level of the Lu Clan Ancestral Mountain's core sanctuary. The Lu Clan Ancestral Mountain was capped by a spirit gathering formation above and sustained by buried immortal bones below, which was the only reason it possessed its present immortal splendor. Only direct-line core descendants were permitted to reside there; even concubine-born children within the direct branches were denied entry.
Though fewer immortal bones were buried beneath Qingming than beneath the Lu clan's grounds, a spirit gathering formation built with five billion qingyuan would absorb spiritual Qi over ten thousand times more effectively than the Lu family's array. Spreading this spiritual Qi across the entire territory of Qingming would yield noticeable results everywhere.
According to the plan's estimates, once the formation was finished, the overall difficulty of cultivation in Qingming would drop by an entire tier. In other words, every cultivator currently stuck at late-stage Body Casting would reach perfection. Among commoners newly born in Qingming, so long as they suffered no disease or catastrophe, seventy percent could achieve Body Casting, forty percent could cultivate to late Body Casting, and ten percent could reach perfection.
Even calculating on Qingming's current population of eight hundred million, that meant eighty million at perfect Body Casting. If they all cultivated the Myriad Tribulations Imperishable Dharma Body, that would mean fifty million Dao Foundations. Looked at from another perspective, if the renowned Nine Armies of the Great Tang were used as the benchmark, Qingming could probably field an army of over three hundred million. That figure made even Wei Yuan's head spin.
The project had been delayed solely because it had far exceeded Qingming's capabilities at the time. Now that Qingming's national strength could just barely scrape by, Wei Yuan brought it forward at once.
Timing was also a crucial factor. Wei Yuan needed to finish it before the Liao Clan survived their catastrophe.
During the catastrophe, a bloody war between the Liao and the Shaman Clan was inevitable, which meant neither would be able to intervene. The Sea Li would likely not sit idly by either, very possibly repeating their past invasion of the Liao domain from the Eastern Sea. That would tie up three alien races, leaving only the Mountain Folk on the borders, which would drastically reduce the pressure on Wei Yuan. Within the Great Tang, the State of Zhao was on his side, Western Jin was his own, and Eastern Jin's lifeline was gripped firmly in Wei Yuan's hands. A light squeeze of his fingers would leave Eastern Jin breaking out in cold sweats.
As for Northern Qi, they would either have to stake everything on a fight to the death right now, or they would never have another chance.
The celestial timing, geographical advantage, and harmony among the people had all aligned. It was the perfect moment to do something momentous!
Wei Yuan examined himself and concluded that he was born to do great things.
Within the Sea of Bitterness, Wei Yuan's dharma body opened its eyes and looked toward the stars overhead. The reason those stars hung so high was that hundreds of millions of faithful were holding them up.
Although only Wei Yuan's shoulders and head rose above the surface of the sea for now, this was only temporary. Once the spirit gathering formation was built and accumulated strength for a time, the Pure Land would still be supported by several billion ordinary believers, while Wei Yuan would be upheld by hundreds of millions of cultivators. He wanted to see who would stand higher then.
The word "optimization" in the plan's title had not been chosen lightly. Between heaven and earth, spiritual Qi existed in fixed measure. When this realm-grade formation was built, the surrounding regions would naturally suffer. Within a hundred thousand li, spiritual Qi would decay and spiritual lands would degrade. Beyond a hundred thousand li, spiritual Qi would also drop as it naturally flowed inward to fill the void.
One could well imagine the fury and chorus of curses that would erupt from the surrounding states. But let them curse. Wei Yuan felt that "treasures of heaven and earth belong to the virtuous" should not be a mere slogan; it had to become an actionable guiding principle, strictly adhered to.
Wei Yuan had even thought up the promotional copy for the Development Bureau. What counted as virtuous? Being born in Qingming was virtue.
Therefore, if aspiring men of ambition across the states wished to embark on the path of cultivation, they had best arrange a good reincarnation in their next life and be born in Qingming. Those who were not confident in their ability to reincarnate well could also choose to die in Qingming; Wei Yuan possessed the Yellow Springs Grotto-Heaven and could provide on-site reincarnation services, though the fee would be a bit steep.
As for those of vast fortune—no, those of great virtue—who wished for a bit more talent upon rebirth, Wei Yuan could arrange that too. It was merely a question of how much karmic luck to bestow.
Among the surrounding states, the most heavily affected would be Western Jin and the State of Zhao. Western Jin was of no concern, but the State of Zhao would need proper appeasement. Wei Yuan already had a plan in mind: sell Qingming's goods to them cheaply and exempt Zhao's goods from customs tariffs.
In this way, the State of Zhao would become a transit hub for Qingming's commodities, reselling them to the eastern and southern states. Naturally, with resale concerning matters of national welfare and the people's livelihood, the King of Zhao would keep it firmly in his own hands. Wei Yuan felt he had been extraordinarily considerate of Zhao.
With every angle accounted for, Wei Yuan reached out and tapped lightly on the light screen before him.
The screen suddenly flared, its brilliant light outlining his sharp profile. Beside him, an image retention orb recorded this historic moment.
***
On the western side of Qingming Immortal City stood a cluster of towering buildings. Many cultivators bustled in and out, looking exceptionally busy. They walked several times faster than ordinary people, matching a regular mortal's full-tilt sprint.
Inside and outside the complex, order reigned supreme. No matter how wide or narrow the corridors were, an open lane was always kept clear down the center for those racing against the clock. Those with urgent errands who truly could not make it in time could fly right along the ceiling.
Some who had reached perfection in Body Casting could not yet fly, but if they were in a special rush, they could scramble upside down along the ceiling, moving just as swiftly as the wind.
Yet whether flying or scrambling upside down, one required a permit. Flying without permission would trigger the alarms. The fellows in the Security Department all practiced the Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword, and their elites had even cultivated the immortal sword False Sun. Their combat strength was far beyond what these clerks—who practiced light, water, or Qi—could hope to match.
If someone truly enraged security, they could summon senior Golden Core figures from above. Those grandees were armed to the teeth; the crude dharma idols of the Eastern Barbarians, Western Rong, Southern Man, and Northern Di were no match for them.
At this moment, before the tallest and grandest building, several engineering Golden Cores were lowering a massive stone stele to the ground. It replaced the old monument that read "Qingming Bank Headquarters," swapping it for a jade stele of immortal bone imbued with an otherworldly aura. Carved across it was a line of bold characters: Qingming Coinage and Circulation Bureau.
Feng Chutang stood in the distance, inspecting the new stele from every angle. Thoroughly satisfied, he nodded.
Suddenly, an intuition struck him. Checking his densely packed schedule, he realized he had nearly forgotten a major matter.
He now enjoyed the empowerment of a fruit position and was presently within Qingming. Connecting his divine sense directly to Baoyun, he said, "City Lord Bao, the Realm Lord's ascension to immortality should be a matter of course. For the sake of conceptual momentum, it is time we consider the Realm Lord's honorable title, Daoist moniker, and immortal name."
Baoyun let out a startled sound. "We need to name him now? Isn't that a bit early?"
"It is always best to prepare before the rain falls. Moreover, to ensure conceptual completeness, we cannot prepare only for the Realm Lord; everyone from Patriarch Xuanyue of the Azure Heaven Hall down through the generations must be granted an honorable title."
Baoyun turned solemn. "This is indeed a serious matter. We should find a time for everyone to sit down and discuss it properly. Also, Martial Uncle, you can call me Yun'er or Little Yun just like before. Calling me 'City Lord' feels so distant."
Feng Chutang replied, "By martial tradition, I should probably be calling you Martial Uncle. Qingming is too large now, and it will only grow larger, so establishing proper rules is essential. Those of us from the Palace of Grand Beginning must set an example for others. Otherwise, if outsiders see us acting lax, they might easily lose their sense of reverence, which would be bad for the Realm Lord as well."
Baoyun could only nod helplessly.
Chapter 1315