Wei Yuan walked at an unhurried pace into the dungeon, passing through four consecutive gates before finally catching sight of Hule Gao'en.
Qingming's dungeon had been forged from refined steel alloyed with nether iron, inherently possessing the ability to ward off magical arts. Furthermore, the formations here had been established by the Heavenly Mechanism Hall. Ordinary dharma idols brought inside would be suppressed until they had no dharmic power remaining, while those at Scenery Command who entered the core area would only have the strength of a Dao Foundation left.
Moreover, Qingming had deep pockets: the cell walls were a full three feet thick, and the bars were as thick as wide bowls. With such materials, even a dharma idol in peak condition could not hope to destroy them, unless it was a Heaven Tier dharma idol. Dao Foundation strength could only sigh in despair.
When Wei Yuan walked in, Hule Gao'en was examining the bars with great care, repeatedly using his hands to measure the thickness of the walls, his face full of disbelief.
"What, do you like it?" Wei Yuan asked with a smile.
The moment he saw Wei Yuan, Hule Gao'en dropped straight to his knees inside the cell and said, "Greetings, Realm Lord!"
"It has been a long time, and you've actually learned some manners. What, do the Mountain Folk care about such etiquette now?" With that, Wei Yuan said to the guards beside him, "Why haven't you opened the cell door yet?"
The attendants unlocked the door. Hule Gao'en still wore shackles on his hands and feet, which were alloyed with nether crystal. Even if Wei Yuan were to wear them, his Dao power would be suppressed slightly. And that small fraction shaved off from Wei Yuan was more than all the Dao power possessed by Hule Gao'en, a perfected dharma idol.
"Still not taking them off?"
Hule Gao'en hurriedly said, "I can wear them a bit longer, no rush!"
Wei Yuan was slightly surprised. "You have a penchant for this?"
Hule Gao'en looked quite sheepish and said, "I've never worn such a valuable treasure before."
Wei Yuan laughed heartily and said, "Since you like them, if there's good news later, I'll have another pair forged for you."
"Thank you, Realm Lord~" Hule Gao'en had even learned how to drag out his syllables.
The two then walked outside. Along the corridor, Wei Yuan remarked, "Master Zhang is also here—the one who beat you into the ground back then. If you encountered any baffling mysteries, you can simply ask her."
A moment later, Wei Yuan settled into a seat in the reception hall. Zhang Sheng sat beside him, while Hule Gao'en stood in the center of the hall, refusing to sit down no matter what was said. He merely declared, "Before the Realm Lord, there is no seat for me."
Wei Yuan could not help but chuckle. "Where did you pick all this up? I am merely a Military Commissioner of Great Tang; there is no need for this. All right, let's hear it. What did you gain from this journey among the Mountain Folk?"
Hule Gao'en took two steps back, straightened his clothes and cap, stilled his mind, focused his spirit at the crown of his head, and gathered his qi into his dantian. Then came a full ceremonial bow toward Wei Yuan. A plump, brownish-red strand of Mountain Folk karmic luck plunged directly into Wei Yuan's sea of consciousness.
Wei Yuan was thoroughly astonished. The karmic luck of a perfected Mountain Folk dharma idol—just like that?!
Having completed the grand ceremonial bow, Hule Gao'en performed the same ritual toward Zhang Sheng. Zhang Sheng raised a brow slightly, evidently receiving karmic luck as well.
After making these bows, Hule Gao'en's complexion grew noticeably paler, and his aura became somewhat unsteady. Clearly, offering two full strands of karmic luck had not been entirely without cost.
"Realm Lord, this is what I gained from my journey," Hule Gao'en said. Seeing Wei Yuan's reaction, a faint smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.
Yet he immediately watched as a flash of sword light gleamed between Zhang Sheng's brows. A strand of brownish-red karmic luck fled like a stray dog, landing directly in her palm like a netted minnow. It darted back and forth, entirely unable to escape that square inch of space.
Seeing that karmic luck wriggling like a living creature, the smile on Hule Gao'en's face slowly froze, and his head drooped deeply.
Wei Yuan naturally caught the change in his expression and asked, "What is it? Is something the matter?"
Hule Gao'en hastily replied, "Nothing is the matter! It is merely that according to the Daoist Canon, karmic luck is a supremely sacred thing, lofty and unfathomable. Ordinary cultivators cannot even catch sight of it. Toward karmic luck, one can only feel reverence and awe, letting nature run its course. Only today did this lowly one learn that karmic luck could actually be controlled like this! Truly... truly, this lowly one's knowledge was too shallow!"
Wei Yuan chuckled and pointed a finger at Hule Gao'en. "Testing us?"
Hule Gao'en repeatedly protested that he would never dare, then said, "Following what was recorded in the Daoist Canon, I only managed to cultivate two strands of karmic luck. I kept them tightly concealed, waiting only to offer them to the Realm Lord. The Realm Lord surely knows that through this karmic luck, this lowly one's utmost sincerity can be proven."
This was true enough. Without genuine sincerity, karmic luck could not be yielded at all. Moreover, the karmic luck of a perfected dharma idol was no ordinary find, let alone that of the Mountain Folk, which was exceedingly precious at the moment.
At this moment, Zhang Sheng said indifferently, "I cultivate the Sword Dao, which prizes utmost purity and perfection—not a single feather may be added. This karmic luck is of no use to me, so I'll return it to you for now." With that, she flicked her finger lightly, and that strand of karmic luck actually flew back into Hule Gao'en's sea of consciousness, settling down once more. Hule Gao'en stared blankly. Karmic luck could actually be returned?!
Fortunately, he was quick-witted enough to turn around at once and bow to Wei Yuan. After performing the full rite, that strand of karmic luck was delivered into Wei Yuan's hands as well.
Wei Yuan chuckled again. "Mountain Folk karmic luck happens to be of great use to me, so I'll take it. A pity there's just a bit too little."
Hule Gao'en's cheek twitched. Two strands of karmic luck from a perfected dharma idol were already his absolute limit. According to ancient records, this was a peerless foundation, a heaven-defying panacea. If bestowed upon a mortal, it would immediately yield a transformative rebirth and rewrite their destiny.
Before coming here, Hule Gao'en had brainwashed himself day and night just to refine these two strands.
Truth be told, more than half of these two strands stemmed from the lingering fear he felt when facing Zhang Sheng back then. The higher Hule Gao'en's cultivation rose and the broader his perspective grew, the more he understood how terrifying Zhang Sheng truly was. Between who he was today and who he had been back then, there was virtually no difference—both were settled in a single sword stroke.
Now, having offered these two things—equivalent to more than half his life—to Wei Yuan, the man actually complained it was too little?!
Noticing his expression, Wei Yuan smiled faintly. A vast ocean materialized around him, with a dark mountain standing within the waters. The two strands of Mountain Folk karmic luck hovered at the foot of the dark mountain like two little birds.
Hule Gao'en had activated his Profound Pupils by now and was able to see karmic luck. He froze on the spot, his mouth gradually falling open.
The ocean was karmic luck, and the dark mountain was karmic luck as well—and that dark mountain was just a single strand!
Amidst this mountain and sea, the two strands of Mountain Folk karmic luck were not merely sparse; at best, they offered a bit of unique character, serving as a minor embellishment.
Hule Gao'en dropped to his knees once more and said in a trembling voice, "The Realm Lord's immortal might is truly rare throughout the ages, matchless in this world!"
Wei Yuan smiled faintly, the corners of his mouth upturned to perfection—a fraction higher would appear flippant, while a fraction lower would seem contrived. This angle alone demonstrated his years of cultivation. "All right, stand up and speak. We don't need any of this pretense," Wei Yuan said.
Hule Gao'en still bowed three times before rising. His etiquette differed conspicuously from the current Tang system, clearly stemming from another heritage.
Once he was seated, Wei Yuan asked, "You kept mentioning the Daoist Canon earlier. Exactly which canon contains such wondrous methods?"
Hule Gao'en hurriedly retrieved a jade-carved golden toad from his robes and offered it with both hands. "On this journey back to my old tribe, I endured numerous trials and investigated from many angles. In the end, I managed to rescue several elders of our clan and uncovered the secrets of those years: what our clan had kept hidden all along was the legacy of an ancient immortal. The method of transferring karmic luck I just used came entirely from this Daoist canon. The boundary stones previously produced by our clan also originated from this legacy."
Wei Yuan took the golden toad and asked curiously, "What ancient cultivator would be so well-versed in etiquette? And these rites closely resemble the ancient rites of the human race. Boundary stones are also unique to our human race; for you Mountain Folk, as long as your numbers grow and you dwell in an area long enough, doesn't your domain naturally transform?"
"That ancient immortal was of the human race."
Wei Yuan's hand paused. He raised his brows and looked toward Hule Gao'en. "How long ago was this?"
"At least eighty thousand years!"
"Then that would be Middle Antiquity... Where is the legacy site?"
"Well... for some reason, the moment I returned, I suddenly couldn't remember." Hule Gao'en's face was strained in struggle as he racked his brain, yet he could not recall it at all.
Zhang Sheng said at this point, "Once you leave the human domain, you'll be able to remember."
Wei Yuan realized it as well. Ever since the Martial Ancestor laid his grand design, the legacies of ancient immortals had become taboo, something that could only be vaguely mentioned in places like the ancestral mountain of the Palace of Grand Beginning. The Martial Ancestor's design was exceptionally potent throughout the human domain, and Qingming was no exception. Once one left Qingming, the efficacy of the Martial Ancestor's restrictions would diminish somewhat, though core matters still could not be spoken of.
Wei Yuan toyed with the jade-carved golden toad in his hand. Inside was a small space containing several volumes of classic texts.
"The method for transferring karmic luck you used just now was learned from here?"
"And those things you said earlier—did you learn them from the Daoist canon as well?"
Hule Gao'en shook his head. "No, not that. There was also an autobiographical account left by that ancient immortal; I learned it from that autobiography. According to that text, speaking like this brings success wherever one goes."
Wei Yuan was thoroughly unimpressed.
Chapter 1330