In the past year, the largest campaign of this era erupted between the Shamans and the Liao. Although the Ancestral Shaman and the great powers of the Liao Clan joined forces to mask heavenly secrets so that no one could peer into the battlefield's true conditions, Tianyu sent over five million portions of flesh and soul essence at once, granting Wei Yuan a glimpse into the great war.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Wei Yuan quietly accelerated the construction of the Western Jin floating road. The entire route was divided into eight sections where work commenced simultaneously. The floating road rapidly crossed the former territory of the Xu family, extending northward all the way to the Three Rivers Khanate.
As the Shaman-Liao conflict intensified, massive waves of Liao tribes began migrating southward from the Liao domain, surging into the lands north of the snow mountains.
Many tribesmen did not linger in the north; instead, they passed through the snow mountain passes and reached the region south of the mountains. According to Batu's tally of the migrating population, as many as five million people had moved south over the past few months.
Rather than a migration, this was more of a flight from the ravages of war. Those capable of making the journey south were all able-bodied men and women, accompanied by fine warhorses and livestock. This made Wei Yuan see their immense value. Generally speaking, a tribal population would need to reach thirty million before yielding five million able-bodied adults.
Yet the journey was exceedingly long and grueling. By the time many Liao folk reached the Three Rivers Khanate, they did not even have breeding livestock left—only a few carts and a handful of packhorses.
To the Three Rivers Khanate of the past, so many people would have been a crushing burden. But after several years of management by Wei Yuan, the Three Rivers Khanate of today was nothing like before.
By now, the first batch of five fodder workshops built by Qingming in the Three Rivers Khanate was fully operational. Each workshop could produce enough feed to sustain ten million head of livestock. The newly modernized pastures across the region held tens of millions of livestock in centralized rearing, all of superior breeds.
With such supplies providing firm backing, let alone five million people, even fifty million could be fully absorbed.
After large numbers of new Liao migrants arrived, Wei Yuan officially began propagating the Three Realms Orthodoxy in the Three Rivers Khanate. His method was as blunt as ever: convert to the Three Realms Orthodoxy, and a thousand jin of fodder was distributed on the spot.
If one passed the piety evaluation, they could claim a fine young beast for free—with a variety of choices ranging from dairy cows to Liao horses—and purchase cheap feed, leaving no fear of failing to raise them.
Promoted in this manner, the results were naturally astonishing. By early in the tenth year of Zhaoning, out of the more than five million migrated Liao folk, fully 4.5 million had converted to the Three Realms Orthodoxy, and over two million had met the piety threshold.
In free rewards claimed by believers alone, Wei Yuan gave out millions of superior young animals in one go. At first glance, he seemed to have suffered a huge loss, but he was calculating a completely different ledger.
Before these superior young beasts reached maturity, they could not endure long migrations. With herders able to purchase cheap, high-quality feed whenever they needed, they no longer had to wander from place to place chasing water and grass.
Migrating with the seasons was truly agonizing. Once these herders settled down, they could never return to their former hardships.
Therefore, once they arrived, they shouldn't even think about leaving—countless upcoming workshops and pastures were in desperate need of labor.
The few Liao folk unwilling to convert were marginalized and oppressed on every front, and after being mistreated, they found no avenue for grievance.
At the beginning of the year, Batu summoned all tribal chieftains and held a great assembly at the Khan's tent. Its main purpose was to establish a unified standard for judging cases across the grassland: if one party was a follower of the Three Realms, rule in favor of the follower; if both were followers, rule in favor of the one who met the piety standard; if both were devout, mediate impartially.
During this year, Qingming's four alien reservations were also completed. The one with the largest workload was the Sea Li reservation on Qingming's southern border. It involved transforming an entire saltwater lake into a marine environment and then constructing a massive grand formation to envelop the entire lake—a monumental undertaking.
Once the Sea Clan reservation was completed, it immediately became the focal point for upper-tier cultivators across Qingming and surrounding areas. The vast majority of Qingming people had never seen real Sea Clan members in their lives, so many traveled thousands of li to the reservation just to catch a glimpse.
Yet the fastest-growing business in the reservation was another trade altogether—one that completely caught Wei Yuan off guard.
Among the purchased Sea Clan slaves were over a thousand sea maidens, including three at the dharma idol realm.
Hearing of this, wealthy cultivators with a taste for novelty immediately rushed to Qingming, willing to pay handsome sums to sample the sea maidens. The result was a first taste, followed by a second, and then countless more, their Dao hearts so thoroughly stimulated that they could not tear themselves away.
As the word spread, cultivators surged in from both inside and outside Qingming. Compared to local bumpkin cultivators from abroad, Qingming cultivators were both numerous and wealthy, packing the reservation's sea maiden pavilion until not a drop of water could leak through.
The officials managing the reservation raised prices multiple times, until the final rate had an extra zero compared to the initial price, yet they still could not stem the surging crowds. All the sea maidens had to work day and night, but the wait times for reservations kept stretching longer.
The reservation's revenue grew exponentially; at this rate, this single source of income alone would recoup the entire reservation's construction costs in two or three years.
Not long after this venture commenced, people discovered that the high-cultivation males of the Sea Clan were also remarkably handsome, exceptionally tall, and well-endowed.
And so a new wave of novelty-seekers swarmed in. Many Dao companions of years fell out over this, parting ways to pursue their own pleasures.
In Qingming, everyone cultivated and strove for self-improvement, so the brothel business had always been half-dead. Brothels opened by several aristocratic families had run losses year after year, losing even their trousers. No one anticipated that a humble Sea Clan pavilion would stir up such a massive storm!
Thus, many within the aristocratic families lamented that while everyone said Qingming enlightened the populace, after becoming enlightened, other traits remained unseen, but their tastes had certainly become wild.
By the time Wei Yuan learned of this, both ventures were already raking in vast sums and showing no sign of slowing.
Overnight, construction began on several or even a dozen Sea Clan pavilions in nearly every major city across Qingming. Influenced by this, prices for Sea Clan members across Great Tang rose a notch.
Confronted with this situation, Wei Yuan felt he was not lacking money and prepared to shut down the trade. But when word got out, the sea maidens insisted that this was an intrinsic part of their cultivation. If it were banned, their cultivation would slowly deteriorate and their lifespans would be drastically shortened. Thus, Wei Yuan's ban would be equivalent to a slow-motion massacre.
Therefore, the various officials of the reservation memorialized Wei Yuan in this manner: this is a natural physiological need of sea maidens; suppressing it goes against the heavenly Dao.
Since it defied the heavenly Dao, it ought not be suppressed. And if not suppressed, taking in some money on the side hardly seemed like a big deal. Besides, without charging exorbitant fees, it was simply impossible to curb the influx of people. What was more, none of this money lined the officials' own pockets; it all went straight into the public coffers.
Reading such a memorial, Wei Yuan was caught between laughter and tears. He could only append an additional decree: no coercion or forced transactions; everything must be consensual.
Yet facts proved that this decree was entirely redundant—the sea maidens never turned anyone away.
The sea men, on the other hand, found the constant plucking unbearable and kicked up a fuss, demanding a daily quota: no more than ten times, but no fewer than eight times. If there were more, they protested; if there were fewer, they protested just as loudly.
Faced with such chaotic absurdity, Wei Yuan could only turn a blind eye, leaving behind a sliver of divine sense to monitor from the shadows in case disturbances arose.
Fortunately, the Sea Clan was the only troublesome one. The Mountain Folk reservation proceeded very smoothly: hundreds of thousands of Mountain Folk lived and worked in peace, taking joy in daily mining as recreation, content to the point of forgetting their ancestral homes.
Naturally, Wei Yuan took the opportunity to promote the Three Realms Path throughout all the reservations, establishing it as the sole religion; non-believers were second-class citizens.
The establishment of several reservations produced another unexpected outcome. Without ever leaving the realm's borders, the people of Qingming could tour and observe the lives of the world's various alien races, turning it into the most popular leisure attraction.
Because the Mountain Folk reservation lay far away in Yizhou, huge crowds of Qingming people traveled there, forcing Wei Yuan to open several new flying boat routes. The flying boat tickets, in turn, raked in another fortune. Moreover, because the passenger routes between Qingzhou and Yizhou were so enormously lucrative, private merchant houses had already begun developing large passenger flying boats of their own.
After completing a tour of the various reservations, the people of Qingming were filled with a sense of lofty superiority, truly experiencing what it meant to belong to a celestial empire. Amidst their collective pride and satisfaction, they naturally contributed karmic luck without even realizing it. As a result, karmic luck surged across Qingming, with annual contributions of human luck breaking the one-hundred-million mark.
In that year, Qingming's total population also surpassed one billion. Testing revealed that eighty percent of newborn children possessed Body Casting potential, and half had template potential.
The situation was flourishing, yet on this day, Wei Yuan was pacing back and forth like an ant on a hot pan, his anxiety plainly written on his face. Given Wei Yuan's level of cultivation, it was exceedingly rare for his emotions to show so openly.
This was a tranquil, exquisite courtyard with white walls, black roof tiles, towering ancient trees, scattered rockeries, and emerald ponds. Figures hurried beneath the vermilion covered walkways, agitating the bronze bells under the eaves into restless chiming. The koi in the pond seemed to sense something, darting ceaselessly back and forth and churning up azure ripples.
Wei Yuan circled the courtyard. Above, tribulation clouds gathered from time to time, but before they could even take form, various invisible forces dispersed them.
Wei Yuan glanced at the sky, his worry deepening.
In the room, Baoyun lay on the bed with her eyes tightly shut, having reached the critical moment of labor. Several years of gestation culminated in this day of delivery. Having officially advanced to Scenery Command, she was liable to encounter a heavenly tribulation under normal circumstances.
Facing a heavenly tribulation while giving birth was a life-or-death killing tribulation for both mother and child.
Wei Yuan had no choice but to stay by her side. Although the heavenly tribulation was very likely to mutate under his influence, Wei Yuan also possessed the green-backed azure dragon—a cave-heaven born of a heavenly tribulation itself—and wielded vast quantities of karmic luck. If necessary, he could influence the tribulation through the azure dragon and strike back with human luck to shatter the heavens.
Yet Wei Yuan had not expected that the heavenly tribulation would fail to coalesce at all.
At that moment, everything around Baoyun was constantly warping. The physicians, midwives, and attendant-masters dared not approach. Two bundles of clothing lay scattered on the ground.
Those had belonged to a physician and an attendant-master who were caught in the distorted ripples after getting too close. In an instant, both were shredded into pieces; their shredded garments fluttered down, while their flesh and soul essence turned into a stream of blood sucked into Baoyun's belly. After that, who dared approach?
The entire courtyard was blanketed by Baoyun's mind-manifested world. In her delirious state, her mind-manifested world had run out of control. Had Wei Yuan not suppressed it within the courtyard, the entire immortal city might have been ground to pieces.
High above the courtyard, a faint, colossal silhouette was dancing gracefully. Only a handful of individuals blessed with supreme talent could perceive that dancing figure; a single fleeting glimpse was enough to enchant onlookers and make them lose their minds.
The heavenly tribulation still strained to gather, but the colossal heavenly fiend silhouette continually struck and dispersed the tribulation clouds.
As time passed, a small vortex abruptly appeared within Baoyun's abdomen, constantly drawing in the surrounding spiritual energy. As it absorbed more and more spiritual energy, its range expanded. Several hours later, it formed a massive vortex spanning a thousand li. Spiritual energy between heaven and earth spun endlessly, plunging into the bottomless abyss in Baoyun's belly.
As more spiritual energy was absorbed, a spark of life began to sprout.
Just as Wei Yuan let out a sigh of relief, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. His expression darkened instantly, and he vanished from the courtyard.
Above the clouds, a figure rose from the South Sea, treading upon light. With clear, sharp features and an aura untouched by dust, his robes were white as snow and his hair ribbon fluttered in the wind. Mist rose beneath his steps; flowing rosy clouds draped over his shoulders as he glanced around, his sleeves lifting to brush aside the fog as he advanced toward a destination.
In the blink of an eye, he stood high above the courtyard, gazing down with a smile as he murmured to himself, "After waiting bitterly for so many years, I have finally encountered a grand opportunity! Only such a natural Dao womb is worthy of my status. Very well, in this life I shall grant you this blessing."
His figure descended, about to plunge into Baoyun's womb. Yet in a flash, the scenery before him shifted, and a terrifying streak of immortal luck swept across the sky above the courtyard, barring his path!
Wei Yuan stepped out from the void and said coldly, "My humble son possesses crude aptitudes and cannot bear the karma of an exalted immortal. Perhaps Your Immortality should seek elsewhere for your reincarnation!"
The immortal's face darkened slightly. "I am the South Pole Immortal Lord. Knowing that the Martial Ancestor's grand design is drawing to a close, I specially descended from my mountain to seek a reincarnated vessel, so that I may place my pieces for the new era. Once this sovereign completes the Great Dao, you, as the father of my reincarnated self, will also benefit and gain the opportunity to break through to Immortal Lord. When both father and son fathom the realm of Immortal Lord and ascend together, it will become a celebrated tale across the cultivation world—as well as an anchor ensuring we never lose our way while roaming the myriad worlds. With such a wonderful fortune before you, why do you stand in my way?"
Wei Yuan replied with stony gravity, "Whether he is a mortal or a Dao Foundation, I only want my own son. I have no need for an Immortal Lord to play my child."
The South Pole Immortal Lord's face sank, and he sneered coldly, "This sovereign only deigned to speak this much because you could perceive me and possessed a modicum of talent. Do not refuse face when it is given! Below lies my opportunity. If you obstruct me, even if you are the father of that mortal shell, it constitutes a vendetta of halting my Dao! You had best think this through! Furthermore, this sovereign already shares great karma with him. If I insist on being born, do you truly think you can stop me?"
Wei Yuan lightly waved his hand. In an instant, a boundless ocean of karmic luck surged around him—so immense that even the South Pole Immortal Lord's brow twitched.
Wei Yuan sneered. "I may not be able to stop you, but as it so happens, I have three hundred million human luck on hand, as well as a strand of Heavenly Shaman karmic luck to serve as a catalyst. I can cast the Three Lives Soul-Restraining Immortal Array. If you dare be born into him, I will dare use this luck to lock you inside that mortal body, and then I will ensure he never reads, never studies, and never cultivates for his entire life, dying of old age without illness! With this karmic luck weighing you down as baggage, who knows where you will reincarnate next life? And as for the womb delusion forged from three hundred million human luck, I'd like to see just how you break it. To me, if this son is ruined, I can simply father a few more."
The South Pole Immortal Lord's expression turned grim. Only after a long silence did he speak: "For such a petty obsession, you would throw away such a magnificent opportunity. Why go to such lengths?"
Wei Yuan let out a ringing laugh and declared with grand conviction, "I have cultivated for less than a century, yet the immortal gates already loom in sight! Not to mention that over mere decades, I have transformed tens of thousands of li of barren wilderness into the world's most fertile domain, governing hundreds of millions of people, guarding the four poles and sweeping away foreign races, undefeated in every battle! My ambition is to reshape the present world and ferry all through the Sea of Bitterness! Having sworn such an ambition, if I still had to barter my own son for a sliver of opportunity, then this immortality isn't worth cultivating at all!"
The South Pole Immortal Lord's expression finally shifted. After a long while, he snorted, unable to bring himself to burn his boats. Abandoning the attempt to force his birth, he uttered word by word, "This grudge of barring my Dao, this sovereign will remember. I hope you will not regret it."
Before Wei Yuan could reply, a loud wail suddenly rang out from the courtyard below. The child was finally born!
It was a boy, translucent as jade and glowing with soft radiance. Miraculously, as the infant came into the world, his hands were actually holding aloft a tiny, transparent baby. That tiny baby wore a smile, exuding spontaneous joy.
The South Pole Immortal Lord blurted out in shock, "A Natural Dao Foundation!"
A deep remorse suddenly washed over him. This was the first Natural Dao Foundation in all of history! Had he known earlier, he would have forced his reincarnation regardless of the consequences. A pivotal figure destined to bridge the ancient and the modern, perhaps even holding the key to the opening and closing of an era—who would dare ruin him? Who could even manage to ruin him?
Wei Yuan was startled for a moment, then burst into uproarious laughter, his voice carrying far and wide: "To miss out on an opportunity of this magnitude—what kind of Immortal Lord are you even supposed to be? With such meager attainment, you think you're worthy to be my son? Haha, hahahaha!"
His Dao heart thrown into turmoil, the South Pole Immortal Lord could stay no longer. He swept his sleeve and departed, vanishing into the depths of the South Sea in an instant.
Wei Yuan let out three hearty laughs, brimming with triumphant satisfaction.
Just as he prepared to go down to check on Baoyun and their son, his expression abruptly froze: during that impassioned, heroic speech just now that laid bare his lifelong ambitions, he had completely forgotten to deploy a projection sphere!
Chapter 1349