It Has to Be That Expensive

When the template Dao foundation first appeared, the cultivators across the nine states of Great Tang ridiculed it for a long time. When the Golden Pellet dharma idol appeared, the mocking laughter largely vanished, replaced by discussion, debate, and calculations of profit and loss. People argued over whether a Golden Pellet truly counted as a dharma idol, but no one argued against cultivating it. Cultivators who had reached a dead end on the path to a dharma idol had no choice but to opt for the Golden Pellet. Northern Qi's vigorous attempts to ban it proved utterly useless; after all, it was still a path of the Dao. Now, the emergence of the Dao Court Scenery Command struck the entire world into stunned silence. What bewildered everyone was that, according to the details Qingming had publicly released, no one could see the slightest connection between this path and a true Scenery Command. Furthermore, a mind-manifested world could actually be chosen and customized? Neither the Ancestral Shaman nor the Liao Ancestor would dare boast such a thing. Yet Qingming had a solid reputation. A template Dao foundation was still a Dao foundation, and a Golden Pellet dharma idol was still a dharma idol. On what grounds, then, could anyone claim that the Dao Court Scenery Command's mind-manifested world was not a real mind-manifested world? At this moment, the Bao family was holding an elders' council, urgently recalling every elder abroad. The crux of the matter was a single issue: Bao Yun had secured two Dao Court Scenery Command quotas for the Bao family. These were two newly minted Scenery Commands! In the past, let alone two, the emergence of even a single new Scenery Command would have been a momentous event for the entire clan. For an ordinary prominent family, producing a single Scenery Command cultivator once every few decades was a symbol of prime prosperity. Now, Bao Yun had brought back two in one breath. Moreover, her tone in the letter made this Dao Court Scenery Command sound like an absolute certainty—so long as one had attained dharma idol perfection, success was guaranteed! If breaking through to Scenery Command were truly that easy, the Bao family would not have dozens of consummate dharma idols stuck at this hurdle, with the overwhelming majority destined to grow old and die at dharma idol perfection. The atmosphere in the council hall was intensely oppressive and bizarre. Many elders kept their eyes on their noses and their noses on their hearts, keeping their innermost thoughts carefully hidden. For starters, seated right here in the grand hall were seven or eight consummate dharma idols—all old men and women whose paths forward had been cut off. Each of them was lost in their own thoughts. Even with the Bao family's Old Ancestress and Second Ancestor present, they could hardly be bothered to mind their manners. An elder with white hair and beard broke the silence. "The Yun girl—" The moment the words left his mouth, the old man recalled that Bao Yun was now a Scenery Command cultivator who was even said to have recently given birth to a true dragon. His heart clenched, and he promptly corrected himself, "How feasible is what Castellan Yun wrote in her letter?" With that question, all eyes fell upon Bao Manshan. Bao Manshan gave a light cough, caught in a bind, unsure of what to say. At that moment, Old Madame Bao spoke up. "The Yun girl explained it to me quite clearly and even showed me several optional concepts for the mind-manifested world. "Put it this way: for the family's existing consummate dharma idols, the chance of success is at least eighty percent." Eighty percent?! The elders did not rejoice; rather, their hearts sank. Looking across the world, the chance of advancing from Body Casting to a Dao foundation did not even reach eighty percent, yet the odds of breaking through to Scenery Command were even higher? Such logic could not possibly exist under heaven. A few elders who were already at Scenery Command breathed a sigh of relief, thinking to themselves that this made far more sense. Yet some elders perked up their ears. Had they just heard the word "optional"? Old Madame Bao continued, "However, the mind-manifested world formed through this method is not truly your own. In essence, it is merely borrowed, though you may employ it just like a normal mind-manifested world." Such a thing was possible? Broadly knowledgeable as the elders were, they could not help but be stunned again and again. Then Old Madame Bao shifted her tone. "Though it is a borrowed mind-manifested world, it remains a mind-manifested world nonetheless! Thus, one's status is elevated, the supernatural powers and Dao arts are real, and lifespan will increase. While it does not grant as much as a normal Scenery Command, it can still add at least three to five centuries. Of course, once the mind-manifested world is returned, that added lifespan vanishes as well." Several elderly consummate dharma idols widened their eyes in an instant. At their age and standing, status and magical arts were no longer so critical. But three to five hundred years of life was simply too weighty—it instantly crushed all their defenses. A decrepit elder struck his walking cane heavily against the floor and proclaimed, "I, Bao Rucang, reached dharma idol perfection one hundred and seventy years ago. I am the oldest among all our dharma idols, with few days remaining. Looking back on my life, I have served the clan with utmost diligence, braved life and death, and accumulated countless merits! Therefore, to one of these Dao Court Scenery Command quotas, I shall not defer to anyone!" Before his voice had even faded, an attractive woman beside him retorted, "Brother Rucang, that is quite mistaken! Contributions to the family are judged by merit, not mere hard labor; living longer does not mean one's contributions are greater. Never mind anyone else—do you dare claim you have accomplished more than I, Bao Yulong?" "You! How old are you? Why must you fight an old man for this?" "The struggle for the Dao hangs on a thread. However weak a Scenery Command might be, it is still a ladder to heaven. How could I yield?" Bao Yulong's willow-leaf brows stood on end as she refused to give an inch. Slapping the table, she raised her voice, "Brother Rucang substitutes drudgery for merit—this is purely confusing right and wrong! It is like several war chariots competing in speed and combat prowess, only for you to suddenly haul out a freight wagon and demand to compare mileage!" Bao Rucang's face turned from green to red. For a moment, he could not formulate a rebuttal, yet he refused to yield in the slightest. Old Madame Bao felt rather helpless. The Bao clan was immense; relations among kinsmen were barely better than those among strangers, if not worse. They openly and covertly fought over the clan's minor affairs, let alone a matter of such magnitude. The council descended into endless bickering. Elders could no longer sit still and took the field one after another. In the end, even Scenery Command elders like Bao Manshan joined the fray, arguing relentlessly, on the verge of trading blows on the spot. While the Scenery Command elders did not need the quotas themselves, who among them lacked junior descendants, close relatives, or cherished friends? *** In the Xiao family, Xiao Nian sat before a desk, having reread a letter multiple times. The letter had come from Xiaoyu. She wrote that through her accumulated military merits over the years, she had secured an eligibility slot for the Dao Court Scenery Command. Her mother had been trapped at dharma idol perfection for many years with no way forward; this was the perfect opportunity to take another step upward. Although a Scenery Command attained in this manner could not compare to a true Scenery Command, the elevation in status, Dao arts, and lifespan was entirely genuine. Moreover, experiencing the wondrous applications of a mind-manifested world ahead of time might even allow one to open a world of their own in the future. Xiao Nian felt a tangle of emotions, a mix of sorrow and joy. Xiao Nian possessed exceptional talent and held hope for Scenery Command himself. Xiaoyu went without saying, having attained Scenery Command before even turning a hundred. Xiaoyu's father had actually been even more gifted, yet he was frail and sickly, afflicted with several bizarre ailments, and had died prematurely. Otherwise, the youngest Scenery Command in the Xiao family would not have been Xiaoyu. At the end of the letter, Xiaoyu also mentioned that the annual lease for a Dao Court Scenery Command was five million Qingyuan. With her military merits, Xiaoyu had already brought the lease down to three million. Seeing that figure, Xiao Nian's hands trembled. Three million a year might not seem like much at first glance, but this was Scenery Command—entering secluded cultivation could easily take decades. A single seclusion of over thirty years would consume a hundred million Qingyuan. To think of the worst-case scenario, one might not even finish seclusion before the mind-manifested world was repossessed due to overdue payments. Though the Xiao family was influential, its members were numerous, and Xiao Nian's branch was not particularly wealthy. Yet on second thought, it was Scenery Command after all—naturally, it had to be that expensive. Gritting his teeth, he decided to sell off property.