When Wei Yuan stood once more within the Splendor of the Many Realms, his heart finally eased a little. He now knew the origin of the Central Spirit Mansion's true spirit. Yet although Yin-Yang's background was crystal clear—he had captured her with his own two hands—the more Wei Yuan pondered it, the more bewildered he became.
To begin with, capturing her back then had been laughably easy, almost like child's play. How could a casual grab have snared such a colossal figure? Wei Yuan had discreetly made inquiries in the Shaman Domain afterward, and learned only that this Little Princess seemed to be connected to Heavenly Shaman Longzhe. But looking at it now, an ordinary Heavenly Shaman could never bear her karma. Therefore, either something had been amiss with her own arrangements back then, or something was wrong with Longzhe.
As for passing through a gate of reincarnation only to turn into Yin-Yang, one could only say the coincidence was far too staggering.
Still, what was past was past, and the present outcome was quite good.
Wei Yuan set the matter aside for the moment. Before the new expansion provoked a full-scale counterattack from the otherworldly chaos, he still had a little time—just enough to settle scores with the throng of immortals above.
Most immortals had their own roots and factions. Near Qingming, the only one who had actually dared to act was Immortal Zhao Li. Neither Xu Youyi nor Xu Wangu had made a move. Whether Xu Wangu was dead or alive remained unknown; he had not shown himself for decades. Though Wei Yuan bore an old grudge against him, he did not dare recklessly storm into Xu Wangu's secret realm now—who knew if some earth-shattering trap lay in wait there?
Aside from the Venerable Master, the Academy was the chief culprit. However, Master Huaipu, whom the Academy backed, was in Southern Jin, leading the Southern Jin army in a fierce assault against the State of Zhao. Meanwhile, Cui Wantong of Southern Jin had not struck, leaving Wei Yuan without a pretext to teach her a lesson.
The Academy's main mountain was situated in Southern Qi, far beyond Wei Yuan's reach.
This time, the Pure Land had made no move, a stark departure from its usual style. Yet Wei Yuan had always assumed the worst of his past foes. He reasoned that the Pure Land had not refrained out of goodwill; rather, the Venerable Master had simply moved too fast, and Wei Yuan's Twelve Heavenly Pillars, intimidating as they looked, were actually flimsy and brittle, shattering at the slightest touch. The Pure Land simply had not managed to intervene in time.
As matters stood, the only target he could barely reach was the State of Song. Song was indeed quite distant, but as the old saying went, "Even if far, they shall be punished." Wei Yuan thus mobilized two legions totaling one million troops, deploying them along the floating ways to the eastern part of Eastern Jin before having them swing south.
At the same time, Wei Yuan issued a proclamation to the realm, formally launching a campaign against Song!
As for the State of Zhao, out of respect for past ties, Wei Yuan wrote a letter to the King of Zhao, demanding an explanation within a month. In truth, the letter was addressed to Immortal Zhao Li; Wei Yuan wanted to see what sophistry he would come up with.
Although Wei Yuan had failed his ascension to immortality, his mind-manifested world had been baptized by heavenly tribulation, absorbed vast amounts of immortal heavenly aura, and ultimately torn away a small fragment of the immortal heaven, taking a massive qualitative leap forward. Now, Wei Yuan was only thirty-some thousand years away from a perfect ascension.
Though this number still exceeded Wei Yuan's lifespan, progress was continuous.
Wei Yuan landed on a vast island in the sea. Spanning a hundred li across, the island was forested with wondrous gem-trees, its waters a jade-green hue. Several springs neither rippled nor flowed, looking like solid jade and reflecting the pink-and-blue trees, drawing spirit beasts to drink. There were nimble deer, cunning rabbits, and snakes like flowing jade concealed in the grass. A few eccentric boulders leaned beside the springs, their surfaces veined like mica. Under the glow of the setting sun, the patterns sprang to life, radiating halos of purplish-red, indigo, and amber, exuding rich immortal aura.
This island had been formed from the fragment of the immortal heaven. Wei Yuan had laid down formations around it to prevent the immortal heavenly aura from dissipating, largely preserving the scenery of the immortal heaven. Had Wei Yuan succeeded in his ascension, the Splendor of the Many Realms would have gradually transformed into something like this.
Standing upon this island, a question arose in Wei Yuan's mind: What, exactly, was the immortal heaven?
This question trailed a series of follow-ups: What was the origin of the immortal heaven? Had it arisen naturally? Could it change? Wei Yuan stood motionless for a long time, brow furrowed in deep contemplation, only to find progress dreadfully slow. It was not a matter of how many split minds he possessed; after surviving the tribulation of ascension, his divided divine thoughts had surged to ninety thousand, whereas an ordinary immortal could barely muster ten thousand.
The issue now was that the immortal heaven was an entirely new field with zero precedent to follow. The past experiences of immortals offered little help to Qingming's research system. Perhaps solving it would require developing new mathematical tools.
Deducing up to this point, Wei Yuan smiled wryly in resignation. Nowadays, it seemed everything required mathematics—no exceptions whatsoever.
Since that was the case, Wei Yuan demarcated over a dozen smaller zones on the island, isolating them anew to encompass various terrains. He then established immortal heaven research as an independent academic discipline, opening it to Qingming's research cultivators.
However, the timing seemed suboptimal. Wen Guantian and the rest of the core research cultivators were all in secluded meditation to break through into the Golden Core realm. But Wei Yuan could not afford to wait that long. Furthermore, Qingming was churning out batches of research cultivators every year, each larger than the last. Competition for research funding had reached a fever pitch, and the proposed projects were growing increasingly outlandish.
For instance, one young cultivator proposed constructing a formation around the great sun to gather all of its light, claiming it could sustain Qingming's development for a million years.
Another cultivator suggested building a base on the full moon and planting Qingming's flag. As the base expanded and the moon's population grew, the moon would eventually belong to Qingming. Even Lord Taiyin would have to assume office according to the law.
Most absurd of all, one cultivator suggested that given sufficient spiritual qi, arable land was entirely unnecessary—grains and flour could be synthesized directly from the air. In this way, the human race would never worry about food again. As for the source of spiritual qi, he had even run the numbers: ten immortals would suffice to nourish the entire human race.
Reading through these project proposals made Wei Yuan's eyelids twitch and his blood pressure skyrocket.
Wei Yuan cursed non-stop as he read, chewing those cultivators out thoroughly.
Then, in the southwest of Qingming, a massive new construction site broke ground. The engineering cultivators only knew they were building an immortal formation tens of li across, with no idea what purpose it served.
The moment the immortal heaven tasks were released, it was like a volcanic eruption, sweeping across Qingming's entire research community in the blink of an eye!
At first, project applications trickled in, followed by an explosion of submissions, featuring many research directions that Wei Yuan had never even conceived. For example, one project examined the manifestation trajectory of the immortal heaven. In other words, if a fragment of the immortal heaven was torn down, what sort of world would it become?
The immortal heaven fragment that had landed in the Splendor of the Many Realms was the very image of the immortal realm in men's minds—a step above the blessed lands and grotto-heavens of existing immortals, far purer and more magnificent. But what if this fragment had fallen into the Shaman Domain? Would the resulting world be shrouded in exceptionally thick mist, its rivers exceptionally poisonous?
This project primarily explored the principles and processes behind the immortal heaven's manifestation, belonging to an immense field. What Wei Yuan valued was not merely the current research, but its subsequent implications: once this project was completed, it could yield an answer as to whether the immortal heaven was an intrinsic feature of heaven and earth, or something constructed after the fact by artificial means.
Such profound secrets of heaven and earth were things only those above Immortal Sovereign could hope to glimpse by rewinding time back to the origin of all things. Yet now, through the collective efforts of Qingming's legion of minor cultivators—whose cultivation was modest, but whose intellect reached heaven and earth—there was hope of unveiling the mystery through mathematics and logic.
And this conclusion was also of paramount importance for Wei Yuan's plan to reboot the otherworldly domain.
Thus, Wei Yuan set this field apart as a key research priority while lowering the barrier to entry to the absolute minimum: any research cultivator registered on Qingming's roster could apply for funding and research credentials, gaining direct access to the immortal heaven world.
At this point, a slightly unexpected episode occurred. Wei Yuan noticed that within the Qingming Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Engineering, several proposal petitions had recently emerged. Most came from high-ranking, influential veterans within the academies, demanding that the two academies take charge and bring all research projects across Qingming under their control. All of Qingming's research funding was to be consolidated under the two academies, with the academies deciding how it was spent. Which projects to launch and which not to launch would require approval, and unapproved projects would be strictly forbidden.
Anyone outside the system wishing to conduct research would have to undergo layer upon layer of review until their qualifications "met the standard." The justification for these proposals was utterly high-sounding: to prevent the waste of funds and stop resources from being squandered on bizarre projects.
Yet without exception, every single one of these proposals had been vetoed by Feng Tingyu. Fortunately, the old fellows retained a shred of sanity and did not dare file a complaint against Feng Tingyu. It was common knowledge that when Feng Tingyu took action, she cared neither for social niceties nor for consequences, and the notion that "the law does not punish the masses" held no sway over her. No matter how numerous the flies, a single swat could squash them all.
Upon noticing these proposals, Wei Yuan also shook his head helplessly. One did not need a brain for this; thinking with one's rear end was enough to know it was completely out of the question. After reflecting, taking advantage of the rollout of the grand discipline of the immortal heaven, Wei Yuan enacted a new statute: henceforth, all research institutions and individuals in Qingming were equal. Whether one secured a project depended entirely on ability.
As for the veterans, their past meritorious services had already been duly enfeoffed and rewarded, their accounts settled in full. For them to still crave a larger slice of the pie and hog resources to the point of choking off the path for the young—at such a critical juncture of Qingming's leap forward—was tantamount to blocking Wei Yuan's path to the Dao and severing the Realm Lord's chance to etch his name into the annals of history.
Chapter 1431