"How could that be?" Houtu glared at Wei Yuan, then changed the subject. "These boundary stones are truly interesting things. In our Yuangu era, the environment of heaven and earth wasn't friendly to humanity either, but we could still survive. It's different now. Take this Mountain domain beneath our feet, for instance; a mortal probably wouldn't survive three years here. Such a massive alteration of heaven and earth must have a reason."
Zhang Sheng suddenly spoke up. "Could it be that the foreign races joined forces to lock down humanity's path to ascension?"
Houtu paused, startled, then said, "What virtue or ability does our human race possess to deserve such treatment?"
She wasn't wrong. Back in the Yuangu era, when Emperor Yu and several innate sacred bodies were Immortal Lords, being singled out like that might have been conceivable. But humanity today truly lacked the capital to warrant such concern.
Houtu continued, "This Qingming of yours has developed quite well, but there is still some imbalance. Back in the Yuangu era, when Emperor Yu created us, apart from waging war, we had another vital daily duty: dredging secret realms and grotto-heavens to balance the Five Elements.
"Qingming started with the Water element. Now that spiritual flora is plentiful and spiritual fields are everywhere, the Wood element is nearly sufficient. Those smelting sites, pill furnaces, and medicine workshops are immense in scale, so there is plenty of the Fire element as well. What is lacking right now is Earth and Metal.
"How about this: hand the Wutu Grotto-Heaven over to me. Those little yaoguai will do nicely for tilling the soil. For the time being, I'll walk around, have a look, learn a bit of modern knowledge, and raise the earth qi and ley lines along the way.
"Once I've walked the entirety of Qingming, the Earth element's power will be more or less set, and vast veins of ore will naturally emerge. Mining these veins will bolster the qi of the Metal element, achieving a balance of the Five Elements. Once we reach the state of Five Elements balance, we can make fine adjustments so that the Five Elements move in harmony with the seasons and stay balanced at all times. That will be perfection."
Wei Yuan hurriedly asked for instruction, "What benefits come from achieving perfection of the Five Elements in a realm?"
Houtu replied, "Legend has it that when the Five Elements of a territory reach perfection, dragon qi can be born. It's a pity Emperor Yu fell too early. Penglai Grotto-Heaven had only its framework established, failing to achieve even balance among the Five Elements, let alone perfection. This Qingming of yours is so vast; once it attains perfection, it might just give birth to a wisp of true dragon qi, and throw in a qilin for good measure."
Such a good thing existed? Wei Yuan's first reaction was disbelief.
Still, just as Houtu said, if she was willing to engage in spiritual union, why would she deceive him? An ancient deity like her wouldn't joke about her own chastity.
Wei Yuan said, "Senior—Elder Sister, if you're willing to lend a hand, nothing could be better. Starting today, the seat of the master of the Wutu Grotto-Heaven belongs to you."
"Boys these days are so endearing!" Houtu laughed and stroked Wei Yuan once more. Then she realized what she was doing, looked apologetic, and pulled three venomous bugs out of Wei Yuan's body.
Wei Yuan's face turned green—not just from his mood, but from the fumigation of toxic fumes. One bug had been planted just now; he knew that much. But as for when the other two had been planted, he had no idea whatsoever.
Yet compared to bringing the realm's Five Elements to perfection, never mind a few venomous bugs—even if a whole basin of them were served, Wei Yuan would stomach it.
After Houtu offered to complete the Five Elements, the atmosphere turned much more harmonious, and Zhang Sheng's attitude noticeably softened. In her mind, anything good for Wei Yuan was good for her as well.
Houtu looked at Wei Yuan and asked casually, "Your true body seems rather heavily wounded over there?"
Wei Yuan smiled wryly. "With a hundred thousand li of the Mountain domain devastated, the karmic repercussions are truly a bit massive. Originally, I could have handled it, but I never expected the Ancestral Shaman to toss in an extra dose. That proved a bit too much to bear, so I had no choice but to sleep for a while."
"Who told you to cause such a ruckus? You youngsters never know when to hold back—" Houtu rolled her eyes at Wei Yuan and moved to reach out her hand again, but fortunately caught herself in time and withdrew it halfway. She then crumpled that unlucky venomous bug into a ball and casually tossed it into the flower bushes.
The flowers in the garden grew increasingly vibrant.
Houtu grew a bit more serious and asked, "Crippling a hundred thousand li of the Mountain domain in one go... Even if the Mountain Folk hadn't detonated the earth ley lines afterward, at least tens of millions of them would have died, to say nothing of the cultivation world being wiped out entirely. Weren't you being a bit too vicious?"
Wei Yuan chuckled. "If even Elder Sister thinks I was heavy-handed, then it seems I did a decent job this time; I must have hit the Mountain Folk hard enough.
"The main reason is that the world beyond the heavens is of utmost importance right now, yet quite a few in this realm wish me ill. Reason is useless with foreign races; they recognize only blades and fists. Hit them hard enough, and you are in the right even when you have no reason.
"When the great war in the world beyond the heavens arrives, I don't want anyone in this realm stabbing me in the back. If that happens, I might truly lose control when I retaliate afterward.
"And if that stab in the back is so severe that it costs me the war beyond the heavens, that would be even worse. So all things considered, it was better to strike heavily now and cut off future troubles early."
Houtu nodded. "This character of yours actually resembles one of Emperor Yu's sons. Emperor Yu was far more benevolent and lenient than you."
Wei Yuan said, "That is why I am not the Human Sovereign, nor could I ever become one."
"Still..." Houtu recalled what she had seen of Qingming. She felt something was off, yet couldn't put her finger on it. After pondering, she said, "If you can't handle all the karmic debt, you can pile it on me. Once I take control of the Wutu Grotto-Heaven, I'll excavate a Netherworld Pool to help you absorb even more karmic debt and resentment."
Seeing Houtu turn increasingly earnest, Wei Yuan finally said, "Actually, the way I handle the Mountain domain might be a bit different from how things were done in the past. What I really wiped out was this realm's cultivation world—mainly eradicating dharma idols. As for Dao Foundations, the late and completion stages will be affected somewhat, but anyone below that will be fine.
"Over the next few years, I will build bridges and roads in the Mountain domain, excavate ore veins, erect workshops, and import grain from Qingming. In less than five years, if we look back at the Mountain domain, ordinary Mountain Folk will all have enough to eat, and template Dao Foundations will appear in large numbers. That will naturally generate vast amounts of merit and karmic luck.
"So viewing it as a whole, it's equivalent to trading the Mountain domain's high-level cultivators for mortal well-being and numerous Dao Foundations. Calculated this way, the ultimate karmic debt is nowhere near as much as one would think; most of it will be offset by merit and karmic luck. In the end, the remaining karmic debt will likely be less than a tenth of what truly destroying a hundred thousand li of the Mountain domain would incur. It was just a bit difficult to weather the first wave, and I hadn't expected the Ancestral Shaman to meddle at that moment."
"You want to develop the Mountain domain?" Houtu's eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
Wei Yuan nodded. "The Mountain domain is vast, and the boundary stones in my hands are limited. Turning these hundred thousand li of the Mountain domain entirely into a human domain would take at least eight or nine centuries. During that time, such a vast expanse of land would be sitting empty, so why not build and develop it? Constructing and developing the Mountain domain will require goods from Qingming, meaning my products will have a guaranteed market. What's more, throughout this process, the karmic luck and merit will all be mine."
Houtu asked, "Aren't you afraid that after you fatten them up, they'll turn around and bite you?"
Wei Yuan smiled faintly. "The vast majority of the Mountain Folk simply want a good life. Once they've experienced a good life, ask them to go back to how things were, and I believe they would never agree. Furthermore, the workshops and industries I plan to build in the Mountain domain are carefully selected. They will either purely extract raw materials or serve as a single link in a processing chain. With both the upstream and downstream firmly in my grasp, how could they rebel?
"If they dare rebel, the workshops will instantly become scrap metal, knocking them right back to square one. Of course, wherever there is resistance, there is suppression. I didn't raise so vast an army in Qingming just for show.
"As for the stubborn few who refuse to submit even after being suppressed, there is only one solution: send them to the Yellow Springs, crush their true spirits, sever their fated karma, and have them reincarnate in Qingming. Honestly, souls like that are of quite superior quality—well above average."
Hearing this, Houtu was genuinely impressed. "You won't even spare their souls. You truly are ruthless enough!"
Chapter 1503