The bizarre scene sent a chill down Wei Yuan's spine.
When had thousands upon thousands of Shamans entered his Dao Foundation, and how had they gotten in? Wei Yuan himself had been entirely oblivious.
Wei Yuan tried reaching out to grab one of the Shamans, but his hand caught nothing. The Shaman had no physical form, and even within the sea of consciousness, it was utterly ethereal, as though it did not exist at all.
Yet Wei Yuan knew they were not truly non-existent. Each Shaman carried something unique upon their person. Though these things varied in countless ways, their essence was identical—somewhat akin to a soul, yet neither soul nor karmic luck.
Wei Yuan could not clearly say what this thing was, but with it present, each phantom Shaman gained a reason to exist in the world. Even if they could not be touched, they existed.
Myriads of Shamans walked toward the Jade Mountain just like that, disappearing into it one after another.
In Wei Yuan's sight, an extra space had appeared within the Jade Mountain at some unknown moment, with a drop of black water pooling at its bottom. As the Shamans vanished one by one, that drop of black water slowly grew.
Wei Yuan instinctively shuddered, staring fixedly at the black droplet, not daring to contemplate its origin.
Wei Yuan opened his eyes, waking from his meditation. Daylight was already beginning to seep in through the window. He pushed open the door, flew into midair, and gazed toward the northwest of the domain.
There lay a vast clearing, brightly illuminated by tall, raised torches. The clearing was packed densely with Shaman corpses. Over a hundred cultivators had been working through the night, hauling away the corpses that had finished being converted, and replacing them with freshly slain ones.
Wei Yuan had seen the corpse grounds more than once. In fact, he had been the one to propose it in the first place, and had personally chosen the site. That had been only a few days ago.
Back then, Wei Yuan had seen no issue with it. That foreign corpses could be converted into world origin qi was common knowledge, as well as a basic function of every boundary stone. However, according to historical records, ordinary boundary stones could only convert a very limited amount, making the process somewhat negligible. If Wei Yuan had not been so destitute, he would never have gone to the trouble of establishing a corpse ground with such fanfare.
Yet now, thousands upon thousands of Shamans were treading through his Dao Foundation in this bizarre manner, casting themselves one after another into that seemingly narrow space inside the Jade Mountain, merging into the black droplet at the bottom.
In that moment, it seemed as if every Shaman lying on the corpse grounds might stand right back up.
Still, Wei Yuan had walked his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood by now; he swiftly suppressed the tremor in his heart. The path of immortality held not only flourishing blossoms and jade trees, but far more of the bizarre and the unexpected. Peril lay at every turn, and each step forward carried the risk of falling.
Wei Yuan descended from the main peak and flew toward the corpse grounds. By now, a two-courtyard compound had been built beside the grounds. Though small, it was fully equipped. That was Sun Yu's dwelling.
Sun Yu wanted to study the differences between various Shamans, and found hauling corpses up to the main peak both troublesome and bothersome, so he had simply set up a residence beside the corpse grounds.
Though Sun Yu had arrived only a few days ago, nearly half the people in the entire domain had been treated by him, and his medical skill had won everyone's deep trust. Thus, the moment he mentioned wanting to build a residence, many cultivators had volunteered to help, completing the small compound in a single day.
Wei Yuan wanted to ask Sun Yu whether any peculiar changes had occurred with these Shaman corpses.
At this moment, Sun Yu's courtyard was brightly lit, packed tightly with over a dozen people. Wei Yuan flew into the courtyard and saw a medical table set up in the main hall. Lying upon it was a person covered in blood, unconscious.
Wei Yuan had not thought much of it at first. A major battle had just ended, and countless people were awaiting treatment; dozens of severely wounded cultivators lay in the wing rooms on either side of the courtyard, slowly recuperating.
Yet when Wei Yuan's divine sense swept over the wounded man, he immediately realized something was wrong. Across the man's entire body were no fewer than a hundred wounds. None were particularly large, yet they cut exceptionally deep, and every single vital spot had been deliberately avoided.
The wounded man was a cultivator at the great perfection of Body Casting. By rights, he should have already opened his sea of consciousness and nurtured the nascent form of a Dao Foundation. Yet at this moment, his sea of consciousness was completely dim, coiled with black qi. Having a slight knowledge of medicine, Wei Yuan knew this was the result of a soul collapsing under extreme agony and terror. Not only was the man's cultivation path completely severed, but he had lost his sanity as well—he was already mad.
These injuries could not have been sustained on the battlefield; they looked like the work of torturous interrogation.
Sun Yu's expression was grim. He said to Wei Yuan, "Every sinew and meridian in his body has been severed. The person who did this was also a master of medicine. They tortured him for at least an hour, stopping only once his soul collapsed. By now, his soul is damaged and incomplete. Even if I heal his physical body, I cannot heal his soul."
Wei Yuan studied the cultivator's face closely and remembered that this man was a member of the squad sent to Quliu Town earlier that day to recruit people.
"What happened?" Wei Yuan asked.
A nearby cultivator replied, "A few Xu family guards just brought him back and dumped him at the edge of the domain. Seeing how critically injured he was, we didn't dare delay and rushed him straight to Mister Sun."
"Xu family guards..." A cold glint flashed in Wei Yuan's eyes. "Did they say anything?"
"They said..."
Seeing the man hesitate, Wei Yuan barked, "Speak!"
The cultivator jumped in fright and stammered hurriedly, "Those men said that Quliu Town belongs to the Xu family, and so do the entire Shattered Lands! If we dare recruit people on their turf again, they'll kill every single one they see. They also said... for you, Master, to watch yourself, lest you lose your head one day without even knowing why."
Wei Yuan felt nothing at all toward such threats, merely asking, "I recall sending over a dozen people there. Where are the rest?"
"...None of them came back."
Wei Yuan narrowed his eyes, saying word by word, "My people didn't die at the hands of the Shamans, but fell instead to your Xu family? Good. Very good."
Sun Yu frowned slightly, shot Wei Yuan a meaningful look, and led him into the back hall. "How do you plan to handle this?"
"The way they act is the way I will act."
Sun Yu said slowly, "Though the Xu family ranks at the bottom among the great clans, they are still one of the Seven Surnames and Thirteen Clans. Such a behemoth is by no means something you or I can contend against. Back then, I hated the aristocratic clans to the marrow of my bones. Young and hot-headed, I couldn't swallow my anger, and in the end, I lost the person who mattered most to me."
Wei Yuan said, "We have already slain two of the Xu family's dharma idols. Settling this amicably is out of the question now. Furthermore, if we back down this time, it would be equivalent to handing Quliu Town and the more than one hundred thousand people around it over to the Shamans on a silver platter! If I did that, why would I have established Qingming in the first place? Why would I have reopened a human realm this deep in the Wu domain?"
Sun Yu looked at Wei Yuan and shook his head. "I am not telling you to give up, but telling you that if you want to pit yourself against a behemoth like a great clan, you must never act on impulse. You must plan thoroughly before making a move, to ensure complete safety. Oh, right—your master left something with me and forgot to take it. Take it and make use of it for now."
With that, Sun Yu handed an unremarkable black stone to Wei Yuan.
For some inexplicable reason, looking at the stone made Wei Yuan's hair stand on end; instinct screamed at him not to touch it. But Sun Yu would naturally never harm him, so Wei Yuan took it nonetheless. Yet though the stone was plainly quite cold, Wei Yuan inexplicably felt it burning his hand, wanting nothing more than to fling it far away.
"What is this?"
"A little trinket I made by accident back in the day. It cannot touch water. Once it is steeped in water, the water shows no visible change on the surface, and anyone who hasn't achieved a Dao Foundation can drink it without harm. But anyone who has formed a Dao Foundation will suffer a collapse of their foundation upon swallowing a single drop. Even a True Person of the Dharma Idol realm who ingests it by mistake would be severely wounded if the dose is slightly larger. This thing offends the natural order of heaven. Back then, Master gave me a thorough scolding for it, locking me up for an entire month before letting the matter rest. If used properly, it can probably kill a few hundred Dao Foundations."
Just as he had thought!
Wei Yuan cautiously put the stone away, not daring to let even a wisp of moisture touch it. Truth be told, in the land of the Wu domain, avoiding water was genuinely a bit tricky.
Seeing Wei Yuan stow the black stone away, Sun Yu said, "One more thing. Great clans are behemoths, so vast that it is impossible for them to be monolithic. A clan member's greatest enemy is rarely on the outside, but right beside them. Therefore, what you must target is a specific individual within the Xu clan, or a specific branch and household, not the Xu clan as a whole. Back then, I made this very mistake, ending up forcing two people who were sworn enemies into joining hands."
Wei Yuan might not have understood this previously, but having seen Cui Yu's example, he understood completely.
Having stowed the black stone, Wei Yuan said solemnly, "Rest assured, Martial Uncle. I consider myself well-versed in the history books; I will certainly see to it that this matter is handled without a leak."
Sun Yu nodded. "You lot who study history all have filthy hearts, so doing this sort of thing naturally comes easy to you. Unlike us healers, who only care about aiding the world and saving lives, bullied wherever we go."
Wei Yuan silently felt the black stone in his possession.
Sun Yu knew what he was thinking and explained, "Back then, I made this thing so that people beyond saving could pass peacefully, free of pain. It's just that after I made it, the potency turned out just a tiny bit too strong. On top of that, it's colorless and odorless, impervious to divine sense, undetectable by ordinary means, and takes effect rapidly. Once it strikes, most cannot be saved, and even if saved, they are mostly crippled for life... That's why people with ulterior motives took it to do other things."
Wei Yuan nodded. "Martial Uncle's intentions were surely pure!"
Sun Yu praised, "You truly understand!"
Wei Yuan then asked about the state of the Shaman corpses, learning that there was nothing abnormal about them; they were all converting normally.
Leaving the courtyard, Wei Yuan stood by the edge of the corpse grounds, pondering in silence for a moment before heading toward the cells.
Inside the cell, Xu Jingfeng sat limp on the ground. Hearing the door rattle, he shrank back into the corner in terror, wishing he could make himself even smaller.
Seeing that the person entering was Wei Yuan rather than Xu Wan'er, he felt somewhat relieved, though he still dared not speak rashly. He merely wrapped his arms tightly around himself, staring up at Wei Yuan with wide, terrified eyes.
As soon as Wei Yuan walked in, he caught the rank stench of urine. It seemed this Jade-Faced Young Master had been disciplined to the point where he could barely take care of his bodily functions.
By now, Xu Jingfeng had blabbed everything he should and shouldn't have, so Wei Yuan had nothing left to interrogate him about. He simply asked, "Do you want to go back?"
This was a life-or-death question! Xu Jingfeng shook his head frantically. "No! Not in the slightest! I'm doing great here, why would I ever want to go back? Right now, my only desire is to stay by your side; even catching a whiff of your scent would prolong my life!"
Wei Yuan said indifferently, "There is still some time. Think it over carefully. I will ask you again tomorrow."
Only after Wei Yuan left did Xu Jingfeng slowly recover from his sheer terror, gradually regaining the capacity to think.
Dawn had barely broken, but Quliu Town was already quite lively at this hour.
Early risers began bustling about for their day's meals, while ruthless sorts had just finished their night's work and were returning home to rest. Those perched high above felt their revelry cut short; the wine and music were at their peak and the beauties exquisite, yet the day had broken just a bit too early.
At the front entrance of the Lie-Flat Inn, two clerks had propped up a ladder to wipe moss off the signboard, while below, the shopkeeper watched over them, berating them for their clumsy hands and feet.
Right then, a figure stepped out from an adjacent alley and arrived before the inn. The shopkeeper found the person familiar. Looking more closely, he let out a low gasp, grabbed him, and hauled him hurriedly into the inn before finally asking, "Li Zhi, where have you been all this time? Why hasn't there been any word of you?"
Chapter 160