Qingming welcomed its first batch of mortals.
This initial wave was not yet overwhelmingly large, numbering slightly over three thousand who arrived in scattered groups, all people who had previously clustered in nearby villages. Wei Yuan had already demarcated an open expanse beside a small lake in the domain's southeast to serve as the first city for the mortals to dwell in.
The site lay about one hundred and ten li from Qingming and currently bordered the edge of the domain. Once the corpses of several tens of thousands of Shamans were fully converted, however, the domain could expand another twenty li outward. Wide stretches of open land lined the lake shore, having once been cultivated in the past, only to fall into desolation in the wake of great warfare. Reclaiming them now would at least save some of the labor needed to break fresh ground.
Every last one of them was exhausted from the journey, but as soon as they entered the domain, their spirits were invigorated, and many ailments that had plagued them for years vanished without a trace. By the time they reached the lake and laid eyes upon the vast, level ground, many broke down in tears of joy.
Wei Yuan gained another strand of azure qi.
Among these so-called mortals, there were actually many Body Tempering cultivators who could not bear to leave their families behind to roam the outside world. Furthermore, in human settlements, having an extra Body Tempering practitioner at home gave a household a tremendous advantage in neighborhood disputes and quarrels over fields or water rights. If someone managed to cultivate to Blood Merging, they would be more than capable of reigning as a village tyrant.
Wei Yuan had already marked out the settlement zone with boundary stakes and specially assigned dozens of cultivators to maintain order and help erect dwellings.
The humans of the Western Regions lived in extreme hardship; tens of thousands scraped by beneath shanties and makeshift lean-tos in Quliu Town. These folk consequently had modest expectations for shelter, asking only for a roof that kept out the rain.
Wei Yuan still had plenty of building materials on hand, salvaged from the Shaman encampment. When the Shamans suffered their crushing defeat that day, their military camp was less than half-built, and vast stores of materials had been abandoned, naturally falling into Wei Yuan's lap.
When the people arrived at the settlement site, Wei Yuan spent a full half-day inspecting everything, personally attending to each detail. The first day's accommodations were makeshift, consisting of tents and shanties; proper houses would take some time.
With the domain's population abruptly tripling, food supplies suddenly grew tight, and water posed another challenge.
The small lake had only been enveloped by the domain for a few days, and its water remained dark green, the color having only faded slightly. A sweep of Wei Yuan's divine sense told him that the lake water was not yet potable; it would likely take a month to be completely transformed.
Wei Yuan, however, had already instructed people beforehand to build a stone cistern here, and two days of rain had filled it nearly halfway. The rainwater within the domain was drinkable; in the future, if every household collected rain, it would alleviate their pressing need.
As for housing, Wei Yuan consulted the materials written by Xu Wenwu and decided to construct four-story wooden buildings to house the relocated mortals. The domain was home to countless towering trees; felled, they yielded pillars over ten zhang long, making four-story timber buildings entirely feasible.
Only after inspecting every matter did Wei Yuan return to the main peak and pull out the dossier on the Xu family to read in detail.
After obtaining the caravan intelligence, Wei Yuan gained an entirely new appreciation for the Lie-Flat Inn's spy network. On his second visit, he simply paid one hundred taels of immortal silver to purchase every scrap of intelligence on the Xu family, which yielded the booklet currently in his hands. The small volume detailed dozens of figures across the Xu clan from top to bottom, covering everything from personality traits and daily preferences to private quirks.
Holding this report, Wei Yuan actually felt as though he were reading a storybook.
A short while later, having finished reading the intelligence, a clear thread took shape in Wei Yuan's mind. Originally, he had planned to gather mortals from elsewhere first before making a move on Quliu Town. But since the Xu family had already dropped all pretenses, Wei Yuan simply advanced the plan. Nearly a hundred thousand mortals clustered within Quliu Town; under no circumstances could they be abandoned.
Wei Yuan descended the main peak. Spotting what looked like a streak of azure lightning galloping through the mountain forest in the distance, he called out. Moments later, Xu Wenwu rode up, leaped from the horse, and panted, "Finished exercising it for today."
The azure warhorse standing before Wei Yuan now measured a full zhang tall. Its four hooves were snow-white, its mane flowed gallantly, and it looked exceptionally magnificent. When handed over to Xu Wenwu two days prior, it had stood only eight chi tall. Having consumed a strand of azure karmic luck in just two days, it had already transformed from an ordinary horse into an entry-level spiritual steed.
By contrast, the other warhorse, which utilized otherworldly fortune, had absorbed less than half a strand of fortune so far and remained at the level of a fine ordinary horse. It would likely take another five days to consume the full strand.
An ordinary horse transformed by otherworldly fortune became far more ferocious and violent. Wei Yuan's own blood-colored warhorse was now a mid-grade spiritual steed, no longer inferior to the black steed once ridden by the young master of the Liao Clan. Facing an ordinary Liao horse, it could maul the creature to death on its own without Wei Yuan having to lift a finger.
Azure qi, meanwhile, was easier to absorb; upon transformation, the steed turned robust and gentle, possessing superior stamina for long-distance gallops. Each type of karmic luck had its merits, though otherworldly fortune was noticeably superior. However, otherworldly fortune was difficult to come by, whereas azure qi now had a steady source.
Seeing the azure horse, Wei Yuan knew Xu Wenwu had not slacked off, so he said, "I brought a few things for you."
Spotting several brand-new storybooks, Xu Wenwu's eyes instantly lit up. The stories in his former world were all penned by mortals; constrained by mortal bodies, they naturally lacked the imaginative flair and wild antics conjured by cultivators.
Wei Yuan asked again, "Do you want to cultivate?"
"Yes! Of course I do!" Xu Wenwu replied without hesitation, then asked uneasily, "Do I really have talent?"
During this time, Xu Wenwu had finally come to realize that his talent was nothing special, and his comprehension had directly carried over from his previous world—the less said about it, the better. Previously, Xu Wenwu had always looked down on the ancients as foolish, unable to even write a proper eight-legged essay. But once he saw the questions from the Palace of Grand Beginning's literary test, he understood that in this world, he would struggle even to earn the rank of xiucai.
Wei Yuan encouraged him, "We'll know once Eldest Senior Sister tests your root bone and karmic luck later."
Xu Wenwu nodded, then trotted off clutching his storybooks.
Once the miscellaneous chores were seen to, nightfall arrived in the blink of an eye. The newly arrived mortals were settled for the time being; looking out from the main peak, one could see specks of campfires twinkling beside the lake.
The preliminary headcount was also complete. A total of 3,200 mortals had arrived today, including several dozen elders over fifty, while the rest were young, able-bodied adults and children. In the Western Regions, it was exceedingly rare for a mortal to live past forty.
Among them, about a thousand had trained in Body Tempering, and over two hundred of those had completed the Sinew and Muscle Realm.
Under Ephemeral Multitude, these two hundred-odd people could instantly be elevated to peak Body Casting, which was the standard of the Nine Armies of Great Tang. The thousand-odd who had tempered their bodies would match elite border troops, while the remaining mortals would equal regular border troops.
With the arrival of the three thousand mortals, Wei Yuan clearly felt the threads of rain within Qingming multiply, and the rate at which the cistern accumulated water nearly doubled. Accordingly, his Dao Foundation, Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, also made progress, its pace of drawing in worldly spiritual qi quickening.
It had now been over ten days since Qingming acknowledged him as master. As Qingming's condition grew more complete, Wei Yuan gradually gained a clear perception of his own cultivation beneath its empowerment.
The worldly spiritual qi required by Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains was simply astronomical. Had Wei Yuan remained in the Palace of Grand Beginning diligently meditating in seclusion without consuming pills, it would have taken roughly fifty years to complete the early Dao Foundation accumulation and plant the root of a dharma idol.
The worldly spiritual qi here in Qingming naturally lagged far behind the mountain gates of the Palace of Grand Beginning. Had Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains remained unchanged, the accumulation time would have stretched to three hundred years. In other words, if Wei Yuan simply cultivated dutifully without doing anything else, he would only reach the middle Dao Foundation stage shortly before dying of old age.
However, with Qingming having bound to Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, the manifest range of Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains had now expanded to three thousand zhang, constantly inhaling and exhaling worldly spiritual qi at a slow, steady rate. His cultivation efficiency was already approaching that of secluded meditation in the Palace of Grand Beginning. Now, even if Wei Yuan did nothing, he would need only fifty years to enter the middle Dao Foundation stage, and in his lifetime, he might just touch the threshold of a dharma idol.
Yet, after countless Shamans had entered the Jade Mountain of their own accord, Wei Yuan's cultivation had inexplicably advanced a leap, saving him three years of hard toil.
Now, with the arrival of the three thousand mortals, before they had even done any work, Wei Yuan's cultivation speed received another boost. Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains breathed in and out even more spiritual qi, saving another year of bitter practice; it would now take only forty-six years to achieve complete Foundation Solidification.
Three thousand mortals could save a year of bitter practice; what about thirty thousand, or three hundred thousand?
Just as Wei Yuan was inspecting his Dao Foundation, he suddenly sensed a fresh trace of vitality appear within the domain, while the spiritual qi absorbed by Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains increased by a sliver as well. Though this extra spiritual qi was negligible—saving merely a dozen-odd days if converted into cultivation time—it was so lively, agile, and brimming with vitality that it was hard for Wei Yuan not to notice it.
Chapter 163