Returning to the territory, Wei Yuan felt more and more that something was amiss. The young monk was not old, yet his cultivation was exceedingly deep, and he possessed various divine abilities typical of the Dharma Idol stage. Pummelling him had felt like striking a slab of chewy malt taffy—tough, resilient, and absorbing no force. No wonder he had been able to penetrate so deep into the territory and dared to claim before Wei Yuan that he merely dabbled in fisticuffs.
Natural talent like the young monk's was rare even in the Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land; he would certainly be nurtured with utmost care. The question was, what was a genius disciple from the Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land doing wandering into the territory for no apparent reason? The Palace of Grand Beginning and the Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land had always kept to their own lanes, minding their own business; even their directions of expansion were completely different. Wei Yuan knew he had never offended any successor of the Pure Land, which left only one explanation: the monk had been drawn here by the Red Lotus Bodhi.
One could well imagine: if it could lure in one young monk today, it might summon a swarm of young monks tomorrow, and behind those young monks there might well follow senior monks and venerable old monks.
At that very moment, across the damp, venomous lands of the Shattered Lands, a young monk walked alone, aimless.
Behind him, a crisp, melodious voice suddenly rang out: "Little Master, where are you headed?"
The young monk turned back blankly to find two women standing behind him, enchanting and bewitching. The moment they saw the monk's face, both of their eyes lit up; such physical beauty was truly rare in this mortal world. It was just a pity that one of his eye sockets was still bruised black and blue, the other corner of his mouth was swollen, and his moon-white monk's robes were covered all over in footprints, ruining his solemn, dignified air.
The woman on the left said in a gentle voice, "Where did you suffer such a grievance, little Master? We sisters possess a modicum of magic power; how about we avenge you right now?"
The woman on the right chimed in, "Just look at these injuries—my heart aches so. Come, don't move, big sister will wipe your wounds for you..."
As she spoke, she reached out a soft, fair hand to wipe away the bloodstains at the corner of the monk's mouth.
Only then did the young monk recover somewhat from his daze. Taking a step back, he frowned and said, "What a stench!"
The two women were taken aback. From the moment they appeared, a floral fragrance had permeated the air around them, along with subtle scents of bamboo and pine—truly refined and elegant, completely dispelling the foul odor of the Wu domain. Where was the stench?
Yet the young monk pointed at them and said, "It's you who stink. It's not just the smell of filthy men, but also the stench of all sorts of foul, chaotic messes..."
The two women's expressions darkened instantly. A sickly black-green hue surged across the right-hand woman's hand as she clawed down viciously, sneering, "Don't be in such a hurry, little monk. Once I drain you dry, you'll be part of that stench too..."
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Several dull thuds echoed out, and both women collapsed onto their backs. The young monk stood between them and chanted a Buddhist prayer.
Both women were actually late Dao Foundation cultivators, both Heaven Tier, yet in the blink of an eye they had inexplicably crashed to the ground. Before falling, they had seen only a tender, pale fist growing larger and larger before their eyes, followed by a dizzying spin of heaven and earth. Throughout the entire ordeal, their full cultivation and magic powers had found nowhere to be put to use.
At this moment, both women looked identical: a black eye on the left, torn skin at the corner of the mouth, and two footprints stamped upon each of their chests. Judging by the soles, they were monk's shoes.
Looking at the bruises and cuts on the two women's faces, the young monk inexplicably felt completely refreshed in body and mind, the daze that had plagued him for so long instantly dissipating. Thus, he sat down cross-legged and began lecturing them on Buddhist scripture, preaching until both women wished they were dead.
He chanted and explained a scroll of scripture from dawn till dusk, and from dusk till dawn. The two women felt that while their physical bodies were unscathed, their sanity was on the verge of being delivered straight to the afterlife. Fortunately, the young monk's sermon finally came to an end.
Having finished the scripture, all vexations vanished from the young monk. Pure and luminous inside and out, his entire body began emitting a faint red glow like a rippling sea of blood, leaving the two women dumbfounded, terrified to make even the slightest move.
A sudden realization dawned upon him, and he said, "Thank you, two female Bodhisattvas. This little monk has achieved enlightenment!"
Trembling as if confronted by their natural predators, the two women shivered. But fearing that if they did not humor him he might do something else, one of them asked tremulously, "What... what did the little Master realize?"
The young monk said with utmost solemnity, "It is not that this little monk's understanding of the Buddhadharma is deficient, but rather that my fisticuffs are not yet up to par, which is why I failed to turn back a certain obstinate patron from his stray path. This little monk shall return posthaste to cram my martial arts, and I will surely deliver that vile beast!"
With that, the young monk drifted away, his bearing truly otherworldly.
"We wish you swift success, Master!" The two women waved at the monk's retreating figure, then wheeled around and fled.
—
Back in the territory, Wei Yuan cast aside his worries about the monk and went back to plowing through history books. After plowing through them for another full day, he finally finished nearly a hundred biographies of powerful ministers and chancellors.
Rereading these histories brought Wei Yuan entirely new insights. As a child, he had read them under Zhang Sheng's tutelage, but back then he had merely swallowed them whole, understanding only half of what he read. This time, however, he saw an entirely different world in the pages.
Closing the final volume of history, Wei Yuan shut his eyes. From the founding of Great Li onward, the lives of over a thousand powerful ministers and treacherous chancellors across the past hundred-plus millennia flowed slowly through his mind.
In the eyes of later generations—or in the eyes of the chroniclers who penned their histories—these men were all treacherous ministers. But the crux lay in the title of chancellor. Anyone capable of rising to chancellor was an extraordinary talent of their era. Reading history now, Wei Yuan no longer looked merely at their deeds; instead, he placed himself in their shoes, pondering why those figures had done what they did in their respective times and circumstances.
Thinking about it this way, certain events naturally yielded different answers.
By now, Wei Yuan had governed Qingming for some time. Reading history again, he no longer saw just the people and deeds described in a few hundred sparse words; instead, he saw grain, weaponry, troops, military gear, foreign tribes, political factions, and so forth.
A knock came at the door, and Xu Yi stood outside, saying, "It's almost time for the next batch of Dao Foundation advancements."
Wei Yuan said, "Bring the list in for me to see."
Somewhat surprised, Xu Yi entered the room and presented the register. In this batch slated to advance to Dao Foundation, there were one hundred and seventy people in total; only seventy hailed from the territory, while the remaining hundred were all captives taken in the recent battle.
After several rounds of advancements, virtually everyone in the territory capable of forging a Dao Foundation had already done so, leaving behind those with little hope. Only those who had newly reached Body Casting perfection possessed a relatively high chance of establishing a Dao Foundation.
Those who still had potential now consisted solely of some teenage youths or people whose progress had been held back in the past by a lack of resources. This group ranged from Blood Merging to Bone Tempering, with Blood Merging forming the majority.
The captured prisoners, on the other hand, had originally been soldiers in regular armies. Whether they were private troops of the Xu family or Yue Qilin's men, they had never lacked food or clothing; their physical bodies were thoroughly tempered and they were young. Thus, it was easy to select over a hundred men at Body Casting perfection who stood a good chance of forging a foundation, with another two to three hundred remaining whose overall aptitude was quite solid as well.
Wei Yuan circled the hundred names chosen from the captives, checked off only ten of them, and crossed out all the rest.
Xu Yi blinked in surprise and asked, "Why? They all have a high probability of successfully forging a foundation!"
Wei Yuan replied, "We do not feel it while staying in the Palace of Grand Beginning, but in the outside world, attaining Dao Foundation is arduous. Think about how much the Cui family gave us for that last batch of a dozen or so Dao Foundations. A Dao Foundation is no small matter. In the past, we had no choice and gave a chance to anyone with even a sliver of hope. What's more, once they established a Dao Foundation, they were thrown onto the battlefield where survival was one in ten, so it was justifiable. But things are different now. We have room to maneuver at leisure, so favors cannot be granted lightly; otherwise, they will only be taken for granted.
"These captives are newcomers who haven't earned an ounce of merit. On what grounds should they stand on equal footing with those in our territory who have already risked life and limb, enjoying the exact same opportunity? Therefore, this time we will give them only ten slots, and bring all the others over to watch from the sidelines. Let them understand that as long as they render sufficient meritorious service, the Dao Foundation is right before their eyes! And only by rendering merit will they have the opportunity for a Dao Foundation."
A chill ran through Xu Yi's heart. For the first time, she felt that Wei Yuan was no longer the same as before. He had grown somewhat unfathomable, no longer the easygoing, innocent youth who went out of his way to look after everyone around him.
Her heart trembled slightly, feeling a touch of awe and fear toward him for the very first time.
In Wei Yuan's sea of consciousness, a wisp of azure qi gradually thickened and transformed into an advanced strand.
Wei Yuan was taken aback. He had merely uttered a few casual words; how had he gained more karmic luck? Just what kind of person did Xu Yi admire? She was truly impossible to fathom.
Xu Yi's demeanor had become a bit more respectful now as she asked, "Then what is special about these ten men? Do you know them, sir?"
Wei Yuan shook his head. "I don't know a single one of them. They're just lucky. Or, put it another way, the rest of them have terrible luck."
Xu Yi grew even more curious. "You can tell their luck is bad just by looking at a register? Is this some new secret feng shui art? That's quite impressive!"
Wei Yuan laughed in spite of himself. "For someone whose name can be casually crossed out by me, how good could their luck possibly be?"
Chapter 274