With Cui Yu and Cui Luoyu present, the Cui family's several hundred scoundrels, large and small, did not dare stir up any more trouble. Being a playboy in peace was its own sort of study: one had to know crystal clear who could be crossed and who could not. Even the most undiscerning prodigal knew that Masters Cui Yu and Cui Luoyu were not to be provoked.
The disciples from Sky Azure Hall and Water Moon Hall also came over to exchange greetings with Wei Yuan—six from Sky Azure Hall and seven from Water Moon Hall, thirteen in all. Wei Yuan chatted with them for a few moments, inquiring about the cause of the clash during their journey.
Originally, the two halls had planned to send only six disciples to the Western Regions to gain experience, but that number later grew to nine, and the two Perfected Persons had prepared silver according to that count. Yet right before departure, remembering Wei Yuan's terrifyingly vast heavenly merits, the two Perfected Persons squeezed in several more talented disciples being groomed as future seeds.
As a result of the swollen numbers, they didn't even have enough money to buy passage tickets. Fortunately, the Cui family accommodated them and gave two tickets for free. However, the Perfected Person from Sky Azure Hall felt humiliated taking advantage of the Cui family and took the initiative to decline meals. In truth, the Cui family had never even thought of listing meals separately from the boat tickets.
The two Perfected Persons had sent so many disciples over for two reasons. First, they hoped the youths could temper themselves in Qingming, which was far safer than the north. Second, they hoped the disciples might share in a tiny sliver of heavenly merits; even three or five points would be good, enough to exchange for quite a few things.
In fact, every single point of heavenly merits could be exchanged for plenty of resources. To scions of great clans like Cui Yu, heavenly merits were badges of honor upon their chests, mere decorative accolades. But to disciples of Sky Azure Hall, three points of heavenly merits were timely help in dire need, and ten points were enough to let them soar.
Wei Yuan looked them over one by one. The leading disciple from Sky Azure Hall was named Ren Suxing. Already past thirty years of age, he was actually three cohorts senior to Wei Yuan and only one cohort junior to Zhang Sheng.
Disciples of the two halls were few, so Wei Yuan had heard Ren Suxing's name before and recalled his background.
Ren Suxing was currently in the late Dao Foundation stage. His Dao Foundation was a Heaven Tier immortal sword. While achieving a dharma idol was not utterly hopeless, it was exceedingly difficult. He had already been stuck at the late Dao Foundation stage for three years, with no telling how much longer he would remain stalled.
Ren Suxing was fundamentally different from Zhang Sheng. Zhang Sheng's ambitions soared higher than the heavens; his refusal to enter the Dharma Idol realm stemmed from his single-minded pursuit of perfecting four swords, and now he had added the requirement of forming a naturally endowed sword array. Everyone knew that once Zhang Sheng achieved a dharma idol, he would soar straight into the skies, his progress trailing behind no one.
Ji Liuli was much the same. For many years her cultivation had made not an inch of progress, while she busied herself day in and day out repairing that Demon-Suppressing Pagoda. As a result, the pagoda grew ever more mystical and unfathomable, with no end in sight.
These two peerless prodigies buried their heads in refining their Dao Foundations, inadvertently leading their entire generation astray.
In their cohort and several cohorts before and after, countless cultivators jumped on the bandwagon to meticulously polish their Dao Foundations in pursuit of a flawless advancement. In the end, many of their masters could bear it no longer and stepped in with harsh rebukes, forcing them to understand the hard truth that they simply were not born equal to such monsters. Only then were some driven to attempt advancement, which brought a few more dharma idols to the Palace of Grand Beginning.
Ren Suxing's Sudden Rain immortal sword was now nurtured to the point of overflowing with precious radiance, looking far more impressive than its original form. If Heaven Tier were divided into nine grades, it would be equivalent to raising it from eighth grade to seventh grade, increasing his hope of achieving a dharma idol from ten percent to twelve percent—and that had taken him three whole years.
The other person Wei Yuan noticed was a young girl from Water Moon Hall. Visibly youthful, she was two years younger than Wei Yuan, a genius disciple of the subsequent cohort named Fei Yutong. She gave off an impression of extraordinary cleanliness, fragility, and gentle grace, her facial skin already bearing the lustrous translucence of moonlight.
Fei Yutong hailed from a mid-tier noble clan, where she had been nurtured with secret arts until the age of ten before sitting for the Immortal Sect Unified Examination. After entering the palace, her cultivation advanced at flying speed, and two years ago, she had already reached the mid Dao Foundation stage.
After chatting briefly, Wei Yuan said, "Eat first!" He then ordered his people to lead these fellow disciples, who had starved for three or four days, down for a meal.
While settling the Cui family group, Wei Yuan discovered there were actually three True Persons of the Dharma Idol realm aboard the flying boat. However, none of them were willing to disembark, stating that all matters would be resolved on board and that they would depart once all supplies were unloaded.
Wei Yuan understood this was the Cui family avoiding suspicion. Last time there were few people and a small boat, so it didn't matter. This time, there were far too many people and an abundance of supplies had been transported, making things entirely different. If True Persons of the Dharma Idol realm showed their faces, it would be slapping the Xu family across the face.
This contingent from the Cui family should have departed long ago, but with more people came complications. Before departure, people had successively tried to hop onto this boat, resulting in all kinds of favors asked and gifts offered. A few were frightened by the casualty rate from the previous trip and bailed at the last minute. As a result, departure was delayed for nearly a month, and the headcount grew from the original two hundred to three hundred and seventy.
This time, the Cui family sent along twenty three-hundred-year-old Five Elements Spirit Ginseng of each element with the ship. Five Elements Spirit Ginseng was a mid-grade spirit plant, worth roughly one tael of immortal silver per year of age. Moreover, they were widely used in many pills to temper the medicinal properties of primary ingredients.
This batch of Five Elements Spirit Ginseng served as an advance payment, hitting right at what Wei Yuan desired most.
Next were ten thousand grains of seed-grade black pearl rice. This kind of spirit rice was a mid-grade spirit plant, generally reserved for Dharma Idol cultivators. Last time, the Cui family had sneakily provided three grains; this time, they dropped all pretense and delivered ten thousand outright, saving Wei Yuan two years of breeding and propagation work.
The Cui family had sent only these two items this time, but a top-tier noble clan's generosity was truly extraordinary, having Wei Yuan thoroughly figured out.
Only after finally getting the Cui family's three hundred and seventy ancestors settled did Wei Yuan find the time to talk in detail with Cui Luoyu.
After the Cui family's previous batch returned, high-level cultivators in the clan questioned them in detail about the entire cultivation process. The matter of paying money for death immunity naturally could not be hidden. Almost all Dao Foundations emerged from the group that took to the battlefield, while among those who bought immunity, only a single one succeeded.
Such a stark contrast caused the Cui family's Old Matron to relent, expanding the death quota for this batch from thirty to one hundred. Consequently, of the four hundred who originally planned to come, several dozen backed out the moment they heard the news.
Cui Luoyu had actually come with another mission. After a thorough discussion, Wei Yuan learned that behind him stood a group of elders who wished to cast a Dao Foundation.
These people had originally had no hope of a Dao Foundation, were advanced in age, and had already resigned themselves to their fate. But when an opening suddenly appeared here in Qingming, hope was reignited within them.
Their sole purpose in achieving a Dao Foundation was to extend their lifespan.
As long as they could cast a Dao Foundation, even if their bodies had been hollowed out by wine and lust over the past decades, they could live for at least another twenty or thirty years.
To have found a channel to Cui Luoyu, these people either held positions as mid-level stewards themselves or had important figures among their kin. For instance, several among them were descendants of True Monarchs.
Cui Luoyu made it very clear: these people did not lack money, but they could not go to the battlefield—or if they did, they could not die. Otherwise, wouldn't coming to extend their lives only to die on the battlefield make them a laughingstock?
Beyond that, they wanted a guaranteed rate of success, and they cared about saving face, so secrecy was mandatory.
Wei Yuan hadn't expected such a business proposition. He asked, "Then how high a success rate do you think counts as guaranteed?"
Cui Luoyu said, "Thirty wish to come aboard the next ship, and they want at least four to successfully cast a Dao Foundation. If it works, each is willing to pay five thousand taels of immortal silver in gratitude! No restrictions on the Dao Foundation's tier."
Wei Yuan nodded. "Understood. But I must consider this carefully and look through manuals and texts once I'm back. It will take a few days before I can give you an answer."
Seeing Wei Yuan rise to leave, Cui Luoyu hurriedly said, "Wait! I know this is asking a lot... Sigh, let me be completely frank with you. As long as two can form a Dao Foundation, they will come, and ten thousand taels of silver will be paid upfront as a token of thanks!"
Wei Yuan smiled. "The Cui family hasn't treated me poorly; of course I will do my utmost in this matter. Two shouldn't be an issue, but I need time. They will likely have to stay in the domain for a longer period."
Cui Luoyu was overjoyed. "No problem, they can stay as long as needed! If two of my uncles can cast a Dao Foundation this time, it will be an enormous help. I can't speak for other things, but authority over many low-grade spiritual items and spirit plants rests in their hands. In the future, we can supply as much as you want!"
Wei Yuan was somewhat surprised. "Aren't you afraid of displeasing the Xu family?"
"Smuggling, of course! It's not like we're shipping it out in the open. We take the route through Zhao; the Xu family's reach doesn't extend into Zhao." Cui Luoyu was clearly very familiar with such operations.
After seeing Cui Luoyu off, Wei Yuan pondered for a long time before ordering several cultivators at the pinnacle of Body Casting, who were slated to advance to Dao Foundation in the next batch, to be summoned. These men all came from the Xu family's private army and possessed very solid Body Casting foundations, already having some hope of casting a Dao Foundation.
Once they took their places, Wei Yuan waved his hand, and an immortal sword materialized before each of them. The blades carried a faint greenish tint and gave off wisps of moisture—precisely the Fine Rain immortal sword, the shame among immortal swords, a grade lower than White Silk.
"Each of you take one of these immortal swords. I will also impart an incantation to you. When you return, circulate the incantation and comprehend it closely. Perhaps you will have a chance to cast your Dao Foundation into this immortal sword."
The cultivators were both surprised and overjoyed. They immediately cupped the Fine Rain immortal swords in their hands with utmost care and went back to practice, nothing more needed to be said.
This was an experiment by Wei Yuan. Precisely because the Fine Rain immortal sword was weak, its structure and internal principles were very simple, making the difficulty of casting it into a Dao Foundation lower than many Mortal Tier Dao Foundations. So long as one's natural talent was passable, it was quite easy to pick up. Moreover, with a fixed target, these cultivators wouldn't have their thoughts wandering, perhaps giving them an even greater chance of success.
If this experiment succeeded, Wei Yuan planned to arrange it for the Cui family masters when the time came. The venerable masters had paid good money, so they had to be given something distinctive.
Although Fine Rain was the shame among immortal swords and even weaker than most Mortal Foundations in power, it was still an immortal sword after all. Its appearance was more than enough to blow ninety-nine percent of Mortal Tier Dao Foundations out of the water.
After all, the venerable patrons only wanted to extend their lives and look impressive before the crowd; it wasn't as if they were actually going to use it in duels.
Chapter 293