No sooner had he dealt with the Cui family's affairs than Ren Suxing came knocking, accompanied by two junior disciples from his hall.
After a hearty meal, all three were glowing with vitality. It was not that cultivators could not endure hunger; rather, when one's belly was empty, it was all too natural for temper to flare—especially when someone right in front of them was eating eight meals a day.
Upon seeing Wei Yuan, Ren Suxing announced loudly, "Junior Brother, your domain has a thousand things waiting to be done and is in need of hands everywhere. As your fellow disciples, we naturally have an inescapable duty! I have two matters to lay out for you now. First, we plan to inspect the domain, look for gaps to fill, and see where help is most needed. We'll set to work wherever that may be.
"Second, the great affairs of a state consist only of sacrifice and warfare. I intend to reorganize the domain's military and choose an opportune time to wage war against the Shamans and expand our territory!"
At the mention of expanding territory, a flush rose on Ren Suxing's face, his heart clearly surging with excitement.
Wei Yuan remained silent, turning over Ren Suxing's words in his mind. What did he mean by "lay out for you"?
And what was that about "the great affairs of a state consist only of sacrifice and warfare"? Was he trying to tell Wei Yuan that he had read history books?
Wei Yuan looked at the two young peers who had followed along, both disciples of Sky Azure Hall, and asked, "Do both of you share this view?"
The two seemed somewhat constrained in front of Wei Yuan and said, "We came here to gain experience and should naturally shoulder responsibility and lead from the front. Senior Brother Ren possesses profound cultivation and veteran experience, having fought foreign races for many years, and he is willing to lead us in getting things done. We disciples of Sky Azure Hall are fully convinced."
"How is it that I don't see the senior brothers and sisters from Water Moon Hall?"
"They are very interested in the herb garden and the forging workshop and plan to go take a look around shortly."
Wei Yuan's face betrayed no emotion as he simply asked, "Before you came here, did the two Perfected Persons give any instructions?"
Ren Suxing said, "The Perfected Persons told us to assist you with all our hearts and earn merit points as early as possible."
That truly was the style of the Sky Azure Hall's Perfected Persons: grasping the big picture while letting small details slide, speaking only of what was most important. The trouble was that they grasped things on far too grand a scale, letting go of many small details that should never have been brushed aside.
Unruffled, Wei Yuan said, "I understand the Perfected Persons' intentions, and I know what you senior martial brothers are thinking. The domain has only just emerged from a series of fierce battles and settled down with great difficulty. Affairs are tangled and tricky. Allow me to consider what needs your help first, and I will make arrangements later."
Ren Suxing waved a broad hand. "No matter! Junior Brother, go about your business; don't worry about us. We can find work for ourselves."
Wei Yuan gave a faint, ambiguous smile and said unhurriedly, "Every affair in the domain currently has someone assigned to it; there are no vacancies for the moment. Furthermore, many places cannot be entered or exited at will right now. I'm afraid you won't be able to just find work on your own."
Ren Suxing frowned with displeasure. "In our Sky Azure Hall's domain, there are still places we cannot freely enter and leave? Junior Brother, as your senior, I must say a few words..."
Wei Yuan cut him off: "Senior Brother Ren, the frontier is complicated, perhaps not quite as you imagine. For these next few days, please stay in your courtyard and await word. If you wander around recklessly and offend the martial uncles from the other halls, I'm afraid it won't be easy for me to smooth things over. If Senior Brother feels this is inappropriate, my master, Zhang Sheng, is also here; you may go speak with him."
At the mention of Zhang Sheng's name, the three subconsciously shrank back.
Wei Yuan smiled faintly. "Please do not be impatient, Senior Brothers. You have traveled a long way and endured hardships; rest and recuperate well first. Only when you have built up your strength can you battle the alien races."
Ren Suxing forced out a smile. "Then we shall await your news, Junior Brother."
Wei Yuan nodded and casually picked up his teacup. A young cultivator at his side immediately stepped forward and said to the three, "Senior Brothers, this way please!"
The cultivator wore a superficial smirk and a bizarre look in his eyes. Ren Suxing recognized him as one of the Cui family scions who had traveled on the same ship—the very side with whom they shared the bitter grudge of eight meals a day!
He was suddenly bewildered. Weren't these aristocratic playboys all haughty and above everyone else? Why had this one run over to act as Junior Brother's lackey the moment he arrived?
Watching the three senior brothers depart, Wei Yuan put the matter out of his mind. Since the Perfected Persons had sent these fellow disciples to gain experience, Wei Yuan naturally had to make thoughtful arrangements. Senior Brother Ren had read his history books, after all, so the first lesson Wei Yuan prepared for them was:
Shelve them and cast them aside.
As for when to put them to use, that would depend first on the senior brothers' attitude and second on Wei Yuan's mood.
Those from Water Moon Hall who wished to inspect the herb garden and Weaponsmith Workshop were daydreaming. The herb garden was now Old Daoist Chuhe's opportunity to attain the Dao, while the Weaponsmith Workshop was Yu Zhizhuo's heart and soul; unless one was a close acquaintance, no one could set foot inside. As for the mortal towns, cultivators held themselves aloft and had no interest in seeing them anyway.
Wei Yuan turned to the Cui clan scion and said, "Unless I instruct otherwise, whenever those senior brothers and sisters come looking for me, tell them I'm not here."
"Rest assured, Domain Lord!" The Cui youth knew how to read the room. Lowering his voice, he whispered, "Domain Lord, these senior brothers of yours are a bit... straightforward. Shall I arrange a few 'trials' to polish their rough edges?"
Wei Yuan was somewhat surprised. "You haven't even achieved a Dao Foundation. How would you 'polish' them?"
The Cui youth chuckled. "A gentleman can be trapped by his own uprightness, and some of my brothers are masters at picking quarrels and stirring trouble. Your senior brothers don't know the ropes of underhanded tricks. Once their tempers flare and they strike someone, causing injuries, the mess will never end. The sect rules of the Palace of Grand Beginning are no empty ornament; by the time the whole ordeal runs its course, they'll have lost a layer of skin at least."
Wei Yuan did not know whether to laugh or cry. "Better not. Don't go looking for trouble."
Wei Yuan figured that given the temperaments of his hall's fellow disciples, failing to find him might lead them to barge straight in. At that point, a few Cui cultivators who had yet to establish their Dao Foundations would never be able to hold them back. Thus, to avoid awkwardness, Wei Yuan simply slipped away.
In any case, after today, the area where they could roam freely was limited to the small town designated for guests. Beyond that, they could go to none of the important places. The guards in the domain were no pushovers either; they answered only to Wei Yuan's commands.
Disciples of Sky Azure Hall loved to argue points of reason with others, but they first had to be in the right; otherwise, sect rules and hall rules were not mere decorations. Wei Yuan had already instructed the guards that they were not to strike first, but neither were they to yield a single step.
Afterward, Wei Yuan departed the main peak and headed toward the new city where the youths were housed. Over these few days, their aptitudes needed to be screened anew, after which the six foundational methods of Body Casting would be passed down to them. This was a monumental matter concerning the domain's future, a matter of karma, and a life-and-death issue for Wei Yuan.
Over these past few days, the cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning were busy beyond measure. Even Ji Liuli and Zhang Sheng had personally taken the field, testing and assessing the aptitudes of each boy and girl. Because this concerned Wei Yuan's karma, both spared no effort and cared nothing for standing on ceremony, carrying out the tedious tasks with absolute diligence and meticulous care.
Old Daoist Chuhe had left only his snake to guard the herb garden, putting even his cat to work. That cat was a high-level dharma idol familiar whose spiritual senses were far keener than a human's. After sniffing each youth for a moment, it would slap down a paw print. The paw prints differed, corresponding to each of the six foundational methods.
During the examination, the old Daoist sensed that the snake seemed to have clashed with someone and come to blows. However, the cat and snake had already developed spirituality on par with humans; the old Daoist surmised that some of those Cui family playboys had been wandering about and tried to enter the herb garden, earning themselves a beating from the snake.
The snake knew restraint and would not kill or maim lightly, so the old Daoist paid it little mind and continued his busy work testing aptitudes. What the old Daoist forgot, however, was that this snake had a quirk: it liked to slap faces.
When Wei Yuan arrived, eighty percent of the screenings were complete. Without a word, Wei Yuan joined the line, examining and measuring aptitudes one by one.
After half a day of testing them with his own hands, Wei Yuan looked over the recorded data and drew in a sharp breath. On average, this group of boys and girls actually possessed root bones of three feet! By the standards of the Immortal Sect Unified Examination, all had hope of establishing a Dao Foundation, barely meeting the threshold for admission into fourth-rank sects!
However, the vast majority were shrouded in black qi. Not only was their karmic luck zero, but they also carried considerable sin and negative karma. In today's cultivation world, karmic luck was valued more and more; with sins entwining them and negative karmic luck, under normal circumstances most would never reach the heights their root bones promised.
Yet even if only half of them managed to achieve Dao Foundations, it was an astonishing number, even if the vast majority remained stranded at the Dao Foundation realm for the rest of their lives. But another problem loomed before Wei Yuan: with so many people, where would the cultivation resources come from?
Tens of thousands of Dao Foundations—even if every single one cultivated the Fine Rain immortal sword, thirty to fifty of them combined would require resources equivalent to an ordinary Dao Foundation cultivator of the Palace of Grand Beginning.
Countless calculations flashed through Wei Yuan's mind. He worked out that cultivating half of them into Dao Foundation cultivators would cost roughly enough to nurture five of himself.
Still, that was a trouble for the future, and hardly without a solution. History books laid it bare: with a grand army in hand, all under heaven was one family, and resources were no longer divided between yours and mine—what was mine was mine, and what was yours was mine as well. Thus, wealth without strength was the inception of calamity.
After Wei Yuan joined in, they labored through the entire day before finally finishing the aptitude inspections for all of them. The aptitudes of these youths were nearly uniform, their root bones all falling between three and five feet, with only a hundred-odd approaching seven feet.
Their root bones were decent, their physical bodies intact, and their minds pure, but their deficiencies were also obvious: negative karmic luck, and modest intellect and comprehension. After all, they had spent most of their lives slumbering in formations to contribute soul force.
Among the Six Books of Body Casting, the Earth Origin Scripture was comprehensive and balanced, advancing step by steady step in cultivation, which happened to counteract a deficiency in karmic luck. Thus, over sixty percent ended up choosing this manual.
A pure, simple mind had its advantages: though their comprehension was not high, their innate spirituality was abundant. Consequently, several hundred with the best root bones chose the Great Sun Sword-Embracing Scripture. Frankly speaking, this outcome was somewhat unexpected to Wei Yuan. Looking at these youths, he fell silent in thought, privately speculating about Xiaoyu's level of comprehension.
Those capable of cultivating the Great Sun Sword-Embracing Scripture were only a minority, but the youths' physical foundations were actually quite good, merely weakened by years of slumber. Therefore, twenty percent were taught the Thick Earth Mysterious Body Scripture, a method focused on tempering the physical body; once mastered, one's flesh would be noticeably more formidable than other cultivators'.
Next, the Void Sun Smoke Method, which favored innate spirituality, was granted to ten percent; once mastered, Dao power became more ample, and wielding Dao arts felt far more fluid and natural.
Yet because the youths bore negative karmic luck, not a single person could cultivate the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Chart, leaving Wei Yuan with a twinge of disappointment.
Having finally concluded such a major undertaking, everyone was exhausted in body and spirit, retiring to their quarters to meditate and replenish their origin souls. The formal cultivation of the youths would begin tomorrow morning.
Wei Yuan did not return, choosing instead to sleep in the new city.
That day, Ren Suxing and the other senior brothers had come looking for him seven or eight times and even barged in once; only upon seeing that Wei Yuan truly was not there did they finally relent.
In the dead of night, Wei Yuan was comprehending the overarching outline of the Sword of Ten Thousand Generations and Autumns. Lost in a state of selflessness, an ominous premonition suddenly seized him, and he withdrew from his sea of consciousness at once. His divine sense swept across the surroundings, and he was instantly shocked and furious: in many corners of the city, boys and girls were embracing one another, engaged in the act of yin and yang!
Caring for nothing else at that moment, Wei Yuan issued a command directly through his origin soul, forcibly ordering all the youths to separate and cease all activity. He then roused the stationed cultivators, placing the entire city on alert.
Grim-faced and exuding murderous intent, Wei Yuan patrolled the city.
Chapter 294