After the great battle, the cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning gathered together for the first time. They had convened to discuss the Dao Foundation plans for the upcoming cohort of Dao Foundation cultivators. The matter was of paramount importance, so everyone set aside their duties and assembled here. In addition to the regulars, Fei Yutong and Xu Wenwu were also present.
Xu Wenwu's cultivation had progressed by leaps and bounds. Ever since the Azure Lotus enhanced his aptitudes, Wei Yuan had discovered that whenever anyone near him absorbed and assimilated karmic luck, Xu Wenwu's own cultivation would receive a corresponding boost.
Seeing that Xu Wenwu was not far from forging his Dao Foundation, Wei Yuan invited him to sit in and listen so that he could familiarize himself with Dao Foundations ahead of time.
Wei Yuan began by displaying the Immortal Sword False Sun. This fire-attribute immortal sword was well-suited for both combat and kindling or controlling heat, making it the current primary choice for the domain's Dao Foundations. Next came the Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword, followed by the Ten Directions Glazed Golden Fire, which had only recently matured and had not yet been widely popularized.
Once Wei Yuan finished his demonstration, Perfected Chuhe, being the most senior among them, spoke up: "These immortal swords are truly exceptional, and the Ten Directions Glazed Golden Fire takes things a step further still. However, most of these belong to the element of fire, whereas this realm of the Wu domain has a natural affinity for water and wood. That is the first point.
"Second, this old Taoist's gardens are expanding by the day, and the spiritual fields need Dao Foundation cultivators to look after them. Otherwise, we will have vast tracts of spiritual land with no one to till them. Therefore, I believe there is no harm in postponing this cohort's foundation forging slightly. It will not be too late to begin once we have researched water-attribute and wood-attribute Dao Foundations."
Sun Yu also chimed in: "Fire attributes come in many varieties as well. In truth, we can break them down further—for instance, taking wood as the base and generating fire from wood, which yields a fire of life. The requirements for this fire are slightly higher than for rootless fire, but it remains Mortal Tier, so the difficulty won't be that great. Cultivators who master this fire are naturally suited to become alchemists."
Yu Zhizhuo was the most familiar with material properties. He picked up a Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword and casually brushed a hand over it, reducing it back into spiritual qi. He said, "In truth, manifesting a Dao Foundation as a sword expends extra Dao power without granting much additional lethal prowess. It would be better to directly comprehend five-elements primordial qi; that way, the difficulty of cultivation could be lowered even further."
The cultivators discussed back and forth, and in the end, their focus converged on the Ten Directions Glazed Golden Fire. This Dao Foundation was essentially five-elements qi—the foundation of foundations. It did not even require an external form, reducing any extra burden to the absolute minimum.
Ever since Yu Zhizhuo replaced ordinary rootless fire with wine-fire, the difficulty of this Dao Foundation had dropped to an all-new low. Working along these lines, everyone's horizons broadened.
For instance, with wood-attribute qi, weeds were obviously easier to grasp than pines and cypresses. Perfected Chuhe grasped a handful of wild grass, and in just a quarter of an hour, he analyzed the grass qi, establishing the foundation of wood-attribute grass qi.
The cultivators then spent another quarter of an hour refining and supplementing it. Thus was born Qingming's first new wood-attribute Dao Foundation based on grass qi: Six Paths Jiayi Divine Wood Qi.
Metal was easy to deal with as well. Gold and iron were difficult to melt and refine, but there were metals that melted easily; Yu Zhizhuo directly chose tin.
Earth had little to discuss; it was nothing more than loose or dense, leaving limited room to lower the threshold. Water proved the hardest to handle, as they could not find any good way to lower its difficulty, so they had to let it rest for now.
Wei Yuan manifested several Dao Foundations that set the baseline, and the cultivators discussed and perfected them. From then on, Qingming gained several more five-elements Dao Foundations to anchor the domain.
However, Wei Yuan anticipated that people like the Cui family elders would become increasingly numerous in the future, representing a major source of revenue for the domain. Therefore, whether a Dao Foundation looked imposing and majestic was also quite important.
In the end, the primary inspiration in this regard came from Fei Yutong. The young girl suggested designing the Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword in different shapes and colors. Though identical in essence, they would look like three different immortal swords for people to choose from.
This was not difficult. Wei Yuan readily followed good advice, quickly completing three new Dao Foundations: the Great Bright Demon-Subduing Golden Feather Sword, the Silver Wing Sword, and the Deep Azure Sword.
The second topic was whether or not to develop fire guns fed by magazines.
In Xu Wenwu's view, this topic shouldn't have required discussion at all. His world had long since proven that breech-loading was a generation ahead, and repeating fire was another generation ahead. A new generation generally trounced the older generation.
Yet the conclusion the cultivators reached through discussion was that magazines required firearm mechanisms, making mass production difficult. Furthermore, current gunpowder production was limited; even with the new gunpowder, a single round required two jin of gunpowder. Rapid repeating fire would inevitably multiply gunpowder consumption several dozen times, making supply completely unsustainable.
Because of Ephemeral Multitude, Wei Yuan's strategy had always been to ensure that every person had a gun first.
And to increase gunpowder production, they needed to provide Yu Zhizhuo and Sun Yu with a large number of Dao Foundation cultivators suited to their needs. At the same time, research into the physical principles of matter had to be placed on the agenda.
So ultimately, what was most urgently needed at present was to popularize the five-elements Dao Foundations as quickly as possible, lower the threshold for Mortal Foundations, and increase the number of Dao Foundation cultivators.
The moment the meeting ended, Perfected Chuhe, Sun Yu, Yu Zhizhuo, and Feng Tingyu flew straight to New City. Today was the day they held an altar to lecture on the Dharma to the youths of the Xu family. The people of the Palace of Grand Beginning all loved playing teacher and took this exceedingly seriously; none of them was willing to miss the opportunity to preach the Dharma and display profound mysteries before thousands or tens of thousands of listeners.
Perfected Chuhe was the most zealous, preaching every seven days without fail, rain or shine. Consequently, the Xu family youths progressed the fastest in the Earth Origin Scripture.
Wei Yuan had no part in such fine affairs; he could only keep Xu Wenwu behind alone to offer him some guidance on his cultivation.
Imitating True Monarch Xuanyue's demeanor, Wei Yuan sat down slowly at the head of the room, assuming an imposing posture with deep, resonant qi. He said, "Manifest your visualization chart and let me see."
Xu Wenwu sat cross-legged on a prayer mat, forgetting self and surroundings. A moment later, his visualization chart emerged.
Wei Yuan was sipping tea, and spat a mouthful right out!
To put it in the words of the world beyond the heavens: this toad crouched atop a bunker, wearing a steel helmet and body armor, holding a rocket launcher in its left hand and a Gatling gun in its right.
That wasn't all. A pair of enormous dragon wings grew from the toad's back. Though somewhat incongruous, it did look exceptionally badass.
Ever since mastering Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, this was the first time Wei Yuan's Dao heart had faltered. Silently wiping the tea from his robes, he wanted to offer a few critiques, but found himself entirely at a loss for words.
After a long silence, Wei Yuan finally asked, "Where do the bullets come from?"
Xu Wenwu was taken aback.
He scratched his head and said, "Then I'll go back and think it over, maybe see if I should add an ammo box or something."
Wei Yuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Could an anomalous manifestation in a visualization chart just be added on a whim? What was more, Xu Wenwu was ruthless—that Gatling gun had nine barrels; this wasn't something a box or two of ammunition could solve.
Thus, with earnest gravity, Wei Yuan preached to Xu Wenwu about the dangers of aiming too high and rushing headlong into failure.
Right as Wei Yuan was painstakingly imparting his advice, he saw Xu Wenwu's expression shift as if an idea had struck him. With a sudden flash of insight, his visualization chart changed accordingly: the bunker the toad crouched upon slowly morphed, actually turning into a massive ammo crate! Judging by its size, it could probably hold tens of thousands of rounds. Furthermore, the crate even featured a viewing window showing it packed full of ammunition, not merely an empty shell.
Wei Yuan fell silent once more for a long while.
Finally, Wei Yuan spoke again: "The ammunition for the weapons in your left and right hands isn't interchangeable..."
The moment the words left his mouth, Wei Yuan felt a twinge of shame. This was sheer nitpicking, finding bones in an egg, grasping at straws just to have something to criticize.
Yet Xu Wenwu's eyes widened as if struck by sudden enlightenment. "That makes sense! Let me think some more..."
"Go back and think about it on your own time!" Wei Yuan kicked Xu Wenwu out.
Once Xu Wenwu had left, Wei Yuan looked back on his own toad from back then. Aside from being big, there was only one word left to describe it: bare.
"Whatever. The back waves of the mighty river push the front waves forward..." Wei Yuan originally wanted to comfort himself, only to remember that in the materials Xu Wenwu had written, the next line of that poem was: 'and the front waves die on the beach.'
A pity Ji Liuli wasn't here, or Wei Yuan would have loved to pull her aside and discuss whether they should just sacrifice Xu Wenwu to the heavens and be done with it.
By now, night was deepening. Wei Yuan had intended to cultivate a bit longer, but with his Dao heart shattered, he couldn't calm down no matter what.
So he simply flew over to the Weaponsmith Workshop, watching furnace after furnace of molten steel pour out, solidify into ingots, undergo repeated forging, get hammer-forged into shape within molds, and finally receive minor finishing touches from craftsmen to become tools.
After watching for a while, Wei Yuan's mind gradually settled, and he returned to continue cultivating.
The domain was set to open up another five hundred thousand mu of grain fields, creating a surge in demand for farming tools. During this period, the Weaponsmith Workshop was operating at full capacity to produce agricultural implements, dramatically accelerating the land reclamation process.
***
Zhao, Yuyang Prefecture.
Pacification Commissioner Cui Shutong picked up a set of breastplate armor, put it on, and tested it by swinging a saber and drawing a bow before taking it off.
Beside him, a man said, "My Lord, this breastplate was hand-forged by our craftsmen using hundred-refined steel. Its quality is definitely superior to what Qingming produces."
Cui Shutong picked up a breastplate plate and held it against the assembled armor. There were obvious gaps between the two plates, wide enough in many spots to insert a finger.
The man said, "Our breastplates use more steel and offer better defense. Furthermore, they are meticulously crafted by artisans. Each artisan has different working habits, so slight variations are inevitable, but it won't affect their use in the slightest."
Cui Shutong neither agreed nor disagreed, simply asking, "How much does your firm charge for these suits of armor?"
"In reply to My Lord: our quality is superior, so naturally it is slightly pricier—twenty-five taels per suit."
"Too expensive."
The man gritted his teeth and said, "Twenty-two taels! Truly, it cannot go any lower!"
"I will consider it. Dismissed."
The man was somewhat unwilling, but he withdrew nonetheless.
Cui Shutong walked to the other side of the drill grounds and casually opened a crate bearing Qingming's insignia. Inside were armor plates neatly stacked together, fitting so flush against one another that it would be difficult even to slip a toothpick between them.
At this time, a young military officer standing in attendance beside him said, "Uncle, we purchase tens of thousands of sets of armor every year now—that is no small sum! Why shouldn't we let our own people earn some of this money?"
Cui Shutong picked up an armor plate produced by Qingming, took a heavy arrow, and thrust it down onto the plate. The heavy arrow pierced straight through. He closely examined the steel at the fracture, remaining silent for a long time.
The young officer also looked at the fracture and said, "The steel isn't particularly fine or uniform; it's still quite inferior to hundred-refined steel. Uncle, twenty-two taels is already very low, considering they're using hundred-refined steel."
Cui Shutong unsealed another crate of armor plates, randomly pulled out several pieces, pierced them with an arrowhead in the same manner, and handed them to the young man. The young officer scrutinized them for a long time without seeing anything remarkable, bewildered by Cui Shutong's intention.
Cui Shutong said slowly, "These plates were all chosen at random by me. You think the steel isn't great, but what is rare is that every single plate has the exact same quality. It cannot match hundred-refined steel, but how long does it take just to prepare the materials for hundred-refined steel? The man you found might have no problem forging one or two hundred suits, but what about ten or twenty thousand? How many artisans does he have? Can he guarantee that every single suit will match the quality of the one presented to me?"
The barrage of questions caused cold sweat to break out on the young officer's forehead, leaving him afraid to answer.
Cui Shutong gave a cold sneer and said, "The sample brought before me is bound to be good, and the inspectors I send will certainly take bribes and only see what they are meant to see. But the soldiers at the front have to wear this into battle to slay the enemy! If the armor's quality is just a bit more consistent and reliable, several hundred or even a thousand fewer men might die in a major battle!"
Cui Shutong patted the young officer's shoulder and said, "You are still young; the day will come when you are sent out to take charge on your own. There are plenty of ways to make money, but never make money off weapons and armor. That is the very foundation upon which our lives and standing depend!"
Chapter 351