Upon advancing into the late Dao Foundation realm, Wei Yuan's Dao power increased somewhat. Although the magnitude of the increase was modest, his control over his Dao power advanced to a whole new level. The benefits of this advancement were comprehensive: for the same spell construct, he could either append more components to turn it into an even more formidable Dao technique, or cast it with less Dao power, or incorporate far more variations.
With the aid of the blood qi, Wei Yuan's physical body also saw a slight improvement. His body had already been comparable to the dharma bodies of dharma idol cultivators; now having stepped forward again, it was no weaker than that of an ordinary late-stage dharma idol cultivator.
From inside out, a faint layer of precious luster glowed upon his flesh, and Dao power coursed to the furthest reaches of his extremities. With all hidden wounds and ailments entirely eradicated, Wei Yuan moved to take off the blindfold from his eyes, only for his hand to be caught and pressed down by the woman.
"Wait a quarter of an hour before removing it."
Rustling sounds soon echoed through the cave. Wei Yuan made no deliberate effort to peek with his divine consciousness out of respect. In any case, the boulder blocking the cave entrance could see everything. A quarter of an hour later, Wei Yuan untied the blindfold covering his eyes. The moment they opened, yin and yang qi—dark and light—faintly swirled within his pupils.
She sat upright upon a boulder. Her clothing from the remnant clan's former dynasty had already been trimmed and tailored, its lines made cleaner and firmer, fitting her form more closely.
Her slightly arched brows, with tips sharp as sword points, were at once supple and resolute. Paired with those fathomless, endless eyes, they were singular in this world, impossible to forget. Her nose was straight and slender, her jawline chiseled as if carved with a blade. She was just like her sword: incomparably radiant, peerlessly sharp.
If Consort Yuan was like flowing water and drifting blossoms, then she was a peerless immortal sword; no matter how gentle or subdued she appeared, she was still sword light. This was his master!
Her long hair was tied back simply, showing off the exquisite, flawless contours of her profile. Though she possessed no cultivation now, merely sitting there, an awe-inspiring majesty emanated naturally from her.
Wei Yuan instinctively wanted to lean closer, only for her to shoot him a glare and snap, "Sit properly!" He obediently retreated to his original spot. Years of ingrained authority were not something that could be dispelled in an instant.
Drawing a map on the ground with a stone, she said, "This far northern snowy mountain range spans roughly five hundred thousand li—neither terribly large nor small. It lies between the territories of the Liao Clan and the Shamans; perhaps we can exploit the friction between them."
Wei Yuan said, "We can weave back and forth along their border. As long as pursuers from both clans cross paths, there's no doubt they'll start fighting."
"Furthermore, my physical body was reshaped by the White Lotus of the Defiled Earth, and most of my Body Casting cultivation has dispersed. I need extra armor to protect myself."
Wei Yuan immediately offered, "That's simple. I'll design one right away. It's just... I'm missing some measurements..."
Seeing Wei Yuan about to lean in again, a single cold glance from her was enough to send him meekly back to his seat. The boy opened his mouth and spewed nothing but excuses. What did he mean, missing some measurements? With an origin soul as formidable as his and a memory that never forgot a single detail, what measurements could he possibly not know?
"In addition, though my Dao Foundation has been destroyed, my divine consciousness remains intact. Is there any powerful magical artifact I could control temporarily to deliver a fatal strike at a crucial moment? It's just that I have no Dao power now, so it must be something usable by a mortal body."
Wei Yuan pondered, "That's a bit tricky. Allow me to think carefully."
"There are still two hours before dawn. We still have time to make some preparations."
Now that his master had stated her specific requirements, Wei Yuan did not dare delay for a single moment, immediately entering Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains. In the blink of an eye, he designed a suit of fish-scale armor and set three enlightened Dao Foundation warriors to crafting it.
After quietly watching the warriors forge armor scales for a while, Wei Yuan suddenly remembered that if not for the White Lotus of the Defiled Earth, or if its efficacy had been even slightly inferior, Zhang Sheng would have already fallen. A wave of lingering fear washed over him.
Though the Dao Foundation warriors had gained wisdom, they possessed no emotions and felt no irritation, hammering out armor scales without pause, their movements as precise as three machines.
There was nothing much to see in forging armor, so Wei Yuan went to check on the reincarnated remnant clan. He discovered that the remnant people had split into over a hundred groups, busy working with stone blocks.
A portion of the rock was processed into bricks, while another part became large, thin hollow slabs. Furthermore, the bricks differed: some were thick and solid, while others were thin-walled and larger in volume, becoming hollow bricks—and the proportion of the latter was steadily expanding. Among the houses under construction, only a small fraction used solid bricks; most built later had switched to hollow bricks.
The true intent of the Cauldron that Wei Yuan had just imparted had been mastered by the remnant people in no time, and they had already begun finding new tricks with it.
In their previous lives, these remnant people had possessed considerable cultivation, the weakest among them having been Dao Foundation cultivators. Though reincarnated as mortals, parts of their past memories remained, so understanding and grasping the true intent of the Cauldron was not difficult for them.
With hollow bricks, construction efficiency increased dramatically. Wei Yuan saw that the remnant people were no longer satisfied with merely building houses; they were paving roads, digging canals, and even planning city walls.
Wei Yuan did not know whether to laugh or cry, quickly canceling the city walls. Where would foreign enemies come from inside Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains? Why build city walls?
What left Wei Yuan even more speechless was that a small group had turned to sculpting, carving stone blocks in preparation to erect an idol of him. Furthermore, they had discovered the three giant heirloom swords, so beside each sword stood another crowd of worshipers.
Wei Yuan could see it clearly now: these people simply had nothing to do, so they would worship whatever they came across.
Wanting to give them something to occupy their time, Wei Yuan materialized a copy of the materials written by Xu Wenwu from his memory, passed it on to them, and gave them one of the guns he had developed to launch flying swords, tasking them with finding ways to improve it. Afterward, he withdrew from Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains.
In the final quarter of an hour before dawn, Wei Yuan retrieved the newly forged scale armor and helped his master put it on. Weapons could not be finished so quickly; all of Wei Yuan's previous weapons were directly triggered by Dao power, and he had never considered weapons that a mortal could use.
Next, Wei Yuan laid down a feng shui formation and pondered what aura to use to elevate karmic luck. By now, Wei Yuan's attainments in feng shui and karmic luck were quite profound, directly rivaling Ji Liuli's. After all, formations of this kind required talent, and being a child of karmic destiny was the greatest talent of all.
Right now, Wei Yuan had several immortal-tier auras at hand: the celestial laurel tree, the Bingli Divine Wood, and the Red Lotus Bodhi; an even higher tier included Maiden Yin-Yang and the shadow within the moon. He did not know if the Gate of the Many Realms could be used, as he had not tested it yet.
These auras had different effects: the celestial laurel tree could enhance his own lethality, the Bingli Divine Wood could plunge enemies into chilling desolation, and the Red Lotus Bodhi could dissolve karmic debt.
After contemplating, Wei Yuan decided to use the Bingli Divine Wood. While he wasn't clear on the other effects of chilling desolation, its ability to slow down enemies was currently the most practical.
The Bingli Divine Wood was very cooperative, yielding a frost crystal to Wei Yuan.
Having elevated his fortune, Wei Yuan stowed away the rock blocking the cave entrance. As the first ray of dawn appeared, he shot out, with a Dao Foundation warrior closely following behind carrying Zhang Sheng on his back.
In another cave in the distance, Longying sensed the aura rapidly receding into the distance, his face souring.
Outside, that terrifying creature was still prowling, its gaze sweeping across the cave entrance from time to time. Only after an hour did it depart. Longying immediately broke through the cave and gave chase at full speed toward the last revealed mark.
As he gave chase, Longying suddenly felt today's wind was unusually cold. Then, two of the Dao Foundation warriors he was towing abruptly lost their balance and collided with each other; the two of them proceeded to bump into several others beside them in rapid succession, forcing Longying to intervene and right them from a distance before he could accelerate into flight again.
Longying's restraint in not cursing loudly was a testament to his good self-control. These Dao Foundation cultivators didn't even have to exert their own effort—they were basically being towed forward by Dao power—yet even like this, they could lose their balance?
The cold wind howled. In the blink of an eye, Longying pursued for over a hundred li. Based on Wei Yuan's speed yesterday, the distance between them should have just closed by thirty li.
Soon, a new mark appeared. Sure enough, the distance had narrowed; they were now separated by over five hundred li. Longying held nothing back, casting a thread of magic power onto the Shaman, instantly boosting his speed as well.
By the time the next mark appeared, Longying had flown four hundred li, closing the gap with Wei Yuan by another hundred li.
Longying's spirits lifted. Just as he was about to maintain his full-speed pursuit, the Dao Foundation cultivators behind him crashed into each other again, tumbling into a tangled heap!
Longying's anger was no small matter, yet out of face, he could not truly abandon them. He gritted his teeth and barked, "If anyone else loses focus, I'll execute them!" But not even a quarter of an hour after saying this, the Dao Foundation cultivators collided once more. Now even the Shaman noticed something was amiss and said, "How about leaving them behind for now?" "Absolutely not!" Longying ground his teeth.
When they set off again, all the Dao Foundation cultivators were bound together and dragged along by Longying as he flew. While this prevented further mishaps, their speed inevitably dropped slightly.
Receiving the message from the mark, Wei Yuan learned that among the pursuers behind him were over a dozen Dao Foundation cultivators. He immediately changed tactics, rushing straight toward the southwest, slightly increasing his speed. Now the speed difference between the two sides was fifty li every quarter of an hour, and the distance was steadily shrinking.
While wearing down his opponent's magic power, Wei Yuan headed closer to Shaman territory.
Longying soon realized Wei Yuan's intention and abruptly surged forward at top speed, covering two hundred li more than Wei Yuan every quarter of an hour!
Although such a full-speed sprint severely depleted magic power and could not be sustained for long, by the time the new mark appeared, he had finally closed the gap with Wei Yuan to within a hundred li.
Had it not been for the mountainous terrain, at this distance he would have been able to see Wei Yuan directly.
Longying's divine consciousness suddenly surged forth like an ocean tide, sweeping over Wei Yuan in an instant and planting a tracker on him. Yet after placing the tracker, Longying's face grew somewhat pale, his magic power dropping significantly.
However, because the tracker had been placed in haste, Wei Yuan cleared it in only the time it took to drink a cup of tea. By then, Longying had closed the distance by another ten li. Gritting his teeth, his divine consciousness swept over Wei Yuan like a storm once more, slapping another tracker on him before resuming his furious pursuit. Yet soon, the tracker was purged by Wei Yuan again.
By now, only seventy li remained between them. Disregarding the expenditure, Longying attempted to mark Wei Yuan a third time, but when his divine consciousness swept across, he unexpectedly failed to find him! Longying naturally would not allow himself to fall short at the final hurdle. His divine consciousness roiled like tempestuous ocean waves, and after seven consecutive sweeps, he finally located Wei Yuan and forcibly marked him.
Thus, the two sides engaged in a continuous tug-of-war. Wei Yuan would vanish from perception from time to time, forcing Longying to repeatedly scan and lock on with his divine consciousness. In the blink of an eye, the pursuit dragged from early morning into the afternoon. After racing across more than ten thousand li, Longying finally caught up with Wei Yuan.
By this time, the dozen or so Dao Foundation subordinates dragged behind him were half-dead, and Longying's own magic power was down to sixty percent. Meanwhile, within Wei Yuan's sea of consciousness, the remnant clan's old ghost—who was also a True Dragon scion—had finally completed his reincarnation, slowly rising from the earth to transform into a dragon guard.
Longying wasted no words. With a wave of his broad hand, the surrounding world shifted, and the two found themselves standing in another independent world.
Staring at Wei Yuan, Longying slowly curled his lips into a sinister grin and said, "Making me chase you for so long, almost humiliating me completely... Good, very good! Now is the time for you to pay the price. This is my hunting world. What do you think? Quite stunning, isn't it? But what will truly plunge you into despair isn't this world, but... this!!"
From Longying's side stepped a tall warrior clutching an enormous horse-cleaving saber. His aura was linked to Longying's, bearing a ninety percent resemblance.
Longying's voice climbed an octave, his face flush with fanaticism. In a tone resembling a chant, he said, "Do you see? This is the legendary dragon guard! It is proof of a hunt, proof of status, and proof of strength! Never expected it, did you? I have already completed a hunt. And you will be my second dragon guard. To honor that privilege, I will make your death extraordinarily... brutal!!"
His voice lingered in the air, echoing endlessly.
When Longying opened his eyes again, he saw two figures standing beside Wei Yuan.
To the left was a young girl holding a bright red immortal sword; to the right was a scholar carrying a cluster of bundled tubes, which was spinning at high speed.
Chapter 370