This round of heavenly lightning struck Wei Yuan, leaving him charred on the outside, tender on the inside, and wafting an aroma all over.
Fortunately, his physical body was formidable. Countless minute parts across his body began to regenerate, and having been tempered by the lightning tribulation, much of his flesh and blood was quenched and reborn, its strength climbing yet another notch. At this point, Wei Yuan had effectively undergone a dharma idol heavenly tribulation; following this tempering, the sheer power of his physical body could rank among the very foremost even within the Dharma Idol realm.
Yet looking at Xu Wenwu, Wei Yuan suddenly felt he should tell him about this later, or perhaps not tell him at all.
Otherwise, if that fellow had another brain cramp and came up with some method to temper the physical body without needing to undergo a tribulation, wouldn't his own lightning tribulation have been suffered in vain? If that happened, Wei Yuan would surely cough up a mouthful of old blood on the spot.
Only now did the cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning find a moment to speak with Wei Yuan. Cui Yu, however, said nothing; he merely walked over and gave Wei Yuan a hug.
When the two parted, Wei Yuan sized Cui Yu up from head to toe and said, "How did you end up looking even worse than me, the guy who actually took the hits?"
Cui Yu retorted crossly, "Ever since I met a guy like you, my life hasn't known peace!"
On his journey back, Wei Yuan had already learned what took place in Qingming, as well as how everyone had pooled their strength to crush the Xu family for the second time.
Wei Yuan was not adept at expressing such feelings, so he merely gripped Cui Yu's arm tightly and said, "Once we settle the domain, I'll go with you back to the Cui family and knock Cui Tianlin flat!"
Cui Yu let out a faint smile. "I don't have much confidence, though."
"Don't worry, you won't lose!"
After Cui Yu came Sun Yu and Yu Zhizhuo. Both belonged to the senior martial uncle generation, so Wei Yuan greeted them respectfully. Seeing Wei Yuan's cultivation, the two suddenly felt that their own advancement to the Dharma Idol realm ought to be placed on the agenda.
Last was Feng Tingyu. Without a second thought, the girl stepped up and caught Wei Yuan in a bear hug, squeezing him tight against her chest before releasing her hold and sending him bouncing backward.
At this time, the eight hundred Dao soldiers disembarked from the flying boat and unloaded the supplies.
Over the next few days, Wei Yuan busied himself dizzy with recounting the domain's population and reorganizing the troops. Following the second rout of the Xu family, displaced refugees had continuously arrived in Qingming from all directions—a few hundred a day at least, and several thousand at most. Adding the Xu family's three hundred thousand captives, the entire population of Qingming had now reached eight hundred and fifty thousand.
Fortunately, the domain had completed another grain harvest during this period; otherwise, food truly would not have sufficed. Over a hundred thousand mu of farmland in the domain had been destroyed under the Karma Great Curse, but four hundred thousand mu remained harvestable, yielding eighty million jin of grain in this harvest.
While the grain seemed abundant, the domain now also had thirty thousand warhorses seized from the Xu family's private army.
Although human warhorses did not need meat like Liao horses, they still ate a great deal. The upkeep of a single warhorse was equivalent to roughly twenty ordinary soldiers; in grain alone, one had to feed it at least a dozen jin every day. Spirit horses required spirit rice on top of that—even the most ordinary spirit horse cost as much as ten-odd Dao Foundation cultivators.
The captives had already undergone preliminary screening, and most were willing to stay—provided, of course, that Wei Yuan granted them official army status in the future.
The several hundred Dao Foundation cultivators were far more troublesome, as nearly all of them wanted to ransom themselves. Wei Yuan was no longer polite this time, raising the ransom to seven thousand taels of immortal silver per person and refusing to release anyone until the immortal silver was in hand. Even if these people made it back, they would be stripped of their fortunes. If they wouldn't pay, that was fine too; he would simply keep them locked up.
Absorbing captives was a tedious and protracted affair that could only proceed bit by bit. Wei Yuan delegated these tasks, then reorganized two elite divisions, bringing each to a full complement of five thousand. He named the cavalry Dragon Wing and the infantry Dragon Soaring.
Now that Qingming had ample warhorses, Wei Yuan allocated two mounts per rider for the Wing cavalry. The Dragon Soaring troops were assigned horses for transport, and he planned to fully equip them with flying sword guns down the line.
However, the version Wei Yuan used for himself was too powerful for ordinary Dao Foundation cultivators to handle at all. Moreover, its design was still crude, driven entirely by Dao force. He would need to confer with Yu Zhizhuo to see how it could be improved before it could be rolled out on a large scale.
What surprised Wei Yuan was that Wang Yu had perished.
Back then, he had been gravely injured under the Karma Great Curse. Though he survived at the time, his injuries grew heavier by the day, and even Sun Yu was powerless to save him. Just two days after Wei Yuan's return, Wang Yu finally failed to pull through and was burned to ash by azure fire.
The other young masters and ladies of the prominent clans had also all suffered heavy injuries under the Karma Great Curse, with Xu Yi being severely wounded as well.
Because the disciples from Sky Azure Hall and Water Moon Hall had not been around for long, they had mostly suffered light injuries and recovered after a few days of rest. This had stirred some quiet grumbling among the domain's other cultivators. Coupled with the fact that almost none of the disciples from the two halls held important posts, several of them could not bear the gossip and had already returned to the sect. Five had returned from Water Moon Hall; Fei Yutong's cultivation had hit a bottleneck and required a breakthrough, so she had also been recalled by a Perfected Person of Water Moon Hall.
Wei Yuan did not mind this and set the matter aside after inquiring about it.
After a busy day, Wei Yuan walked over to make a round through the small courtyard where Zhang Sheng used to live. The courtyard remained just as it had been, the furnishings entirely untouched, with a history book only half-read still resting on the desk.
The four Dragon Blood Trees planted in the courtyard had vanished, leaving only four charred, deep pits. Wei Yuan could not help feeling fortunate that he had acted decisively back then and planted all four at once. Had there been one fewer, missing that bit of karmic luck, Zhang Sheng might well have fallen on the spot.
Wei Yuan paced around the room, then sat before Zhang Sheng's desk. Smoothing out a sheet of jade paper, he dipped his brush in ink and unconsciously wrote across the paper: "Junior Brother Xiaoyu..."
Yet after writing the salutation, Wei Yuan realized he had quite a lot to write—such as "I have recently obtained a bundle of immortal plants," or "Lately, heavenly merits have been impossible to spend fast enough, a rather troublesome affair," and so forth.
In the end, Wei Yuan set down the brush. There was too much to write, and putting it all down seemed somewhat pretentious; it was better to write it out bit by bit over time—that was how things lasted.
Wei Yuan suddenly felt a stirring in his heart. Swiveling his chair, he saw a red-robed woman sitting in the guest seat behind him, with no telling when she had appeared.
By now, Zhu Yuanjin's identity was no longer a secret; True Monarch Xuanyue had already told Wei Yuan while at the northern mountain gate. Wei Yuan immediately stood and bowed respectfully. "I have yet to properly thank Senior for coming to our rescue."
Zhu Yuanjin said indifferently, "No need to thank me. I don't get along with those old fogies up top and had some unpleasant squabbles with them, including your martial grandfather, Old Thief Chunqiu."
Wei Yuan was baffled, not knowing who Old Thief Chunqiu was.
Zhu Yuanjin said, "Before your martial grandfather entered the Daoist sect, his name was Su Chunqiu. We're all used to calling him Old Thief Chunqiu."
Touching upon what little face his patriarch had left, Wei Yuan could only pretend he hadn't heard.
"Those old fogies insist on defending the northern mountain gate to the death, babbling that it's the homeland formed from our founding ancestor's immortal body and not an inch may be yielded, or else it would desecrate the ancestor. Humph, they've already lost over a thousand li. One of the ancestor's thighs must have been desecrated by now, hasn't it?"
Wei Yuan had no idea how to reply, so he kept his face expressionless and pretended to be a block of wood.
Seeming to have no one else to voice these thoughts to, Zhu Yuanjin continued, "What's the point of clinging to that wretched patch of land? It just shields the Three Kingdoms from calamity for nothing! If you ask me, we should simply abandon the northern mountain gate and instead ally with the Three Kingdoms' enemies—especially the Xu family's mortal foes, the Zhao and the Li. Let the alien races sweep through the Three Kingdoms first, and then we come back to recover the lost land.
"If a few of them aren't wiped out, those great clans will really think they're eternal and indestructible!"
Wei Yuan's thoughts raced. Giving it serious consideration, he actually found the plan remarkably viable. No one could halt tens of millions of Liao Clan soldiers marching south, and it would inevitably reshuffle the north entirely. The only problem was that along the northern border of a million li, the mortals who died would likely be counted in the billions.
"What do you think?" Zhu Yuanjin asked.
Wei Yuan did not answer directly, saying instead, "A few days ago, a single sentence from this disciple brought down a heavenly tribulation. That was this disciple's thought."
"Hmph, another stubborn little brat. Whatever. People like you might be a bit foolish, but you often manage things others could never accomplish." Zhu Yuanjin suddenly sighed, as though reminded of something.
After a moment of silence, she said, "For the coming period, I will continue keeping watch here. Qiuniu and Taotie of the Xu family were wounded by me, and they won't recover easily. There aren't many True Monarchs left who can move freely, and the Lu clan in the north is eyeing them like a hawk, so all should be quiet. Still, do not be careless. Do you know how I deter the Xu family's True Monarchs?"
"I ask Senior for your guidance."
A faint smile appeared at the corners of Zhu Yuanjin's mouth. "I will lurk in the shadows and launch a surprise attack only after a Xu family True Monarch makes a move. That way, I'm guaranteed to land my hit. So if you die on the very first strike, even I won't be able to save you—I can only promise to hack deep and slice off a few more shameful, sensitive parts to vent your anger."
Cold sweat beaded on Wei Yuan's brow. Was this senior truly not using him as bait to fish for her enemies?
Zhu Yuanjin added, "One more thing: the affinity between you and Bao Yun has come to an end. Oh, those were Bao Manshan's words. He also said that if you want to renew that affinity, you should go to the Bao family as soon as possible."
Wei Yuan's heart tightened. "What does it mean that our affinity has ended?"
Zhu Yuanjin said, "From what I know, she may be going to Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land to receive a dharma idol. I heard an important figure perished at Great Treasure Radiance Pure Land this time, leaving the Immovable Tathagata dharma idol vacant. The Bao girl is the best candidate for it."
"What happens if she receives this dharma idol?" Wei Yuan asked.
"Nothing much. Once she attains Scenery Command and her mindscape world transforms into a Pure Land, she will fully become the reincarnated body of the Immovable Tathagata, and the old Bao Yun will effectively be dead. With the Bao girl's talent and her affinity for this dharma idol, reaching Scenery Command might not even take ten years."
"Then when should I go?" Wei Yuan asked.
"Now is not the time; going now would be pointless. The most pressing matter is to nurture an invincible momentum. Only then can you further elevate the spirituality of your Dao Foundation until it can rise no higher—that is the proper moment to ascend to Dharma Idol. Just visit the Bao family before your breakthrough to Dharma Idol."
"And how does one nurture an invincible momentum?" Wei Yuan asked.
"The Zhang girl is best at this; you can just learn from her. Oh, sometimes listening to her talk makes me want to explode."
"Teacher isn't here. I ask Senior to give me a little more guidance." With Zhu Yuanjin present, Wei Yuan naturally wanted to hear and ask as much as he could.
Zhu Yuanjin said, "Isn't that simple? Just tell everyone you meet: 'In my eyes, all your dharma idols are trash!' I guarantee you won't lack opponents. Then defeat every last one of them, and your invincible momentum will be forged.
"Or go one step further and put it this way: 'All dharma idols under heaven are trash.'"
Wei Yuan quietly wiped away cold sweat, feeling that saying the latter would make it even easier to meet an untimely demise halfway through.
Seeing the expectant look in Zhu Yuanjin's eyes, Wei Yuan could only say, "If I say that, wouldn't I be insulting Martial Grandfather Fenhai as well?"
"So what if you insult him? Little Fenhai might not even be your match now—what's there to fear?"
Wei Yuan wiped his sweat again in secret. This wasn't a matter of whether he could beat him; it was a matter of betraying one's master and ancestors. Yet at the thought of betraying master and ancestors, Wei Yuan felt a guilty twinge.
Zhu Yuanjin stood up and said, "I'm leaving now."
Wei Yuan suddenly asked, "Senior, what did you actually do when you were young?"
Zhu Yuanjin smiled slightly. "Sharp, aren't you? Back then, I was originally an assassin. When I was at your realm, I slaughtered plenty of trash dharma idols too. Later, to assassinate an important target, I concealed my name and entered the Palace of Grand Beginning to get close to them. Afterward, I felt staying at the Palace of Grand Beginning wasn't bad at all, so I stayed all the way until now, even managing to become a Vice Watcher."
Wei Yuan parted his lips, but wisely refrained from asking whether the assassination had succeeded back then. Knowing too much made it easy to get silenced.
After Zhu Yuanjin departed, Wei Yuan composed himself and went to find Cui Yu to deliberate on deploying the troops. After the two had discussed for half a day, Cui Yu finally recalled something and asked, "Where are we going to attack?"
Wei Yuan tapped a spot on the map and said, "Here. Let's collect some interest first."
Where Wei Yuan's finger pointed was none other than Hanyang Pass.
Chapter 379