The mortals inside Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains argued at an astonishing pace. With several hundred people speaking at once, Wei Yuan could hardly endure listening after a short while; it sounded no different from hundreds of fingernails screeching against a porcelain vase.
Yet amidst the squabbling, there were real nuggets of information. For instance, Wei Yuan now learned that the Bingli Divine Wood was actually a tea tree...
Wei Yuan had not originally intended to interfere in the daily lives of the mortals inside his Dao Foundation. However, with the two factions of believers bickering endlessly, he had no choice but to transmit a thought commanding them to hold their tongues.
With his will handed down, peace finally returned.
Wei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. Inspecting Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains again, he noticed that the celestial laurel tree and the Bingli Divine Wood stood far apart from each other, each dominating its own side. Beneath the Bingli Divine Wood lay a large mound of fertile soil, and believers continued hauling more over, building it higher and higher until its presence visibly overshadowed the celestial laurel tree.
By now, the Bingli Divine Wood had completely revived. It had sprouted several new branches, which hung with dozens of leaves. Wei Yuan could not help lingering his attention on the foliage.
The Bingli Divine Wood swayed at once, shedding two leaves that drifted into Wei Yuan’s palm. Not to be outdone, the celestial laurel tree sent two pale-red laurel blossoms flying from afar, which settled into his hand as well.
A short while later, Wei Yuan sat across from Cui Yu in the study. Before Cui Yu sat a cup of clear tea, the fresh fragrance of laurel wafting through the entire room.
Wei Yuan smiled. “I just obtained some good tea. Try it—it should do your Dao Foundation some good.”
Cui Yu picked up the teacup. At his touch, an icy chill gripped him, and a layer of frost instantly coated his entire palm, making him shudder despite his cultivation. Strangely enough, though the cold was bone-piercing, the tea remained crystal clear without a single flake of ice.
Inside the cup floated a single blue leaf and a delicate pale-red flower. Cui Yu recognized the flower; after all, Wei Yuan’s celestial laurel tree was no secret. He had no idea what the blue ice leaf was, yet one glance made it clear that its rank was in no way inferior to the laurel blossom.
Cui Yu tilted his head and drank the tea down in one gulp. He froze on the spot as a line of ice appeared in his throat and shot straight down. In the blink of an eye, a layer of frost enveloped his entire body!
Wei Yuan observed Cui Yu’s aura without interfering.
Cui Yu’s aura plummeted sharply at first, only beginning to climb back up from the trough a moment later. The impurities in his Dao power were noticeably reduced, replaced by an added trace of icy chill.
Color returned to Cui Yu’s face as the frost melted away. He let out a long breath and said, “What overbearing immortal power! It nearly turned my Dao Foundation into an ice sword!”
“Did it turn into an immortal foundation?” Wei Yuan asked.
“Just shy of it, but the improvement is already distinct. Whether I cross that final sliver hardly matters anymore,” Cui Yu said.
“Can you take another cup?”
Cui Yu waved his hands frantically. “No, I’ve reached my limit! Drinking more won't help; it would just squander immortal treasures for nothing.”
Wei Yuan had not expected that an argument among the mortals in his Dao Foundation would reveal another use for the Bingli Divine Wood. Moreover, the Bingli Divine Wood and the celestial laurel tree were remarkably similar: both belonged to the yin attribute, and the laurel’s white-gold lunar radiance was also intensely cold. When paired together, their medicinal properties stimulated each other, growing potent enough to purify a Dao Foundation.
Next, Cui Yu needed to cultivate immediately to stabilize his Dao Foundation, so he took his leave.
After seeing Cui Yu out, Wei Yuan sealed the remaining ice leaf and laurel blossom into a box. He summoned a cultivator and instructed him to deliver it to Zhang Sheng at the Northern Mountain Gate.
There was still some time before dawn, so Wei Yuan wanted to hear what these mortals were discussing. With tens of thousands of spirited mortals gathered together, the changes they produced had already begun to exceed his expectations.
With a shift of his divine sense, Wei Yuan heard countless voices, many of which were addressed directly to him.
“O Immortal Lord, the man to my left just secretly cursed you!”
“The chieftain stole and ate the offerings dedicated to you! I saw it with my own eyes!”
“Someone questioned the authenticity of your grotto-heaven! He said the spirit herbs growing in the ground are all fake!”
“Immortal Lord, the fellow in front of me is cursing you in his heart!”
Listening to this, Wei Yuan grew increasingly speechless. He sent his divine sense into Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains and looked down from beyond the vault of heaven, only to see several hundred people prostrating and praying before his immortal statue.
On the offering table before the statue sat a grand array of tributes, complete with immortal fruits, celestial vegetables, and the three sacrificial animals of cattle, sheep, and pigs. Yet every single tribute bore the true intent of the Cauldron; they had clearly been sculpted from the stones of Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains.
Wei Yuan frowned slightly. He had thought these people would remain quiet like the Dao Foundation puppet warriors of before; after all, so long as he did not die, the spiritual entities within Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains were practically ageless and immortal.
Whether she possessed sapience or not, the Yin-Yang Maiden essentially stood motionless. However, after other sapient dragon guards and Dao Foundation warriors appeared around her, no living thing dared exist within a hundred yards of her, and stepping three yards away made her completely invisible.
The three dragon guards and several enlightened Dao Foundation warriors also stood still when nothing was required of them.
Wei Yuan had assumed these spirited mortals were merely clever puppets and ornaments that would only act when given instructions. But from the looks of it, they clearly possessed their own thoughts, and their conduct was growing increasingly absurd.
Wei Yuan inspected other areas and discovered several hundred people hauling stones to erect a new idol.
A headache throbbed behind his temples. There were only tens of thousands of people in total, yet they had already conjured up over a dozen objects of worship. Were they trying to force him to switch to the divine way of incense?
Just then, Wei Yuan noticed that the hundreds of people building the idol had a division of labor: some carried stones, some cut the blocks, and one person even held a sheet of paper, directing the work.
They even have paper now? Wei Yuan swept his divine sense over it and found that the paper still contained the true intent of the Cauldron, only flattened and softened so that it could be rolled up. Sketched on the paper was an unfinished idol—a colossal Jade Toad.
Wei Yuan quietly withdrew from Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains.
At daybreak, a letter was placed before Wei Yuan, delivered alongside a chest containing thirty thousand taels of immortal silver. After reading the letter, Wei Yuan headed down to the prison and stood before Xu Chunyuan.
Xu Chunyuan gave a bitter smile. “For Lord Wei to visit in person, I suppose my life ends today.”
“Elder Xu is still worth quite a sum. Someone paid thirty thousand so that you never return.”
A moment later, Wei Yuan walked out of the prison. His Dao Foundation had gained twenty strands of otherworldly fortune. As for the bestowal of heaven and earth, it was divided among the spirit plants. The newly sprouted Langya Divine Wood and the four immortal orchids showed not the slightest hesitation when snatching up the bestowal.
Just like that, a month flew by. The vast majority of the three hundred thousand captives became registered sinners, thirty thousand of whom signed blood contracts to become soldiers. All the displaced refugees arrived in Qingming, where newcomers now started out by serving as military recruits.
By this point, the fourth cohort of the Dao Foundation class had completed their first attempt at forging their foundations. Out of the Cui family’s five hundred disciples, four succeeded; out of the domain’s two hundred cultivators, five succeeded. Among the eight hundred Dao soldiers, thirty forged their Dao Foundations, a success rate well above normal standards.
Even so, in Wei Yuan’s eyes, this rate was still rather low. After this round, the remainder ought to accept the fact that they lacked exceptional talent and cultivate obediently according to the Dao Foundation templates. No matter how poor a Dao Foundation cultivator was, they were still a Dao Foundation, far superior to those unable to forge one in their entire lives.
The overall caliber of the Palace of Grand Beginning's Dao soldiers was notably higher than that of ordinary cultivators. Having fought through life-and-death battles on the front lines, their foundations were vastly better. Yet the palace had essentially considered them incapable of forging Dao Foundations; otherwise, they would never have handed them over to Wei Yuan.
Over the next month, different Dao Foundation templates would be imparted based on individual constitutions, after which they would cultivate accordingly. Following a month of such training, they could make another attempt.
During this month, the newly opened fields finally reached one million mu, and all had been seeded, putting Wei Yuan slightly at ease. As the acreage expanded, the putrid water in the Qingming boundary stone gradually thinned, cyan water increased, and the power of Jia Wood Life-Mystic slowly recovered.
By now, the standing army had expanded to forty thousand, while the militia troops stood at one hundred and fifty thousand, all equipped with basic fire guns.
What Wei Yuan did not know, however, was that while he kept his head down developing his territory, the proclamation that “the Xu family’s dharma idols are all trash” had already spread far and wide—and at a speed vastly exceeding his imagination.
All at once, immortal sects, grotto-heavens, prominent clans, and royal houses throughout the various realms learned of such a person: a mere Dao Foundation cultivator who openly treated an entire great clan's dharma idols as worthless rubbish.
Although Wei Yuan had not targeted them, the Seven Clans and Thirteen Prominent Families, while differing in rank, were generally on the same tier of strength. Even the immortal sects and grotto-heavens did not consider themselves vastly superior to the Xu family; they were essentially in the same league.
In particular, after the Xu family ancestor, Xu Wangu, defeated Pei Tinghai and regained his youth, the major factions’ appraisal of the Xu family had risen by half a grade. Although word had it that Xu Wangu had run into trouble and was currently hiding inside a grotto-heaven unable to walk the mortal world, so long as he faced no imminent crisis regarding his lifespan, any trouble could eventually be resolved over the vast stretch of future years.
Those in the know could naturally tell at a glance that Wei Yuan was leveraging his enmity with the Xu family to cultivate his own invincible momentum. However, this method of building momentum was rather extreme—looking more like someone seeking suicide than cultivating.
Yet none of the various sects and clans lacked geniuses who nurtured an invincible momentum. It was just that most of them cultivated it through invincibility within their own tier; who would challenge everyone an entire major realm above them like Wei Yuan?
Consequently, countless proud young geniuses fixed their eyes on Wei Yuan, eager to test their mettle against him. This was something Wei Yuan had never anticipated before throwing down his challenge to the Xu family.
At this moment, Wei Yuan was completely absorbed in internal development, utterly unaware that outside, the rising winds were already foretelling a coming storm.
***
Chapter 388: Talking Reason
Biding his time and keeping a low profile—Wei Yuan felt that over the past month, he had truly grasped the essence of those words. For an entire month, he had not provoked anyone or ventured out to fight a battle.
Before Wei Yuan stretched an endless expanse of grain fields. The sprouts had grown to over a foot tall, and in less than a month, it would be harvest season. The crops were still somewhat sparse and uneven in height, with an estimated yield of two hundred jin per mu.
This hundred-thousand-mu tract consisted entirely of newly cleared land. As Wei Yuan swept his divine sense across it, he could feel the toxicity in the soil being absorbed bit by bit by the shoots and gradually transformed. He estimated the yield would increase by ten percent next harvest, and once Jia Wood Life-Mystic fully recovered, it could rise by another ten percent.
The yield of top-grade fertile fields in the human domain was roughly four hundred jin. Qingming had been established for barely a year, yet the best fields already yielded over three hundred jin. In time, as the world transformed further, reaching the standard of top-grade farmland would pose no problem.
Not only did Wei Yuan grow his own grain, but he was also purchasing massive quantities from surrounding areas, driving up grain prices across the entire Western Regions.
Not far from Wei Yuan’s view lay a patch of grayish-black rot-soil. However, the rot-soil had ceased expanding, and its toxicity was being purged step by step.
At the thought that the harvest season was less than a month away, joy welled up in Wei Yuan’s heart. He mused inwardly, “Store grain broadly, be slow to claim...”
Wei Yuan snapped to alertness and hastily banished the thought from his mind.
Just then, Yu Zhizhuo flew over, tossed a box toward Wei Yuan from a distance, and turned to leave. Catching the box, Wei Yuan asked, “Martial Uncle, why the rush? What are you off to do?”
Yu Zhizhuo’s voice faded into the distance. “I just discovered a top-grade ore vein to the west. There might be spirit items, so I have to go capture them. Inside the box is your gun—it’s been remodeled.”
Before the words finished echoing, Yu Zhizhuo was already far away.
Wei Yuan opened the box and saw a five-foot-long short gun lying inside. The entire piece was white-jade in color, adorned with openwork golden patterns. At first glance, Wei Yuan could scarcely recognize it as his Flawless Transmigration.
Flawless Transmigration had been reforged by Yu Zhizhuo, its structure and formations completely reworked. It could now accept Wei Yuan’s flying-sword magazines to fire flying swords in succession, and a grip had been added at the rear to help Wei Yuan steady and aim when launching swords. The muzzle still retained a slot for attaching the Crimson Night Immortal-Slaying Sword.
Picking up Flawless Transmigration, Wei Yuan went to the firing range to test it. The weapon was now equivalent to a top-grade Dharma artifact, vastly superior to the gun Wei Yuan had haphazardly molded himself. Its range, rate of fire, and destructive power completely overwhelmed the original. Every flying sword fired carried the full-force strike of a Dao Foundation.
However, times had changed. Ever since Wei Yuan returned to Qingming, Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains had revived, and his daily natural Dao power recovery was dozens of times greater than before. The number of enlightened Dao Foundation warriors had also increased to ten. Under their tireless labor day and night, flying swords now piled high like a mountain within his Dao Foundation, totaling tens of thousands of rounds. Looking at the mountain of swords, Wei Yuan felt for the first time that Flawless Transmigration had too few barrels.
At this moment, Wei Yuan recalled Xu Wenwu’s toad. In hindsight, that fellow had possessed true foresight: weapons were best made either with numerous barrels or thick bores, unlike Wei Yuan’s middling piece, which could hardly lay claim to the word ‘firepower.’
Stowing Flawless Transmigration, Wei Yuan brought out a map to begin planning new farmlands.
Qingming’s territory now spanned three hundred li, so Wei Yuan planned two phases of new fields, each comprising five hundred thousand mu. Once both phases were opened, the domain would have two million mu of land, yielding four hundred million jin of grain each season. Wei Yuan was already considering whether to adopt the otherworldly system of weights and measures; otherwise, the current numbers were simply too massive, making bookkeeping a headache.
Just as Wei Yuan was striving toward storing grain broadly, someone suddenly arrived with an urgent report. “Domain Lord! An urgent dispatch from Mountain Pacifying Military Commissioner Li Zhi of Zhao! He was ambushed and defeated, and now he is besieged by mountain folk at Mount E! He requests that the Domain Lord send troops to his rescue!”
“What?” Wei Yuan was startled. He snatched the dispatch and unrolled it to read carefully.
Attached to the distress letter was a map marking the location of Mount E, along with the surrounding mountain folk positions and general troop distribution. A trace of Li Zhi’s Dao power was also infused into the letter to verify its authenticity.
The letter stated that Li Zhi had led his army into battle against the mountain folk, had carelessly fallen into an ambush, and now had only five thousand men remaining at his side, while the mountain folk surrounding him numbered over a hundred thousand.
Wei Yuan calculated the distance and location; Qingming was indeed the closest to Li Zhi. Because Li Zhi was overly ambitious, he had surged forward nearly ten thousand li in a single push. The other Zhao border garrisons were even farther away than Qingming, and mobilizing border troops required tedious procedures. By the time a sizable force could be dispatched, Li Zhi would have long been wiped out.
Wei Yuan immediately gave the order to assemble the troops, deploying both the Dragon Gallop and Dragon Wing armies, along with ten thousand regular soldiers.
While waiting for the army to muster, another urgent report arrived. “Domain Lord, there’s a monk claiming he wants to reason with you! We told him you were busy, but he forced his way in! We truly couldn't stop him...”
Wei Yuan looked directly into the distance. A speck of Buddhist light was speeding toward him, pursued by a dozen cultivators who could not catch up no matter what.
Within the Buddhist light was a young monk of extraordinary appearance, clad in a moon-white robe. With wide sleeves fluttering as if treading on waves, he possessed peerless grace.
Wei Yuan frowned. Anxious to save lives, how could he have time for this baffling young monk? The last time this little monk showed up unannounced to preach his reasoning, his arguments had been utterly bizarre—sheer nonsense in Wei Yuan’s eyes.
Wei Yuan recalled holding nothing back last time, beating the little monk black and blue. Why had this fellow come back again? Had he mastered some powerful new technique, or was an elder of his sect secretly tailing him?
Seeing that the young monk’s cultivation was merely at the peak of Dao Foundation, Wei Yuan felt that defeating him was hardly an honor, and had no wish to become entangled.
In the blink of an eye, the young monk came to a halt before Wei Yuan, clasped his palms, and said, “This humble monk is Honglian. Benefactor Wei, we meet again.”
With an impatient expression, Wei Yuan snapped, “Say what you have to say, and make it quick!”
The young monk sighed. “This monk originally learned some new reasoning and intended to discuss it thoroughly with you. However, Benefactor’s recent perverse conduct has gone beyond what ordinary Buddhist dharma can convert. Only a sharp blow over the head can guide you back from the astray path.”
Wei Yuan laughed in exasperation. “Pray tell, how have I acted perversely?”
“Benefactor Wei repeatedly raises arms, creating boundless killing karma. For instance, the recent battle with the Xu family created tens of thousands of wronged ghosts out of nothing.”
Wei Yuan narrowed his eyes and said coldly, “Little monk, watch your mouth! In that last battle, countless loyal and brave warriors of my Qingming perished! Their honorable names will not be slandered by your reckless tongue! If you simply want to indulge your mouth, let me tell you plainly: it isn't as if I haven't killed people from your Great Precious Flower Pure Land! I personally sent one of this generation's Wisdom Kings to be reincarnated! Are you looking to die as well?”
The young monk remained expressionless. “It seems Benefactor cannot take in the Buddhist dharma. Very well. In any case, this monk’s fists and kicks have improved slightly.”
He first bowed with clasped palms, then slowly spread his hands apart. Between his snow-white hands appeared a speck of blood-colored light, which in an instant turned into a rippling little lake of blood light. Meanwhile, a layer of blood radiance coated his body, draping over him like a crimson kasaya.
Wei Yuan first glanced at the bronze clasp on the blood-colored kasaya. It was plainly no ordinary item, exerting noticeable pressure on Wei Yuan; it was at least a top-grade Dharma treasure, not something an ordinary Dharma Idol cultivator could possess.
Wei Yuan then looked up at the sky.
Beyond the vault of heaven, an imposing will expressed slight surprise: “Such sharpness. It resembles an innate divine ability.”
This little monk had indeed come prepared: carrying a top-grade defensive Dharma treasure, he surely also inherited a dharma idol that would be in no way inferior to Shan Kai’s Wisdom King Golden Body. With an elder watching over him from beyond the heavenly vault, he possessed the peak configuration for an immortal sect disciple venturing outside. What remained unknown was whether he had other treasures on him, similar to the Immortal Monarch’s aura Wei Yuan had carried when traveling to the Western Regions.
Judging by the young monk’s entrance, Wei Yuan assumed he possessed such a trump card.
Seeing that the young monk Honglian had already assumed his stance, Wei Yuan dispensed with courtesy. Raising Flawless Transmigration, he clicked a flying-sword magazine into place with a snap. In the next instant, amidst a thunderous roar, a long streak of Dao fire erupted from the muzzle, and twenty flying swords slammed into the young monk simultaneously!
By the time the first magazine emptied, the monk’s blood kasaya was shattered, leaving only the bronze clasp still gleaming brightly. Yet Wei Yuan instantly loaded a fresh magazine, the gunfire blending into a continuous roar without a single pause.
Countless flying swords battered the monk like a tempestuous storm, instantly stripping the bronze clasp of its luster and tearing the moon-white robes to shreds. A golden body had just begun to surface, but before its form could even be discerned, it was shattered by the swarm of flying swords.
Wei Yuan finally ceased firing. Blowing away the faint smoke rising from the muzzle, he looked down at the young monk, who lay on the ground bristling with flying swords and unable to rise. The monk had claimed his fists and kicks had improved slightly, yet Wei Yuan had seen neither his fists nor his kicks, had received none of his Buddhist dharma, and had not even clearly seen his golden body before a volley of flying swords put him down.
Wei Yuan faintly felt that he needed to reassess the power of Flawless Transmigration now that it used magazines.
Grabbing the battered, tattered young monk, Wei Yuan hurled him straight out of the domain.
This time, Wei Yuan did not even bother to say a word. With a single cold snort, he flew off to rendezvous with his army.
Chapter 387