The heavenly tribulation cascaded downward in relentless waves, nearly leveling the buildings of the secluded cultivation grounds. The moment the tempest finally passed, Wei Yuan rushed into the ruins and dug out three charred bodies that wafted with the aroma of roasted meat.
Sun Yu and Yu Zhizhuo were both on the verge of death. Most of the lightning tribulation had originally been diverted by the lightning rods, but the subsequent heavenly fire and metal blades had destroyed the equipment. Consequently, the two had absorbed the full brunt of the metal-lightning and fire-lightning tribulations.
The third charred figure was Xu Wenwu. The fellow had been fast asleep when the heavenly tribulation abruptly descended, leaving him no time to flee, and he had taken several strikes of tribulation lightning as well. Yet among the three, his aura was the most robust—he had miraculously sustained only minor injuries.
Wei Yuan hurriedly summoned cultivators skilled in medicine to treat them. With the tribulation lightning past, the vital energy of all three touched bottom and rebounded. The charred flesh peeled away from their bodies, new skin gradually emerged, and after half a day, they had already recovered.
Yu Zhizhuo's dharma idol was a small, metal-aspected bird endowed with large eyes and immense spirituality. Although it did not appear formidable in combat, its nimble flight and curious, probing gaze made it clear that this dharma idol's grade was exceedingly high.
When the little bird glanced at Wei Yuan, he instantly felt as if he were about to be seen straight through. An instant later, the bird shrieked in agony, tears streaming from its eyes, and vanished directly.
This dharma idol possessed the power to pierce through illusions, travel through earth and stone, and see into the intrinsic nature of physical matter. Just now, it had attempted to fathom Wei Yuan's true essence, only to nearly blind itself, and it dared not show its head again.
Its functions leaned heavily toward utility: it allowed Yu Zhizhuo to perceive the properties of various materials and travel underground, making it an invaluable tool for locating mineral veins. It could likewise discern an opponent's strengths, weaknesses, and deceptive maneuvers, which, when paired with potent treasures, would prove miraculously effective in combat.
Sun Yu's dharma idol cut a far more conspicuous figure: a colossal venomous scorpion fused seamlessly with an alchemy furnace. Pale black smoke puffed incessantly from the furnace, so lethal that its toxicity required no testing to verify.
Wei Yuan watched in contemplative silence, reflecting that this dharma idol seemed somewhat at odds with Sun Yu's profession of healing the wounded and rescuing the dying. Sun Yu's own expression was rather grim; he felt that his years of benevolent intentions had been completely misunderstood by heaven and earth.
As for the third person, Xu Wenwu, something seemed poised to sprout from the crown of his head, but in the end, nothing did. After all, Xu Wenwu had not even cast his Dao Foundation yet; a dharma idol remained exceedingly far off.
Having shed his charred skin and flesh, Xu Wenwu appeared even fairer and more delicate than before. He was plump and round all over, shimmering with a pearlescent luster like a miniature pearl Buddha.
Reviewing the entire ordeal in detail, Wei Yuan finally understood why even a Dharma Idol heavenly tribulation had failed to strike Xu Wenwu dead. The fellow had somehow exhausted all the karmic luck Wei Yuan had imbued into the secluded grounds to guard against accidents.
Protected by this karmic luck, Xu Wenwu had not only preserved his life, but his injuries were also the lightest of the three. Furthermore, having weathered a heavenly tribulation meant for ascending to the Dharma Idol realm as a mere Body Casting cultivator, his physical frame had undergone a profound tempering, improving by a shocking margin.
With two more Dharma Idols added to Qingming, its strength had grown considerably, and Wei Yuan was thoroughly pleased. The two still needed to spend a few days resting in seclusion to consolidate their foundations, after which they would return to the Palace of Grand Beginning to study cultivation arts suitable for the Dharma Idol realm.
Wei Yuan ordered the reconstruction of the seclusion grounds, wondering why heavenly tribulations within Qingming frequently mutated and drastically escalated in difficulty. What was the underlying problem?
After turning it over in his mind, Wei Yuan concluded that it was likely an issue with the candidates themselves. There was simply no other explanation.
Right then, a thought stirred in Wei Yuan's heart. A new figure had appeared within the Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains. It was Cui Yu. His presence inside the landscape signified that he was already asleep in the waking world.
With a shift of divine sense, Wei Yuan appeared before him and asked, "Coming here so frequently—won't you exhaust yourself?"
Cui Yu shook his head. "No. I have clearly sensed that my opportunity for advancement lies right here."
"Then... make sure you get enough rest." Wei Yuan felt that his own words sounded rather strange.
For those who could enter the Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, sleeping and resting merely marked the start of another shift of work.
Cui Yu nodded and entered the All Beings Are Equal War Implement Research Institute, setting about contributing his share of effort to the cause of equality for all beings.
However, unlike the other people who entered the landscape, Cui Yu served as a node, similar to the immortal plants.
The immortal plants possessed a nature far superior to a Dao Foundation; acting as nodes, they could process tens of thousands of tasks in a single instant. Cui Yu could barely handle four or five tasks simultaneously, managing at most ten mortals so their cognitive faculties did not sit idle.
Exhausting though it was, and fundamentally different from ordinary ways of thinking, Cui Yu gritted his teeth and persevered. He had progressed from initially lasting only a quarter of an hour before waking to now sustaining a full two-hour shichen. He had also advanced from constantly making errors while handling just two tasks to steadily managing four or five at once.
Cui Yu had first entered the Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains by sheer coincidence. At the beginning, he had been utterly oblivious, and only after three or four occurrences did he notice something amiss, alerting Wei Yuan and discovering that he was inside Wei Yuan's dharma idol world.
Yet these past few days of continuous labor—particularly the experience of having his mental faculties squeezed dry by the immortal plants like an ordinary mortal—had abruptly stimulated Cui Yu's inspiration and an unconventional gift. He could faintly sense that a blessing was summoning him!
Consequently, Cui Yu redoubled his efforts, going to sleep on a fixed schedule each day and remaining asleep for two full shichen at a stretch, paying no heed to Wei Yuan's warnings.
Later, when Wei Yuan noticed that changes were gradually surfacing in Cui Yu's Dao Foundation and its spirituality had noticeably improved, he ceased interfering.
Cui Yu's entry into the Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains had been an accident. Aside from him, Wei Yuan initially had no intention of drawing any Palace of Grand Beginning cultivators inside. Those permitted within were the cultivators of the Dao Foundation class, along with the sacrifices and the Xu family youths.
The sacrifices and the Xu family youths possessed clean backgrounds and would never depart from Qingming; once they entered Wei Yuan's mindscape world, they could participate fully in every endeavor. Thus, the moment Wei Yuan returned to Qingming, it was equivalent to gaining the cognitive power of over a hundred thousand mortals, causing the project milestones across the major research institutes to advance by leaps and bounds.
However, Yu Zhizhuo and Sun Yu attaining the Dharma Idol realm immediately galvanized the other cultivators from the Palace of Grand Beginning.
By now, fifty to sixty members from the various halls of the Palace of Grand Beginning were stationed in Qingming, each bearing distinct duties. Many among them had cultivated to the late Dao Foundation perfection stage, but because their spirituality fell just slightly short, they dared not attempt the breakthrough to Dharma Idol.
One noble scion who was on good terms with Cui Yu happened to learn that the spirituality of Cui Yu's Dao Foundation was currently flourishing. Overcome with envy, he pestered Cui Yu with questions for a long time until Cui Yu had no choice but to divulge his secret.
Thereupon, this noble scion immediately went to Wei Yuan, declaring his readiness to temper himself within the mindscape world and swearing a solemn oath never to leak Wei Yuan's secret.
This scion was among the very first batch who had arrived alongside Cui Yu. Like Wang Yu and Xu Yi, he was one of the original sixteen profligates, bound to Wei Yuan by deep affection and substantial shared accomplishments.
His aptitude was ordinary, but his luck was remarkably good. Braving life and death through years of bloody battles in Qingming, he had unknowingly achieved perfection in his Dao Foundation, pulling ahead of many others in cultivation progress.
Wei Yuan carefully examined the Dao Foundation in his sea of consciousness, discovering that although his cultivation realm had reached completion, its spirituality was severely deficient and exceedingly rigid. Attempting to ascend to Dharma Idol under such conditions would be courting certain death. Adopting an attitude of treating a dead horse as if it were still alive, Wei Yuan pulled him into the Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains.
Naturally, the area accessible to outsiders upon entering the landscape was strictly limited. They could not see the Jade Mountain and the Gate of the Many Realms, nor could they see Yin-Yang and the Sword of Heritage.
Wei Yuan understood that the moment he brought others into his mindscape world, the secret of his Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World would inevitably become known sooner or later. But so long as no one caught sight of Yin-Yang or the Gate of the Many Realms, it was of little consequence.
On the contrary, having an almost fully spiritualized mindscape world while newly arrived at the Dharma Idol realm was a talent that, once made known, ought to harvest a measure of karmic luck for him.
Since he had already admitted one noble scion, Wei Yuan simply assembled those cultivators who were approaching the Dharma Idol stage and had spent considerable time in Qingming, opening up the option to temper themselves within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World.
As a result, the Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains grew considerably livelier, gaining several dozen human nodes. Having witnessed such a magnificent mindscape world upon their arrival, their enthusiasm surged sky-high. Every single one of them strove to sleep, working tirelessly in their slumber.
From the moment they stepped into the Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, they finally tasted the joy of not wasting a single second of their lives. Their blessing was about to descend.
Just as Wei Yuan was concentrating all available strength on Bao Yun's Ding'an City, driving its construction forward at breakneck speed, word finally arrived of the Shaman army massing.
Scouts sent forward reported that the initial gathering of the Shaman army already exceeded five hundred thousand. The strength of their follow-up forces remained unknown, as did the number of high-level experts and great figures.
Although Wei Yuan had been preparing for a Shaman offensive all along, this time the Shamans had come thoroughly prepared; handling them would be anything but easy.
The previous time, the Shamans had deployed two Scenery Command cultivators and retreated in defeat. For this resurgence, without even needing to think, there would certainly be more than two. The only question was whether there would be three, four, or even more.
Upon learning of the Shaman forces, Wei Yuan wrote to the Palace of Grand Beginning at the first opportunity, requesting Patriarch Xuanyue to come and oversee the defenses. As for the other True Monarchs, Wei Yuan felt he lacked the standing and personal rapport to summon them, and with the Northern Mountain Gate also facing pressure, True Monarchs could not be moved lightly.
Furthermore, having eloped with Bao Yun, Wei Yuan could hardly invite Bao Manshan over to observe. As for Zhu Yuanjin, she moved like a phantom, and Wei Yuan had no idea where to find her.
Given that his side might be at a disadvantage in True Monarch-level combat power, Wei Yuan decided to adopt an airtight defensive posture. He sealed the mine shafts near the domain border, evacuated all personnel outside the border into the territory, and constructed an extensive defensive line along the periphery. This established a defense system anchored by Bao Yun's Ding'an City as the foremost strongpoint, flanked and backed by several large earthen redoubt defense zones.
These so-called earthen redoubts were a defensive tactic proposed by the mortals, representing an enhancement of the earlier underground warfare. They consisted of surface earthworks and trenches combined with subterranean excavations, preserving the original underground combat doctrine.
This way, if the Shamans ignored the redoubts and bypassed them to attack other Qingming forces, the troops defending the redoubts could continually inflict casualties on them.
If the Shamans chose to assault the redoubts, they would have to pay a gruesome price in blood. Should the defenders be overwhelmed, they could fall back underground; if the underground positions became untenable, they could retreat along pre-dug tunnels toward other redoubts.
In addition, Wei Yuan sent an urgent request for aid to Li Zhi. Li Zhi immediately mobilized all forty thousand elites of Zhenshan Domain and rushed over, bringing four Dharma Idol cultivators along with him.
The two were naturally overjoyed to meet again, exchanging an embrace before Li Zhi said with a grave expression, "The Shamans come with ill intent this time. How many True Monarchs do you have holding the line?"
Wei Yuan answered, "Probably two."
Li Zhi frowned. "Most likely not enough."
Wei Yuan knew it was insufficient, but those were all the resources at his disposal. Observing his expression, Li Zhi sighed, retrieved a jade bottle, and crushed it. A small silver bee flew out, flickered several times, and vanished on the spot.
Li Zhi said, "I have already asked an elder from my clan's main branch to come, but it will take two days for him to arrive. For these two days, we must hold out on our own. That silver bee just now was a token from a senior at the academy; it can request a single intervention from him. That gives our side four Scenery Command combatants as well. Since this place is ill-suited for prolonged combat among Scenery Command figures, we should be able to hold them off."
Wei Yuan was deeply moved. There was no need to state how precious a token capable of enlisting a Scenery Command cultivator's aid was. Yet Li Zhi had produced it without a second thought, consuming it directly without ever mentioning compensation.
Wei Yuan stationed the Zhenshan army on the outermost left flank to guard the due west. That direction was primarily held by the Desolate Ancestor Tribe, but scouts reported no signs of any army massing there, and even after penetrating four hundred li, they had detected no military qi.
When a magnificent surge of military qi resembling a mountain range finally rose in the northwest, Qingming stood fully prepared, waiting in stern readiness.
Chapter 437