The fundamental principle of the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Chart was to draw upon the cultivator's karmic fortune to supplement their own foundation. True Monarch Tunyue, who created this method, had been a child of karmic destiny himself. After achieving great mastery in the Daoist arts, he deemed that the effects of karmic fortune were ethereal and uncertain—prone to abruptly vanishing at any moment with the shifting tides of Heaven and Earth's greater fortune—and nowhere near as tangible as converting it into foundation. Hence, he created this technique.
This visualization method could roughly convert about ten percent of one's karmic fortune into foundation. Therefore, the more karmic fortune one possessed, the better the cultivation results; without karmic fortune, cultivating it amounted to wasted effort. This technique was essentially custom-tailored for children of karmic destiny. In the past century, those blessed with karmic fortune had become as numerous as ox hairs, with children of karmic destiny emerging in batches, which was why the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Chart gradually grew popular and became one of the six common Body Casting methods.
The recorded insights of disciples across past generations indicated that typically, for every zhang of foundation from the Daoist test, the corresponding visualization chart spanned ten zhang; then, each zhang of karmic fortune could expand the visualization chart by another zhang. Such was the general ratio. Thus, eleven zhang was usually the limit, while the record left by those who defied the heavens was twelve zhang. In their insights, these disciples had also left behind illustrations of their visualization charts upon achieving great mastery in Body Casting, serving as references for future generations.
Needless to say, these visualization charts were all brilliantly multicolored, endowed with all manner of dazzling special effects—dragons, phoenixes, qilin, azure lotuses, precious pagodas, everything imaginable. Moreover, their coloration was balanced and their compositions harmonious; one look was enough to tell their extraordinary manifestations were transcendent. Anyone whose manifestations were lackluster would have been too embarrassed to leave behind an illustration in the books.
While studying these visualization charts, Wei Yuan noticed a detail: the extent of a visualization chart was measured entirely by the ground. The boulder and jade toad did not increase proportionally, and the enlargement of the full moon was even smaller. Although Wei Yuan's visualization chart was currently only three zhang, everything in it had expanded in equal proportion, which was why he still felt intensely cramped whenever he transformed into the jade toad.
Perhaps this was one reason why his visualization chart expanded slower than others'? Wei Yuan had finally managed to find an excuse to console himself.
Another reason was that disciples of prominent clans, such as Cui Yu, Bao Yun, and Xiaoyu, had already cleansed and tempered their root bones before entering the sect. Children who underwent such cleansing gained wisdom extremely early, and once they began cultivating, their progress was astonishingly swift. During the martial test, it was already evident that Li Zhi and the others spoke and acted with great maturity. Cui Yu was actually already eight years old; having cleansed and tempered his root bone for a few more years, he had forcibly raised it from seven chi to eight chi, and his cultivation speed was remarkably fast, far outstripping others.
Wei Yuan himself possessed otherworldly karmic fortune, with no idea how it had attached itself to him. This fortune could not be measured by common sense at all. The advantage was that it truly could be converted bit by bit into foundation through the Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Chart; the disadvantage was that the foundation was unsubstantial, requiring immense extra effort to purify.
Only after reading the two records of insights did Wei Yuan realize that Eldest Martial Sister Liuli's purification of his foundation was astonishingly effective; a single medicinal bath was worth more than half a month of his own devoted cultivation. Looked at this way, the medicines she concocted were extraordinary.
Yet Wei Yuan harbored a quiet worry. The medicines Eldest Martial Sister prepared were presumably the so-called cultivation resources, which by right would cost something. Given how miraculous their effect in purifying his foundation was, their price surely wouldn't be cheap, while his master was visibly short on funds.
Wei Yuan knew worrying about this now was futile, so he could only set his concerns aside and continue cultivating, incessantly inhaling and exhaling the lunar radiance. Only by surpassing others in his cultivation progress could he give Zhang Sheng some semblance of an accounting.
Cultivation knew no passage of days or months. In the blink of an eye, more than half a month went by. During this time, Zhang Sheng visited Wei Yuan only once, offering a few words of guidance and staying for less than the burn time of an incense stick, leaving Wei Yuan feeling a sense of loss.
A few days later, Bao Yun also completed her visualization chart. On the day of its completion, Ji Liuli specifically gathered everyone to have Bao Yun manifest her visualization chart in the center of the Hall of Inspiring Thought.
In thirty-nine days, Bao Yun had expanded her visualization chart to eleven zhang. Although still shy of that earlier senior's twelve zhang, her jade toad was draped in a rainbow, and within the full moon in the sky, countless gods and demons drifted in and out of sight, each vying to squeeze forward to show its face. Atop the boulder grew blossoms of azure lotus, with primal chaos pooling at their roots. Furthermore, seated cross-legged atop the jade toad's head was a golden figure, radiating an ancient, towering aura that seemed peerless in the world.
What was originally a serene, elegant Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon Chart had been turned by Bao Yun into a chapter of an Immortal Sovereign Descending to the Mortal Realm. The clamoring manifestations usurped the host's place, reducing the jade toad—originally the absolute protagonist—into a mere mount.
Such extraordinary manifestations caused quite a stir within the Palace of Grand Beginning. Not only did several elders of the Bao family come in person to view it, but rumor had it that several True Monarchs had also quietly come to see Bao Yun.
Looking upon Bao Yun's chart of the Immortal Sovereign's descent, Wei Yuan felt an increasing weight on his heart.
Wei Yuan's visualization chart was currently only six zhang. Technically, it had an extraordinary manifestation as well: a thin red line running down the jade toad's back, though unless one looked closely, it was completely undetectable. Even that red line owed its existence to Perfected Fenhai's breath of true fire. Moreover, Wei Yuan's process of expanding his visualization chart was practically three steps forward and one step back; the ground he painstakingly opened up would shrink by nearly half after being washed and soaked by Eldest Martial Sister Liuli.
Although Wei Yuan's speed of cycling lunar radiance was slowly increasing, Eldest Martial Sister's medicines grew increasingly overbearing. By comparison, Eldest Martial Sister was still the more ruthless one.
Only the shadow within the full moon overhead remained ever unchanging; no matter how Wei Yuan drew upon it, it neither increased nor decreased, neither stirred nor perished.
After this class ended, Wei Yuan did not head straight home. Instead, he went to the dining hall and bought three hundred jin of cooked rice, packing it into a large tub.
The rice in the Palace of Grand Beginning was no ordinary grain, but spirit rice rich in spiritual energy. Spirit rice was also the primary ingredient for Qi-Ingesting Pills; eating a small bowl kept one from getting hungry for a whole day. Furthermore, within the Palace of Grand Beginning, a tub of rice would not spoil even after sitting for ten years.
Wei Yuan planned to save the money meant for Qi-Ingesting Pills. The amount spent on Qi-Ingesting Pills in a single month could buy a year's worth of cooked rice. With this tub of rice sitting there, Wei Yuan could even save the time he usually spent going out to forage for food.
Wei Yuan hardened his resolve, planning to devote all his time outside of class to cultivation, not wasting a single minute or second. Inhaling and exhaling lunar radiance required no deep contemplation, so he had no need for the clear mind provided by Qi-Ingesting Pills either.
Though he still had to sleep, he could cycle lunar radiance even in his sleep!
In the blink of an eye, several more days passed. Having finished class, Wei Yuan was in the middle of cycling lunar radiance when a soft chime sounded by his ear, signaling a visitor.
Wei Yuan withdrew his art and stood up. Opening the courtyard gate, he saw a classmate from their hall standing outside. Upon seeing Wei Yuan, the boy cupped his hands and said, "Miss Bao Yun has achieved great success in her cultivation and is hosting a banquet for our classmates tomorrow evening at Drunken Wind Tower. At the same time, we will discuss how to prepare for the sect minor examination three years from now. Junior Martial Brother Wei, please be sure to attend."
Naturally, Wei Yuan had no reason to decline.
Yet, when he had first enrolled, nearly everyone addressed him as Senior Martial Brother; now, it had become Junior Martial Brother Wei.
At dusk the next day, an agile carriage pulled up outside Wei Yuan's courtyard to take him to Drunken Wind Tower. The carriage flew like the wind, yet traveled with extraordinary smoothness; a journey of several dozen li took no more than the time to drink a cup of tea, and inside, Wei Yuan had hardly felt the carriage move at all.
Stepping down from the carriage, Wei Yuan could not help but marvel at the grand scale of the Bao family's wealth. This carriage had come to pick up him alone—with more than thirty classmates in total, wouldn't that mean over thirty carriages?
Chapter 44