Li Zhi had taken the initiative to oversee purchasing the refugees, intending to shoulder part of the karmic debt. While he would also gain some karmic luck from the endeavor—which aided his Dao of the Sovereign greatly—that meager benefit was far from enough to offset the harm brought by the karmic debt.
Yet karmic debt was a concern for the future; without enough refugees to fill the front lines, Qingming would likely not survive the present. Wei Yuan could only tacitly accept, resolving to find a way to help Li Zhi resolve the karmic debt later on.
At the moment, many refugees from Zhao were still hanging back and watching. They had no idea what an opportunity to train their Dao Foundations meant, and to them, such a prospect was far too distant. Many stared longing eyes at the enlisted men eating meat-stuffed steamed buns, yet they continued to hesitate.
Joining the army meant fighting, and no one could guarantee they would survive. Clinging to life and fearing death was simply human nature.
Another group looked on cold and detached, hoping for a chance to cause a disturbance. If they stirred up enough chaos, they could snatch meat to eat in the turmoil without ever having to march onto the battlefield.
Seeing this, Wei Yuan came up with a plan. He walked up to the cultivator in charge of the meat cauldrons and said, "One meat bun is too few. Give each person three!"
The cultivator hurried to reply, "Domain Lord, it isn't that we don't want to give more, but Master Sun Yu instructed that each person may only eat one at a time. Eating too much poses a mortal danger."
Wei Yuan knew that refugees had starved for a long time; suddenly ingesting greasy food could indeed cause serious harm. Still, he said, "That's easily handled. Each person is only allowed to eat one now, and they can carry the other two with them for the next meal."
With Wei Yuan giving the order, the cultivator had his men fetch more meat and set several more cauldrons stewing, while telling those who had already finished their buns to come back for two more.
The crowd erupted into cheers, never expecting such generosity. But the meat in the cauldrons noticeably dwindled.
Seeing the enlisted men with buns in both hands, the refugees outside stared wide-eyed, and a wave of people rushed to sign up on the spot. As the number of remaining onlookers shrank, anxiety crept over them, and wanting to band together for safety, they too stepped forward in droves to enlist.
Inwardly, Wei Yuan sighed, knowing that before long, many of these very people would appear within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World.
Just then, Maiden Yin-Yang's awareness reached out from within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, asking Wei Yuan to enter and meet her.
This was the first time Yin-Yang had ever reached out to him on her own. Wondering what it could be, Wei Yuan hurried into his sea of consciousness and entered the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World.
Inside Jade Mountain, the black waters were churning, and figures stepped out from the Gate of the Many Realms one after another. Dao Foundation warriors also emerged from the dark pool from time to time, while deep in the depths, two dharma idol warriors were simultaneously being nurtured.
The mortals within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World had abruptly surged by nearly a hundred thousand, and the count was steadily rising. The already crowded city had become completely impassable. Most of the newborn mortals were sluggish and bewildered, standing blankly in place with no idea what to do.
Outside the city, Maiden Yin-Yang had claimed a large open expanse where she was laying out an array formation. At the base of the array lay an immense black-and-white yin-yang fish—the very formation she had used to contest the Shamans for souls. She was now refining and expanding what had originally been a hastily arranged array.
The moment Wei Yuan arrived, she sent her intent. First, she needed him to elevate more land, as space was running short. Second, she needed his help in laying down the array.
Immediately after, the formation's details flowed into Wei Yuan's mind.
The array was called the Xuan Tian Yin-Yang Great Furnace, and it actually originated from the immortal within the Qingming stone. It had originally been stored inside Qingming, waiting for someone fated to claim it.
Previously, Qingming had merged into Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, which later advanced into the dharma idol Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World while remaining one with Qingming. It was through this connection that Maiden Yin-Yang had gained the immortal's acknowledgment and obtained the array.
With her peerless talent, earning the immortal's favor was hardly surprising; it would have been strange had she been rejected. Yet Wei Yuan noticed that the timing did not quite line up.
Only in the depths of fury and despair, by expending one hundred thousand points of human karmic luck, had he unlocked the final divine mystery, and only then had the immortal appeared within the boundary stone. But Maiden Yin-Yang's struggle against the Shamans' grand will for souls had taken place before that.
In other words, she had bypassed Wei Yuan and contacted the immortal's lingering remnant will in private even earlier?
Moreover, when he activated the Peerless Dao Domain, Wei Yuan had not seen any record of this grand array, not even a hint.
Was this lingering immortal will truly alive or not?
Wei Yuan had examined the Qingming stone after the great battle and found that the immortal inside was merely a remnant consciousness left behind from ancient times, lacking self-awareness and capable only of passive responses. But now he was far less certain. Could a mere remnant soul really withhold secrets?
Wei Yuan asked Maiden Yin-Yang where the array had come from, but she simply looked bewildered, believing it had just appeared naturally, as if dropped from the heavens. Was there a problem with that?
Resigned to her answer, Wei Yuan had no choice but to get to work. While consuming Dao power to raise the land, he helped her arrange the formation.
Though the array was intricate, both Wei Yuan and Yin-Yang moved like lightning, completing it in moments. Then she reached out, and a Shaman appeared in her grip.
This Shaman had an extraordinarily massive head, with seven or eight tentacles emerging from beneath his robe in a grotesque display. White-gold branches tightly bound him from head to toe. His silhouette was somewhat blurred, and his six eyes were dull and blank, devoid of complete consciousness.
This was the remnant soul of the Nether Shaman that Maiden Yin-Yang had snatched back that day. Though she had seized only a portion, a Nether Shaman was still a Nether Shaman; his soul was exceptionally powerful, and this fragment alone was considerably stronger than Wei Yuan's. Had it been any ordinary dharma idol, their soul would not have matched even a tenth of this piece.
Yin-Yang placed the Nether Shaman's remnant soul at the center of the grand array and activated the formation. The massive black-and-white yin-yang fish at the base slowly rotated. Suddenly, the Nether Shaman's face contorted into a savage, agonizing grimace as he struggled desperately.
Yet Maiden Yin-Yang seemed to have anticipated this, binding him securely with branches of the celestial laurel tree. The boughs of an immortal tree, backed by physical substance, were far beyond what a mere remnant soul could break free from. Still, how this branch had come to be appeared to be another story entirely.
As the Xuan Tian Yin-Yang Great Furnace began to turn, terrifying power descended upon the Nether Shaman's remnant soul, grinding it down bit by bit.
Points of shooting stars drifted from the Nether Shaman's remnant soul, floating away in every direction.
One star among them was especially distinct. It settled into Wei Yuan's body, bringing a slight clarity to his mind. The improvement was extremely minor, however; had his perception not been so keen, he might not have noticed it at all.
Wei Yuan reached out to catch another shooting star, but it passed straight through his hand and drifted into the distance. There stood a mortal, staring blankly in place, unaware of who he was or what he was meant to do.
The spark of starlight sank into his body, and his eyes suddenly brightened. He looked down at himself, glanced around, and seemed to recall something. Hurrying toward the nearest building, he took hold of someone and began inquiring intently about this world.
That spark was far smaller than Wei Yuan's, yet it gave the mortal the feeling of having been completely reborn.
Sparks of starlight continuously drifted from the Xuan Tian Yin-Yang Great Furnace, flying in all directions. Each spark found its destination the instant it left the formation. Ignoring all barriers and impossible to intercept, they flew straight toward their fated targets.
Yet the sparks varied in size without any fixed rule, seeming to bear no relation to the recipients. Sometimes a mortal who had just reincarnated and still stood in a daze received an exceptionally large one, while a similar person beside them received only a faint glimmer. Once the starlight merged into them, one abruptly became a genius, while the other remained plain and honest, suited only to be an ordinary good man.
Wei Yuan grew contemplative. Could it be that the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth was inherently unfair, naturally granting more to some and less to others?
If that was truly the case, then defying heaven and fighting for a sliver of fate possessed a fitting reason.
Inside the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths Battle Saint Hall, the Hall Master suddenly opened his eyes, watching a bright spark enter his body. In an instant, answers to many cultivation dilemmas that had long plagued him suddenly came clear.
Another bright spark flew into the body of an ordinary hall member.
This member lived in the worst room and did the most tedious, exhausting chores. The reason was simple: not long ago, he had relied purely on his sharp tongue to fight his way right in front of the Hall Master, utterly offending everyone in the hall from top to bottom.
As the starlight entered him, countless ideas surged into his mind. He planned to write a storybook satirizing the Hall Master's mediocre talent, how his breakthroughs relied entirely on medicinal pills, and his shameless habit of fleeing whenever outmatched. Once the storybook became popular, everyone would learn of the Hall Master's embarrassing blunders and disgraceful deeds. Even when the man died, the book would still circulate.
Above the grand array, countless sparks danced through the air like a dream, leaving Wei Yuan entranced. The scene was not only breathtakingly beautiful, but also profoundly stirring.
There was no telling how many more sparks this remnant soul of the Nether Shaman could release, but it had already elevated the spirits of thousands of mortals, transforming them anew.
Truly, when a whale falls, all things flourish.
Chapter 499