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Wei Yuan carefully examined Bao Yun's Dao Foundation and found that its spiritual essence had been completely replenished. Moreover, with her resisting the enemy daily on the front lines for all to see, the azure karmic luck upon her was now remarkably dense. It swirled around the Seven Marvels Treasure Tree, coalescing into wisps of azure spiritual mist too numerous to count. The Seven Marvels Treasure Tree swayed gently, drawing in a wisp of spiritual mist from time to time before radiating a luminous halo. Its spiritual endowment steadily increased, and the third fruit was visibly on the verge of forming. At this point, Bao Yun possessed sufficient foundation to ascend to a dharma idol; all she needed now was the right catalyst. Wei Yuan had not expected Bao Yun's human karmic luck to reach the point where it could condense into spiritual mist, whereas his own over one hundred thousand strands of human karmic luck remained distinct, strand by individual strand, showing no sign of blending together. Wei Yuan felt helpless about this. Unable to comprehend why Bao Yun's karmic luck had transformed while his own remained in its primordial state, he could only let things take their course. He knew only the bare basics of applying human karmic luck, far from achieving mastery. Throughout history, those who made the greatest use of human karmic luck were naturally rulers and emperors, reaching their peak with the first Sovereign of Humanity, an achievement unmatched by posterity to this day. Yet the Dao of the Sovereign had diverse secret arts, all kept strictly confidential. For instance, the Great Tang possessed its own heritage, while the secret arts of the rulers of the Nine Kingdoms were in some cases adapted from the Tang dynasty, in others inherited from preceding dynasties, and in still others obtained from ancient treasures. Consequently, none were alike. The advantages and disadvantages of cultivating the Dao of the Sovereign were both glaringly apparent. The greatest drawback was bearing the weight of state fortune, which accelerated one's lifespan drain several times—or even several dozen times—faster than that of an ordinary cultivator. Thus, since antiquity, rulers of the Nine Kingdoms who attained Scenery Command were as rare as phoenix feathers or unicorn horns. Though history books sang the highest praises of benevolent rulers, the ironic truth was that wise monarchs were by no means guaranteed a long life. Several wise monarchs whose names were etched into historical annals had been remarkably short-lived. Inferring from this, the earliest Sovereigns of Humanity in antiquity had been both Immortal Monarchs and Sovereigns of Humanity—an accomplishment truly terrifying and awe-inspiring. Wei Yuan could only feel envy toward Bao Yun's current karmic luck. Still, the Seven Marvels Treasure Tree was clearly growing at a rapid pace under the nourishment of human karmic luck, which could be considered a happy accident. During the process of examining her Dao Foundation, some physical contact was naturally inevitable. Some was unintentional, some was deliberate, and some could hardly be classified as either. In short, the romantic tension between them deepened by another degree. At this critical juncture, a message suddenly popped up from the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World: Zhang Sheng is looking for you. Wei Yuan was startled considerably and turned to look outside the door and windows. Night had just begun to fall, and there was no one in sight. Bao Yun gave Wei Yuan a gentle nudge, a faint blush on her face, and said, "Let's... let's stop here for today. Go tend to your business." Wei Yuan also knew the time was not yet ripe, and he had no idea what his teacher wanted with him that warranted using the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. So he hurried off toward Zhang Sheng's residence. Wei Yuan had just caught sight of Zhang Sheng within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, meaning she should still be near her residence. On the way, Wei Yuan checked the origin of the message and discovered it had been relayed by a few Dao Foundation warriors he had left at his residence. Zhang Sheng had gone there looking for him, seemingly with urgent matters, but had found nobody, so those Dao Foundation warriors had forwarded the message into the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. As Wei Yuan hurried along, he thought to himself, *The Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World can even be used like this?* Before long, Wei Yuan arrived at Zhang Sheng's quarters. Pushing the door open, he saw her reading at the table, completely devoid of panic or urgency, contrasting sharply with the impression given by the message. Seeing Wei Yuan, Zhang Sheng was somewhat surprised as well. "I was just thinking of looking for you, and here you are." "What instructions do you have?" Wei Yuan asked, carefully observing Zhang Sheng's expression for fear that his teacher might keep silent about some predicament and intend to shoulder it all on her own again. "It's nothing major, really. I heard you recently opened up the Nether Cold Realm, and I'd like to go have a look." Wei Yuan was mildly startled and somewhat puzzled. "How did you know about that?" Zhang Sheng said, "This matter has spread across the entire Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. How could I not know? Here, take a look at this." She reached out into empty air, and a stone tablet appeared in her hand. This tablet was peculiar, existing between the virtual and the real, resembling an object manifested from a Dao Foundation. But most peculiar of all, it was a part of Wei Yuan's own Dao Foundation. Wei Yuan collected himself and swept his divine consciousness over it. Luminous characters surfaced on the tablet, legible even in the dark of night. Every stroke was forged with bold vigor and magnificent flair, clearly the work of a master calligrapher, far surpassing Wei Yuan's own chicken-scratch scrawl. The text bore an eye-catching headline: *The Clarion Call to March into the Myriad Heavens and Myriad Realms Has Awoken the World! The Nether Cold Realm Is Merely the First Stepping Stone!* Wei Yuan took the tablet, an absurd feeling welling up inside him. Something from his own mindscape world—how could he be ignorant of it, to the point that someone else had to show it to him? Collecting himself, Wei Yuan swiped casually, and a second article appeared: *Upgrading Your Dao Foundation Is Not a Dream! The Era of Everyone as a Dragon Begins!* Wei Yuan browsed through seven or eight articles in succession, reading to the point where he did not even know what to say. For instance, one article read: *The Nether Cold Realm Has Inalienably Belonged to the Human Race Since Ancient Times! Today, Recovering Our Lost Territory Is an Inescapable Duty for Our Generation!* "What is this thing?" Wei Yuan asked. "It's the equivalent of a newspaper from the outer world, though somewhat more convenient than theirs," Zhang Sheng said. Wei Yuan swiped past two more pieces when Long Wushuang's handsome, sun-drenched face suddenly leaped out. Cupping his hands together with a sincere expression, he proclaimed: *To explore the Nether Cold Realm, Battle Saint Hall is your first step!* Wei Yuan took fright. *How can there even be such a thing?* He quickly swept his gaze across the central city and indeed discovered that quite a few people were holding similar stone tablets, many reading with great relish. Moreover, a long queue had formed outside the entrance of Battle Saint Hall, all composed of people eager to sign up. Wei Yuan swept his divine consciousness further and located the source of the stone tablets. It was a handful of unremarkable young men who could not have been more ordinary. Their plain, unremarkable faces alone proved that whether in their past or present lives, they were entirely run-of-the-mill, possessing no distinguished pedigree. Yet these youths were working frantically, their faces filled with zeal. Inside a low stone hut, several others were arguing until they were red in the face. Once a good idea emerged, however, they immediately jotted it down, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into an article. Once completed, someone would input it into a carved stone pillar, whereupon the article would appear across all the stone tablets. Just then, an elderly man of calm and dignified bearing walked into the courtyard. The yard was not large, yet the elder had dozens of attendants, only seven or eight of whom could fit inside while the rest had to wait outside. Seeing the crude conditions, several attendants showed disdain on their faces. Realizing an important figure had arrived, the young men hurried out and asked, "What instructions do you have, Elder?" The old man said impassively, "This old man is the Eleventh Vice Director of the Creation of Heaven and Earth Research Institute (73620519). I have come today specifically for this little trinket of yours. I also want an article like the one for Hall Master Long of Battle Saint Hall. The price is open to discussion." The old man spoke with complete composure, but when he reached his name, his speech suddenly sped up several dozen times, sounding like a sharp bleep to ordinary ears. Yet with Wei Yuan's transcendent divine consciousness, he heard it plain as day. One of the youths said, "Hall Master Long agreed to supply the spiritual power needed to maintain our system for three days." The old man waved a broad hand. "That is easily settled. This old man will cover ten days! But you must publish four articles for me!" "Rest assured, Elder, we will ensure your complete satisfaction!" The old man snorted and turned away. One of his attendants suddenly looked back and snapped viciously, "Listen well, you useless wretches! That Vice Director (736...) came to seek you out personally means he thinks highly of you! If this matter isn't handled properly, I'll tear down your miserable hovel!" The youths bowed and scraped repeatedly until the group was far in the distance. Only then did one of them spit and curse, "Who does he think he is! Ranking eleventh among twelve vice directors, and he dares put on airs like this!" Another said, "He's one thing, but that lackey beside him swaggering on borrowed authority is truly nauseating! No wonder people from the outer world say you must beat the dog before you beat the master!" "Right! Beat the drowning dog soundly!" "I'd love to write an article denouncing him. No, we're not insulting him—this is called critiquing current abuses!" "That won't do. He'll know we wrote it, and we can't afford to offend him." Someone suddenly had a brainwave. "What if we didn't write it ourselves? I refuse to believe he doesn't have political enemies. We'll find one of his rivals to write it! That'll infuriate him to death while leaving him utterly powerless!" "Brilliant idea! We won't charge a single wisp of spiritual qi for that article!"