Reasoning with Zhang Sheng was impossible unless you could beat her in a fight. Xu Henshui had learned that long ago, and now Wei Yuan had joined her side.
Back before he broke through, his Dao Foundation had been played with constantly. Xu Henshui never expected that even after advancing, his Dharma Idol would suffer the exact same fate.
Granted, the Bell Orchid Fairy possessed an ethereal grace, and though Zhang Sheng was clad in gender-neutral attire, she had restored her original countenance. Watching Zhang Sheng fondle the Bell Orchid Fairy was truly a sublime sight.
Had Wei Yuan not been standing nearby, Xu Henshui felt he wouldn't have minded letting her play with it a bit longer.
Yet having his Dharma Idol toyed with right before Wei Yuan's eyes was genuinely mortifying. Above all, Xu Henshui remembered how, not long ago, he had played the patient mentor, eagerly trying to teach Wei Yuan lessons. The memory made him want to bash his head against a wall.
Fortunately, Zhang Sheng did not push things too far. She soon sheathed her immortal swords and released the Bell Orchid Fairy. Wei Yuan had already led the four-headed immortal orchid back and replanted it into the earth, bringing the grand clash to a close.
With old grievances cleared away—or put another way, with the pecking order firmly settled—Xu Henshui joined the others to examine the sleeping baby girl. Feng Chutang used a secret technique to cast a beam of light onto her body. A faint shimmer immediately rose, bearing the seal of the Palace of Grand Beginning.
With that, there was no doubt: this baby girl was the reincarnation of Fei Yutong from Water Moon Hall. Wei Yuan had known the moment he laid eyes on her, for the look in her eyes now was identical to the one Fei Yutong had worn when her life force faded that day: focused, pure, tinged with complexity, yet devoid of hatred.
After a discussion, everyone agreed that having Wei Yuan take her as his disciple was a good arrangement. It would cleanly settle this karmic tie. Moreover, Wei Yuan was considered a member of Water Moon Hall and had achieved a Dharma Idol himself, making him more than qualified to accept Fei Yutong. The only caveat was that, following the conventions of reincarnations, she could no longer bear the name of her past life.
Since they were already in New City, the group took the opportunity to examine the other pregnant young women as well. Their physical conditions were all quite good. Each had a heavily swollen belly, not far from delivery, but there was currently no sign of life force gathering once more.
Wei Yuan consulted with Sun Yu for a while, and they decided preparations had to be made in advance. If Fei Yutong turned out to be the only one among these infants who had absorbed the essence of her kin, Qingming would see the arrival of more than ten thousand babies a month from now.
These babies were entirely different from refugee children. An exceptionally high proportion of them possessed cultivation talent, so they had to be handled with great care.
Having dealt with matters on this side, Wei Yuan headed toward the northwest of the domain to discuss rebuilding Ding'an City with Bao Yun, and along the way arrange her breakthrough into the Dharma Idol realm.
The original site of Ding'an City had been chosen remarkably well. Situated atop a mountain plateau, it looked down upon the plains below—an advantageous high ground that was easy to defend and difficult to attack. For that reason, Hongye's very first move in every offensive had been to find a way to destroy Ding'an City. Now that the Shamans had retreated, rebuilding the city was high on the agenda.
Wei Yuan flew at tremendous speed within the domain, and in the blink of an eye, he was soaring above Ding'an City. He was in no hurry to descend, lingering in the sky for a moment to observe the local geomancy and the distribution of karmic luck.
The original Ding'an City had been utterly leveled. In its place stood dozens of small redoubts, interspersed with pitched tents. The laborers were already assembled, vast quantities of tools and construction materials were arriving, and the corpses and poisoned soil inside the perimeter still needed to be cleared away. Only then would the redoubts be dismantled and Ding'an City rebuilt.
Behind the ruins lay a cluster of temporary structures. Atop dozens of raised platforms, sentries still manned the city-defense cannons. Bao Yun's current residence was a tranquil little courtyard below.
Wei Yuan attached great importance to rebuilding Ding'an City. Not only was the location vital, but he had originally promised the city to Bao Yun.
In the preceding battles, Bao Yun had reaped a tremendous amount of karmic luck here. Thus, even though the original city had been reduced to rubble, the unique nature of her Dao Foundation had turned this land into her personal geomantic blessed land.
Later, True Monarch Huangyun had passed away here, and the forest formed from her body lay directly behind the city's original site. When that towering peak had thrust up from the earth, it had lifted the entire surrounding mountain plateau with it, elevating Ding'an City and turning the entire area into a gathering point for local geomancy and karmic luck.
Once the giant tree that True Monarch Huangyun had become reached full maturity, it would further shelter Ding'an City through the earth veins and geomancy.
These overlapping factors combined to make Ding'an City the foundation of Bao Yun's path to the Dao. Even if the Bao family wished to take her away now, she could not easily leave.
After taking in the geomancy, Wei Yuan dropped into Bao Yun's courtyard and used the domain's power to seal the perimeter, walling it off from the world outside.
Wei Yuan did this out of prudence and consideration for the people's perceptions. Bao Yun enjoyed immense renown, and her original status was exceptionally illustrious. If people saw the Domain Lord entering and leaving her private quarters as he pleased, it would inevitably tarnish her reputation. And a tarnished reputation meant damaged human karmic luck.
Once the lord's manor was rebuilt and she dwelt behind grand courtyards and high walls shielded from mortal eyes, Wei Yuan would not need to go to such trouble.
The courtyard was dead silent, save for a single lamp glowing in the study. Under the light, Bao Yun wore a serene, intent expression as she meticulously drew a map.
Wei Yuan tapped on the door. Without looking up, Bao Yun said, "Why bother knocking? Come in."
Wei Yuan pushed the door open and stepped inside. Bao Yun still did not raise her head, focusing entirely on her drafting. "I'll need a moment. Make yourself comfortable."
Wei Yuan was not used to sitting idle, so he stood by the desk, alternating his gaze between Bao Yun and the map.
Bao Yun was drawing a map of Ding'an City's surroundings, but the scale was quite bizarre. Ding'an City sat toward the northwest corner, completely out of balance with the rest. But Wei Yuan had just surveyed the entire territory and could tell that she was charting the distribution of earth veins and geomancy centered on True Monarch Huangyun's resting place.
After watching for a while, Bao Yun finally looked up and asked, "What brings you here?"
Wei Yuan at last noticed something off about her tone. "I came to discuss when you might break through to the Dharma Idol realm. Are you in a bad mood?"
Bao Yun laid down her brush. "A woman of my humble standing wouldn't dare harbor bad feelings."
Wei Yuan immediately said, "I was wrong."
Now it was Bao Yun's turn to be taken aback. But her face quickly regained its composure as she asked, "And just what were you wrong about?"
Wei Yuan replied humbly, "I was hoping you could enlighten me."
Despite her remarkable composure, Bao Yun could not help but laugh in exasperation. Rolling her eyes at him, she snapped, "You're getting more and more skilled at these tricks, aren't you?"
Wei Yuan sighed. "My living conditions are truly harsh; I'm brushing against death nine times out of ten. If I didn't pick up a few tricks, I would have stopped seeing you long ago."
Hearing that, Bao Yun's eyes reddened slightly. She promptly turned her face away. "Then don't see me. Seeing you is no different from not seeing you anyway."
Wei Yuan fell silent. In that single breath, thousands of solutions surged up through the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. After a second round of filtering, most were discarded. Finally, examining the remaining options with his mind's eye, Wei Yuan selected the one blessed with the greatest karmic luck.
As Wei Yuan stood quietly, Bao Yun remained silent as well, simply staring off to the side. The two stayed frozen in that standoff.
Wei Yuan let out a soft sigh.
Bao Yun held back, refusing to budge.
Wei Yuan's voice lowered, taking on a slightly raspy tone. "A pillar of the Xu family has returned, named Xu Lanshan. Two months from now, she will advance to Scenery Command and host a grand ceremony, inviting cultivators from across the world to witness it. I intend to pay her a visit before then. If things go smoothly, wait for my return to see me again. If..."
Wei Yuan did not finish. He turned and walked toward the door.
Bao Yun could bear it no longer. "Halt right there!" she barked.
Wei Yuan stopped dead in his tracks, without the slightest hesitation.
Bao Yun was dumbfounded once again. She had no idea what was happening tonight; she felt thwarted at every turn, unable to seize even a shred of the initiative, all while stewing with pent-up frustration.
Her cheeks puffed with irritation, she fumed, "Why aren't you leaving now?"
Wei Yuan replied, "I never wanted to leave in the first place!"
For reasons unknown, all the anger bottled up in Bao Yun's chest vanished in an instant.
She shot Wei Yuan a fierce glare. "Xu Lanshan is at perfected Dharma Idol, and she possesses a rare immortal manifestation! Do you have nothing better to do than trespass on their turf and pick a fight with her? Even if you want to fight, can't you find a way to lure her to Qingming? Besides, do you think jumping ranks to pick fights makes you look impressive? That's just sheer stupidity!"
Chapter 567