The instant they were bathed in sunlight once again, the origin qi of heaven and earth above the drill grounds grew intensely dense. At the moment sunlight returned to the earth, hundreds of cultivators achieved sudden enlightenment; their states of mind stepped up to a new plane, and their Dao Foundations formed naturally as water flows into a channel.
Just moments ago, when Xu Wenwu's heavenly tribulation had descended, tribulation clouds had blanketed the entire drill grounds, their oppressive might leaving every cultivator teetering on the verge of collapse. Many had long been unable to bear it, fainting dead away on the spot. Others, possessing steadfast resolve, had gritted their teeth and held out, finally enduring until Xu Wenwu successfully survived the tribulation.
With the tribulation dispersing, the lethal celestial might bearing down on the cultivators vanished with it. The Dao power that had been suppressed so intensely now erupted forth in a surge, and their Dao Foundations were cast then and there.
These cultivators had, in a sense, brushed against the edges of a heavenly tribulation, and all who held out to the end reaped some benefit. Some who originally had no hope of casting a Dao Foundation had now finally succeeded, while the rest saw modest improvements in foundation quality, with even a few Earth Tier Dao Foundations appearing among them.
Among the cultivators who came to Qingming to cast their foundations, aside from those in the VIP section looking to burnish their credentials, the rest had long been written off as having no hope of ever forging a Dao Foundation, coming to Qingming only to gamble on a sliver of hope. Under normal circumstances, managing to form a templated Dao Foundation would have made them thrilled to death—to say nothing of achieving an Earth Tier Dao Foundation, which even preserved a slim ray of hope for advancing to the Dharma Idol realm.
The Xu family youths were closest to Xu Wenwu and naturally benefited the most, casting over two hundred Dao Foundations in one go. Among them were several Heaven Foundations, and half of the remainder were Earth Foundations.
Only eight hundred Xu family youths had come, yet the proportion who completed their Dao Foundations was unimaginably high, and their quality was remarkably good. While they had drawn on the power of Xu Wenwu's heavenly tribulation, the result was still shocking to the world. True to their status as direct blood descendants of an Immortal Monarch, their cultivation potential was astonishingly high. What was more, two young girls among them were already earmarked for immortal foundations; considering that, it was all the more astounding.
In the end, out of the three thousand Dao soldiers from the Palace of Grand Beginning, six hundred formed Dao Foundations. These soldiers had all come from the battlefield; while their natural talent might be unremarkable, their willpower was exceptionally resolute. Consequently, the proportion holding out to the very end far exceeded that of other groups, yielding a remarkably high success rate for Dao Foundations.
The four thousand-odd commoners of Qingming had also mostly come from the battlefield. Around a thousand held out to the end, and five hundred went on to achieve Dao Foundations.
Finally, there were the rogue cultivators. Their resolve was quite frail; the moment most saw a heavenly tribulation looming overhead, without even stopping to wonder whether it was meant for them, they were scared unconscious. Of the fifteen hundred, fewer than two hundred held out to the end, resulting in a hundred Dao Foundations.
By proportion, the rogue cultivators were undeniably dismal, roughly on par with the Cui family disciples. Yet once they succeeded, they made the greatest racket, weeping and shouting in wild jubilation.
Several clan patriarchs whose junior kin had successfully cast their Dao Foundations also had tears streaming down their aged faces, lamenting that heaven had opened its eyes and the ancestors had manifested their grace—a new generation of talent had finally emerged in their clans, someone who could lead the family out of the rural backwaters and into the county seat.
However, when they went to collect their youths, they were informed that these juniors now belonged entirely to Qingming. What they had signed was a blood contract! If they wanted to take them back, they could come back in thirty years.
Several village Dao Foundation patriarchs felt their vision go dark on the spot, both stunned and furious. They had clearly signed an ordinary agreement, so how had it become a blood contract? When they first heard the good news of success, every one of them had harbored the intention of breaking the agreement. At worst, they would pay a penalty of a hundred ounces of immortal silver—surely Qingming couldn't eat people alive, could it?
Thus, the old men were beside themselves with rage and argued fiercely. But then the Qingming cultivators pointed out to them that after the last word of the contract's first line, there was a black speck no larger than a grain of sand. When magnified, the words 'Blood Contract' could be discerned, written in ancient runes imbued with spirit-speech power!
Only then did the rogue cultivators realize that the so-called 'dripping blood to unlock the contract' was never an unlocking at all—the moment blood dripped onto it, it was already signed! Whether one read the subsequent contents or signed their name was utterly irrelevant.
Furthermore, the contract's more than fourteen hundred clauses had firmly sealed off every possible loophole. The entire document was packed with Qingming's rights, the signer's obligations, and the wretched fate awaiting anyone who breached it.
The liability for breach of contract alone spanned over three hundred clauses. A violator would not only suffer the destruction of their body and Dao, but would also bring catastrophe upon their family and doom their descendants.
Among the oaths they had sworn was one that read: If breached, may none among the subsequent eighteen generations of descendants possess the talent for immortal cultivation.
Once they understood even a fraction of the contract's terms, the rogue cultivators realized they had been swindled. One by one, they wailed and beat their chests, but it was already too late. With breach of contract carrying penalties like these, even if the signer wanted to break it, their parents and children would never allow it. This affected the cultivation paths of eighteen future generations; the entire clan would never permit a breach.
By this time, Xu Wenwu had already stabilized his Dao Foundation. Taking advantage of the distraction, he tested firing two rounds at a nearby hilltop.
Xu Wenwu's tank had twin gun barrels, unlike the tanks from the other world he had described. As for the reason, Xu Wenwu only said it was a personal obsession.
When the two shells blasted out, several inches were shaved off the hilltop, flushing out several scouts and giving even Wei Yuan a start.
Those scouts included ones from the Shamans, the Xu family, the state of Zhao, and the state of Pu. Flustered and in disarray, the scouts tried to flee, only for Zhu Yuanjin to drop them one by one with a flick of his finger before having them dragged away.
Wei Yuan had a massive headache over Xu Wenwu's Dao Foundation. Thus, before he had stabilized it, Wei Yuan strictly forbade him from using it recklessly, and under no circumstances was he to reveal it casually in front of outsiders.
From the moment Xu Wenwu began casting his foundation, mindful of the Gatling gun and rocket launcher in the spiritual toad's hands, Wei Yuan had mobilized the domain's power early on to shield the surroundings. He simply had not expected that when the Dao Foundation finally formed, Xu Wenwu would produce something even more outrageous.
The Enlightenment Assembly was exceptionally successful, and Wei Yuan was busy off his feet. At this moment, one final group—the super VIPs—still required placating. With a flash, his figure appeared among those playboys.
Most of them were wildly excited. Of the thirty super VIPs in total, every single one had paid five thousand ounces of immortal silver. Twenty-three among them had successfully cast Dao Foundations. Excluding the nine who were already capable of ascending to a Dao Foundation on their own, the success rate for the rest was still mind-blowing, well worth the karmic luck Wei Yuan had invested.
In truth, Wei Yuan had placed at most two strands of karmic luck on them. In terms of revenue generated per strand of karmic luck, it vastly surpassed every previous occasion where karmic luck had been spent.
The moment Wei Yuan appeared, even the most arrogant playboys immediately turned thoroughly docile. Ever since Wei Yuan scored a crushing victory over the Shamans and burned an enemy army of a million, rumors had begun circulating in the pugilistic world that, barring any surprises, Wei Yuan would be the future Palace Master of the Palace of Grand Beginning.
Even setting the future aside and looking only at the present, Wei Yuan was one of the strongest Dharma Idols of the younger generation, reputed to have slain eighty if not a hundred cultivators of the same realm. Let alone these dandy playboys, even the senior figures of their families whom they relied on for backing would have to treat Wei Yuan with the utmost deference and dare not breach the slightest etiquette in his presence.
Of course, there was also a bizarre rumor in the world claiming that Wei Yuan would be the next abbot of the Great Precious Flower Pure Land Buddhist realm. For some reason, this rumor had never reached Wei Yuan's ears.
Facing this group of dim-witted young benefactors—simple-minded and weak-bodied—Wei Yuan was remarkably approachable, earnestly answering the questions of the seven young benefactors who had failed to cast their Dao Foundations.
Wei Yuan pointed out that many natural Dao Foundations suffered from various shortcomings; they were exceedingly difficult to achieve, yet the returns were disproportionate. Qingming's templated Dao Foundations, on the other hand, separated the wheat from the chaff, allowing cultivators to unleash their full potential while stripping away unnecessary difficulty, making them quite an excellent alternative—such as the Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword or the Immortal Sword · False Sun, both of which were very good.
Wei Yuan even manifested one specifically to show them. Naturally, it was not the original version, but the one cultivated by Zhang Sheng. Following the naming conventions of the world beyond, this sword could be called the Super-Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword.
The lofty grade of this immortal sword and its exquisite design deeply moved the seven densest of dense benefactors. Without exception, they all chose the Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword and cheerfully handed over a deposit of five thousand ounces of immortal silver each, preparing to return the following month.
With his benefactors placated, the results of this Enlightenment Assembly were tallied up. In total, eighteen hundred had newly advanced to Dao Foundation—an extraordinarily high proportion, dragged down primarily by the rogue cultivators and the Cui family cultivators.
The Cui family could hardly scrounge up any qualified cultivators anymore. Every batch they sent over was just crooked melons and split dates; this cohort's rate of casting Dao Foundations was even lower than that of the rogue cultivators, making things truly difficult for Wei Yuan.
In the end, Qingming gained nine hundred new Dao Foundations, bringing its total number of Dao Foundation cultivators close to seven thousand. Aside from the Xu family youths, who all had combat Dao Foundations, among the remaining six hundred Dao Foundations there were only fifty combat foundations, while the rest were templated Dao Foundations.
With this, Qingming's strength once again approached its peak, though the deficit in elite troops would not be so easy to make up.
With this new batch of Dao Foundations, many of Wei Yuan's plans could now be set in motion.
Just then, a message arrived from Yu Zhizhuo: the first brocade workshop was finished and had successfully begun initial operations, and he wanted Wei Yuan to come take a look.
Hearing this news, Wei Yuan's spirits lifted. He privately felt that today was truly his lucky day—not only had he gained a tank, but the very first workshop in the history of this realm had also been completed.
Chapter 577