True Monarch Yanshi spoke and handed the boundary stone fragment to Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan accepted it with a clear conscience, then seized the opportunity to consult the True Monarch on a few matters regarding the cultivation of Dao arts.
Yanshi said, "In the Dharma Idol realm, there might still be some individuals of mediocre talent, but every cultivator in the Scenery Command realm is a genius of their generation. Even the weakest among them is formidable. Each person's Dao arts combine with their own mindscape world, possessing their own distinct characteristics. The Dao arts of the Scenery Command realm can roughly be divided into four categories. This is my personal classification; listen carefully."
Wei Yuan's spirits lifted, and he immediately listened with undivided attention.
"The first, and also the most common, encompasses various powerful offensive Dao arts, among which the fire and lightning lineages are the most prevalent, owing to their formidable killing power and plentiful heritages. Examples include Rain of Heavenly Fire or Forest of Thunder; once unleashed, they can easily obliterate an entire city. Many Scenery Command cultivators follow this path.
"On the battlefield, this path yields the most direct lethal effect. Its drawback, however, is that casualties are difficult to control, making it exceedingly easy to incur karmic debt and karmic entanglements.
"The second is the steady and prudent route. Take your Patriarch Xuanyue, for instance: he cultivated numerous body-protecting Dao arts and single-mindedly tempered his own body to the point where many people's Dharma treasures aren't even as hard as his fists. Those unaware of the details might think he intends to achieve physical sanctification and steal business from the Hall of the Bright King!
"The Five Elements Dao Soldiers you chose can also be classified under this category. Dao soldiers are relatively weak in the beginning, but grow stronger the more they are employed—a typical late-game Dao art. Cultivators who believe their Dao path extends far beyond the early Scenery Command stage generally choose this sort.
"The third consists of Dao arts tied to karmic luck and heavenly destiny, which happens to be what I specialize in. This type of Dao art requires immense talent—and only talent."
That last sentence was spoken with utter nonchalance, yet it left Wei Yuan in awe. He immediately began studying every gesture, expression, and smile of True Monarch Yanshi with meticulous care, so that when he put on such airs in the future, it wouldn't look too unnatural.
Finally, True Monarch Yanshi said, "Lastly are health-preserving immortal arts, longevity Dao incantations, and the like—anything that enhances the spirituality of the mindscape world falls into this category. These Dao arts aim to increase lifespan and the spirituality of one's mindscape world, pointing directly toward the immortal path. However, their combat capabilities are feeble. If one lacks formidable mentors or friends to protect them, it is all too easy to perish prematurely."
Hearing this, Wei Yuan's heart stirred, and he asked, "Presumably, such cultivators have other extraordinary strengths?"
Yanshi nodded. "Indeed. Otherwise, why would anyone protect them for a lifetime? The spirituality of their mindscape worlds far surpasses that of other cultivators, so they often nurture immortal herbs and spirit beasts within them to offer as contributions to their sect. Certain top-grade immortal items can only grow inside a mindscape world."
Wei Yuan's curiosity was piqued again. "What kinds of immortal items are there?"
True Monarch Yanshi replied petulantly, "Nurturing immortal items drains your own spiritual energy and slows your cultivation progress. Right now, you lack neither heavenly merits nor money. Why inquire about this?"
Wei Yuan said, "This disciple is merely curious."
True Monarch Yanshi gave a snort, naturally seeing through Wei Yuan's little scheme. Transmitting a sheet of jade paper over, he said, "The relatively basic ones are listed here. Besides, I happen to have a few Huiyang Grass seeds. It's not impossible to give them to you, but there are conditions."
Wei Yuan's spirits rallied once more. He wasn't afraid of conditions; he only feared the other party not setting any. He asked, "What is the origin of this Huiyang Grass, and what use does it have?"
True Monarch Yanshi said, "It is the primary ingredient of the Great Sun Morning Splendor Pill. This pill can increase the chances of breaking through from Dao Foundation to Dharma Idol. Depending on the pill's quality, its efficacy ranges from ten to thirty percent."
This was precisely what Wei Yuan needed. In the future, when the young men and women of the Xu family made their breakthroughs to Dharma Idol, they would require massive quantities of supplementary pills. Any pill that increased breakthrough chances carried an astronomical price tag. Buying ten or twenty might be fine for Wei Yuan, but several hundred was beyond even his means.
Wei Yuan immediately proclaimed, "Serving the sect is a matter of righteous duty! Whatever the True Monarch requires, please give your command!"
True Monarch Yanshi couldn't help but chuckle. "You certainly have a glib tongue. My demands aren't high—just two things. First, I've been a bit tight on cash lately, so tell your Patriarch Xuanyue to hurry up and repay the ten million taels of immortal silver he owes me; five million up front will do. Second, that girl Liuli's Dao heart will likely have to depend on you. Get a move on with that."
Wei Yuan said solemnly, "The second matter is an inescapable responsibility for this disciple! But the first..."
Wei Yuan thought to himself: forget ten million taels—even coming up with a hundred thousand taels would probably be impossible for Patriarch Xuanyue. Wei Yuan himself had owed over twenty million, and between heavenly merits and various contributions over the years, he had legitimately paid off more than half of it. Yet Wei Yuan hadn't seen a single coin of the money Patriarch Xuanyue borrowed later; heaven only knew where the old man had spent it, given that he couldn't even afford a Daoist robe worth tens of thousands of taels.
Speaking of Dharma treasures, Wei Yuan had come to understand all too deeply that you get what you pay for. The storage treasures he had bought—worth several thousand taels of immortal silver each—had all been utterly destroyed, sending over a hundred thousand taels of immortal silver down the drain. More than once, Wei Yuan had regretted not gritting his teeth back then to buy a million-tael-tier storage treasure; perhaps it would still be in service today.
Seeing Wei Yuan hesitate, True Monarch Yanshi said, "Ten million taels, non-negotiable! Here are the grass seeds. Do you want them or not?"
A golden light surfaced in True Monarch Yanshi's hand.
"I want them, of course I want them!" With the bone dangled right before his nose, how could Wei Yuan not wag his tail?
Besides, this grass was different from other celestial plants—it was an immortal medicine that could be harvested and sold for money.
Wei Yuan felt that the spiritual energy within Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World was simply too rich, resulting in a whole bunch of ungrateful wretches. Not only had the sect of the Creation Immortal Venerable been squeezed out of the top ten, but people were constantly excavating inscribed stone tablets one day, or pulling a fish from the sea the next that had silk cloth covered in writing tucked inside its belly.
It appeared that the history books Wei Yuan had stored inside Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World had quite a few readers, and they had already begun putting what they read into practical use.
Rather than looking at those fellows and getting annoyed, it was better to use the spiritual energy to cultivate some medicinal herbs and help support the household. Wei Yuan considered himself quite the family-oriented man.
Part of the reason he thought this was that a few days ago, a cultivator had crept up to his door and declared that a real man should make the entire realm his home.
Wei Yuan had seen through that clumsy attempt at urging him to usurp the throne on the spot, and had kicked the fellow out immediately to prove he harbored no disloyal ambitions.
Seeing Wei Yuan agree, True Monarch Yanshi did not make him swear any oaths, directly transmitting the seeds over. To Wei Yuan's surprise, the seeds turned out to be three golden-red spheres the size of water vats. Each was immensely heavy, weighing several thousand jin. Wei Yuan was nearly crushed by them and hastily stored them into Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World.
After True Monarch Yanshi disappeared, Wei Yuan took out the Dharma treasure used to communicate with Patriarch Xuanyue, channeled spiritual power into it, and called out to his patriarch.
Within a few breaths, Patriarch Xuanyue's voice rang out from the treasure, full of vigor and clearly in high spirits: "My good grand-disciple, what does this old Daoist have the pleasure of helping you with today?"
"Why is Patriarch in such a wonderful mood today?" Wei Yuan hurriedly chimed in with good cheer.
Xuanyue laughed heartily. "Your patriarch is preparing to rebuild Sky Azure Hall! The materials and manpower are almost completely ready. If you have time, come back and take a look. This time, your patriarch is going to bring immense glory to our ancestors! The new Sky Azure Hall will be at least a hundred and twenty zhang tall! From now on, this will be our grand facade—a foundation lasting ten thousand years for future generations!"
Recalling that the main hall of the Hall of Heavenly Secrets was only ninety-nine zhang tall, Wei Yuan understood a bit better why True Monarch Yanshi was demanding payment right now.
The problem was, Wei Yuan had already accepted the grass seeds and sent them into Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. Maiden Yin-Yang had been lacking celestial plant nodes recently, and seeing that these three grasses looked quite nice and possessed the ability to dispel dampness—beneficial to the legs and joints of anyone residing long-term near water—she had casually planted them right beside herself.
With this, the cause and effect were sealed; even if Wei Yuan wanted to go back on his word, it was no longer possible.
Still clinging to a final shred of hope, Wei Yuan whispered, "True Monarch Yanshi asked me to pass along a message... He said it's time you repaid the ten million taels of immortal silver you owe him..."
On the other end of the Dharma treasure, Patriarch Xuanyue burst into three hearty laughs. "You brat, there's no need to wish my physical body good health; this old man is doing splendidly! ...What did you say? Why can't I hear you clearly again? This lousy treasure just works horribly. I'll have to replace it with a better one later..."
Then, the treasure went completely silent.
Wei Yuan fell silent as well.
Chapter 597