Even under the desperate remonstrations of the "sleeping dragons and fledgling phoenixes," the ruthless mockery of Xu Henshui, Sun Yu's attempts to study his brain, and Bao Yun's suppressed, trembling giggles, Wei Yuan remained determined to stay true to himself, wavering only slightly.
Then came the lavish praise from Feng Tingyu.
Only then did Wei Yuan finally realize he had made a mistake. Silently, he scrapped the extra embellishments: the dragon head across the chest, the celestial phoenix on the back, the qilin on the left arm, and the Qiongqi on the right shoulder. The grand depiction of Pangu Creating Heaven and Earth he had originally planned to add died before it was ever born.
After several revisions, the final uniform design was at last settled.
For everyday wear, the standard attire consisted of a short trench coat, trousers, and combat boots. The color scheme used deep black as the base: regular officers were accented with silver, mid-to-high-ranking officers with crimson, and generals with dual accents of dark gold and deep red.
For wartime, armor was issued, primarily comprising a breastplate, faulds, a helmet, and combat boots. Regular officers' armor was infused with a small amount of nether iron, while mid-to-high-ranking officers received an additional touch of nether crystal.
This meant Body Tempering realm officers were clad in armor equivalent to dharma artifacts usually reserved for the Dao Foundation realm, while Dao Foundation realm officers were universally outfitted with armor on par with mid-grade dharma artifacts. Even ordinary scions of prominent, ancient clans like the Cui and Xiao families enjoyed nothing better.
With the new uniforms designed, the first batch of academy cadets was also selected, totaling roughly a thousand.
Naturally, the principal of the Qingming Military Academy was Wei Yuan himself. Cui Yu was the chief instructor, while Bao Yun and Xu Yi served as deputy chief instructors.
As the principal, Wei Yuan had originally intended to deliver a grand speech at the inaugural cadet assembly. He had even prepared his remarks, specifically having the mortals in the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World polish the draft several times. Yet right at this crucial moment, word came from the Dream Eater: it had uncovered the root of Ji Liuli's Dao heart tribulation.
Wei Yuan thus had no choice but to forgo the speech he had looked forward to and make for the Nether Cold Realm.
Arriving outside the side hall, Wei Yuan found the Dream Eater and asked, "How are things?"
"I've found some clues," the Dream Eater replied. "Whenever those matters come up, she reacts violently—it's at least at the level of a profound obsession. Those events seem connected to something called 'karmic luck.' But what is karmic luck anyway? I've never even heard of it. Why don't you go in yourself to play... er, take a look?"
Wei Yuan knew that an extraterrestrial monster like the Dream Eater couldn't possibly understand the mortal realm's concept of karmic luck. With a solemn, righteous expression, he said, "Fine! But how do I get in?"
"Find a comfortable spot to lie down, relax, think about going to sleep, and I can send you straight into her dreamscape."
Wei Yuan found a side chamber, sat cross-legged on the couch, and took a deep, steady breath. Before he could even settle his mind, the scenery before him shifted.
He was now seated in an austere side room with remarkably simple furnishings. Outside, the playful banter of several children suddenly rang out, though an undercurrent of tension laced their voices.
Wei Yuan rose and stepped outside. In the open front courtyard, a group of young children were arguing. A tall, sturdy boy pointed at a little girl, shouting angrily, "Every single time you win, it's just pure luck! You don't have any real skill at all!"
On the verge of tears, the little girl protested, "I do not! I was already stronger than you!"
"You do too! Last time my sword suddenly snapped, and the time before that, Fifth Uncle had an accident refining a dharma treasure, and a stray roof tile came flying out and cracked me on the head—that's the only reason I couldn't block your strike! And the time before that... Once or twice could be called a coincidence, but every single time? Do you think we're stupid?"
"If your luck is so amazing, why don't you go play by yourself? We want to play with people who actually have real skill!"
The other children chimed in agreement and left the courtyard together, leaving the little girl standing alone.
Only after they were all gone did large tears begin rolling down her cheeks.
The scenery before Wei Yuan suddenly blurred and reshaped into a drill ground. The little girl had grown to around ten years of age, and the children around her wore the robes of the Palace of Grand Beginning. At that moment, she was engaged in a flying sword competition with two other boys.
The three sped forward atop their flying swords, needing to bypass layers of obstacles, pass through an illusory realm, and race to the finish line. The girl's speed hadn't been remarkable, yet she sailed through the illusion without danger or difficulty, while the two boys never emerged after entering.
"It's happening again!"
"Every time someone competes with her, an accident happens."
"Well, she is a child of karmic destiny, after all. Thirteen chi of karmic luck—how could any of us compete with that?"
"From now on, whenever she's in a contest, we might as well just forfeit."
"There are plenty of children of karmic destiny out there; she's not the only one. What's so special about her? If she has what it takes, let her beat the other children of karmic destiny—then I'll be impressed."
...
The young girl heard every single word.
In the blink of an eye, the competition ended. All the boys and girls dispersed, not one staying behind to keep her company. She looked around the empty grounds with a lost expression, her countenance growing bleaker and dimmer.
The scene shifted once more. The girl was kneeling before True Monarch Yanshi. In the dream, True Monarch Yanshi looked identical to the man Wei Yuan knew; evidently, his appearance had not changed in decades.
True Monarch Yanshi said calmly, "Are you certain? I can indeed alter your fortune, but only once. Right now, your bone structure and karmic luck each measure one zhang and three chi. You are a flawless child of karmic destiny. A path to the heavens lies wide open before you, requiring no reliance on external aids. I ask you once more: are you certain you wish to do this?"
Resolute, the girl replied, "This disciple wishes to carve out a path to the heavens with her own strength! I beg Ancestor to convert my karmic luck into bone structure!"
"Such an act meddles with the heavenly mechanisms, and the cost is immense. In the future, you will certainly regret this, suffering the bitter anguish of yearning for what you cannot obtain. Have you truly thought this through?"
"I have," she answered with unwavering resolve.
True Monarch Yanshi let out a soft sigh, picked up a dainty jade cauldron beside him, and slowly began to turn it.
The girl's body suddenly began to tremble. Two streams of qi—one azure, one vermilion—rose from the crown of her head. The azure qi climbed higher and higher, while the vermilion qi plummeted rapidly, causing the entire image to shudder.
Just as the jade cauldron completed a full rotation, a sharp snap rang out. It shattered completely in True Monarch Yanshi's hands, slicing several shallow wounds into his skin. By then, the azure qi above the girl's head had risen to more than double the vermilion qi.
True Monarch Yanshi said, "Your bone structure now stands at one zhang, eight chi, while your karmic luck has diminished to seven chi. Yet because you have sinned against Heaven, these seven chi will often prove worse than someone else's two chi. You must be careful."
The girl bowed in gratitude to True Monarch Yanshi and strode out with high spirits. Her entire aura was transformed as she departed.
A dignified voice suddenly resonated within the room: "She is merely a child playing foolish games, but why did you indulge her nonsense?"
True Monarch Yanshi smiled faintly. "The end result is the same either way. I simply want to see what kind of path to the heavens she can carve out with her own hands."
The voice fell silent for a moment before remarking, "...Go ahead and spoil her, then."
"Are you any different?"
...
The scene shifted again. The girl dashed into another courtyard, where a young maiden sat serenely, reading a book. She appeared bright, sharp, clean, and crystal-clear, like an unsheathed immortal sword.
Wei Yuan nearly lost his Dao heart on the spot. Wasn't that Zhang Sheng as a young girl?
The moment the girl burst into the courtyard, she called out, "Zhang Sheng! I've converted my karmic luck into bone structure! From now on, we can cultivate together and have fair matches!"
The young Zhang Sheng looked up, slightly surprised. "You really converted your karmic luck?"
"I did! I only have seven chi of karmic luck left now." The girl's face beamed with pure, unrestrained joy. "Now I can rely on my own genuine ability to forge a Dao path that belongs to me, fair and square! Let's cultivate together from now on!"
Zhang Sheng remained silent for a moment, then said, "I don't play with idiots."
...
Another swordsmanship examination came. The girl flew alongside several other disciples at breakneck speed, charging into the illusory formation first. Yet while all the others cleared the formation and reached the finish line, the girl had still not emerged.
When the supervising Perfected Person opened the formation, they discovered that she had accidentally strayed into its core, where she was fiercely battling half of all the illusory beasts inside. Several other disciples had made it through without encountering a single one.
...
Yet another year's swordsmanship examination arrived. By this time, the girl had blossomed into a maiden of thirteen or fourteen—the tender age of budding youth, tall and graceful, though her expression carried an unrelenting stubbornness. Once again, she was the first to enter the illusory formation and the last to emerge, ranking dead last. This time, however, she had single-handedly slaughtered every single beast in the formation.
Zhang Sheng still refused to play with her.
...
The transitions abruptly grew chaotic and rapid, countless disjointed fragments flooding forward in a disorderly rush. Amid unending mishaps and setbacks, the young maiden grew up wildly and fiercely. After enduring far too much, her temperament gradually turned eccentric and extreme.
Wei Yuan understood that this chaos was the true nature of the dreamscape; the earlier scenes had merely been sorted out by the Dream Eater for his benefit.
Suddenly, a few distinct images flashed and solidified before Wei Yuan.
It was the study hall that once belonged to Xu Henshui. Ji Liuli was laying out packet after packet of medicinal herbs, calculating the formula for the next batch. In the room stood a wooden tub, surrounded by Dao flames that manifested from thin air, bringing the herbal decoction inside to a near boil.
A naked youth lay inside the tub. He was exceptionally tall, and aside from a slight youthfulness in his facial features, his physique was already no different from that of a grown man.
The youth's entire body was flushed crimson. Faint wisps of flame continually puffed from his nose and mouth, his eyes shut tightly in evident agony. The sound of his blood surging through his vessels rumbled like thunder, reverberating throughout the room.
The youth in the tub was none other than Wei Yuan in his younger days. Viewing his past self from an outsider's perspective for the first time, his seasoned face flushed slightly.
A sudden groan of pain escaped the youth, and Ji Liuli appeared beside the tub in an instant. The youth had already lost consciousness. Her hands moved swiftly across his body, unblocking and guiding the circulation of his meridians and blood.
A moment later, the young Wei Yuan's blood flowed even faster, yet the roaring noise diminished considerably. Several obstructed pathways were cleared, vastly enhancing his body's absorption of the medicinal potency, and his expression gradually relaxed.
A wave of warmth washed through Wei Yuan's heart. Eldest Senior Sister had truly devoted immense effort to him back then. For a genius cultivator like her, spending that time reading a few Daoist scriptures would have advanced her cultivation, yet she had willingly spent day after day cleansing and tempering his foundation.
Just as gratitude filled his chest, the vision changed. Ji Liuli suddenly let out a soft exclamation, her gaze shifting downward.
At that moment, the medicinal potency burned like fire throughout Wei Yuan's body, turning him into a raging furnace. With his blood surging like a mighty tide, his body naturally exhibited the reactions typical of a mature man.
Ji Liuli had always acted bold and uninhibited, bound by no taboos whatsoever. Clicking her tongue in wonder, she reached out to grab it, seemingly intent on checking if anything was amiss.
Just as her hand reached out, the vision abruptly went pitch black, cutting off right there.
Chapter 649