The elders of both the Bao and Cui families were thoroughly astonished, inwardly wondering where the Xu family had found so many young juniors in need of casting their Dao Foundations.
Yet these old hands were shrewd to the core and immediately deduced the reason: the Xu family intended to use this to do convenient favors, pulling in key figures from affiliated factions, vassal families, and even their private army. If they still couldn't fill the quota, they could simply scalp the remaining slots.
In short, there was no fear of finding no takers for these slots. Doubling the price and reselling them would be effortless, and doing so would also curry favor with Qingming—why not do it?
Reselling was daily business for great clans. Naturally unwilling to lag behind, the Bao and Cui families each demanded two thousand slots as well. As a result, the two million Qingyuan the three families had just borrowed flowed straight back.
The Bao family was one thing, but the Cui family had partnered with Wei Yuan earliest, and most of their young disciples capable of achieving a Dao Foundation had already done so. Asking for two thousand slots at this juncture was rather obvious.
The Xu family elder immediately remarked, "Elder Cui, your esteemed clan still has so many young juniors who have yet to cast their foundations? Truly worthy of congratulations. However, the Dao Foundation Grand Ceremony is a momentous occasion in the cultivation world. It would hardly do if the quality ended up wildly uneven."
Wei Yuan genuinely did not mind. As long as the slots were sold, he did not care who came. Over the past two years, he had even taken in rogue cultivators—who couldn't he accept?
The Cui elder, unwilling to come out worse in a war of words, retorted, "The three Cui branches share the same roots. Reserving some slots ahead of time for the youths of the other two branches is only natural. Moreover, my Ji Zhao Cui clan has expanded rapidly of late, and many talents have emerged within our private army. All of them require our nurturing."
These words were completely airtight. Bao Shu chuckled and said, "Everyone relies on their own capabilities and takes what they need; there is no reason to hurt harmony. As it stands, our three families clearly share a fateful affinity. From now on, the younger generation will all be classmates. We old fellows should naturally grow closer."
The elders all voiced their agreement.
Privately, however, both the Cui and Xu families resented Bao Shu acting half like the master of the place. They thought to themselves: *Your Bao family only rose to prominence thanks to a single Bao Yun. Does that mean neither of our families has fine daughters?* Right then, each elder began calculating which outstanding juniors and peerless beauties their clans could send into Qingming.
Wei Yuan coughed lightly. Waiting until the elders settled down, he said, "I still have several important matters that require the assistance of you elders."
"Realm Lord, please speak!"
Wei Yuan said, "At present, Qingming has countless tasks waiting to be done and still requires many materials, primarily medicinal herbs, spiritual wood, spiritual ores, and high-grade magical treasures. The details are all on a list that will be distributed to you shortly. These are all urgently needed goods, and I will purchase them with Qingyuan."
The elders nodded one after another. This was Wei Yuan's avenue for exporting Qingyuan. With an inflow and an outflow, Qingyuan would gradually begin to circulate.
The meeting concluded there. Upon receiving the lists, the elders began studying them intently on the spot. They quickly discovered that to exchange for large amounts of Qingyuan, one needed either powerful spiritual treasures or bulk commodities, such as raw silk and spiritual wood.
None of the three families lacked spiritual treasures, but for long-term sustainability, bulk materials remained the primary path.
And once they obtained Qingyuan, what could they buy?
The elders had long studied Qingming's produce: fire guns, ammunition, and armor were absolute necessities, while cultivation pills could be absorbed in whatever quantity available. These items alone were enough to spend every last bit of Qingyuan, not to mention All Living Beings in a Flash and the Dao Foundation training exclusive to Qingming. The three families had spent millions in the blink of an eye just paying the annual training fees.
Calculated this way, no matter how much Qingyuan they held, it could all be used up, and many of these goods truly could not be bought anywhere else. The elders nodded in approval, gradually accepting Qingyuan in their hearts.
After the elders departed, Bao Shu stayed behind and said to Wei Yuan, "Worthy nephew, these systems of yours are utterly astounding, truly eye-opening. Yet I fail to understand: what was your original intention in developing them?
"Speak frankly with me—if you lack immortal silver, just say the word! My Bao family has some modest strength in this regard; putting together several tens of millions of taels for cash flow is no trouble at all. If things are truly dire, I can report to grand-uncle and lend you a hundred million."
Wei Yuan replied, "Thank you, Senior, but immortal silver will not be necessary. In truth, my original intention in developing these systems was the realization that loving ease and despising hard work is human nature. With the vast majority of ordinary cultivators, no matter how much you preach about the meaning of cultivating immortality or the great truths of life, those who are prone to slacking off will still slack off, and those who daydream during meditation will still daydream.
"Those who truly possess wills of iron and unite knowledge with action are the rarest few. The rest cannot even tap their own limited potential, so how can they talk of defying the heavens to alter fate? If such people wish to travel further along the path of cultivation, they must rely on external forces.
"Thus, the clock-in system compels them to begin cultivating at fixed times and places, while the performance evaluation supervises them in real time, ensuring they exert full effort during their practice—yielding an hour's worth of gains for every hour spent. Finally, the Cultivation Assistance System helps elevate their efficiency, seeing whether they can push beyond their original limits of potential and ascend to a higher level.
"The immortal path is arduous, and those capable of walking it entirely on their own are exceedingly rare. Most people need someone to prop them up at critical junctures.
"I possess little talent, but I merely wish to pull them a little further down the path of immortality. Of course, as for those who cannot be dragged no matter what, there is nothing I can do."
Bao Shu was visibly moved. "Splendid, splendid! Worthy nephew, by making such a grand vow, you will surely attain the true fruit in the future—"
The moment the words left his mouth, Bao Shu realized something was amiss. He quickly chuckled and said, "A few days ago, I discussed Chan with an eminent monk for quite some time, especially regarding attaining the Dao through grand vows, and was deeply inspired. Seeing what you just described, which closely resembles a Buddhist grand vow, my mind wandered for a moment and my tongue slipped. Worthy nephew, please take no offense! Worthy nephew? Worthy nephew, what is wrong?"
Wei Yuan's complexion looked terribly grim. Forcing a strained smile, he said, "I am fine. It is only that having just broken through, my Dao heart suddenly felt somewhat unsettled."
Bao Shu hurriedly said, "You forge ahead with fierce vigor, and your cultivation speed is rarely seen in the world. You must indeed take care to consolidate your foundation. I shall not disturb you further; go quickly into seclusion to solidify your cultivation."
Wei Yuan did not press him to stay. After seeing Bao Shu off, he stood alone in a daze for a long time.
Yet whether it was a grand vow or something else, Wei Yuan would continue to push this plan forward.
Wei Yuan had run the calculations: if the system was rolled out comprehensively, Qingming's Dao Foundation cultivators could at least double. For those who had already achieved a Dao Foundation, the average Foundation Solidification time could be reduced by a third, and the number of cultivators reaching the middle and late stages would rise substantially.
The Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World projected that among cultivators stuck at early Dao Foundation, if all their potential could be squeezed out, at least thirty to forty percent could break through to the middle stage.
This was an enormous figure, and Wei Yuan could not back down.
He let out a sigh, shaking off the melancholy in his heart, and went to find Yu Zhizhuo.
Yu Zhizhuo was currently reviewing the workshop output of the past month, his head spinning at the fierce increase of nearly eighty percent.
Seeing Wei Yuan enter, Yu Zhizhuo was startled and blurted out instinctively, "Nephew, what inhuman scheme have you come up with this time?"
Wei Yuan smiled. "Martial Uncle, do not panic; this time it is a good thing. Now that the Cultivation Assistance System is running smoothly, everyone has an understanding of their own progress, and the data across various areas is standardized. I was thinking we could introduce cultivation progress leaderboards.
"Each major workshop district, mining area, and factory can have its own dedicated board, divided into daily, monthly, and quarterly rankings. The top one hundred performers will be publicly displayed on the board and receive corresponding rewards. If this goes smoothly, we will introduce territory-wide Qingming leaderboards in the future, as well as an annual grand ranking—"
The data was readily available, so there were no technical hurdles to rolling out these leaderboards. After half a day of discussion, Wei Yuan and Yu Zhizhuo finalized the basic framework, which could be launched once the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World optimized the details. At the latest, the daily and monthly boards would go live in seven days.
Their discussion concluded, and as Yu Zhizhuo saw Wei Yuan off, he could not help but blurt out, "Nephew, be human!"
Wei Yuan merely smiled. He knew perfectly well that once these leaderboards were released, the ordinary cultivators who originally wished to enjoy a peaceful life would be thrown into frantic turmoil, grinding themselves to the bone in an endless race.
In the future, when matchmakers arranged marriages, young women might very well put it like this: *I'm only looking for someone under thirty who is among the top hundred on the annual Dao Foundation cultivation board...*
However, Wei Yuan felt that since he had inadvertently stepped onto the perilous ship of making grand vows, the template cultivators could forget about enjoying any quiet, peaceful years. It was better for everyone to sprint together along the grand avenue to immortality.
Emerging from Yu Zhizhuo's quarters, Wei Yuan headed to the Military City.
Cui Yu was holding a routine meeting with his generals. Seeing Wei Yuan arrive, he dismissed them.
Once the hall was empty, Wei Yuan asked, "How is the military preparedness? Speak only of our core main force."
"The military hierarchy has been reorganized. We have one hundred thousand first-tier elites whose average standard—excluding firearms—is already equivalent to the former Longxiang and Dragon Guards. If firearm upgrades are factored in, their combat strength is far superior.
"As for second-tier elites, there are four hundred thousand, all fully clad in heavy armor, comprising both infantry and cavalry. In terms of individual combat strength, they are on par with the Nine Armies of Great Tang, but our equipment far surpasses theirs. Even our sabers and swords are superior, so their overall combat strength firmly exceeds that of the Nine Armies."
Wei Yuan's spirits lifted.
Heavy-armored troops incurred staggering expenditures—they were essentially built on piles of immortal silver—which was why various nations could not afford to maintain many of them.
Right now, Qingming possessed a full five hundred thousand heavily armored warriors, forged entirely through the enormous wealth accumulated over the past several years. Wei Yuan had racked his brains, pursuing warfare and commerce in tandem, relying on the power of the Qingming Immortal Stone and the capabilities of the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World to scrape together this bit of family assets over the years.
With military strength like this, sweeping across the nine nations might be an overstatement, but sweeping Western Jin would pose no issue at all.
Across the entirety of Western Jin, even counting the personal retinues and guards of all princes, dukes, and high officials, they likely could not scrape together a hundred thousand elites of comparable equipment.
With this army, Wei Yuan had the backbone to issue Qingyuan. It could be said that wherever their spears reached, Qingyuan would circulate unimpeded.
Just as Wei Yuan prepared to discuss the next phase of military development with Cui Yu, his heart stirred, and the scenery before him shifted.
He found himself standing in the courtyard of the northern mountain gate where Immortal Monarch Yanshi resided.
Having not seen him for days, Immortal Monarch Yanshi had not changed, save for an added trace of weariness in his eyes.
Upon seeing Wei Yuan, Yanshi said, "You have made another breakthrough. The timing is now ripe; it is time to settle accounts with the Wise King of the Left and the Little State Preceptor. Recently, while perusing the handwritten notes left behind by the former Palace Master, I gained considerable insights and discovered an immortal art highly suited to you.
"It was originally an immortal technique, but I made some modifications, reducing it to a Scenery Command Dao art that you should be able to execute. Return and study it; you should be able to achieve initial mastery in three months. Three months from now, I will engage in a great battle against the Wise King of the Left. At that time, you will need to hold off the assault of a golden Heart Manifestation world for me. It will not take long—withstanding it for the time it takes an incense stick to burn will suffice."
*It has finally come.* With a solemn expression, Wei Yuan said, "I will certainly do my utmost!"
Immortal Monarch Yanshi nodded and flicked a beam of light into Wei Yuan's brow. Then Wei Yuan's vision blurred, and he was back inside the great hall of the Military City.
Chapter 797