While Wei Yuan was immersed in his realm of calculations, Xiaoyu gradually settled into his new life and grew familiar with the use of the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World.
Even Star Lord Shaoyang marveled that the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World was truly a wondrous innovation. It turned waste into treasure, pooling together the negligible wisps of wisdom from countless mortals until it became nearly omnipotent.
The illness in Yong'an City was still spreading, prompting both Wei Yuan and Sun Yu to visit the city and investigate one by one, ultimately locating several wells where the problem lay.
The water from these wells was sweet and clear, showing no outward sign of trouble. But when brought to Sun Yu's clinic for inspection under the Subtle-Perception Mirror, the microorganisms in the water were laid bare.
These microorganisms did not differ in kind from those found in other wells, but they were noticeably much stronger, faster, and bristling with vitality. They were extraordinarily tough to eradicate; unless the water was brought to a boil, ordinary medicinal herbs could not kill them at all.
Both Sun Yu and Wei Yuan were grave. Had some new microscopic creature appeared in the water, it would actually have been simpler to address. But for existing microscopic beings to have mutated signaled far greater trouble. It indicated an underlying source driving their mutation—a source whose whereabouts remained unknown.
The Subtle-Perception Mirror was another eye-opener for Xiaoyu. The Subtle-Perception Heavenly Eye was originally a Scenery Command Dao art; those of profound cultivation could peer straight into the minute internal structures of microorganisms—a degree of clarity akin to dissecting their very genetic makeup.
The Subtle-Perception Mirror in the clinic, however, was a vastly simplified and adapted version of the original Dao art template. Powered by a dharma idol-grade formation to supply Dao force, it could be operated by Dao Foundation cultivators. While its discerning power fell short of the genuine Scenery Command art, it could still magnify ordinary microscopic organisms in water to the size of a fist and allow them to be examined from any angle at will.
Wei Yuan promptly mobilized the domain's power to sweep the subterranean depths, but once he reached five hundred zhang down, penetrating further proved difficult. And within those five hundred zhang, there was no abnormality.
In the end, Sun Yu proposed a stopgap solution that addressed the symptoms rather than the root cause: boiling water.
For ordinary mortals in the Nine Kingdoms who had not undergone Body Tempering, the most expensive commodity was not rice, but firewood. Even among the seven daily necessities of opening one's doors, firewood came first.
The south fared tolerably, but in the northern winters, a lack of firewood meant death. Consequently, in the bitterly cold regions of the north during winter, one could often look across a thousand li of barren yellow earth without spotting a single tree. If a grove still stood, it was inevitably the private estate of a wealthy clan.
Just like that ancient tree in the courtyard of Wei Yuan's ancestral residence—had the Wei family's guards not been sufficiently fierce, it would have been chopped down for firewood years ago.
Even for officials of the Nine Kingdoms, stipends typically included an allowance for firewood and charcoal as a basic benefit.
Fortunately, this was Qingming, where the primary fuel was Dao Foundation cultivators, so it posed little difficulty. Wei Yuan dispatched only three template Dao Foundation cultivators who cultivated the False Sun to boil water in shifts. In mere moments, a furnace of boiling water was ready, enough to supply the drinking needs of more than a hundred thousand people in the surrounding area.
The boiled water was not given away for free, but the fee was negligible, cheaper than boiling it at home. Xiaoyu had once asked Wei Yuan why he did not simply make it free and save the hassle.
Wei Yuan had merely smiled and explained that charging a modest fee ensured people took only what they needed. Were it entirely free, every household would haul their water vats to fetch boiled water until their homes could hold no more. Such was human nature; it should neither be tested nor defied.
Xiaoyu accepted this, then walked street by street himself, urging everyone to drink only boiled water in their daily lives. Through such a simple measure, the epidemic was truly brought under control within ten days.
Yet the source of the hidden danger remained, leaving them with no choice but to investigate it slowly in the future.
Xiaoyu was handsome, gentle in his conduct, and bore none of the haughtiness typical of cultivators. Despite being the city lord, he personally attended to the hardships of mortals, and thus he unexpectedly gained over a thousand strands of karmic luck.
Xiaoyu could only faintly sense this karmic luck without seeing it clearly, but Star Lord Shaoyang perceived it distinctly and could not help marvelling, "Can human karmic luck really be attained so easily?"
After Xiaoyu inquired into the matter and pondered for a long while, he said, "It is actually not easy at all."
Star Lord Shaoyang also reflected and said, "...Indeed."
It might appear to be a trivial matter, but tremendous work had first gone into determining the epidemic's scope and source. The hundreds of red dots on Sun Yu's map were each recorded and compiled individually. In all the Nine Kingdoms, hardly anyone would be willing to do even that much.
Then, to pinpoint the source of the outbreak, even Wei Yuan had personally inspected the wells twice, spending an entire day surveying everywhere. Sun Yu, Xu Henshui, and even Xiaoyu and Chuhe had all taken part, dedicating even more time. For so many genius dharma idols to busy themselves solely for the sake of mortals was likely one of a kind under heaven.
The Subtle-Perception Mirror installed in the clinic had also been created specifically to overcome mortal ailments. Dharma idol cultivators were unlikely to treat mortals full-time, so the mainstay of physicians in the future would be template Dao Foundation cultivators. Only then could there be sufficient numbers to cover a wider populace.
Wei Yuan had expended great effort modifying the Scenery Command Dao art Subtle-Perception Heavenly Eye into the formation-driven Subtle-Perception Mirror precisely to use external tools to elevate the abilities of template Dao Foundation cultivators, raising their medical skills to heights they could never otherwise attain.
Only with all these preceding foundations laid did that final, simple step of boiling water become possible.
With human karmic luck gracing him, Xiaoyu instantly felt his mind clear and sharpen, naturally developing an instinctive sense for seeking fortune and avoiding calamity. When he and Star Lord Shaoyang entered the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World once more, handling a hundred and twenty-eight tasks each had already become effortless.
Yet after being blessed with karmic luck, Star Lord Shaoyang suddenly thought of something: just how much karmic luck did Wei Yuan possess?
That question instantly silenced both Xiaoyu and Star Lord Shaoyang. Clearly, it was a figure neither wished to face. And having so much karmic luck concentrated in a single person would exert a warping pull on the people and events around him, unconsciously altering the fates of countless beings.
After a long silence, Star Lord Shaoyang finally said, "And here I wondered why he cared so much about mortals—it was all for karmic luck! Humph, fishing for fame and reputation!"
Having made that sour remark, neither of them ever again brought up the idea of showing off their task-handling prowess before Wei Yuan.
Wei Yuan, on the other hand, found it strange after waiting for Xiaoyu for so long to no avail. Yet this matter could not be forced; if the fish would not take the bait, there was nothing to do but wait. Otherwise, his only options would be casting lightning arts, casting bottom trawl nets, blasting with explosives, probing the depths with the Subtle-Perception Heavenly Eye... and so on.
Thus Wei Yuan kept waiting, but even when the calculations for the second orbit were completed, Xiaoyu still had not shown up.
The cauldron containing the yin souls had been refining in the Yin-Yang Great Furnace all along. By now, its appearance had completely changed into a small cauldron of deep, dark blue. Inside was a bottomless vortex leading who knew where. Through the vortex, one could occasionally hear the faint sound of flowing water.
Even with Wei Yuan's abilities, he dared not extend his divine sense into the vortex to inspect it.
He brought out the small cauldron, flew out past the vault of the heavens, and arrived above the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. Standing before the calculated second orbit, he held his breath, composed himself, and gave a gentle push, sending the small cauldron into the orbit.
The small cauldron flew several zhang out and clicked into perfect alignment with the orbit. The Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World began to vibrate continuously as countless minute structures within it shifted, and the Great Daos composing the mind-image domain evolved and transformed along with it.
Wei Yuan had already prepared a million points of human karmic luck, which he now bestowed upon the small cauldron, bracing himself to face the heavenly tribulation.
During the previous insertion of the Earth Fire Heartstone into orbit, it had drawn the intervention of an immortal. After the first attempt failed, the immortal had angrily instigated three successive heavenly tribulations. While it had appeared to be a man-made calamity, Wei Yuan had later consulted Immortal Monarch Yanshi and learned that, in a sense, it had still been a form of heavenly tribulation—the immortal had simply acted on behalf of the Heavenly Dao.
Wei Yuan had felt a chill in his heart at the revelation, never expecting that even an exalted immortal could be manipulated by the Heavenly Dao without realizing it.
Given the Heavenly Dao's past attitude toward Wei Yuan, it was naturally impossible that it would let him pass easily this time.
Hence, Wei Yuan had made ample preparations well in advance. Since this was only the second orbital insertion, the heavenly tribulation ought not to be as terrifying as the last time, and the material of the small cauldron was far superior to the Earth Fire Heartstone. Even so, Wei Yuan had scraped together a full two million points of human karmic luck to guard against any unforeseen contingency.
Yet to his surprise, no heavenly tribulation arrived. The small cauldron absorbed all the human karmic luck, its body gradually turning translucent, while its interior became half-filled with an impenetrable murky water. Upon the cauldron's surface, two ancient characters emerged: Yellow Springs.
In an instant, Wei Yuan felt his scalp go numb, seized by the feeling that he had once again poked a hole in the heavens.
This time, there was no heavenly tribulation.
Chapter 823