Qingming had operated academies for several years now. Every qualified commoner was required to undergo three months of free enlightenment education—this was both a right and an obligation. As a result, the people of Qingming had long held the conviction that studying was essential.
Wei Yuan's original plan had been to have early graduating students serve as teachers for the enlightenment classes, snowballing the scale of education step by step. That way, in just a few years, Qingming would cultivate enough qualified schoolteachers on its own.
However, over the past two years, Qingming's population had exploded too rapidly, literally adding a zero to the end, and academy construction immediately fell behind.
With Wei Yuan now undertaking the massive construction of academies, promoting universal enlightenment, and transitioning from primary enlightenment to elementary education, a foundation had already been laid in the early stages. Many had come to understand the value of studying. Even those who hadn't understood before could grasp the sayings: "Within books lie houses of gold; within books lie beauties fair as jade."
After months of hard labor, Wei Yuan had harvested over two million strands of azure qi, with nearly every enrolled person contributing something.
After more than a decade of diligent cultivation, the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World had accumulated sufficient data. Though the dao of karmic luck was ethereal and elusive, a corner of its veil had now been lifted by the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World.
When refugees first arrived in Qingming, they were basically on the verge of starvation, their bodies exhausted and destitute. Only a rare few who were robust of body and harbored genuine gratitude would produce azure qi—roughly one in three or four.
Then, as they ate their fill and dressed warmly in Qingming and their bodies grew stronger, many who originally made no karmic contributions gradually began to produce karmic luck. Those who were already strong to begin with would generate an additional strand or several strands of azure qi once they began Body Casting.
Body Casting generated extra karmic luck, and studying could do the same.
Many mortals who completed their enlightenment could contribute another strand of azure qi. By this point, the conclusion was crystal clear: the stronger a mortal became, the more human karmic azure qi they could produce.
Once they forged a Dao Foundation and stepped through the immortal gateway, they fundamentally became another form of life, and the karmic luck they generated underwent a gradual shift as well, deepening from azure to dark azure.
And when one cultivated to Scenery Command, elevating their immortal essence once more, the karmic luck produced changed again, turning from azure to purple.
Thus Wei Yuan had spoken no lie: aggressively expanding academy construction to enlighten the populace was indeed the best method to harvest a massive amount of popular karmic azure luck within a short time.
Yet looking at the vast swaths of new golden karmic luck gleaming with a glazed luster within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, Wei Yuan knew something had gone awry—just like how the Yin Soul Cauldron had suddenly become the Yellow Springs Cauldron.
The golden glazed karmic luck stretched boundlessly; subdivided, there were at least a hundred thousand strands. Such karmic luck was unprecedented, completely unrecorded in any ancient texts.
Having accepted such karmic luck, the karmic ties and causes were boundlessly immense. Even Immortal Monarch Yanshi had been stunned for a moment, let alone Wei Yuan himself.
After a long silence, Immortal Monarch Yanshi finally let out a sigh and said, "As matters stand... just do your best."
Wei Yuan had already gathered his composure and replied, "This disciple understands. Whether an accident occurs or not, this is what I wish to do. Rest assured, Patriarch, this disciple will give his all."
Yanshi nodded. Suddenly looking somewhat dispirited, he sighed, "Stepping past the gate of immortality is nothing more than stepping from one cage into another; the new cage is merely a bit larger than the old one. Before heaven and earth, we still cannot escape the fate of marionettes."
Perhaps realizing that showing dejection before a junior disciple was inappropriate, Yanshi pulled himself together and said, "The situation at the Northern Mountain Gate has eased, which is why we could pull away and come here to respond. We came this time to clean up some of the hidden moves the Shamans left behind for you, and while we're at it, let them know our Palace of Grand Beginning is not easily pushed around.
"When the great war begins, we will take turns presiding beyond the heavens. Fight freely without reserve—I will handle the Heavenly Shamans. I took a look just now: you have deployed the Zhou Tian Celestial Stars Array across your entire realm, which saves me considerable effort. Transfer control of the grand array to my hands."
Wei Yuan complied, transferring the core control of the Zhou Tian Celestial Stars Array. Immortal Monarch Yanshi produced a jade chime and struck it lightly.
Wei Yuan instantly felt his heart skip a beat.
In an instant, several dozen people across Qingming died silently, their causes of death bizarre and varied. Many others were gravely injured—several hundred at the very least.
With his divine sense connected to the Zhou Tian Celestial Stars Array, Wei Yuan immediately saw that those who had suddenly suffered severe injuries had all been marked with conspicuous brands.
Yanshi said, "Those who just suffered mishaps were all Shaman scouts, or people who had Shaman seeds planted in them that would submit them to Shaman control once activated. I altered their fate, making their luck exceptionally abysmal for three breaths' time, which resulted in what you see now. All you need to do is arrest everyone who had an accident just now, and virtually none should slip through the net."
Wei Yuan activated the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, immediately analyzing and cross-referencing to pull up the identities of everyone affected. They came from all walks of life, engaged in every sort of occupation, and even included two young disciples of the Palace of Grand Beginning.
After seeing the identities of all these people, Wei Yuan was also startled and said, "There are actually so many Shaman scouts? How could there even be disciples of the Palace of Grand Beginning?"
Yanshi said calmly, "Shaman arts are insidious and inscrutable. Those two disciples might harbor resentment toward you, allowing the shamanic arts to take advantage of their vulnerability. Perhaps they didn't even realize they had fallen prey. By purging the hidden pawns planted by the Shamans, we have won a minor victory. The one who arranged these pawns is likely having a rough time right now.
"Now that Qingming is clean, you can proceed to the next step: disrupting the heavenly secret. I will now impart to you the art of karmic fishing. The version Tinghai passed down to you back then was a simplified one; I shall now transmit the complete version. When you have free time, practice it often. Fish right here in Qingming. Perhaps you will reap unexpected gains, and at the very least, it will disrupt the Shamans' arrangements."
Rather than delighted, Wei Yuan felt uneasy. Karmic fishing was just like regular fishing, except the two sides pitted their complete might—innate fate and fortune included—against one another.
He who fishes may forever be fished in turn; examples of anglers being dragged into the water by big fish were countless. While some were skilled at fishing, there were also fish adept at catching anglers. Thus, in the history of cultivation, those skilled in heavenly secrets and fate arts who loved karmic fishing rarely met a good end. Yet with a formidable enemy at hand, Wei Yuan had no room for hesitation. Over the next few days, he studied earnestly under Yanshi.
The incantations and true concepts of karmic fishing alone were vast; recorded into text, they would likely span hundreds of thousands of characters. Wei Yuan could only do his utmost to comprehend the senior's true intent, recording the specific formulas into the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World first so he could ponder them slowly in the future.
Yet on the surface, a grand Dao art that would take others a month to learn was completely committed to memory by Wei Yuan in just three days. No matter how Yanshi tested him, Wei Yuan answered fluently. Naturally well pleased, Yanshi instructed Wei Yuan to practice on his own, while he departed with Xuanyue and the Hall Master of the Bright King.
While Yanshi was imparting the arts, the two True Monarchs had been wandering around Qingming, unearthing several dozen more scouts of various descriptions.
Most of these people had been dispatched by the Nine Kingdoms or other sects, but when Yanshi took action, they were caught in the crossfire as collateral damage, their karmic fortunes and fate patterns shaved down considerably. Consequently, these unlucky fellows ended up popping up right in front of the two True Monarchs for one reason or another, walking straight into the net.
After Yanshi left, Wei Yuan immediately followed his instructions and personally set up a small fishing array. As for what to use as bait, Wei Yuan found himself somewhat stumped. After much pondering, he went specially to the little rooster, plucked a feather to serve as bait, and tossed it into the array.
The bait was cast; all that remained was to wait patiently.
***
Wu domain, City of the Moon.
Inside a dilapidated, abandoned residence, Huixin huddled in a corner, hugging her arms tightly around herself, shivering from the cold.
Shengxin, holding a charcoal stick crafted from spiritual charcoal, was drawing an array on the ground. As he drew, he said, "Don't be like that! I took more beatings than you did, and my injuries are heavier than yours, all right?"
Huixin fumed, "Didn't you say that sum of Qingyuan was a lot? How come it wasn't even enough after we ate just two meals, and we couldn't even pay the bill? They told us to work in the back kitchen to pay off the debt, but what did you do? You bolted! And you didn't even manage to escape, taking a vicious beating for nothing!"
Shengxin sighed, "Don't bring it up. How was I supposed to know things in the City of the Moon were so expensive? Over ten times higher than outside—it's utterly absurd. Right now the winds and clouds are gathering; a momentous event is about to unfold. This is our golden opportunity! We can't let ourselves get trapped in a back kitchen with no idea when we'd ever get out. No, that's a trap of destiny! If we get stuck, we'll surely miss out on a great opportunity!"
Huixin raged, "I've followed you for years, and aside from things getting progressively worse, I've never once seen this supposed opportunity! Can you just get us some money first? Never mind eating—can we at least buy some medicine?!"
Shengxin sighed, "If you looked a bit better, you could pay in flesh, and our lives would be so much easier. Too bad you're uglier than even those compound guards; they couldn't muster an ounce of lust even if they tried. Truly beyond help."
"Shut up! Are you any better than me?!"
With the array now complete, Shengxin stopped bickering and chanted an incantation: "At the cost of three years of lifespan from a friend I made with true sincerity—"
Before the words had even faded, a bolt of lightning gleaming with golden glazed light materialized out of thin air and struck Shengxin squarely on the head, knocking him head over heels.
That strike was genuinely brutal. Shengxin struggled to his feet and wondered aloud, "Do I really have no friends left?"
Huixin retorted testily, "Even if you had any originally, they've all been hounded to death by you along the way."
"Fair point..."
Shengxin scratched his head, then suddenly blurted out, "At the cost of the looks of the companion sharing my destiny—grant me a godsent opportunity!"
The last line was spoken so swiftly and urgently that Huixin had no time to stop him. Shocked and furious, she drew her short sword. Reflected upon the blade was her own appearance, which had indeed undergone a substantial change!
The moment she saw her face clearly, Huixin nearly fainted dead away. Gritting her teeth, she lunged at Shengxin without another word, her sword strikes relentlessly targeting his vitals.
Flustered and scrambling, Shengxin hurriedly cried out, "Next time I'll use myself! Next time, definitely!"
"Really?" Huixin asked, half-believing and half-doubting.
Shengxin sighed, "What else could I do? It has to be! With your looks now, is there even any room left to sacrifice and downgrade?"
Without a word, Huixin thrust her sword straight into Shengxin's thigh.
Right at that moment, with a sudden bang, the room's door was thrown open. A blood-soaked Liao Clan member charged inside, collapsed headfirst, and lost consciousness.
Huixin froze. Staring at the fallen Liao Clan member who showed no signs of getting up, she hesitated and asked, "Is this... the opportunity?"
Chapter 828