Even excluding the tens of thousands of strands of azure qi scattered at the very start, Wei Yuan had cast at least six hundred thousand strands of karmic luck into this big fish. And where was the fish now?
In karmic luck angling, one often reeled in formless and substanceless things, and true masters could even alter the trajectory of destiny through it. But on his very first cast, Wei Yuan had hooked a massive catch, only to find nothing there to see. Naturally, he felt a twinge of disappointment.
Wei Yuan carefully reviewed the entire angling process, ultimately concluding that he had definitely caught something. Yet the analysis by the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World yielded no definitive answer either—there were simply too few clues.
For such a baffling mystery, the best solutions were karmic luck, divination, or karmic divination. Thus, Wei Yuan went to find Ji Liuli, hoping she could divine what he had caught.
Who knew she would refuse on the spot, not even saying whether she could divine it or not—she simply wouldn't do it. As for a reason? None. If asked, she was just in a foul mood today.
Ji Liuli's peculiar reaction made Wei Yuan realize that this matter likely involved an immortal and could not be divined. So, had he just contested an immortal for food—and won?
Since the fish remained nowhere to be found, Wei Yuan had to let the matter drop. Just then, an administrative matter surfaced in his awareness, so he entered the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World to read it thoroughly.
This piece of official business concerned distributing research funding to the academicians.
In Qingming, an ordinary Dao Foundation cultivator earned one qingyuan a month; one with a perfected immortal foundation earned an average of sixty-four qingyuan; and an ordinary dharma idol cultivator earned about fifty qingyuan a month. Based on these figures, the preliminary proposal from the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World suggested that each academician receive five hundred qingyuan a month in basic research funds and a living allowance of one hundred qingyuan. If there were major research projects, additional funding would be approved and disbursed separately upon review.
After reviewing it carefully, Wei Yuan found it feasible and approved the plan.
Once the plan was promulgated, an uproar swept through the cultivators elected as academicians. None of them had expected actual research funds to be handed out. Although the money was designated as research funds, once it went into their own pockets, who was to say how they spent it?
Taken on its own, this sum was hardly meager, and major projects could be applied for separately. For the cultivators, this was an unexpected pleasant surprise.
Several cultivators outside the direct lineage of the Palace of Grand Beginning were thoroughly on edge. Many outright rejected their relatives' and disciples' requests to feast and celebrate lavishly, ordering those around them to keep a low profile and stay discreet. They immediately began racking their brains over what projects to submit so they could spend the funds with an easy conscience.
The cultivators from the Palace of Grand Beginning reacted quite differently. Some hadn't expected it, while others simply didn't care about such pocket change.
For instance, when Xiaoyu saw the funds arrive, he merely toyed with the qingyuan for a moment before setting it aside. This pittance of qingyuan was less than a single day's worth of gifts and tributes he received as city lord.
All these gifts and cash offerings Xiaoyu collected went into the city lord's private treasury. The private treasury was reserved for realizing Xiaoyu's own notion of fairness—primarily providing relief for the lowliest mortals. The overarching keynote for Yong'an City remained rapid development; once developed, many problems would naturally resolve themselves.
As the sage said, "When the granaries are full, the people understand etiquette and propriety"—such was the meaning.
Consequently, over the past month, Xiaoyu's reputation had been rather abysmal, summarized in two brief phrases: takes the money, gets nothing done.
Furthermore, although Xiaoyu had come to Qingming in anger, he hadn't left behind a single possession or magic treasure. He still carried hundreds of thousands of taels of immortal silver in liquid wealth, so he was by no means hurting for money.
Seeing Xiaoyu resume his official duties, the Shaoyang Star Sovereign quietly materialized, picked up the stack of qingyuan, looked at it, and asked, "You're just going to leave it sitting there?"
Without looking up, Xiaoyu replied, "In a city of millions, over a thousand matters of official business are brought before me every single day. How would I have the time?"
Shaoyang Star Sovereign said, "If the Star Sovereigns in the Star Palace were to process affairs, the daily volume would number in the millions. Yet none of them are truly so busy from morning to night that they have no spare moments at all. If you handed these matters over to the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, it wouldn't make much difference. You aren't handling official duties—you just want to be busy."
Xiaoyu paused his work and frowned slightly.
Shaoyang Star Sovereign added, "You are ranked eighth among the academicians. Cui Yu is ninth."
Xiaoyu was finally jarred alert. Summoning an attendant, he said, "Inquire into what General Cui has been busy with these past few days."
Seeing Xiaoyu catch on, Shaoyang Star Sovereign retrieved several books from the shelf and began reading them attentively.
Half a day later, the attendant rushed back to report. "A few days ago, General Cui wrote a letter to the Old Ancestor of the Cui family. It's said the Old Ancestor immediately dispatched a team of hundreds—all top artisans and master craftsmen. Then General Cui began soliciting projects throughout the army, saying he was going to conduct scien... scientific research, or whatever it's called."
Xiaoyu was stunned, slamming the desk as he jumped up. "That fellow is thoroughly underhanded!"
Cui Yu was ranked behind Xiaoyu. Making such a grand show of it, he clearly intended to make a massive splash. When the time came, if Xiaoyu had empty hands while Cui Yu had yielded bountiful achievements, what face would Xiaoyu have to remain ahead of him?
Back during the annual examinations, Bao Yun had placed first and Xiaoyu second, both the product of family background combined with talent. Cui Yu's background was not poor, but his talent lacked that final edge, so he could only place lower.
Years later, Xiaoyu would still call him Senior Brother out of the sentiment of old schoolmates and because Cui Yu had always taken the lead and looked after his peers. But deep down, Xiaoyu only acknowledged people like Wei Yuan, Zhang Sheng, and Bao Yun; he had never regarded Cui Yu as a rival.
Yet during the academician selection, Xiaoyu had only won by a narrow margin, which had already shocked him. Now Cui Yu was aggressively throwing his weight into research projects, poised to overtake Xiaoyu in the blink of an eye.
Xiaoyu finally realized why Shaoyang Star Sovereign had warned him. Rank and face were the matters of utmost importance! Old ginger truly was spicier; the Star Sovereign's foresight was far-reaching indeed.
Waving the attendant away, Xiaoyu sneered, "He, Cui Yu, may command hundreds of thousands of troops, but humph, I have millions of citizens! I will immediately offer lavish rewards across the city to solicit research projects. There's no fear of failing to crush Cui Yu! No one is touching my eighth-place seat!"
"Ahead of you, there are two who do not hail from the Palace of Grand Beginning," Shaoyang Star Sovereign reminded him.
Xiaoyu frowned at once. "Those two are freakish talents. Their cultivation isn't all that remarkable, but they are genuinely brilliant and difficult to deal with. They might well come up with bizarre strokes of genius, impossible to defend against."
"Rankings are like rowing upstream—if you do not advance, you fall behind. And do not forget, Zhang Sheng has not joined yet. Once she attains a dharma idol, she will surely vie for the position of dean."
Xiaoyu felt a chill in his heart. What came to mind wasn't Zhang Sheng, but Wei Yuan's broad face. That bastard certainly wouldn't be satisfied with merely being an honorary dean; he would likely want an academician seat for himself too. Would Xiaoyu have to drop back yet another spot then? Any further, and he'd drop right out of the academy!
"It seems this project cannot be taken lightly after all," Xiaoyu said.
Shaoyang Star Sovereign smiled faintly. "When I saw the False Sun that day, to be frank, I was filled with admiration—it was truly inconceivable. So over these past days, following that line of thought, I searched through the records in the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. I discovered that Qingming takes the path of making 'every person like a dragon,' constantly lowering the threshold of Dao Foundations so that more people can form them.
"This direction actually runs contrary to that of today's major sects and great clans. The sects and clans study the Dao of utmost purity and refinement, pondering how to make Dao Foundations stronger and purer. But Qingming seeks to enable more people to cultivate a Dao Foundation. This must be where Qingming's grand cause lies, and it is the direction Wei Yuan values most. Our project must align with this grand cause to be of true significance.
"Among the template Dao Foundations, not only is there the False Sun—which is vastly inferior to Zhang Sheng's—but also the Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword, and even the Bright Light Sword, and so on. All originate from the Immortal Sword Great Sun. But when it comes to the Immortal Sword Great Sun, who could surpass me?"
A miniature great sun surfaced in Shaoyang Star Sovereign's palm, promptly expanding and dimming into a dark red heavenly body. Its outer shells peeled away layer by layer, ultimately revealing at its very core a tiny speck of matter emitting a faint glow.
This speck of matter transformed into an immortal sword in Shaoyang Star Sovereign's hand. Within its translucent, turbid blade flickered a wisp of residual flame, and the blade radiated a faint heat, the entire weapon exuding the true meaning of return to silence.
Xiaoyu was both surprised and delighted, yet felt thoroughly embarrassed as he said, "Is—isn't this similar to the Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword? But it's far more powerful than that one. Sovereign, you truly are formidable!"
"Merely being similar is not enough." With a slight flick of his hand, Shaoyang Star Sovereign dispersed the true meaning of return to silence from the sword, causing the heat radiating from the blade to intensify slightly instead.
With the true meaning of return to silence removed, the sword's true might plummeted, but its requirements for cultivation plummeted as well—becoming even lower than the Bright Light Sword's!
"This sword can be named Residual Flame. Refine and polish it, then submit it. Qingming's Dao Foundations might well double. This is immense merit and tremendous karmic luck. No matter how grand a project anyone else undertakes, they won't stand a chance against you."
Looking at Residual Flame, which had been downgraded and derived step by step from the Immortal Sword Great Sun, Xiaoyu felt his face burn with inner shame. Then, he accepted it with both hands.
Chapter 834