Ten Thousand Li of... Rivers and Mountains?

Wei Yuan pointed at the entry for the young master and asked, "Why is this person's head worth so much?" The Daoist flipped through the booklet in his hand and said, "According to the regulations, an ordinary Dao Foundation is worth one hundred merit points. Earth Tier, Heaven Tier, and Immortal Tier double that with each step up. Foundation Solidification, Revival, and Spirit Nourishing double it again with each subsequent stage. This young master possessed a Heaven Tier Dao Foundation and had reached the Spirit Nourishing stage, multiplying the base thirty-two-fold to grant three thousand two hundred merit points in total." *What a pity the young master of the Liao Clan had only one head...* Wei Yuan sighed inwardly. Closing the booklet, the Daoist smiled. "If nothing went awry, this Kanbida was bound to attain a dharma idol in the future. To take the life of a future dharma idol for thirty thousand taels of immortal silver is, frankly speaking, an absolute bargain." Wei Yuan asked, "How did sparking an internal rebellion award so many merit points as well?" "That was no small matter. It shifted the course of the entire war. The Perfected Persons gave it careful deliberation before awarding two thousand." The merit points system of the Palace of Grand Beginning had been in place for thousands of years and had encountered every conceivable situation. By Wei Yuan's generation, it had become thoroughly refined, taking every factor into account. Fair allocation of merit points was the bedrock upon which the Palace of Grand Beginning stood, personally overseen by the Immortal Monarch through the generations, brooking no falsehood. Once Wei Yuan confirmed his merit points, the Daoist put away the jade paper and handed him a book. "This is the Merit Board for this Grand Examination, recording everyone's merit points and updating every seven days. However, this booklet only updates within a thousand li of the mountain gate; beyond that range, it ceases to function. It is also the overall Merit Board for the Dao Foundation realm and will fully activate once you return to the mountain gate." Wei Yuan took the booklet and opened it. He currently sat at the very top of the rankings. In second place was Bao Yun, whose merit points had remarkably reached just over eight thousand. Wei Yuan had ridden a thousand li north all on his own, wiped out an entire unit of the Snow Eagle Cavalry in half a day, and slain Young Master Kanbida at the late stage of the Dao Foundation realm—only through all that had he amassed twelve thousand merit points. Yet Bao Yun already had eight thousand. Still, with a moment's reflection, Wei Yuan understood. In the battle where he had rushed to her aid alone, Bao Yun had mobilized all friendly forces within several hundred li, pinning down the main force of nearly ten thousand Northern Liao iron cavalry beneath the fortress and ultimately crippling the Agula tribe's main army in eastern Bianning Commandery. In terms of impact on the war's outcome, Bao Yun's contribution was not the slightest bit smaller than his own. Had the young master's death not triggered internal strife within the Agula tribe, Wei Yuan's overall contribution to the war effort would actually have fallen far short of hers. Bao Yun commanded numerous experts and several thousand elite armored soldiers, meaning the vast majority of merit points had to be shared among them. That she still claimed eight thousand for herself showed just how grievous the Liao Clan's losses had been. Third place on the board held only a little over two thousand, and further down the numbers dwindled into the hundreds and tens. After all, the Grand Examination had begun only a few days ago. The vast majority of Dao Foundation cultivators were merely small pawns on the battlefield, usually doing no more than fighting off a skirmishing scout squad, much like Wei Yuan on his first night. With the merit points tallied, the Daoist left the room, leaving Wei Yuan undisturbed. Only now did Wei Yuan have time to inspect his newly forged Dao Foundation. He sank his consciousness into his sea of consciousness and stared at the boundless, endless earth, at a loss for a moment. His Dao Foundation had been forged for some time now, and he had viewed it more than once, yet every time he stood on this vast expanse of earth stretching beyond the horizon, an unreal feeling crept over him. Who else in the world could not even see the entirety of their own Dao Foundation? The land stretched out desolate and gray, strewn everywhere with crushed rocks and gravel. Though this Dao Foundation was named Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains, right now there were only the ten thousand li; the rivers and mountains were nowhere to be seen. Wei Yuan leaned down, picked up a few stones, and found that they were ordinary rocks without the slightest hint of spiritual anomaly. The entire ground was made of such rubble. Digging downward only revealed more gravel, and deeper still lay a solid layer of bedrock. Wei Yuan jammed his fingers into a fissure in the rock and tried to break a piece off. Exerting sudden force, he snapped off a shard, but the instant the stone broke away, a sharp pang of pain shot through his mind. Only then did Wei Yuan remember that this rock was in fact part of his own Dao Foundation; forcefully prying a piece loose was equivalent to tearing away a fragment of his own soul, naturally hurting beyond measure. Having inadvertently tasted the agony of a torn soul, Wei Yuan did not dare indulge his restless hands again. The land held not a shred of vitality, lacking even soil. Only at the very center of the continent stood a small hill about a fathom high, verdant from top to bottom like flawless jade, exuding a wondrous aura. This little jade hill was the result of Eldest Senior Sister's ten uninterrupted years of daily refinement. It looked small only in comparison to the vast continent; compared to the Dao Foundations of others, it was another matter entirely. Li Zhi's Four Symbols Three-legged Cauldron was already considered towering and heavy at eight feet tall, appearing similar in size to the jade hill. But the jade hill was solid through and through and a fathom in girth, vastly thicker than the Four Symbols Three-legged Cauldron. The refinement poured into it was enough to produce seven or eight Four Symbols Three-legged Cauldrons at the very least. If forged into ordinary flying swords, it could have yielded several hundred. At the summit of the jade hill, an exceptionally rich wisp of vitality was currently gestating, destined to sprout before long. Wei Yuan was intimately familiar with this vitality; it came from the fruit Bao Yun had given him. Would a Seven Marvels Treasure Tree grow upon this hill in the future as well? Wei Yuan found himself genuinely looking forward to it. Though he had seen Bao Yun's Seven Marvels Treasure Tree in the Hall of Myriad Manifestations, the hall preserved only simple phantom projections and a trace of charm, accompanied by broad commentary. Being an immortal foundation, its specific powers were not disclosed, and the projection merely reflected the Dao Foundation's initial state. Yet in the battle to relieve Bao Yun, Wei Yuan had witnessed with his own eyes the Seven Marvels Treasure Tree sweep away all the yellow mist for dozens of li. Though aided by an array, it was still a formidable divine ability—and the most useful kind on a battlefield, directly altering the terrain of war. Over the following day, Wei Yuan tested it repeatedly until his soul was utterly drained, finally unraveling several of his Dao Foundation's abilities. The first was Altering Heaven and Earth. Like other Dao Foundations, Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains could also be manifested in reality. However, with Wei Yuan's current Dao power, he could manifest only an extremely tiny portion centered around the jade hill, spanning roughly a hundred fathoms. Once manifested, the surrounding environment within a hundred fathoms of Wei Yuan would transform, shifting toward the clear domain of humanity. If he remained within the Liao domain, no yellow mist could emerge within that hundred-fathom radius, forcibly turning the Liao territory into a neutral zone. At first glance, Altering Heaven and Earth seemed somewhat similar to Bao Yun's Seven Marvels Treasure Tree, but their underlying mechanisms were entirely different. The Seven Marvels Treasure Tree relied on a surge of clear Qi to forcibly disperse the yellow mist of the Liao domain, akin to a powerful torrent washing away silt, while also suppressing and harming any Liao people within range. Altering Heaven and Earth, on the other hand, inverted the very nature of heaven and earth within its perimeter. Though less violent than the Seven Marvels Treasure Tree, it was far more thorough and enduring. This ability was truly extraordinary. When battling alien races, the moment an opponent stepped within a hundred fathoms of Wei Yuan, they would effectively cross from the Liao domain into neutral territory, severed from the ambient might of heaven and earth and stripped of twenty percent of their strength outright! Furthermore, within ten fathoms of Wei Yuan, the area would become a true clear domain of the mortal realm. Alien foes entering this range would suffer an additional twenty percent reduction in strength, while human soldiers would receive an enhancement, gaining a corresponding twenty percent boost. If Wei Yuan were to lead a human detachment against an evenly matched force of Liao barbarians inside the Liao domain, the enhancement from Altering Heaven and Earth—reducing the enemy's strength while bolstering his own—would turn what should have been a balanced clash into a one-sided slaughter.