The second ability of the Dao Foundation was called the Power of Rivers and Mountains, which blessed Wei Yuan himself. Once blessed, attacking Wei Yuan with Dao arts was equivalent to attacking the boundless, desolate earth; the offensive power would be dispersed across the vast world, drastically reducing the impact that fell upon Wei Yuan's body. How much was dispersed depended on how much of the world Wei Yuan could manifest.
At this moment, Wei Yuan could only control an area of a hundred zhang around himself. Dao arts from an ordinary Dao Foundation cultivator would have their power shaved down by fifty percent, while the power of a dharma idol's Dao arts would be reduced by ten percent. As for Dao arts from a True Monarch... Wei Yuan figured he was getting ahead of himself.
The Power of Rivers and Mountains dampened Dao arts far more than direct physical strikes with weapons. That meant if an enemy wanted to injure Wei Yuan, their best option was hacking with sabers or cleaving with axes—or shooting him with arrows at worst. However, even the power of magical artifact arrows infused with Dao power would be heavily compromised.
Lastly, Wei Yuan could also cast out the jade mountain to attack foes. Though this jade mountain was only around a zhang high, it was exceptionally solid and weighed a full ten thousand dan—even a mountain of solid gold would be no heavier.
If he hurled this jade mountain out, virtually every Dao Foundation cultivator would have to flee for their lives; none could withstand it head-on. It was merely clumsy to maneuver—with Wei Yuan's Dao power, he could only steer its trajectory slightly, unable to direct it freely against an opponent.
For now, Wei Yuan had only figured out these three functions. Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains was unprecedented after all; not even a similar foundation existed, leaving him without precedent to follow. Wei Yuan could only borrow a bit of insight from Dao Foundations based on mountain peaks, giant boulders, and the like. Perhaps later, as that spark of vitality within the jade mountain sprouted and took form, new wonders would emerge.
After spending an entire day studying his Dao Foundation, Wei Yuan had long exhausted his Dao power and depleted his essence soul. With some time left before returning to the palace, Wei Yuan casually took inventory of his spoils from this expedition.
The most valuable prize was not the young master's head, but that jade bowl filled with water. No matter where this bowl was placed, it constantly generated pure water, functioning like an inexhaustible spring. Nor was the water that welled up ordinary water; it was spiritual water carrying a faint spark of vitality. Using it to irrigate flowers, grass, and trees could multiply their growth speed several times over, and a person's recovery from injuries would be enhanced multifold as well.
In an environment like the Liao domain, the jade bowl was truly a divine artifact. Even in a desert, it could create an oasis from nothing, supplying the daily needs of an army thousands strong.
In the Palace of Grand Beginning's merit redemption system, there was a similar item—a magic treasure called the Pure Water Glazed Treasure Bottle. There was more than one available, and each had a redemption cost of twelve thousand merit points. If Wei Yuan offered this jade bowl to the palace, it could be exchanged for four thousand merit points.
In terms of function, the Pure Water Glazed Treasure Bottle and the jade bowl were virtually identical, with no essential difference. Yet the palace bought it for four thousand and sold it for twelve thousand; Wei Yuan could hardly say which was the fair price, but he now roughly understood how the Palace of Grand Beginning's merit point exchange system kept itself running.
The next haul was the young master's head, which was worth thirty-two ordinary Dao Foundations. Wei Yuan once again lamented that the young master hadn't grown a few extra heads; if he had cultivated a divine ability similar to the divine beast, the nine-headed lion, Wei Yuan could have lounged about for three years after just this one battle.
Then again, young master Kanbida was far harder to kill than thirty-two Mortal Tier Dao Foundations combined; the difficulty was on an entirely different level. Slaying thirty-two Mortal Tier Dao Foundations would only have been a matter of time for Wei Yuan, whereas to execute Kanbida, he had burned through over a hundred wisps of black fortune Qi in a single breath. If measured by true combat power, exchanging the young master for a hundred Dao Foundations would probably still be selling him short.
Next was the gold axe the young master had wielded. It was also a top-grade magical artifact, on par with Li Zhi's longbow, beast-head gold shield, and armor—all fine items valued at fifteen hundred merit points each. This gold axe carried three divine effects: Divine Edge, Keen Blade, and Decapitating Strike. It was an outright weapon of slaughter. Unfortunately, Wei Yuan did not use axes; otherwise, keeping it for himself would have been a great choice.
Finally, there were the saddle and barding, which were magical artifacts as well, worth five hundred merit points.
In truth, the black horse had been a prized steed too. Besides its divine speed, tremendous strength, and endurance, it could help its master shoulder damage; even without the empowerment of Outlaw of Heaven and Earth, it would have been worth at least two thousand merit points. Unfortunately, when Wei Yuan retreated south, he had taken three strikes from the snow eagle. The horse had absorbed a good portion of the blows and ultimately lost all its vitality. Had it not been for the horse, Wei Yuan might not have made it back alive.
Apart from the jade bowl, which Wei Yuan planned to keep for himself, the rest of these spoils were of little use to him, and he intended to sell them off for immortal silver to pay down his debts.
The flying boat sped like lightning and finally arrived back at the Palace of Grand Beginning.
Right upon returning to the sect, before Wei Yuan could even pay a visit to his quarters, two Daoists came out to meet him, stating that Patriarch Xuanyue had summoned them. Zhang Sheng was still injured, so the two Daoists each carried one of them, arriving at Sky Azure Hall in the blink of an eye.
The great hall of Sky Azure Hall looked just as it had before. True Monarch Xuanyue remained benevolent and kindly, his hands tucked inside his sleeves without emerging. Naturally, all six Perfected Persons of the two halls were present.
Barely half a month had passed since Wei Yuan last paid his respects, so the hall and the Perfected naturally hadn't changed. The only difference was that two of the Perfected Persons had somewhat unsteady auras—evidently, they had learned how to respect their master and revere the Dao.
Seeing Wei Yuan, True Monarch Xuanyue's eyes beneath his long eyebrows crinkled into thin crescents, and he said softly, "Good child, release your essence soul and let this old man have a good look at this peerless Dao Foundation! Oh, there is no need to manifest it; this place wouldn't fit it anyway."
Wei Yuan complied and opened his essence soul. Instantly, six incomparably powerful divine consciousnesses surged into his sea of consciousness, crowding even True Monarch Xuanyue to the back. However, Wei Yuan's sea of consciousness was now boundless; the edges of the continent were nowhere to be found, and though those strands of divine consciousness darted back and forth, none could reach its border.
True Monarch Xuanyue sat calmly without moving, unhurried in the least.
The divine consciousnesses had not come for nothing; before departing, each showered down a misty drizzle. This was the various Perfected Persons using their own Dao power to nourish Wei Yuan's essence soul and hasten the stabilization of his Dao Foundation. Every drizzle could save Wei Yuan half a year of bitter cultivation. Yet because their cultivations and dharma idols differed, the rains they summoned were not the same. There was even a shower of crimson fiery rain that raised smoke upon hitting the ground, scorching Wei Yuan's essence soul until it shuddered. What made it worse was how violent and torrential this fiery rain fell, as if the heavens themselves had sprung a leak.
Expressionless, Zhang Sheng coldly watched Perfected Fenhai's old face flush bright red as he poured fire frantically onto Wei Yuan's Dao Foundation. Perfected Fenhai truly lived up to his reputation, dumping out thrice the portion of anyone else.
Only after the Perfected Persons' divine consciousnesses receded did True Monarch Xuanyue make a move. A much larger, gentler divine consciousness entered Wei Yuan's sea of consciousness, bringing a gentle breeze across the continent. Drifting in the wind were specks of cyan light, each representing a spark of vitality.
When the breeze died down, though it was not yet enough to sprout vitality across the continent, traces of soil appeared within a hundred-li radius around the jade mountain. This single wind completely outshone the six rains that came before it, and with plenty to spare.
After inspecting Wei Yuan's Dao Foundation, the Perfected Persons felt gratified. A decade of painstaking effort had not been in vain after all.
True Monarch Xuanyue said, "Now that your Dao Foundation has been forged, it is time to turn to the orthodox path and begin cultivating our hall's secret arts."
Wei Yuan was filled with anticipation as well. Only from this moment onward could he be considered to have truly stepped onto the path to heaven—the true beginning of immortal cultivation.
True Monarch Xuanyue spoke again, "Looking upon your Dao Foundation, it possesses the magnificent momentum of heaven and earth, fearless of the wash of passing time. Cultivating the *Sovereign Time Scripture of the Pure Heaven Orthodoxy*..."
For reasons unknown, Wei Yuan suddenly felt Sky Azure Hall grow dim. True Monarch Xuanyue's voice grew fainter and fainter, drifting and indistinct until it became difficult to make out. Wei Yuan was startled, having no idea what caused such an anomaly. Had a powerful enemy struck? Yet the expressions of the Perfected Persons remained completely normal, as if nothing had happened at all.
Chapter 91