Carrying the tea caddy crafted from purple-azure flood-dragon jade, Ji Liuli followed True Monarch Yanshi out of the small courtyard. As they departed, the young Daoist glanced back at the teacup on the table. The lid rested securely in place, unturned, uncracked, and untainted by shadows.
The young Daoist’s footsteps grew light. Taking a single stride, the world shifted, and he arrived directly before True Monarch Xuanyue, startling the old man.
True Monarch Xuanyue had jade paper in one hand and a brush in the other, muttering under his breath as he concentrated wholly on some calculation. He had never expected True Monarch Yanshi to come stepping through the void without the slightest shred of decorum.
Without batting an eye, True Monarch Xuanyue put away the two sheets of jade paper covered in numbers, asking with a dark expression, "Barging in without even announcing yourself—what, has my Sky Azure Hall offended you recently?"
The young Daoist chuckled. "I timed it precisely so we could savor tea together. Any later and the moment would be spoiled!"
With that, True Monarch Yanshi swaggered over and seated himself at the table, making himself entirely at home. With a wave of his hand, Ji Liuli came forward to set down the tea caddy, followed by an equally priceless tea set, before beginning to brew tea for the two True Monarchs.
True Monarch Yanshi first glanced above Xuanyue's head, where he indeed saw a vast expanse of shadow resembling leaden rainclouds on the verge of downpour. Looking between True Monarch Xuanyue’s brows, he saw a swirl of dark qi.
True Monarch Yanshi instantly felt as refreshed as if he had drunk three cups of immortal tea; even his Dao heart grew far clearer. Next came Ji Liuli's turn.
Ji Liuli held the tea caddy and shook it once, shook it twice, and shook it thrice. She finally shook out the tea leaves, and at that moment, both True Monarchs froze!
True Monarch Xuanyue’s white beard quivered, his breath growing heavy as he watched several leaves of immortal tea tumble toward the ground. Constrained by a True Monarch's dignity, he could not reach out to catch them.
True Monarch Yanshi's brow twitched and his smile turned rigid. Ji Liuli had been too heavy-handed and spilled three leaves of immortal tea.
"Hahaha!" True Monarch Yanshi let out a dry laugh and said, "Just a few tea leaves; if they've fallen, let them be! Be more careful next time. Do not be so discourteous before True Monarch Xuanyue."
True Monarch Xuanyue snorted heavily and said coldly, "Say what you came to say and stop wasting hot air!"
The young Daoist had already regained his composure and said, "I heard that dark clouds were gathering over Brother Dao's head and your forehead was dark. Though you are tough-lived and your life won't be in danger, your grand endeavors certainly will not go smoothly. Fearing it was merely a rumor, I had to come see with my own eyes. Now that I have seen it, my mind is at ease. That is the first matter."
Surprisingly, Xuanyue did not erupt on the spot. Though everyone in Sky Azure Hall from top to bottom had a foul temper and a stubborn streak, when facing a financier, their patience increased by one; when facing a creditor, it increased by two; and when facing someone like True Monarch Yanshi, who was both a creditor and a prospective future financier, it increased by three.
True Monarch Xuanyue asked sullenly, "And the second?"
"The second is to offer you an apology, Brother Xuanyue. Back then, Liuli was inconsiderate and took it upon herself to cleanse Wei Yuan's foundation. In truth, with a child possessed of an unmatched Dao Foundation under the heavens, why would it ever need cleansing? That cleansing was like trying to pave tiles across the boundless earth—how utterly laughable! Ha, haha, hahaha!"
Hearing this, True Monarch Xuanyue’s long eyebrows relaxed. "Brother Yanshi, you probably haven't seen the true form of Wei Yuan's Dao Foundation yet, having only caught a glimpse of it in the Hall of Myriad Manifestations. Come, come, look—this is Wei Yuan's Dao Foundation!"
With a wave of his sleeve, Wei Yuan's Dao Foundation manifested before the two True Monarchs. Because the room had limited space, it was impossible to display Wei Yuan's entire Dao Foundation; instead, it showed a scaled projection of the jade mountain and a small patch of surrounding ground.
"Laying tiles across heaven and earth is naturally absurd, but taking a single corner of heaven and earth to temper a thousand times over poses no problem at all. This jade mountain possesses countless wonders; it was well worth all the painstaking effort we poured into it, without wasting a single drop!"
In this contest, it was True Monarch Yanshi who had lost.
The two True Monarchs cast their gazes upon the withered branch beside the jade mountain, neither able to discern what it was. Yet Dao Foundations under heaven held endless variations, and having an occasional extra item in Wei Yuan's Dao Foundation was hardly out of the ordinary.
By the time the young Daoist stepped out of Sky Azure Hall, his expression was rather sour. His confrontation with Xuanyue had resulted in one win and one loss, essentially a draw, but he had lost three tea leaves in the process. The money was not the issue; the issue was the number three.
Inside Sky Azure Hall, True Monarch Xuanyue carefully lifted the three tea leaves with wood-attribute Dao power, blew away the nonexistent dust, and summoned his disciples, instructing them to seal the three leaves away with the utmost care. To that end, True Monarch Xuanyue even brought out the boxes previously used to store the Dao rhythms of past patriarchs.
Once the three leaves were individually sealed, True Monarch Xuanyue personally brushed the characters 'Immortal Tea Personally Verified by True Monarch Yanshi' onto the boxes. He then instructed his disciples to take them to the Trading Hall and sell them, pricing each leaf at one million taels of immortal silver.
In truth, the value of immortal tea went far beyond one million taels; True Monarch Xuanyue simply wanted a swift transaction. Barring any surprises, the three tea leaves would return to the Hall of Heavenly Secrets at the speed of light.
Even if True Monarch Xuanyue had priced them several million taels higher, Yanshi would probably have pinched his nose and bought them. But relentless hounding was meant for enemies; when dealing with someone who was both creditor and financier, one had to know when to stop and exercise delicate tact.
Upon returning to his residence, Wei Yuan first examined the withered branch closely, yet could make nothing of it. Projecting his avatar into his sea of consciousness, he gave the branch an experimental tug with his hand. To his surprise, it slid straight out of the earth in one pull, startling Wei Yuan so badly that he hastily shoved it right back in.
Though he did not know its purpose, this was something the Immortal Monarch had personally fished up and declared to be a branch of the celestial laurel tree—extraordinary just from the name alone.
At that moment, Wei Yuan recalled the strange reaction from the ledger on his person. Leaving his sea of consciousness, he opened the book. The Great Examination section had changed once more: Bao Yun's merit points had surged to sixteen thousand, leaving Wei Yuan behind. But most astonishing was Xiao Chonglou, who had shot to first place with eighteen thousand merit points!
Behind the top three, the others were gradually catching up, with fourth place already surpassing seven thousand.
A detail surfaced in Wei Yuan's mind: less than a breath after Pei Tinghai tossed the withered branch into his sea of consciousness, the rankings had updated.
Every action of an Immortal Monarch carried profound meaning. Unable to make sense of it for now, Wei Yuan did not waste any more thought on it. He probed the spiritual vein and found that the spirit gathering formation had yet to be repaired; the spiritual vein remained dry.
Being temporarily unable to cultivate was no great issue. Wei Yuan had already formed the Great Yin full moon and could rely on it to slowly absorb heaven and earth yuanqi—a grade higher than spiritual qi—on its own. Moreover, Wei Yuan had another important task at hand: rewriting Outlaw of Heaven and Earth and creating its Dao Foundation Chapter.
Outlaw of Heaven and Earth had been created by Zhang Sheng, who had laid its groundwork and basic framework. At the time, Zhang Sheng had only written the foundational portion. After establishing his Dao Foundation, Wei Yuan's primordial soul had surged tremendously, and the original Outlaw of Heaven and Earth could no longer bring out his full strength; it had to be revised. And since Zhang Sheng himself could not practice Outlaw of Heaven and Earth, Wei Yuan had to modify it on his own.
Fortunately, Zhang Sheng had already erected the framework, which accounted for eighty percent of the work; Wei Yuan only needed to supply the remaining twenty percent.
As for how to compose the Dao Foundation Chapter of Outlaw of Heaven and Earth, Zhang Sheng had taught Wei Yuan the method during their three years of foundational instruction.
Chapter 98