Creating a cultivation technique was, in broad strokes, not unlike composing an essay. First came understanding the principles and basic framework of Outlaw of Heaven and Earth—a step Wei Yuan had already completed. Second was browsing other karmic destiny secret arts and Dao Foundation techniques, pooling their wisdom and drawing upon diverse schools of thought to chart a clear course. The third step was drafting the technique itself. The fourth was test-running the new art to search for flaws. And finally, based on whatever problems arose, looping back to the second or even the first step to repeat the entire process.
What Wei Yuan needed to do now was step two. Since repairing the spiritual vein seemed a monumental undertaking with no telling when it would be finished, Wei Yuan rose and headed for the Hall of Broad Thought.
There was a dedicated Hall of Broad Thought for the Dao Foundation realm, far larger than the one for the Body Casting realm—a sprawling complex of nine major halls and pavilions. Though Wei Yuan had no immortal silver at the moment, he possessed an abundance of merit points. He paid the fee in merit points to enter, followed the guidance of an attendant Daoist to the section for karmic destiny secret arts and Dao Foundation techniques, carefully selected a dozen or so texts, and sat down to study them in depth.
At the Dao Foundation level, the Hall of Broad Thought placed no limit on how many volumes one could peruse, and its interior was furnished with numerous study desks. Each desk was a magical implement with the property of calming the mind and nurturing the spirit, allowing one to sit and read for three days without fatigue. Furthermore, the hall charged by the day; for those intending to study for extended stretches, it even provided Qi-Ingesting Pills free of charge.
Wei Yuan read through the arts and techniques one by one. Before he knew it, six hours had slipped by. He returned that batch to their original shelves, selected over twenty more, and resumed his reading. A full day and night passed in this manner, during which Wei Yuan went through more than fifty karmic destiny secret arts.
After swallowing a Qi-Ingesting Pill, Wei Yuan carried back another stack of Dao Foundation techniques to study.
By the time he had read a hundred karmic destiny secret arts and Dao Foundation techniques, a general direction had crystallized in his mind. Though still somewhat vague, he had found his path forward.
Only now did Wei Yuan understand why the Immortal Sect Unified Examination included a literary test. Most of these karmic destiny secret arts and cultivation techniques had been gathered from the outside world by the Palace of Grand Beginning and retained their original phrasing. As such, they spanned linguistic styles from various eras. Many manuals were written in obscure, deliberately mystical language. Even though cultivators had collated and edited them upon acquisition to remove errors and overly archaic characters, by and large these manuals handed down from antiquity and the medieval era remained dense and abstruse.
Without a firm grasp of literary syntax and meaning, one could not even decipher an ordinary manual, to say nothing of weeding out the old to bring forth the new and carving out a cultivation path of one's own.
And so Wei Yuan read on, book after book, venturing deeper and deeper into the endless rows of bookshelves.
Meanwhile, within the Hall of Heavenly Craft, a burly, dark-skinned cultivator knit his brows and spoke to the black-robed Daoist before him: "Nine hundred thousand taels of immortal silver to repair the spirit gathering formation for an entire mountain peak? How could that ever be enough? Not to mention laying down an extra branch vein on top of it! This job costs at least one and a half million taels!"
The black-robed Daoist said in a soft, gentle voice, "The Immortal Monarch meant that with the palace's recent expenditures running so high, he hoped the Hall of Heavenly Craft could shoulder a bit of the burden. Don't look to make a profit this time."
The burly cultivator's eyes widened. "Work for free without making a single copper? Are the disciples of our hall supposed to abandon their cultivation and stop consuming resources? So only the Hall of Heavenly Secrets and the Monastery of Creation get to fatten themselves, while we starve? We're already impoverished—this is utterly out of the question!"
Not the least bit vexed, the black-robed Daoist replied, "No matter how expensive the pills from the Monastery of Creation are, people pay for them out of their own pockets; the palace has no say in that. The same goes for the Hall of Heavenly Secrets. But most of your work has to be paid for from the palace's coffers. That is the difference."
The burly cultivator gave a heavy snort. "One million even, not a copper less! Otherwise, don't blame me for disregarding the bigger picture!"
"Agreed."
Seeing the black-robed Daoist agree without a moment's hesitation, the burly cultivator cried out in dismay, realizing he had asked for too little. He huffed angrily, "Let me put the ugly truth up front: repairing the spirit gathering formation this time is fine, but if it breaks again, we'll need to replace tons of components and materials, and it certainly won't be at this price!"
"Naturally, we understand."
In the blink of an eye, a month passed.
Having read an untold number of techniques and secret arts, Wei Yuan let his deep accumulation burst forth. What Outlaw of Heaven and Earth should look like became clearer and clearer in his mind. On this day, inspiration suddenly struck him. He took out paper and brush and began writing furiously. Moments later, a sweeping, magnificent chant sprang to life upon the paper—the Dao Foundation Chapter of Outlaw of Heaven and Earth!
The moment he inked the final stroke, a sudden sensation welled within Wei Yuan, as if he had touched upon something invisible between heaven and earth. Looking out the window, he felt the Hanging Azure of the Empty Valley seemed a fraction dimmer than usual and the wind had picked up slightly, but beyond that, nothing appeared out of the ordinary.
When Wei Yuan withdrew his gaze, he was startled to see a young Daoist standing before his desk, clad in black robes, quietly reading the newly written Dao Foundation Chapter of Outlaw of Heaven and Earth.
After reading it in silence, the black-robed Daoist praised, "To weed through the old and bring forth the new at such a tender age is remarkable enough, but what is truly exceptional is this grand ambition to alter heaven and earth."
Wei Yuan could not perceive the black-robed Daoist's cultivation at all, knowing the man's realm had to be vastly beyond his own. He rose and said respectfully, "Just crude scrawls of mine. I ask senior for guidance."
The Daoist shook his head. "I cannot guide you. My own state of mind is extreme; any pointer from me would only lead you astray. First, to business: I handle miscellaneous affairs before Palace Master Pei. I have sought you out today on the Palace Master's orders, for there is a matter to entrust to you."
The mission had finally arrived. Wei Yuan stood at attention to listen.
"This is no place to speak. Let us go to your residence."
Wei Yuan returned the borrowed texts and followed the black-robed Daoist out of the Hall of Erudite Thought, returning to his dwelling. Spiritual energy now surged abundantly within the immortal cave; evidently, after a month of repairs, the spiritual vein had been restored.
The black-robed Daoist placed two sheets of jade paper before Wei Yuan. One depicted a young female cultivator. She looked not yet twenty, her large eyes sparkling with mischievous wit, one finger pressed against her lip as though scheming some playful prank.
The Daoist said, "Since you wish to temper yourself against the alien races, travel to the Shattered Realm west of Ningzhou. Find her and bring her back. If you truly cannot bring her back alive, then bring back what she carries. This other sheet contains the briefing for the mission; you can review it in detail later. Furthermore, the risks of this journey are unpredictable. To ensure complete safety, the Palace Master has specially bestowed a magical belt usable at the Dao Foundation realm. It holds an interspatial pocket and carries a wisp of divine intent from the Immortal Monarch, equivalent to a strike from a True Person of the Dharma Idol realm. Used properly, it can save your life."
"Oh, right—there are also a few small items inside the belt. Use them as you see fit."
Having conveyed the instructions, the black-robed Daoist vanished on the spot. Wei Yuan could not discern in the slightest how he had departed.
At last, he would be dealing with the alien races. Although this time it was the Wuyu Clan rather than the Liao Clan, the alien races on all sides had to be slain regardless; which came first hardly mattered.
Wei Yuan first inspected the female cultivator's likeness. The image within the jade paper was lifelike: not only could it be viewed from every angle, but it could also be manifested in three dimensions, standing before him as though in the flesh. Even the hem of her robes and the tips of her hair swayed in response to Wei Yuan's divine sense—a truly miraculous work. At the same time, the portrait contained a trace of her soul aura, ensuring Wei Yuan would not mistake her even if she altered her attire or her face were disfigured.
Committing her appearance and aura to memory, Wei Yuan picked up the other sheet of jade paper to read carefully.
The female cultivator was named Yun Feifei, twenty-four years of age, in the Dao Foundation realm with cultivation between Foundation Solidification and Revival, possibly having already reached the Revival stage. She hailed from a minor sect called Lanshen Palace. The origins of Lanshen Palace were tied to the Palace of Grand Beginning: four hundred years ago, a disciple of the Palace of Grand Beginning named Yun Xihe ventured west into Ningzhou to pioneer new frontiers. After obtaining a fateful opportunity, he cultivated a dharma idol, subsequently left the Palace of Grand Beginning, and founded Lanshen Palace. Lanshen Palace centered primarily on the divine way of incense, which did not align with the Palace of Grand Beginning's Daoist orthodox lineage.
After establishing Lanshen Palace, Yun Xihe lived for another fifty years. Over the following three centuries, four successive palace masters led Lanshen Palace, all possessed of profound cultivation just shy of Scenery Command. Only because of this had they been able to establish a firm foothold in the territory west of Ningzhou, surrounded by hostile alien races.
Three years ago, however, the Wuyu Clan launched a massive invasion of western Ningzhou. The human race suffered a crushing defeat, and over six thousand li of territory west of Ningzhou fell to the Wuyu. Within that expanse, a grotto-heaven shattered and six minor sects were obliterated, Lanshen Palace among them. Subsequently, human forces launched a counteroffensive and reclaimed the region, but within three months suffered repeated defeats and were forced to retreat back to Yunzhou. Meanwhile, having taken heavy casualties as well, the Wuyu Clan pulled back to their original territory to recuperate, leaving the area vacant once more.
Those two years of warfare shattered the earth veins across several thousand li and threw heavenly secrets into chaos. Fragments of the shattered grotto-heaven rained down onto the earth, spawning peril-laden dead lands everywhere. These fragments offered no fortuitous encounters; they were graves for cultivators. The region's spiritual vitality might take a century or more to recover, earning it the name of the Shattered Lands, devoid of lingering value.
This conflict was a racial war between humans and the Wuyu Clan, drawing in two great feudatories—Western Jin and Zhao—with major sects participating to varying degrees. The web of relations among these factions was tangled and chaotic. After the Wuyu retreated, neither Western Jin nor Zhao possessed the strength or the interest to govern the region. Moreover, with the ever-present threat of a Wuyu resurgence, sects large and small were unwilling to establish footholds there. Thus, the vast expanse spanning thousands of li became a lawless territory where neither rules nor statutes existed.
Initially, the Palace of Grand Beginning treated this region no differently from any other battlefield. Recently, however, a surviving disciple of Lanshen Palace sent word that the founding patriarch had possessed a major opportunity and wished to deliver it to the Palace of Grand Beginning in exchange for allowing several bloodline descendants to return to the palace. The message did not state what this opportunity was, only that the clue lay with Yun Feifei, and that finding her and bringing her back would reveal all.
The briefing neither named the opportunity nor specified what Yun Feifei carried. Yet clearly it was of immense importance, or an Immortal Monarch would not have personally set the pieces in motion. For a mission of such gravity, the burden naturally would not rest entirely upon a novice like Wei Yuan who had just entered the Dao Foundation realm. There were bound to be other covert moves in play; it remained to be seen whether Wei Yuan was an overt decoy or a hidden pawn.
Having finished reading the briefing, Wei Yuan examined the belt. In appearance, it was an ordinary silk-faced belt with a plain jade buckle in the center and no superfluous ornamentation. However, the true core of this magical implement was not the eye-catching jade buckle, but an inconspicuous thread within. Once energized with Dao power, this thread could store items within a space measuring roughly three feet on each side. Moreover, it housed a wisp of the Immortal Monarch's divine intent, which, when unleashed, carried the might of a blow from a True Person of the Dharma Idol realm.
Being the divine intent of an Immortal Monarch, it possessed many miraculous properties beyond sheer power. First, to anyone other than Wei Yuan, even a True Monarch's divine sense sweeping over the belt would detect nothing unusual. Second, once triggered, it would autonomously seek out and strike the target with the highest cultivation and greatest threat to Wei Yuan in the vicinity, striking even if Wei Yuan were unconscious. Third, it unleashed without the slightest warning, fast as lightning, impervious to weakening by any defensive implement or array below the True Monarch realm. In other words, once fired, the strike was guaranteed to hit; even if Wei Yuan stood face-to-face with an enemy who was fully on guard, it would still land like an ambush.
Wei Yuan put on the belt immediately, then inspected and understood each of the small items stored inside.
The scheduled departure was seven days away. Before leaving, Wei Yuan intended to visit Zhang Sheng to ask for guidance on the Dao Foundation Chapter of Outlaw of Heaven and Earth, seeing if there was room for improvement.
With night having fallen, Wei Yuan decided to cultivate through the night first and seek out Zhang Sheng early tomorrow morning. Entering the cultivation chamber, Wei Yuan sat cross-legged, entered a state of detachment where self and world were forgotten, and took a deep breath.
*Inhale...*
This time, he actually drew in a full breath of spiritual energy right to the bottom, greatly exceeding his expectations. Sated with spiritual energy, a hazy drizzle began falling across his entire sea of consciousness, nourishing the desiccated earth that had been devoid of vitality.
*Exhale.* Wei Yuan let out a breath, and then took another deep pull.
*Inhale...*
Wei Yuan did not know that within the mountain peak's spiritual veins, a new branch vein had been diverted directly into his cultivation chamber. This newly added vein was nearly as thick as all the other branch veins combined and connected straight into the mountain's root vein.
Inside Wei Yuan's sea of consciousness, the threads of rain fell continuously, transforming spiritual energy into flecks of vitality that seeped into the soil. Once accumulated to a certain point, that vitality would sprout, though what changes it would bring remained unknown. For now, Wei Yuan could feel that spark of vitality within the jade mountain growing livelier, beginning to absorb the spiritual essence from the drizzling rain.
Beneath his prayer mat, however, the newly constructed spiritual vein began to dim once more. The surging torrent of spiritual energy could not match his consumption, thinning out until it finally ran dry. Because this vein connected directly to the mountain's primary vein, its exhaustion meant the primary vein's spiritual energy ran dry as well.
Thus, the spirit gathering formation manifested once more. After a flurry of flickering, the mountain peak's spiritual energy cut off yet again! Across numerous immortal caves, chaos erupted as several disciples who had just entered seclusion burst out of their chambers, teetering on the brink of qi deviation.
Like a drowning man, Wei Yuan was jolted from his meditative state by a violent sensation of suffocation. Probing into the spiritual vein with his divine sense, he realized the spiritual energy had dried up again. After the past two occurrences, Wei Yuan finally realized the problem was almost certainly his own doing.
Checking the hour, he found this session had lasted a full eight hours, leaving just an hour before his planned visit to Zhang Sheng. Wei Yuan simply stood, picked up the transcribed Dao Foundation Chapter of Outlaw of Heaven and Earth, and read it in silence, pondering potential refinements.
Before forming his Dao Foundation, Outlaw of Heaven and Earth could only empower and control a single living creature besides Wei Yuan, and it could not be human or any other race born with a powerful soul. Having forged his Dao Foundation, Wei Yuan's soul was vastly stronger than before. He could now empower anywhere from several to dozens of living beings simultaneously, the exact number depending on the volume of fortune bestowed and the depth of control exerted.
Furthermore, empowering himself with Outlaw of Heaven and Earth yielded a substantial boost, raising all his capabilities by fifty percent. With his physical body and soul having grown dramatically, the original version of Outlaw of Heaven and Earth would have only granted a thirty-percent increase. In addition, when circulating Outlaw of Heaven and Earth, Wei Yuan effectively replaced his own destiny with otherworldly fortune for a time; his status in the cosmic order rose to an immense height, rendering virtually all Dao arts based on karmic calculations, tracking, tethering, or bewitchment ineffective against him.
The Dao Foundation Chapter also applied fortune with far greater precision. For instance, with the same horse, one could choose a slight boost to greatly extend the duration of empowerment, or opt for a massive surge in the short term at the cost of exhausting the horse's vitality until it died.
An hour later, Zhang Sheng held the Dao Foundation Chapter written by Wei Yuan, studying it in silence.
After reading through it several times, Zhang Sheng finally looked up, gazing at the disciple before him who had already grown taller than himself.
Zhang Sheng smiled with gratification. "This secret art of yours has already captured my true intent. What is even rarer is that after weeding through the old to create the new, its underlying vision is not a whit inferior to what mine was back then. That is what counts most. How many possess cultivation in vain, yet their state of mind cannot keep pace, living petty, pinched lives only to fall before reaching the summit? As cultivators, if we lack the heart to share the lifespan of heaven and earth, how could we ever stand alongside heaven and earth?"
Setting down the jade paper, Zhang Sheng said, "Your teacher has nothing left to correct or guide you on. When you employ this secret art in the future, grasp and refine it through your own experience. You are the only one who can walk this path; how far you go will depend solely on you."
Wei Yuan nodded.
"I will submit this secret art on your behalf. It should earn you some merit points, though since none but you can use it, the points won't be many."
Wei Yuan understood this, of course. The Palace of Grand Beginning valued practical utility; an esoteric text meant for one person alone like Outlaw of Heaven and Earth was far less valuable than the six foundational Body Casting techniques.
Next, Wei Yuan mentioned the mission. While he could not disclose the specific details, he could give a rough idea of the journey's nature. Since an Immortal Monarch had laid the piece, Zhang Sheng naturally had no objections. His own injuries had not fully healed, so he could not accompany Wei Yuan anyway. Besides, having forged his Dao Foundation and completed the Great Examination, Wei Yuan had officially embarked upon the immortal path and needed to begin tempering himself alone.
Back then, no sooner had Zhang Sheng forged his Dao Foundation than he descended the mountain alone to hone himself, braving countless perils and bloody battles. Once his Dao Foundation matured, he went searching the realm for a dragon—and ended up finding Wei Yuan.
Zhang Sheng felt a sudden wave of emotion. Without realizing it, the tiny child from back then had reached the moment to spread his wings and leave the nest. At this moment, an inexplicable twinge of bittersweet sorrow stirred within him.
Never one to show his feelings, Zhang Sheng patted Wei Yuan's shoulder with an unruffled expression and said, "Take care of yourself."
After a pause, Zhang Sheng added, "In all things, saving your own life comes first. Don't play the hero."
Wei Yuan nodded again.
Zhang Sheng thought a bit more and added yet another line: "If you really can't win, remember to come find me."
Wei Yuan nodded earnestly, yet Zhang Sheng still felt unsettled. Turning it over in his mind, there was really nothing else to instruct him on, but Zhang Sheng felt he should say something more.
Now, he had to raise his hand just to pat the boy's shoulder, and reaching up to ruffle his hair was no longer so easy... Zhang Sheng suddenly understood a little of what Wei Youcai had felt ten years ago.
"You still have a few days before departure. If you encounter any problems in your cultivation, come ask me anytime," Zhang Sheng said.
Wei Yuan actually did have a question: "Teacher, you mentioned that you comprehended Immortal Sword Lishang—Parting Sorrow—on your own during Body Casting. I've never been able to understand—with your disposition, how did you ever reach a state of mind where heaven and earth share in grief?"
"What's so hard about that? All it takes is..." Zhang Sheng paused mid-sentence. In the end, he decided to be honest with his disciple:
"...being melodramatic."
Chapter 99