Wei Yuan calculated the time, read through the official document once more, and then personally penned a note of recommendation. With that, he had the document published and scheduled the date for an extraordinary Dao Foundation Grand Ceremony.
In less than two hours, new notices were posted on the bulletin boards of every major city across Qingming. Large crowds gathered around them, the vast majority reading in silence before turning to discuss their thoughts with one another. Anyone with a suitable cultivator at home hurried back to deliver the news. This was a path leading straight to a dharma idol; if one succeeded, they could surpass even the Dao Foundation patriarchs.
Not far away, several merchants from out of town stood watching the swelling crowd beneath the noticeboard. An older merchant said to the young men beside him, "Qingming has something different from everywhere else. Have you noticed what it is?"
The young men were at a loss. They guessed several things, but none hit the mark.
The older merchant said, "Don't you see? There's no one reading the notice beneath the board."
The youths only then realized—it was true.
In the other eight of the Nine Nations, there was almost always someone reading notices aloud beneath the boards. Usually it was scholars who had time on their hands and read them to the public. For major matters, the authorities would also dispatch dedicated officials to read them aloud.
Yet in Qingming, there was no one reading. Even for an event as momentous as an extraordinary Dao Foundation Grand Ceremony, no reader had been assigned. People simply scanned the text quickly and hurried away.
The sharpest of the youths took the thought a step further and gasped in shock, "Could it be that everyone in Qingming can read?!"
The merchant sighed, "Even if not literally everyone, the vast majority can read."
"This... Has Qingming reached this level of prosperity?" The young men clicked their tongues in disbelief. Having arrived only recently, they had already found it incredible to hear that everyone in Qingming ate meat, never imagining it had reached the point where everyone could read!
Narrowing his eyes slightly, the merchant led the youths away.
Beneath a noticeboard in Yong'an City, Xiaoyu stood at a distance, looking over the new announcement. Eyeing Wei Yuan's conspicuous recommendation, he frowned and muttered, "Why didn't he sign his own name?"
Beside him, Star Lord Shaoyang remarked, "He clearly needs human karmic luck so desperately, yet he still only takes what is rightfully his. One truly doesn't know whether to call him noble-minded or hopelessly pedantic."
Xiaoyu said, "I deliberately left off my name; he should have understood. Wait, no—that fellow is usually shameless, with skin as thick as an immortal treasure. How could he suddenly be so polite? Besides, when it comes to such a momentous matter, is this any time to care about face?"
Star Lord Shaoyang was also puzzled, but suddenly an idea crossed his mind. As the thought surfaced, Xiaoyu sensed it simultaneously.
Could it be that in Wei Yuan's eyes, the karmic luck of Dao Foundation cultivators wasn't actually that important?
Qingming was exceedingly efficient. Within four hours, the news had spread across the entire territory, naturally reaching the merchant houses stationed in Qingming by the great clans. The Xu family, Bao family, Zhao-Li, and Cui family had all set up at least a spirit-treasure-grade communication artifact capable of transmitting messages instantaneously back to their distant main clans. However, transmissions were counted by the character, with a capacity of only twenty to thirty characters.
The Bao family, for its part, had set up an immortal treasure in Bao Yun's Ding'an City. Requiring only two relays, it could transmit messages to the distant Bao family.
Half a day after Wei Yuan decided to issue the notice, the far-off Xu and Bao families were already abuzz with activity. Countless young scions grabbed their luggage and rushed toward specialized high-speed flying boats.
Many who couldn't make it in time were simply flown by their elders. The two great clans were wealthy and powerful; not only did they prepare the fastest immortal-grade flying boats, but they also arranged for multiple Scenery Command elders to pilot them in relays, all to ensure they could reach Qingming in time.
Consequently, Wei Yuan began to harvest karmic luck in steady trickles, but this meager stream fell far short of what he needed, even with higher-grade karmic luck mixed into it.
Cultivators were simply too few in number, and until they reached higher realms, their effect was negligible. The karmic luck of mortals, however, was vast as an ocean, boundless and unending.
As he accumulated more and more mortal karmic luck, Wei Yuan felt as though he were carrying a mountain on his back, trudging slowly forward. With every gesture and stride, he seemed to churn an invisible sea, ripples spreading out into the distance, altering who knew what.
Every day brought Wei Yuan new insights. He gradually realized that although mortal karmic luck was the most rudimentary and seemingly the most useless, once it reached a certain scale, a different transformation seemed to occur. It appeared there was indeed a profound secret hidden within human karmic luck—just as the Zhao-Li Immortal had spoken of needing the karmic luck of over a hundred million mortals.
Wei Yuan had naturally noticed that Xiaoyu had no intention of taking credit. Touched as he was, he also felt a touch of helplessness.
Right now, Dao Foundation karmic luck was caught awkwardly in the middle. Compared to mortal karmic luck, it fell short in sheer volume; compared to dharma idol karmic luck, it lacked that touch of wondrous essence. And that essence was the difference between common earth and gold dust. Thus, Dao Foundation luck was neither here nor there—useful, but not by much.
Wei Yuan carefully tucked away Xiaoyu's kind intention, planning to write him a few long letters to hash it out after the great tribulation had passed.
With the arrangements for the Dao Foundation Grand Ceremony settled, Wei Yuan took the Sixth Princess and headed straight for Zhao.
...
The King of Zhao sat erect upon the high throne in the great hall, his aura commanding and exalted. Whenever the ministers stole a glance upward, a chill of awe ran through them.
Over the past half-month, the King of Zhao had seemed like a completely different person. He acted with thunderous speed and decisive resolve, listening readily yet judging firmly. He possessed the magnanimity to accept criticism with an open mind, but could also discern the useless, hollow talk of pedantic scholars—and the moment he heard empty words, he turned hostile without hesitation.
As time passed, the entire court, from top to bottom, became pragmatic and discarded empty rhetoric, speaking strictly of business and cutting out fluff. Yet there was one matter that the King of Zhao considered frivolous nonsense, while his ministers would rather risk death by remonstrance than yield: conferring all manner of grand honorific titles upon him.
In court today, an imperial censor renowned for his literary reputation stepped forward of his own accord. He was a middle-aged man who, despite sporting a short beard, could not hide his debonair air; one could easily imagine that in his youth, his splendid looks would not have lost to the King of Zhao back then.
In a clear, ringing voice, he proclaimed, "Given Your Majesty's recent deeds, which rival Ancestor Tang and Emperor Shun, falling not a whit behind the Founding Ancestor of Zhao and showing every sign of surpassing him, by this standard, Your Majesty's posthumous title must contain a word: 'Ancestor'!"
Hearing him bring up posthumous titles in the first place had already shocked the ministers, but hearing the word "Ancestor" shocked them even further. Yet as the scholar laid out reason after reason, well-founded and backed by historical precedent, his argument sounded more and more convincing the longer one listened.
The officials had initially assumed he was merely flattering the king, but after listening closely, they found it didn't seem like flattery at all. Only after pondering it carefully did they realize that it still was flattery after all.
The King of Zhao displayed extraordinary composure at this moment, actually managing to suppress a smirk, which earned him the ministers' utmost admiration.
The ministers immediately began calculating in their hearts what sort of posthumous name could match such achievements. Martial Ancestor? That would be overstepping. Civil Ancestor? That didn't sound bad at all.
Before the court session had run its full course, a supervising eunuch approached the King of Zhao and whispered something in his ear. The king immediately declared, "That will be all for today's court session. Any further matters will be discussed tomorrow."
The officials were somewhat puzzled, but they all understood that the king must have urgent business to end the session early. Otherwise, given his newfound diligence, court sessions only ever ran long; there was no reason to cut them short.
Leaving the court, the King of Zhao hurried to the royal study. There, he found Wei Yuan already seated and waiting.
Looking at Wei Yuan with mixed emotions, the King of Zhao took two brisk steps forward and said, "Your sudden arrival, dear minister, is truly Our great fortune!"
Wei Yuan smiled faintly. "Your Majesty needn't stand on ceremony. The one above can't be bothered to watch us right now, so say whatever you wish. Time is tight for both of us; let's work big and wrap up early, leaving time to attend to other business."
The King of Zhao replied, "Fair enough! Cut the chatter, then. Whatever good things you have, bring them out quickly! I have Chunyi over here scratching at the walls every day; I can barely keep him contained."
Wei Yuan promptly retrieved a sheet of jade paper and said, "I came today to discuss the matter of welfare. The specific system has been formulated, and after these days of polishing, the details are refined and ready for implementation."
The King of Zhao took the jade paper, read through it carefully, and then showed some doubt. "This system of yours is indeed excellent, but the strain on the national treasury is no small matter. There is one thing I don't understand: with the treasury's funds limited, why not subsidize useful people instead of first relieving the poorest? As the saying goes, 'Treacherous waters and barren hills breed unruly rabble.' Isn't this just feeding idlers?"
Chapter 996