[Rewards Distributed: Heaven-and-Earth Marvel: Spirit Vein; Heaven-and-Earth Treasure: Innate Spirit Root]
[World Proxy Mission Completion Rate: 100%; Bestowed Dao Seed Points: 5]
[Next Descent: 7 days]
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Wei Yuefu opened his eyes. He was still inside his family shrine.
Before he even had a chance to check the spirit vein and innate spirit root he had received, the first thing that hit him was an overwhelming discomfort.
The entire world felt as agonizingly suffocating as if it were on the brink of death.
To make a comparison, he felt like a fish trapped in a puddle that was drying up.
Compared to the world Ding Shoucheng inhabited, the difference was night and day.
He had not felt it before simply because he was accustomed to living here. But after making this round trip, the problem was glaringly obvious.
"The world is dying," Wei Yuefu concluded. "So the Spiritual Energy Revival is merely its dying breath.
"That's why the revival seemed so bizarre and laughable.
"And we, the World Proxies, are the world's desperate attempt at self-preservation using the last bit of strength in its deathbed rally.
"That explains the thresholds and the tests."
Wei Yuefu did not know what would happen to them once the world perished, but it took no imagination to know their fate would be grim.
His gaze then fell upon the two items: the heaven-and-earth marvel and the heaven-and-earth treasure.
-----
[Spirit Vein]
[Grade: Miniature]
[Cosmic Circulation: Forms an independent circuit; spiritual energy circulates endlessly.]
[Homage from All Directions: Spiritual energy from all quarters converges upon sensing its breath, like hundreds of rivers returning to the sea.]
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[Innate Spirit Root]
[Effect 1: Elevates aptitude below Heaven Grade to Heaven Grade.]
[Effect 2: Grants companion-type spirit entities growth potential.]
-----
According to the information he received upon obtaining them, a heaven-and-earth marvel could be placed and activated once refined.
Its grade and effects would combine, upgrade, and evolve depending on the progression of the Spiritual Energy Revival, as well as the marvel's type, effect, and quantity.
It was essentially a scalable resource node and structure.
A heaven-and-earth treasure, true to its name, was meant to be swallowed, ingested, injected, refined, or utilized through various other methods.
This innate spirit root, however, could not have arrived at a better time for Wei Yuefu. Enhancing his aptitude would make up for his deficiencies to the greatest extent.
"That brings up another question: what are these Dao Seed points used for?" Wei Yuefu stared at the 5 Dao Seed points, at a complete loss for how to spend them.
He guessed that the world was simply too exhausted to provide any guidance, or perhaps the points remained unactivated because his aptitude was only Earth Grade.
With that thought, he decided to first extract the minor mastery of Layered Tower Art that his little brother had brought back via the skill bar.
Wei Yuefu had only been able to bring back Layered Tower Art; the remaining Pagoda Stance, Bright Hall Force, and Eight Treasures Golden Body all required the practice method of Layered Tower Art as their foundation.
With a shift of his thought, he felt a fresh wave of power emerge within his body. What should have been qi and blood was transformed into spiritual power.
At the same time, its circulation path altered drastically, transforming Layered Tower Art from a martial art into a spell.
[Layered Tower Art (Minor Mastery / Upgradeable): Tempers the physique, generates spiritual power.]
Though Layered Tower Art had undergone changes, its effect remained a mutated martial version.
After all, the original Layered Tower Art was a practice method that tempered the physique to generate qi and blood. For Wei Yuefu, the first half remained unchanged, while the latter half became spiritual power.
He then attempted Pagoda Stance and Bright Hall Force, nearly injuring himself in the process.
"No, qi and blood and spiritual power are completely different things. Forcing it will only harm me." Wei Yuefu could only wait for his little brother to bring them back next time.
Compared to Wei Yuefu's innate Yellow Turban Strongman, Layered Tower Art possessed a clearly visible upper limit.
Furthermore, after acquiring minor mastery of Layered Tower Art, his Essence, Qi, and Spirit improved as well.
[Essence: 7/8]
[Qi: 7/8]
[Spirit: 6/7]
Both his current status and maximum capacity for Essence and Qi increased by 1 point.
As for Spirit, Layered Tower Art did not enhance it, so naturally it showed no increase.
He estimated that Pagoda Stance should be able to raise his Spirit attribute. As for Bright Hall Force and Eight Treasures Golden Body, he was not entirely certain.
"Phew—" Wei Yuefu exhaled a breath of warm air and stretched his muscles, only to feel... not much difference.
What kind of change could there be? Before this, he had been operating Ding Shoucheng's account—a man who had trained in martial arts since childhood.
He even felt weaker now, given that he lacked Pagoda Stance and Bright Hall Force.
As a Qi Refiner, he was purely a non-combat support specialist, far inferior in terms of comprehensive capabilities.
"Well then, which one should I refine first..." Wei Yuefu had just spoken aloud when he suddenly froze. "Wait, I've been gone for seven days.
"I hope nothing went wrong!"
Wei Yuefu's expression shifted. Although he had made arrangements beforehand, who knew what might have happened?
Before the Spiritual Energy Revival, Wei Yuefu had indeed been an ordinary civilian, but he was certainly not one anymore.
He was the Great Xuan Dynasty's Baron of Qingpu County, endowed with a fief of three hundred households and two thousand mu of first-class permanent tenure land.
A county baron was a baronial title, carrying a series of privileges such as judicial immunity, the right to submit memorials directly to the throne, and exemption from corvée labor.
Beyond that, he was a supernumerary sixth-rank Assistant Minister of the Court of Agriculture.
A supernumerary post was essentially a nominal appointment: it had an official rank and a salary, but the official remained stationed outside the Court of Agriculture.
He owed this status to two reasons.
First, after the Spiritual Energy Revival weathered its most difficult phase, the Great Xuan Emperor issued an edict recruiting talent, specifically seeking Qi Refiners.
Back then, Wei Yuefu seized the opportunity to pledge allegiance to the court—not out of loyalty, but because there were tangible benefits.
As for his identity as a World Proxy, he would naturally keep it hidden under tight wraps, never breathing a single word.
That was a massive opportunity that would truly provoke envy and greed.
While he was not the very first to side with the court, he was among the earliest in the initial batch. At the very least, he went from a commoner living hand-to-mouth to an official who never had to worry about food.
Relying on the wind of opportunity created by the court's policy of buying horse bones for a thousand pieces of gold to attract talent, Wei Yuefu successfully entered the Great Xuan Emperor's sight despite his humble origins.
Normally, that would only have earned him an official post, not an aristocratic title.
The reason he received a title was his Yellow Turban Strongman spell.
The Yellow Turban Strongman had plenty of limitations, but it offered irreplaceable advantages while posing no threat whatsoever.
Coupled with automated cultivation and no need for constant spiritual power irrigation, it lowered costs while yielding higher output.
The downside was that the spiritual energy within the agricultural produce was relatively faint, but fortunately, Wei Yuefu's aptitude made up for this flaw.
Wei Yuefu possessed Earth Grade aptitude, meaning his agricultural produce was top-tier among similar goods.
Though Earth Grade ranked only second, it was already exceedingly rare in practice.
As for the spiritual energy within the produce, it essentially allowed ordinary people to strengthen their physique, nourish their health, and replenish deficiencies through long-term consumption.
It was precisely because he had decisively wagered on the court and relied on his Yellow Turban Strongman spell that he attained his current standing.
The agricultural produce he grew served as tribute, purchased by the court at generous prices.
Eighty percent of Wei Yuefu's output went to the imperial court, ten percent was sold to prominent noble clans and high court officials to maintain connections and foster an alliance of interests, and the remaining ten percent was naturally kept for his own use.
Chapter 18