Longzang

Chapter 1178 Fee Items
After Qi Yue had been gone for a long time, Wei Yuan said, "You really haven't given up your evil intentions! Since that's the case, don't blame me for being impolite."

Amidst the bustling world, Wei Yuan issued an order demanding a thorough analysis of the existing Buddhist schools and their respective doctrines for saving the world.

After the task was assigned, it did not cause much of a stir in the bustling world. Everyone continued to do their own thing. It was only after a while that some scattered cultivators began to accept the task one after another, showing no respect for the realm lord.

Wei Yuan was quite dissatisfied, so he examined the computing power applications of the various worlds and found that the two large vortexes that designed the remote communication system had become increasingly terrifying, and dozens of small vortexes had formed around each of them. This alone accounted for nearly 30% of the computing power.

The remaining major task was the World-Refining Array, which Wei Yuan was in charge of. As the array advanced, massive amounts of data were constantly generated, requiring real-time analysis and continuous optimization. After all, there were the remnants of four immortals at the foot of the ancestral mountain, and even the prosperous realms of the myriad worlds were struggling to cope with such a massive task.

Then there's the daily use and research, which includes countless small projects and daily applications. This is the foundation of Qingming's efficient operation, so it has always occupied a considerable amount of computing power.

But Wei Yuan should have looked away. Once he did, he suddenly realized that there was a new item in his daily routine: entertainment!

Wei Yuan discovered that some tasks had a distinctly entertainment aspect; for example, virtual combat was very popular, and many cities even established combat leaderboards, ranked by battle record.

Not only do cultivators use this method to hone their skills, but many people have also begun to use it to resolve personal conflicts. For example, if an argument doesn't resolve the issue, a fight will. While fighting in the real world has serious consequences, fighting to the death in the bustling world of the myriad realms goes unpunished.

Wei Yuan was astonished to discover that this type of activity actually accounted for nearly half of the total computing power, while the task he issued as the Creator Immortal Venerable did not even receive one-thousandth of the computing power!
Wei Yuan was immediately enraged and wanted to completely ban it! But he habitually calmed down and did not make decisions when he was furious, which is an essential virtue for a cultivator.

After calming down, Wei Yuan thought it over carefully and came to a conclusion: it's better to guide than to block.

Wei Yuan originally intended to ban them all at once, but after careful consideration, he realized that there were already hundreds of thousands of cultivators using similar functions, and the number was growing rapidly.

This shows that this is a fundamental need for the vast majority of lower-level cultivators, which cannot be ignored, suppressed, or neglected; it must be taken seriously. Once Wei Yuan understood this, his mood instantly improved!

It's not that Wei Yuan has a high level of enlightenment, but rather that once a demand arises, besides suppression, there is another broad path: charging fees!

The cultivators' entertainment needs are now well met amidst the prosperity of the myriad realms—that's service. By tiering services and appropriately restricting access, a massive number of revenue streams can be created.

For example, everyone can receive basic services for free, such as a template-level duel avatar, so that no one will feel any change.

However, if you pay, your avatar can transform into a Human-level Dao Foundation, an Earth-level Dao Foundation, or even a Heaven-level Immortal Foundation, or even a Dharma Avatar. One Dharma Avatar can easily defeat a hundred template Dao Foundations, sweeping them aside with ease. Wei Yuan has always been a man of principle; he must serve his paying clients well—that's his principle.

There are many ways to charge, and talking only about immortal silver is too mundane. Following Qingming's current model, Dao Foundation cultivators could be paid based on their working hours. For example, a certain number of Dao Foundation hours could be required for a particular White Serpent Dao Foundation to be exchanged. This would completely solve the problem of losing a goal after the template Dao Foundation has successfully solidified its foundation.

Wei Yuan hadn't expected this unexpected gain. As usual, he put forward his idea and then handed the task to Zhujie Fanhua, while he went to think about a more realistic question: Did the Pure Land want the ancestral land of the Lü family or not?

Given the usual practices of the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land, they would never want to see Wei Yuan prosper, a fact Wei Yuan is acutely aware of. Furthermore, these bald-headed individuals are notorious for their scheming and intrigue, which they euphemistically call "karma."

Therefore, the fact that he excavated and refined the ancestral land of the Lü family must have touched some part of the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land, causing them to show up and come to negotiate terms.

One possibility is that the illusion was actually a pretense. That is, the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land was actually meant to entice Wei Yuan to excavate, and then they deliberately used this as a bargaining chip to lure Wei Yuan into actually digging.

The second possibility is that the truth was disguised as a deception. The bald men anticipated Wei Yuan's prediction and then induced him to stop digging.

Wei Yuan thought about it more deeply, but still wanted to dig deeper; he thought about it even more deeply, but didn't dig... and so on, without end.

……

Amidst the bustling world, the mysterious palace opened once more, its distant bells echoing for miles, yet only Wei Yuan could not hear them.

One by one, eerie yet enormous figures appeared in the hall and took their seats. Several chairs in the hall remained empty.

The little girl was the shortest of all beings, less than a hundred feet tall. The tabletop was almost up to her chin, so she had to kneel on a chair to be seen by others.

Her face was full of anger, her cherry lips pouted impatiently, and she was the first to speak: "Did you all see that? The Realm Lord is actually planning to charge for the battle entertainment! We were the ones who first created these, and we developed all the functions bit by bit. Why should we have to pay for them!"

The majestic giant said, "It's an exchange, not a fee."

"Is there a difference? One has a medium, and the other doesn't. They're essentially the same!" the little girl exclaimed indignantly.

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I feel like this guy is useless now, let's kick him out!" the little girl said.

A moment of silence fell over everyone. After a while, the aloof woman said, "This is his mental world. How do you plan to kick him out of his mental world?"

The little girl said confidently, "We'll mark out a small area for him to play in, then build a mathematical boundary. With his limited mathematical skills, he'll never be able to get out. Then we can do our own thing here, without interfering with or affecting anything."

"How should we tell him?"

"That's easy! He learned a little bit about the outer world and knows some terminology. We'll address his specific needs by saying we've encapsulated this area, and his small territory is called the terminal interface. He'll figure out the rest himself!"

The desolate planet, which had been silent all along, finally spoke up: "We'd better not make such a big decision ourselves, or things will get messy. Just then, Zhang Sheng will be coming in soon, let's hear what she has to say."

The little girl suddenly shivered, and the usually very active girl immediately became quiet.

In a short while, Zhang Sheng's figure appeared in the hall, but she remained in her original form, as small as an ant.

The desolate planet said, "First, make yourself bigger."

Suddenly, tens of thousands of sword energies appeared in the hall, like a storm, sweeping across every corner of the hall in an instant, then appearing and disappearing just as suddenly. Zhang Sheng nodded, his figure instantly growing larger, slightly taller than the aloof woman, and then casually chose a seat to sit down.

The desolate planet continued, "Then you can choose an avatar for yourself, anything will do, just like us. That way, even if our presence here is leaked, no one will know who each of us is."

This "other person" is self-evident.

Zhang Sheng sneered, "You guys are quite the players."

She glanced at the figures of the group, pondered for a moment, and then transformed into Wei Yuan.

Chaos erupted in the main hall!
The little girl was the most out of line; she almost slipped under the table! Peeking out from the tabletop, she couldn't help but say, "You people from the Azure Sky Palace, can't you behave yourselves?"

Zhang Sheng frowned slightly and said, "Now that you have an avatar, do you think you can speak so boldly?"

A young Taoist priest suddenly appeared above her head, holding a celestial sword. Zhang Sheng pointed, and a thin sword aura instantly grazed the little girl's shoulder, leaving a shallow wound.

Everyone was shocked, but Zhang Sheng said calmly, "You can curse me, and you can curse Wei Yuan even more, but don't involve the Ancestor. This virtual world is not entirely a lawless place."

The desolate planet quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, "She just spoke without thinking. Besides, our two patriarchs have fought quite a few times... Let's talk about the important matter first, whether or not the entertainment should be charged..."

“Why wouldn’t we accept it? Why not make money when there’s money to be made…” Zhang Sheng was only halfway through his sentence when he realized that everyone was staring at him, and his expression was very strange.

The desolate planet sighed, "When you say that, can you please stop using Wei Yuan's face? What you just said sounded exactly like he was there saying it."

Zhang Sheng then realized what was happening. After a moment's thought, he transformed, and a beam of light descended from above, illuminating her seat. It took the others a moment to understand that Zhang Sheng's transformation was that beam of light.

The crowd was initially puzzled, but Zhang Sheng then added a note and explanation to the light: "The first ray of light at the beginning of the world."

After a moment of silence, the main hall finally returned to normal. With Zhang Sheng joining, the group became less playful and more serious. Originally, the discussion was about charging for the game within the prosperous world, but Zhang Sheng quickly set the tone: charging was inevitable, but it would be disguised as a free-to-play model.

Then came the truly important matter: the construction of the World Refining Array.

After a long discussion and the resolution of many issues, the crowd dispersed, the main hall slowly closed, and then disappeared, as if it had never existed.

In a secret chamber somewhere in Qingming, Wang Hu slowly opened his eyes and stretched his enormous body, which was now nearly three zhang long. During his years in Qingming, Wang Hu's size had rapidly increased, and he now looked almost as large as the mountain giants.

He turned his head and saw a thin wound on his shoulder, which showed almost no signs of healing.

"From illusion to reality, has her swordsmanship reached this level?" A hint of horror appeared in Wang Hu's eyes.

……

Wei Yuan had been pondering the question of the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land for a long time, delving deeper and deeper, only to retreat again and again, without ever reaching a conclusion. He attempted to solve the problem using mathematical tools and had a preliminary idea. So he mobilized computing power, arranged thousands of light spheres, and began working with great enthusiasm.

Several hours have passed, and the initial idea remains just that—an initial idea.

Wei Yuan stretched his body, then felt that his waist was still a little sore. The third note of the Wild Roar was not advancing but regressing. It was unrealistic to expect the Wild Roar to drive the learning progress of the initial exploration of the Wild Realm.

However, he had another way. With a thought, the luck of the people melted away like snowflakes, and in the blink of an eye, millions disappeared. Wei Yuan's thoughts immediately became exceptionally clear, and he confirmed three things.

First and foremost, what the Pure Land doesn't want to see is that Wei Yuan is still alive. Even less desirable is that he's doing well. And the last thing they want to see is him getting better and better.

What the enemy doesn't want to see is the direction Wei Yuan is striving for. Judging by these three criteria, it's clear that whether Wei Yuan uses the Lu family's ancestral land as a grotto-heaven or elsewhere, it will greatly enhance his own strength, which is exactly what the Pure Land is most unwilling to see.

Therefore, the best course of action at this moment is to remain unchanged and ignore whatever those bald men say, focusing solely on refining his own techniques. Of course, if they offer too much, Wei Yuan is open to negotiation.

Having made up his mind, Wei Yuan then faced a matter that needed to be addressed. The True Lords of Taichu Palace who had no duties to perform were one thing, but the three Palace Masters had already stayed for half a year and needed to return to their mountain gates.

For the time being, there isn't much of a problem with the replacement. Everyone is already aware of the benefits of the Refining World Array. The Bao family, the Cui family, and the Zhao and Li families alone have a lot of Imperial Realm experts who want to follow suit. The elder of the Xiao family has already moved to Qingming, just waiting for which Imperial Realm expert will step down.

Some elders even suggested that the three positions in the twelve central hubs that were guarded by Golden Core Dharma Images should be changed and replaced with those guarded by real Imperial View cultivators, which would free up three more positions.

However, Wei Yuan, considering the long-term implications, felt it was necessary to cultivate the Golden Core Dharma Form, which is why he did not agree.

The Refining World Array will continue for a long time. The Palace Masters and True Monarchs of the Primordial Palace will have to return sooner or later, as will the elders of the aristocratic families. In the long run, it is still necessary for Qingming to have its own people take over.

Wei Yuan immediately devised a grand plan, named the Azure Netherworld Outstanding Immortal Cultivation Genius Plan.

The plan involves recruiting cultivators from the entire human race, offering them extremely high treatment and special titles. The initial plan is to recruit ten Imperial Realm cultivators, five hundred Dharma Aspect cultivators, and ten thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Taking the Dharma Aspect stage as an example, a typical aristocratic Dharma Aspect stage cultivator would receive one Haohua Pill annually to enhance their Dharma Aspect stage cultivation. However, in Wei Yuan's plan, all selected Dharma Aspect stages would receive one Haohua Pill every month! Their other benefits would also be three to ten times that of aristocratic Dharma Aspect stages.

The same applies to Yujing. Although the difference in their foundation is much smaller, their silver taels are still 50% higher than those of aristocratic families.

Once this plan is launched, it will inevitably cause a huge uproar among the nine kingdoms and major families and sects. This is a blatant attempt to snatch people by throwing away pills and immortal silver!
Of the four great immortal sects, the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land has the most idle people. The Pure Land has always relied on faith to retain people, so Wei Yuan wanted to see if the bald men in the lower and middle levels of the Pure Land could resist the immortal silver with their faith.

(End of this chapter)