Longzang

Chapter 1195 The Change of the Heavenly Dao
For the next few days, Wei Yuan circled the Azure Netherworld several times, using all sorts of methods, but still couldn't find any trace of that person. Even the book that existed amidst the bustling worlds had undergone some changes; the author's name was gone. Wei Yuan asked around among those who had read the book, but most had no recollection of the author's name.

Wei Yuan was at a loss, but he wasn't too concerned. He was determined to remain unchanged in the face of all changes. As long as he was strong enough and kept his strategic goals firmly in mind, no amount of scheming or trickery from others would matter.

Furthermore, when it comes to intrigue and scheming, the Azure Palace is certainly no less capable than anyone else. For example, in the Nine Kingdoms, issuing currency is now commonplace; even a minor county magistrate can issue his own local currency.

Even though the State of Zhao had suffered greatly before, it still did not repent. King Zhao secretly issued coins twice more under someone else's name, which naturally ended in a disastrous defeat.

All nine countries that issued their own currencies ended up with the same result: the issuers became rich, the national treasuries were depleted, and countless ordinary people were ruined.

The one who started all of this is currently disciplining his humanoid mount in the cave.

The young men and women were filled with trepidation. Their daily work consisted of cleaning and construction, as well as practicing all sorts of strange and unusual techniques, many of which resembled witchcraft and sorcery. With each new technique they learned, they felt a stronger connection to their fleeing master.

Unable to find the person who wrote the book, Wei Yuan went to bid farewell to Zhang Sheng and returned to the ancestral mountain of the Lü family.

Several months later, as heavy snow fell in the north, Wei Yuan quietly returned to Qingming and presided over the Dao Foundation Ceremony to mark the beginning of the year.

In the eighteenth year of the Hongjing era, the Qingming Dao Foundation Ceremony saw 117,000 people advance to the Dao Foundation stage, astonishing the entire world.

Wei Yuan quietly departed, and no one knew when he returned to the Lü family ancestral land. Qingming subsequently returned to normal. Apart from sending several thousand Dao Foundations back to the major families, the remaining 110,000 Dao Foundations scattered throughout Qingming, becoming part of its foundation, and thus disappeared into the mortal world, never to be disturbed again.

Qingming seemed to have done nothing, and another year passed peacefully.

In the nineteenth year of the Hongjing era, the Dao Foundation Ceremony was held, during which a total of 11,000 people were promoted to the Dao Foundation stage, leaving the world numb.

But when the Dao Foundation Ceremony ended, auspicious rain suddenly fell from the sky, and auspicious clouds rose from the ground. The drizzle and the clouds rose together, and everyone inside was invigorated.

Ordinary people would simply think it was an auspicious sign from heaven and be overjoyed, but Wei Yuan noticed a very subtle change in Qingming's Heavenly Dao.

The change was so subtle that even immortals couldn't detect it. If Wei Yuan hadn't been the Lord of the Azure Netherworld, whose mental world had already merged with the boundary stone, and who hadn't been highly accomplished in Buddhism and dedicated to transforming the Azure Netherworld, a process that also advanced the Three Realms Wish-Fulfilling Sutra, he wouldn't have been able to perceive the subtle changes in the Heavenly Dao.

This is a fundamental change in the Dao, so Wei Yuan attaches great importance to it. He has initiated 9,999 missions to search for the data changes in the entire Qingming realm and the major events that have recently occurred, in order to determine the cause of the changes.

A moment later, the results were in. The Prosperous World of All Realms listed hundreds of possible triggering factors, but the least likely factor, which was listed last, suddenly caught Wei Yuan's attention: the total number of Qingming template Dao foundations had just exceeded one million.

Millions of Daoji?

In the past, a million high-level Body Forging experts would have been an astonishing number. Even the so-called Great Tang Nine Armies, with their average Jade Bones, wouldn't amount to a million. Now, Qingming already has a million Dao Foundation experts?
These Foundation Establishment cultivators are scattered throughout Qingming, and their presence is usually imperceptible. Even the ordinary mortal neighbors who live with you day and night would never imagine how much of what you eat and use was made by these Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Wei Yuan's heart stirred, and an incredible thought emerged: Could it be that there are too many Dao Foundation cultivators, causing even the Heavenly Dao to change?
Thinking about it more deeply, there is indeed some possibility. Heaven and earth are like fields, and cultivators are like crops. According to the old Taoist priest who hoes the fields, if different crops are planted in the same field, the nature of the land will gradually change. Perhaps the ultimate truth is the same, and heaven and earth are no different?

Wei Yuan seemed to be deep in thought, then quietly returned to the ancestral home of the Lü family. Before leaving, he wrote another memorial to the Great Tang imperial family, saying that he would soon be going to the capital to meet the emperor.

Before the memorial even left Qingming Palace, its contents had already reached those who were interested. However, since Wei Yuan announced his intention to travel to the capital to meet the Emperor every year, everyone was no longer in a state of panic.

However, a small ripple suddenly arose in the celestial realm. A divine thought traveled a great distance, touching a hidden will. Then, a gaze fell upon Qingming.

At this moment, in the eyes of the immortals, the entire Azure Netherworld was shrouded in a faint mist, and the things inside were indistinct and not very clear.

This is the function of the Zhou Tian Star Array. Wei Yuan has continuously invested huge sums of money to upgrade the array. After more than ten years of construction, the array can now finally cover tens of thousands of miles of azure sky, and its strength is enough to interfere with the vision of immortals. Without some immortal power, immortals would find it difficult to see what is happening in the azure sky.

Even in the celestial realms, a grand array capable of covering tens of thousands of miles is extremely rare; existing arrays have all undergone hundreds or even thousands of years of construction. For Qingming, a mere mortal realm, to have built such a massive array in less than twenty years is truly terrifying.

But now, a short thread, several hundred miles long, extended from the azure sky, pointing directly north. Even with that gaze falling upon it, he couldn't quite make out what was inside the thread. He channeled his immortal power, finally seeing through the illusion and realizing that below was actually a floating passage specifically for large land-based flying ships.

The floating path was an innovation of Qingming, and it's no secret now. When immortals saw it in the past, they simply praised its ingenious design, nothing more. Those who thought more deeply felt that making such a fuss over something so cumbersome for mortals was unnecessary. However, this floating path differed from the internal floating paths of Qingming. Every mile or so, a key point was set up, and every hundred miles a station was established, resembling a small town. Each town was fully equipped, and there were cultivators and soldiers stationed there.

The array points set up along the way, when connected, form an array whose main function is to block the sight of immortals. Immortals need to use a little immortal power to see through the illusion. However, this easily leaves traces and causes and effects. But if they don't use their immortal power, they can't see what's happening below.

In this way, Qingming could easily arrange for important people or things to move quickly along the floating path without the immortals' knowledge. However, it could also be used as bait to see which immortal harbored ill intentions.

The consciousness snorted, seemingly quite displeased.

Clearly, this formation is specifically designed for immortals, and it has been optimized for several types of immortal power, including this one's immortal power.

Looking down, this immortal saw that the newly constructed floating road, stretching for hundreds of miles, was not only shrouded in illusion, but also shimmering with multicolored light, forming countless malicious words, employing the utmost skill in sarcasm and mockery. This immortal didn't know if other immortals could see it, but he himself could see it clearly.

The will remained silent for a moment before sending a message to the lower realm: Qingming must be taken seriously and dealt with as soon as possible.

……

Southern Qi Dynasty, Royal Palace.

King Qi was sitting in his study, where products and machines appeared on his desk, along with detailed descriptions, many of them even including design drawings. These items all came from Qingming; some were magical artifacts, others were everyday items, and there were also many design drawings for production machinery. The Daoist markings on them had not been removed, clearly indicating that they were taken directly from Qingming's database.

King Qi's expression was solemn. When he finished reading everything, he suddenly felt a little dizzy and realized that a ray of morning light was shining through the window. Before he knew it, it was already dawn.

King Qi decided not to sleep at all, and went to the morning court after washing up.

In the imperial court, the Prime Minister and the ministers of various departments had already prepared a plan. The Minister of Works stepped forward and spoke first: "The Qingming region is developing rapidly, with all sorts of strange and wonderful things emerging one after another, and its military strength is even more formidable..."

At this moment, an old minister beside him suddenly sneered: "How powerful can their army be? Can it be more powerful than my Great Qi?"

The Prime Minister frowned slightly but ignored it and continued, "We should deal with this as soon as possible. Otherwise, although Qingming is far away, if we allow it to accumulate strength, it is not impossible for it to break through Jin and Song once the situation is settled. Then it will be our turn to face it."

The old minister continued, "Those Qingming artifacts are nothing but strange and ingenious tricks. With a little effort, we can easily replicate them. We won't even need to lift a finger; a few skilled craftsmen can make them. Your Excellency's alarmist talk only boosts the morale of others and diminishes the prestige of our Great Qi!"

The Prime Minister also sneered: "Create? If Qingming artifacts were so easy to create, how could they make so much money? How could Qingyuan be so prevalent?"

The old minister immediately said, "The Prime Minister has finally hit the nail on the head! In my opinion, Qingming's real strength lies in Qingyuan and the money exchange system that is attached to Qingyuan."

We have to pay with celestial silver when we buy goods from outside, and the source of that silver is actually the goods we produce ourselves. But Qingming only needs to print some paper to exchange for a large amount of resources, faster than robbery. How could he not become rich?

Moreover, people are drawn to the convenience of Qingyuan, and many store and use it. As long as these Qingyuan don't return to Qingming, Qingming doesn't have to pay anything for them. In other words, the Qingyuan circulating outside are essentially being lent—no, given—to Qingming for free. You might consider just how much Qingyuan is currently circulating everywhere.”

The old minister's words moved even the King of Qi, who sat up straight and asked, "Is there any way to deal with this?"

"The fundamental solution is to get everyone to return all their Azure Essence and exchange it for Immortal Silver. This will surely crush Qingming completely, leaving him with nothing to exchange and preventing him from continuing to leech off the people!"

However, the ministers all secretly shook their heads, and King Qi frowned as well. People were already used to using Qingyuan; how could they so obediently listen to King Qi? Besides Qi, there were eight other states in the world.

The old minister, confident in his plan, continued, "There is another strategy: we should also follow Qingming's example and issue currency, but this time it must be issued in the name of the imperial court. We must also ban all private currencies within the territory and rectify the chaos in the currency market in order to succeed."

If Qi Yuan can be issued, it will take up a lot of space from Qing Yuan. The more we issue, the less people will use Qing Yuan. This is a fundamental solution.

The ministers' expressions changed, and even the King of Qi blushed. After all, he had secretly issued several of the many private currencies within the Qi kingdom.

(End of this chapter)