Longzang

Chapter 1229 There is a Fish in the Northern Sea
In the battle at Jiangliu Sect, with Wei Yuan already present, Zhang Zhounian had no chance of escaping whatsoever. However, there was no need for Wei Yuan to secretly intervene; Zhang Zhounian was immediately struck by the Blood Dissolution Technique and was already severely injured. Under the encirclement and attack of numerous Golden Core Dharma Images, he did not last long before being captured due to exhaustion.

The strongest elder was the sect leader of Jiangliu Sect. Seeing that his sect master hadn't appeared for a long time, he naturally understood that a powerful figure from Qingming had arrived. Therefore, after Zhang Zhounian was defeated, he put down his magic weapon, surrendered, and then ordered his men to activate the great formation.

He had been in despair and prepared for the sect's thousand-year foundation to be completely looted, but he never expected that these wolfish Golden Core cultivators would only search Zhang Zhounian's cave, raid his private treasure trove, and even inventory and catalog it in front of him before taking him away.

Even after they roared away, the Jiangliu Sect leader remained in a daze, unable to believe it. How vast was the Jiangliu Sect's wealth accumulated over a thousand years? Now that its gates were wide open, how come these guys didn't plunder it wantonly?
Not only did they not rob or take anything, they also left behind a receipt and a statement that if it was confirmed that these items were not stolen goods, the Jiangliu Sect Leader could use this receipt to retrieve them from Qingming.

The sect leader was naturally extremely grateful, but having finally managed to get rid of these plague-like beings, and with the thought of spending money to avoid further trouble, he was determined not to go to Qingming to collect anything. However, the things these Qingming cultivators took were really little; they seemed to be genuinely investigating a case, and each one of them appeared completely selfless.

Above the sky, Qingxizi was also stunned, and in the end could only say meaningfully: "The Realm Lord has a vision that spans thousands of years, which is beyond the reach of this humble Daoist."

Wei Yuan simply smiled slightly. Without answering, he drifted away.

The Jiangliu Sect was no longer a threat to him; it was a perfect opportunity to build his reputation. The strict discipline of the Golden Core soldiers below greatly pleased Wei Yuan.

In the blink of an eye, the news of the Ten Golden Core cultivators of Qingming breaking through Jiangliu Sect and capturing the sinful cultivator from thousands of miles away spread throughout the cultivation world, becoming almost unbelievable. As the rumors continued to spread, the number of Jiangliu Sect's Dharma forms soared from three to a peak of eighteen, and the casualties increased to eight dead and seven injured. By the end, even the rumor-mongers themselves no longer believed it.

Within just a few days, Wei Yuan had gained over a thousand inexplicable Dao Foundation Luck and more than ten Dharma Aspect Luck, proving that the Development Bureau's dogs had indeed made considerable contributions. The first battle to establish the Azure Nether Golden Core's prestige could be considered a complete success.

This battle tested the Golden Core combat power under the new scheme, and the results were quite satisfactory. The combat power of this group of cultivators was actually not much different from what was measured; they all performed at their best, thanks to the long-term training and strict military discipline of the cultivators in the army.

However, the opponents' combat strength was far weaker than it appeared on paper. The three Dharma Aspect cultivators emerged one by one. When Zhang Zhounian appeared, he was all bark and no bite, completely unprepared for defense, and as a result, he suffered a serious injury with a single blow. The young cultivator at the early stage of the Dharma Aspect realm was simply too badly injured to get up.

Furthermore, the Jiangliu Sect Leader had lost all will to fight, and his magical treasures were riddled with flaws. According to Qingming's research, a cultivator needs at least twenty-four magical treasures to be considered complete, but this sect leader only had four.

Magical treasures are rare; that's the norm. Qingming's solution was to simply use all Dao Foundation magical artifacts. Once fully equipped, there would be no weaknesses, and his overall combat power would be comparable to an opponent with only a few magical treasures. But ordinary Dharma Aspects wouldn't do that, for one simple reason: they couldn't bear the embarrassment.

The researchers of Qingming easily grasped the general psychology of their opponents: after all, a Golden Core Dharma Form is not considered a person, and there is nothing shameful about using a Dao Foundation Dharma Tool.

After the initial battle was a success, Wei Yuan returned to Qingming and began working on the follow-up tasks. One of them was called the "Ten Directions Travel Plan." He established the "World Patrol Bureau" in Qingming, incorporated a large number of Golden Core cultivators into it, and then traveled the world to conquer various places.

They mainly operate under the guise of martial arts practitioners, penetrating deep into various parts of the Great Tang to strike at the forces opposing the Azure Netherworld. The recent battle at the Jiangliu Sect has already demonstrated that ordinary sects simply cannot withstand the siege of ten Golden Core cultivators. Even with a blessed land guarded by Yujing, at the Dharma Aspect level, it is still no match for the siege of ten newly formed Golden Core cultivators.

These Golden Core cultivators traveled the world, destroying mountains and temples along the way, while also establishing their own gathering places and sects to teach the Golden Core Dao.

Another perspective is the Tao.

After careful consideration, Wei Yuan felt that the existing Golden Core Dharma Form system still had too high a threshold. How did the template-based Dao Foundation develop back then?
When Wei Yuan first created the Immortal Sword Pseudo-Sun, there was no such thing as a template Dao Foundation, and very few people were willing to cultivate this Dao Foundation. It wasn't until the Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword appeared out of nowhere that template Dao Foundations began to emerge like a geyser, springing up in droves.

Later, as the cultivators of the Primordial Palace unleashed their wildest ideas, the templates they came up with became increasingly shameless, which led to the terrifying scene of a million Dao Foundation cultivators suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

Wei Yuan was pondering a question: Why are there so few Golden Elixir Dharma Forms? Why is it not easier to achieve a Golden Elixir Dharma Form than to forge a Dao Foundation?
Once the idea arose, inspiration flowed uncontrollably. Wei Yuan immediately thought, why is the Golden Core Dharma Form so difficult to cultivate? Is it because the Golden Core is too large? Those Golden Cores of the Lesser Yang Path, once manifesting their Dharma Form, are like the sun soaring in the sky. They possess power, but the threshold is also raised. If this Golden Core…

Wei Yuan stretched out his hands to compare, but felt it was still a bit too big. Then he stretched out two fingers and gently pinched it in the air, and only then did he feel that the size was about right.

With a smile, Wei Yuan issued a new research task on the Golden Core path, with one special requirement: the smaller the Golden Core, the better, ideally no bigger than a punch.

Clearly, the larger the Golden Core, or Dharma Form, the more promising one's future. This path of shrinking the Golden Core seems to have little future. But then again, if one is already cultivating the Golden Core and Dharma Form, what's the point of discussing other paths? For cultivators like this, their ceiling is simply the floor.

The research assignment immediately stirred up waves of excitement across the bustling world. Moments later, Wei Yuan received a message from Feng Tingyu, indicating that she had something important to discuss with him privately.

Wei Yuan was both happy and worried. He was happy that they were going to meet, but he was worried not about anything important, but about the fact that they were going to meet.

In a short while, Feng Tingyu stood in front of Wei Yuan. Wei Yuan made a decisive decision and shouted, "Don't let the black mist cover your head!"

Feng Tingyu nodded obediently and then stepped forward.

Wei Yuan immediately took a step back and said, "Let's talk about the important matters first."

"Well, recently I've noticed that some lower-level cultivators, not necessarily those following the template, but also including those with ordinary Dao Foundations and ordinary Dharma Aspects, write articles that are quite original, and some of them have proven to be of great significance in hindsight. However, they write articles mostly out of pure interest, and their research directions are disorganized."

I looked at the relevant regulations and found that this was precisely the problem. There's not much difference between them writing an important article and an ordinary one; it's only when we notice them that we can potentially uncover their value. Moreover, most of these geniuses are rebellious and remain unknown until they achieve instant fame.

Therefore, I felt it necessary to significantly improve their treatment and provide guidance. I then devised a plan: to establish multiple journals within Qingming, divided into five tiers from top to bottom. The top tier could initially consist of three journals: *The Mysteries of the Two Academies*, jointly published by the Academy of Science and Engineering; *Heaven and Earth*, specializing in the study of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth; and *The Immortal Path*, focusing on the path of cultivation. A single article published in these three top-tier journals would earn 320 merit points, while an article in the most basic journal would earn 10 merit points.

If we want to make a breakthrough in a certain field, we can solicit more articles in that field. Those geniuses, wanting to publish in the top three journals, will naturally dedicate themselves to research in that area. These guys are stubborn mules; you can't force them, but where the carrot is, there they will be.”

This lengthy discourse deeply impressed Wei Yuan. He could imagine that this would open up a new track for people like Wen Guantian, and countless talented but unqualified individuals with low cultivation levels would inevitably follow suit.

The spring of academic life in Qingming is already knocking on the door.

While marveling at the performance, Wei Yuan didn't hold back his praise, showering Feng Tingyu with compliments.

This girl, who seemed like an innocent little girl, was delighted to hear this, so she loosened her clothes and showed Wei Yuan the source of her wisdom.

Wei Yuan felt a sudden boom in his mind, and for a moment, he was unable to express his admiration. Only a passage of scripture, which he could not quite recall, remained in his mind: "In the Northern Sea there is a fish, exceptionally large, its size unknown, spanning thousands of miles. Its back is so broad it has no bounds. When it flies in anger, it is like a cloud hanging from the sky."

(End of this chapter)