Longzang

Chapter 1231: A Significant Progress Has Been Made
A few days later, Wei Yuan looked at the cover story of the latest issue of "Immortal Path" and fell into deep thought.

The author of this article is named Ye Yue, who is known for his philandering and irresponsibility, and his skill in manipulating people's hearts. Wei Yuan was quite dissatisfied with this, always feeling that even if the Qingming cultivators could not stand on the moral high ground, they should at least not stand in the lowlands.

However, the content of the article is truly unbelievable. This Golden Elixir Path, titled "Mirror Lake Water Moon," is somewhat similar to the "Jade Toad Watching the Moon" that Wei Yuan cultivated back then, only much more complicated, but the principle is the same: to guide the essence of Taiyin water into the body.

The difference lies in the fact that Jade Toad Gazing at the Moon focuses on the foundation of the Dao, using most of the moonlight to temper the body. Mirror Lake Moon, on the other hand, centers everything around the final trace of spiritual essence in its Dharma form. It can cultivate from the initial body-forging stage all the way to the Golden Core Dharma form, ultimately condensing into a Water Moon Golden Core.

The entire cultivation process is filled with eagerness for quick success and shortcuts, with everything paving the way for the Golden Core. In the end, cultivators will only know what to do but not why, and will only have a Golden Core with no supernatural powers.

However, with Wei Yuan's current level of vision and cultivation, he could naturally see that the threshold for this path was unprecedentedly low, outrageously low, so low that even the true meaning of inheritance was not required. If one wanted the true meaning, all one had to do was stay up at night and stand on the roof to look at the moon.

Wei Yuan closed his eyes and pondered, silently estimating the situation. With the disappearance of 200,000 people, he roughly had a sense of what was going on.

Taking the original path of immortal cultivation as an example, it is generally acknowledged that a Dao Foundation at the Earth Rank has a chance of achieving the Dharma Aspect. The word "chance" is quite mysterious; even a 50% chance is considered hopeful, and a 90% chance is also considered hopeful.

However, given the current state of the four major immortal sects, the probability of Sword Palace achieving this is the lowest, less than 10%. Tai Chu Palace is slightly stronger than Sword Palace, but only to a limited extent. It's normal that the high difficulty of cultivating the Dharma forms of both sects is due to their exceptional abilities.

The highest success rate is achieved in the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land, reaching 20%, excluding the Golden Body. The Four Saints Academy falls between the two, placing more emphasis on comprehension, resulting in a success rate of around 15%.

As for the Human Rank Dao Foundation, there is absolutely no hope for it.

Therefore, in the cultivation world, "hope" usually means that it's unlikely to succeed. To reach the Heavenly Dao Foundation stage, the chance of achieving the Dharma Eye is 30-40%, which is considered "very hopeful."

After several years of development and refinement, the Golden Core Dharma Form now has a success rate of over 30% if someone with an Earth-level Dao Foundation is willing to switch to it. Even those with a Human-level Dao Foundation have a 50% chance.

However, almost all Earth Foundation cultivators were hoping to achieve a normal Dharma Form, and almost no one switched to Golden Core cultivation. On the other hand, Human Foundation cultivators were rushing forward one after another, seeking a slim hope.

Fortunately, there are many Qingming Dao Foundation cultivators, and quite a few have achieved the Golden Core stage, which creates the misconception that the Golden Core is easy to cultivate, leading everyone to flock to it. However, the actual success rate is still only about 50%.

However, Wei Yuan estimated that if a cultivator at the Earth Rank were to switch to cultivating "Mirror Lake Moon," the chance of achieving the Golden Core stage would be as high as 60%! Even for a cultivator at the Human Rank Foundation stage, the chance of success would be 10%. Even for a cultivator using a template, the chance of success would be two or three out of a thousand.

Faced with a million templates in the Azure Netherworld, the quantity would be considerable given any chance. Originally, the templates' Dao foundations were thought to have been severed, but if they were all converted to cultivating Mirror Lake Moon, the Azure Netherworld could gain several thousand more Golden Cores!

Furthermore, this technique has another remarkable aspect: if one begins cultivating from the moment of body forging and progresses through the process, one can forge a special Dao Foundation [Mirror Lake]. With this Dao Foundation, one can then cultivate the Golden Core, and even with the original template Dao Foundation's aptitude, there is a 10% chance of successfully cultivating the Golden Core.

If this pace of development continues, Qingming will likely have ten thousand Golden Cores in a few decades!
Upon hearing this result, Wei Yuan gasped in shock! This Young Master Ye Yue was far too ruthless; he was practically leaving no way out for other sects!

Back when Wei Yuan first entered the Tai Chu Palace, the entire palace had over nine thousand Dao Foundation Establishments, a sight that already amazed the world. Now, Qing Ming sees that the number of Golden Core cultivators is approaching ten thousand; times have indeed changed.

Wei Yuan spent over a million manpower to calculate the feasibility of the entire cultivation technique and check for any potential omissions or deficiencies. However, the results of his deductions deepened his gaze.

This path contains three core cultivation techniques, twelve auxiliary techniques, six visualization diagrams, over ten exclusive spells, and six sets of auxiliary pill formulas. Although the techniques are simple, Wei Yuan could find almost nothing to improve. As for those points that differed from Wei Yuan's subjective perception, upon closer examination, they were certainly due to Wei Yuan's error.

Wei Yuan's past experience in scientific research made him realize how difficult it is to achieve perfection in basic research. He immediately understood that this Young Master Ye Yue's attainments in the Taiyin Dao were likely earth-shattering, far beyond his own capabilities.

Fortunately, this wasn't the first time Wei Yuan had suffered a setback, and he was still able to withstand it. Over the past few months, while reading "The Mysteries of the Two Academies," Wei Yuan found himself unable to understand more and more of the articles, especially those purely mathematical theories—he read them but didn't comprehend them. Mathematics wasn't like cultivating immortality; there was no true meaning to be grasped.

Then came "Heaven and Earth," but after only a few issues, the crooked trend quickly faded. Recently, the study of the properties of all things has become popular, and mathematics is gradually being introduced as a research tool. Wei Yuan found it incredibly difficult to follow, feeling like he was gnawing on "A First Exploration of the Wilderness."

The most ridiculous one was Wen Guantian, who wrote an article summarizing the main mathematical tools available today. He then pointed out that these tools are few in number and there are still large gaps in their application, and that new mathematical tools need to be researched in order to advance the entire academic community.

Before reading this article, Wei Yuan had no idea that there were so many mathematical tools in the world. Yet Wen Guantian actually said that the tools were insufficient and that vigorous research and development was needed?
Sometimes Wei Yuan wondered how Wen Guantian and his ilk could think like that. Maybe when he compared himself to a baboon last time, he wasn't actually insulting him.

This proves yet another conclusion: the sea of ​​consciousness is not the same as brainpower. Wen Guantian's sea of ​​consciousness must be fragmented, otherwise he wouldn't be stuck in the middle stage of the template, unable to make any further progress.

However, overall, after launching three top journals and four first-tier journals, Qingming's research entered a period of explosive growth. The sheer number of achievements far exceeded Wei Yuan's expectations, and he was almost overwhelmed by them.

These articles, observing this world from various angles, greatly advanced Wei Yuan's understanding of its essence. Setting aside distractions, Wei Yuan immediately picked up his pen and wrote letters to the patriarchs of the Bao family, Zhao Li Xianren, and Ji Zhao Cui family, inviting them to send a group of disciples with "noble bloodlines and considerable potential" to Qingming for further study, with a study period of twenty years. Wei Yuan guaranteed that two or three of them would definitely achieve the Golden Core stage, and the vast majority would "have a chance" of reaching the Dao Foundation stage.

At this moment, Wei Yuan was also very particular about his words. The meanings of "noble bloodline" and "possessing great potential" should be understood by the ancestors of each family.

Wei Yuan then summoned Xu Henshui and ordered him to return to the Xu family of the Eastern Jin Dynasty to recruit family members aged six to twenty who were of mediocre talent and had difficulty even building their foundations to settle in Qingming and study.

Wei Yuan carefully explained the requirements, saying, "The closer the bloodline of these children is to the direct line, the better; the higher their status, the better. They don't need to have exceptional aptitude; we only need those below the Earth Rank. Those whose innate talent and fortune are measured to be above seven feet, and who are capable of entering the Immortal Sect's grotto-heaven, can be kept. Of course, if the Xu family is willing to release people, we welcome them as well."

In short, we must wipe out all the good-for-nothings and纨绔 (spoiled brats) among our direct descendants!

Xu Henshui said, "There are quite a few children like that, and this time, it's not something that can be done in ten years. There are definitely many of them who simply can't afford the money."

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "This is easy to handle. They can borrow money from Qingming to cultivate. Those who are able to repay the loan will pay 10% interest every year. Those who really can't repay can serve Qingming until the loan is paid off."

Xu Henshui understood immediately and left in a hurry.

Wei Yuan then began to set up a training ground specifically for Golden Core cultivators and assigned tasks, including designing a cultivation array specifically for the "Mirror Lake Moon" cultivation path.

The greatest advantage of the "Mirror Lake Moon" technique is that to master it, one must be in the Azure Realm, visualizing and breathing in front of the full moon. Once outside the Azure Realm, this technique immediately becomes ineffective.

Wei Yuan naturally understood why this was the case. He had taken the only ancient full moon in the world as the foundation of his grotto-heaven, so sensing the lunar energy within the Azure Netherworld was much easier than outside. In other words, the moon in the Azure Netherworld was rounder than the one outside.

He wrote letters directly to the Bao, Cui, and Li families, and with the addition of the Xu family of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, other aristocratic families, upon hearing the news, would definitely send people in through various channels, unless their relationships were too strained.

Even if the Immortal Ancestor forbids it, can he still control the thoughts of those below who want to secure a future for their descendants? A Golden Core Dharma Form is still a Dharma Form, just like a Template Dao Foundation is still a Dao Foundation.

As families grow larger, they often have members of high social standing but lack of talent.

As a result, these aristocratic families would naturally gravitate towards Wei Yuan, thus shaking the foundation of the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land.

After assigning the task, Wei Yuan separated a portion of his divine sense to begin deduce the path, wanting to see if adding luck would increase the success rate.

……

In the mountains, a monk, with his chest and belly exposed, was resting in the shade under a pine tree.

A tall, thin monk walked along the mountain stream, stopped in front of him, and bowed.

The monks enjoying the cool air sighed and said, "They won't even let people have a moment of peace."

The tall, thin monk said, "The external demons are rampant, and we have no choice but to disturb your peaceful cultivation, senior brother. Master said that the reputation of those external demons is growing daily, and they are about to become a force to be reckoned with. We must strike them head-on. I wonder if you have any good strategies, senior brother?"

The fat monk sighed, "I knew you'd ask that. Well, in my opinion, he's practically a Buddhist disciple, so let him be, isn't that better?"

The tall, thin monk shook his head and said, "My master said that it is precisely because he is half a Buddhist disciple that there is no possibility of him being converted, and he is the greatest external demon who must be eliminated. On the contrary, disciples of other religions, as long as they are enlightened, may still have the possibility of entering the true Dharma of our Buddhism."

The fat monk pondered for a moment, and finally sighed, "Indeed, infighting among fellow disciples is the most ruthless. Fine, if you want to damage his reputation, you do have someone in mind. This person was once known as the 'Spear Saint,' and a hundred years ago he went into seclusion to eliminate the last flaw in his spear technique. It's about time he emerged from seclusion."

He has cultivated diligently for a hundred years, all for the sake of perfection. Now, apart from the reincarnations of Buddha and the King of Buddha, there is probably no one below the level of immortals who can rival him. Even Wei Yuan, after all, is not yet at the perfection of the Imperial Realm, so he will probably lose more often than not.

He and I had a past connection; if you take this token, you should be able to persuade him to come out of seclusion and fight.”

As he spoke, the fat monk tore off a piece of his robe, stained with oil and sweat, and handed it over. The tall, thin monk picked it up lightly with the tips of two fingers and vanished like the wind.

(End of this chapter)