Longzang

Chapter 160 Unkind Invitation
The following day, Wei Yuan traveled non-stop, visiting seventeen human settlements of varying sizes, some with thousands of inhabitants, others with only a couple hundred. He made sure to visit every village with a population exceeding one hundred, ensuring everyone spread the word. Many others were scattered across vast regions, but they periodically visited human settlements to exchange for necessities, which was when they learned of Wei Yuan's recruitment of mortals.

Wei Yuan didn't return until late at night after his busy journey.

On this day, Zhong Weiyuan traveled to all the human villages and towns of any size within a radius of three hundred miles, and roughly notified forty thousand people.

However, when Wei Yuan first arrived here, there were about 80,000 people around. As a result, the Wu tribe army attacked several times, forcing many people to leave their original villages and towns and hide in the dense forests of the mountains to avoid disaster.

Everyone is willing to move into the boundary, even if their original village was where they had lived for generations. Without the protection of the boundary stone, it is no longer their hometown.

Migrants move much more slowly; it's not uncommon for a family with luggage to travel three hundred miles in over ten days. Therefore, Wei Yuan also gathered five hundred cultivators, who were divided into dozens of small teams, specifically to help mortals migrate.

Many people disagreed with Wei Yuan's decision, including Yun Feifei, who subtly expressed her opinion. In her view, too many ordinary people were a burden at this time; not to mention anything else, food alone was a major problem.

The food of the Witch Clan contains some toxins. Humans can eat a little as a last resort, but eating too much is not advisable. In addition to the readily available food, although the Witch Domain is full of living creatures and countless ferocious fish in the water, none of them are edible for humans, and the water is even undrinkable.

Therefore, although this world appears to be rich in resources, people still starve to death every year.

Regardless of what these cultivators thought, Wei Yuan insisted on bringing all mortals back to the realm, accepting even the old, weak, sick, and disabled, leaving no one behind. The cultivators simply thought Wei Yuan had an unrealistic insistence, and thus silently carried it out.

In fact, they had met many people of noble character who valued ordinary people more than themselves in the past. However, in the Western Regions, good people not only did not receive good rewards, but they were also prone to dying badly.

Wei Yuan didn't argue with them; he simply carried out their orders. After a day of this, Wei Yuan had collected three more streams of azure energy, thus realizing the value of these mortals.

After arranging everything, night had fallen, and there was still an hour until dawn. Wei Yuan returned to the main peak to do his studies. But just as he entered his room, someone knocked on the door. Wei Yuan opened the door and found it was Cui Yu visiting.

At this moment, there were no lights in the room, so Wei Yuan conjured a celestial sword, Pseudo-Sun, and stuck it on the wall, illuminating the entire room.

After the two were seated, Wei Yuan asked, "Brother Cui, your visit so late at night must be for something important."

Cui Yu's old face flushed slightly, and he said in a low voice, "Well, I have a favor to ask. Well, it's like this, if there's another battle like today, could I also take a few swings?"

"So that's what it is!" Wei Yuan laughed and said, "Such a small matter could have been handled with a simple instruction from Brother Cui; there was no need to come specifically for it. However, I am somewhat curious, Brother Cui, could it be that you lack Heavenly Merit?"

Given Cui Yu's family background, his chances of achieving the highest level of magic in the future are quite high; in theory, attaining the Heavenly Merit is only a matter of time. Even if he wanted the Heavenly Merit now, it wouldn't be difficult as long as his elders in the clan helped him.

Upon hearing Wei Yuan's question, Cui Yu looked troubled and sighed, "Junior brother, you may not know this, but I am not as glamorous as I seem in the clan. I have a cousin who achieved immortality several years ago, and since then, the clan has given him a lot of preferential treatment in terms of resources. Not long ago, he actually obtained a Heavenly Merit, which caused quite a stir in the clan. As a result, the clan elders transferred some of the resources that originally belonged to me to him."

“After all, my foundation is a bit weaker. I have participated in several actions concerning the Dharma Image before, and I have been hit by a few swords, but I have not gained any merit. My cousin has always been competitive, and his family elders are all unwilling to give an inch. In recent years, they have been pressing us step by step, and they have already done a very bad job.”

Wei Yuan understood when he heard this.

This matter concerns the struggle for resources between the two branches of the family's direct lineage, so the elders of the clan cannot openly favor one side. Therefore, at most, they will let Cui Yu find an opportunity to strike a few times during the battle, and they will not follow Wei Yuan's example to strike everyone according to the Dharma Form.

Cui Yu lowered his voice again and whispered, "If there is an opportunity in the future, please let me use the same methods that you used on my friends today."

Wei Yuan then realized that this was what Cui Yu wanted.

All the major immortal sects use the same standard to judge merit: to gain Heavenly Merit, one must actually damage the foundation of the Dharma Aspect. With Cui Yu's current cultivation level and Dao Foundation, even if he could strike the Dharma Aspect, he wouldn't gain Heavenly Merit. Back then, Wei Yuan injured Bei Liao Xueying with a single spear thrust, but without damaging his foundation, and similarly, he didn't gain any Heavenly Merit.

However, today's battle has proven that whether it's black or green energy, once enhanced, it can injure a Dharma Avatar and grant Heavenly Merit. This is nothing more than a piece of cake for Wei Yuan. Although his luck will be somewhat depleted, Wei Yuan has now found a way to replenish it, and being wealthy and powerful, he doesn't care about this small loss at all. Wei Yuan laughed and said, "It's a small matter. I'll make sure Brother Cui gets enough Heavenly Merit next time! I just wonder when we'll be able to encounter a few more Great Shamans."

Cui Yu was extremely grateful and asked again, "Is this possible...?"

Wei Yuan understood immediately and said, "Brother Cui, don't worry, I definitely won't tell anyone else, and I can do it flawlessly so that no one can tell."

Cui Yu was overjoyed and suddenly stood up, bowing deeply to the ground: "Junior brother, I cannot thank you enough! I will remember this kindness and never forget it!"

Suddenly, a wisp of green mist appeared amidst the vast landscape.

Wei Yuan was startled and quickly went to help him up: "Senior brother, you're too kind! It was just a small favor, why go to such lengths?"

Cui Yu stood up, sat down again, composed himself, and sighed, "This matter has actually been troubling me for a long time. I've been taking these brothers and sisters around to gain experience, partly hoping that one of them can grow up, and partly because I don't want to face those people at home."

Wei Yuan was somewhat puzzled: "Can't the large Cui family accommodate two geniuses?"

Cui Yu smiled wryly: "The pie is only so big. If someone gets a bigger slice, others will get a smaller slice. Besides, no matter how many slices the Cui family has, there will always be more people to share them."

When Cui Yu left, it was already dawn.

Wei Yuan originally thought that Cui Yu was born without any worries, but he did not expect that he also had troubles, and it sounded that his troubles were no less than those of others.

The Cui family's direct line has seven branches, each with numerous descendants. Cui Yu's great-grandfather is currently an elder of the Cui family, wielding considerable power. However, with the rise of Cui Yu's cousin, that branch has become increasingly aggressive, pressuring Cui Yu's great-grandfather to relinquish some of his substantial assets. In the past six months, conflicts between the two branches have been constant, escalating to the point of near-total breakdown.

These powerful families have been passed down for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, and have long since formed a complex and interconnected system.

The powerful elders are high above, judging heroes by their cultivation and achievements; the middle-level members hold real power, considering both achievements and cultivation, as well as the upbringing of the next generation and whether there are worthy successors, making this level the most troublesome. The younger generation is simpler, distinguished only by talent and cultivation.

Originally, although Cui Yu's cousin had a celestial foundation, that foundation wasn't suited for combat. Cui Yu's foundation, on the other hand, was a celestial sword, skilled in warfare, so in the eyes of their elders, the two were not much different. However, as the cousin continued to obtain celestial merits, the clan gradually tilted in his favor.

This is actually a struggle between the two branches of the direct line, only now the focus is on Cui Yu and his cousin. Within powerful clans, the struggles are no less intense than anywhere else.

Cui Yu couldn't rush this matter; missing today's opportunity meant waiting for the next great shaman. Fortunately, the shaman clan had countless great shamans, so there would always be an opportunity.

After seeing Cui Yu off, with some time still remaining before dawn, Wei Yuan sat cross-legged in meditation, quickly losing himself in the moment.

When Wei Yuan's divine sense entered his sea of ​​consciousness, the first thing he saw was not the full moon, but a hideous face of the Wu tribe!

Wei Yuan was greatly startled, almost jolting him out of his meditative state. He quickly retreated, creating distance, but ended up brushing past several more members of the Witch Clan!

How is this going? !
Wei Yuan looked closely and saw that the witch clan members seemed unaware of his presence. Their faces were contorted with rage, but their expressions were blank. They walked forward woodenly, heading towards Jade Mountain from all directions.

Looking around, Wei Yuan discovered that the vast land was filled with individual witches in various forms, but they all seemed to have lost their minds. They were simply being summoned by some mysterious force, taking stiff and slow steps towards the Jade Mountain in the center of the land.

The full moon tonight is exceptionally cold and clear.

(End of this chapter)