Longzang

Chapter 201 speaks of conscience
In an instant, all beings forcibly elevate the recipient's cultivation level by consuming the nurturing essence accumulated by the Azure Netherworld. Once the body is fully forged, the recipient can advance to the Dao Foundation stage. However, the Dao Foundation can only exist for a short time. Once the instant beings close, everything will revert to its original state.

Therefore, Wei Yuan always used the "Momentary Beings" technique as a means of warfare. Moreover, because the disparity between the enemy and himself was too great, using the "Momentary Beings" technique only once was far from enough, so he had to strengthen training and use it several times a day to allow everyone to adapt.

However, for those who have achieved the Great Perfection of Body Forging, these repeated attempts at virtual foundation building reveal in advance what kind of foundation they can achieve. The more times they attempt, the more proficient they become, and the greater their chances of breaking through. Even if there was only a sliver of hope initially, the probability of a breakthrough increases significantly after multiple attempts at virtual foundation building.

The Azure Netherworld was inherently full of vitality and spiritual energy, and the Immortal Stone rank was equivalent to having good fortune bestowed upon one. Therefore, after the great battle, as everyone's state of mind changed, many cultivators ushered in an opportunity for breakthrough.

Wei Yuan then blessed everyone with the "Jia Wood Generating Profound" technique, enabling several people who were about to fail their breakthroughs due to insufficient spiritual energy to successfully forge their Dao foundations. In the end, out of the hundred breakthrough seekers, more than ninety people successfully forged their Dao foundations, while fewer than ten failed.

Although only three people had Earth-rank Dao Foundations and the vast majority were Human-rank, everyone was overjoyed. After all, the evaluation data clearly stated that originally, less than twenty out of these one hundred people had the potential to form a Dao Foundation.

After all the breakthroughs were completed, Wei Yuan had Yun Feifei and Xu Wan'er guide them to stabilize their realms, while he and Cui Yu returned to the main peak to discuss the matter.

The energy fluctuations caused by a hundred people breaking through to the Dao Foundation stage could not possibly be hidden from the cultivators of the Tai Chu Palace. Wei Yuan briefly explained what had happened and his own speculations, then awaited everyone's opinions.

Sun Yu carefully reviewed the evaluation data of the hundred people and said, "I recognize two of them. Logically speaking, it would be almost impossible for them to forge a Dao Foundation. The reason is insufficient Dao power and poor control, failing to meet the basic requirements for forging a Dao Foundation. However, the 'Instantaneous Beings' allows people to experience the Dao Foundation in advance, which is equivalent to pointing out the path ahead. Thus, the only remaining issue is insufficient Dao power. In my opinion, normally only two or three out of a hundred Body Forging cultivators can forge a Dao Foundation, but under the 'Instantaneous Beings,' perhaps one out of ten can forge a Dao Foundation."

Everyone was taken aback by Sun Yu's conclusion.

Of the original tens of thousands of mortals in the realm, nearly 20,000 had undergone body forging, and over 300 had Dao Foundations. If what Sun Yu said is true, then wouldn't there be 2,000 Dao Foundations among the same number of mortals in the future? At that time, Dao Foundations would truly be worthless.

Xiao Yu frowned and said, "These are just garbage foundations, with no possibility of further development. What's the point?"

Sun Yu said, "Don't forget, most of these people would never have been able to achieve a Dao Foundation. Even if they did, they would still make a fortune. Putting aside everything else, a Human-level Dao Foundation cultivator can live to at least 150. How much is that extra few decades of lifespan worth?"

Cui Yu's heart stirred, and he said, "There are still many brothers and sisters in my clan who are useless and unable to build a foundation for their Dao. In fact, their families have sufficient resources, but they are too stupid and unwilling to work hard, so their foundation for the Dao is delayed. Why don't I call a few to give it a try?"

Wei Yuan's heart stirred, and several strands of green energy appeared in his hand: "I still have some scattered luck here. If I add it to them, it should increase the chances by several percent."

Cui Yu immediately replied, "My Cui family still has many secret cultivation techniques, two of which can overdraw future potential and increase the chances of achieving the Dao Foundation. Anyway, those guys don't have much potential in the future, so why not let them switch to this method, overdraw all their future potential to increase their chances? Maybe they can even increase their chances by another 20%."

Wei Yuan looked at Sun Yu and said, "If we don't consider the future, then I seem to recall a few potent remedies that can increase the chance of a breakthrough at the cost of slightly damaging one's foundation. Uncle Sun, am I remembering correctly?"

Sun Yu snorted and said reluctantly, "Yes, there are. The Stealing Heaven Pill, the Myriad Spirits Powder, and the Melting Fire Pill all have similar effects. However, these medicines all damage the foundation of one's cultivation. Don't you feel guilty using too much of them?"

Wei Yuan didn't think so.

Speaking of conscience, Sun Yu, a guy whose Dao Foundation is filled with deadly poison, seems to have nothing to do with the word. Even if he does have one, his conscience must be poisonous.

Now that things have come to this point, Cui Yu said, "If we can help them understand the profound principles governing the workings of the universe, that would be even better."

Xiao Yu couldn't take it anymore: "Wouldn't it be better to just give each of them a magic sword?"

Wei Yuan suddenly had a vague idea. But it was not yet mature and needed to be carefully considered.

Seeing Xiao Yu's anger, Cui Yu chuckled, stopped his rambling thoughts, and said seriously, "I remember more than a dozen people like this, half of whom live not far from here. I'll write a letter now, and the first batch will arrive in seven days. Then we can incorporate them into the army and train them together." Wei Yuan said, "It requires blessing with luck, which isn't cheap!"

Cui Yu understood immediately: "Don't worry, they may not be good at it themselves, but their families are rich!"

"So what should the price be?"

Cui Yu pondered for a moment and said, "I think it would be better to let them owe us a favor first!"

Seeing Wei Yuan and Cui Yu discussing the matter with such seriousness, Xiao Yu set aside her prejudices and began to ponder it, her brows furrowing deeper with each thought.

After the matter was settled, Wei Yuan said to Sun Yu, "Uncle Sun, firearms greatly enhance the lives of ordinary people. Is there any room for adjustment in the gunpowder formula?"

"Which direction should we adjust it in?" Sun Yu asked.

Wei Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "Large quantity."

Sun Yu frowned slightly: "How much do you want?"

Wei Yuan tentatively suggested, "How about 50,000...jin first?"

Sun Yu was startled, but he didn't get angry. Instead, he said seriously, "Then you have to give me at least three thousand men, including five hundred miners, one thousand strong men, and one thousand women. The remaining five hundred can be anyone."

"Can you really do it?" Wei Yuan was overjoyed and immediately agreed.

This battle was actually the first large-scale use of firearms. Although the steel-pipe firearms were extremely crudely made, their advantages were already apparent: they could be used with minimal training and were quite lethal.

In the complex and confined underground environment, the power of muskets was amplified to the extreme. Half a pound of gunpowder was enough to kill elite members of the witch clan, and a pound of gunpowder could wound a captain.

The corpses of many witch clan captains indicate that even a powerful witch could not withstand being shot five or six times in a row.

If Sun Yu can mass-produce gunpowder, then Wei Yuan can equip every cultivator in the early stages of Body Forging with a musket. This is an improvement comparable to that of countless beings in an instant.

Another bottleneck is the shortage of steel plates. Muskets have very high requirements for the quality of steel pipes, otherwise they won't withstand explosions. Although this level of steel plates is not rare, it still requires specialized cultivators to repeatedly forge them. Fortunately, the realm has added nearly a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators at once, and forging iron is also a good way to consolidate the Dao foundation. Therefore, Wei Yuan plans to have more than half of the Foundation Establishment cultivators forge iron to solidify their foundations. After all, they are only at the Human Rank, and no matter how much they cultivate, they will never be able to reach the Dharma Aspect stage.

Having arranged the two things that would most enhance combat power, Wei Yuan finally breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to head to the Netherworld.

Without delay, Wei Yuan returned to his residence and invited his teacher to protect him. Then, following the method taught by Shi Meng, he sent his primordial spirit into the void and headed towards the marked direction.

With a flash of bright light, Wei Yuan found himself in a cold, desolate world, facing a beautiful, panicked girl.

(End of this chapter)