Longzang

Chapter 224 Let's get serious

Zhang Sheng transformed the history book in his hand into a stick and struck Wei Yuan on the head with a snap.

Wei Yuan felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, and his mind cleared up. When he thought about his previous thoughts again, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

Zhang Sheng's expression darkened slightly. He said, "Your foundation contains too many miscellaneous things, which has affected your Dao heart, causing your mind to waver and become somewhat confused just now. Although heaven and earth can contain all things, you now have an additional Yin and Yang in your sea of ​​consciousness. Yin and Yang are almost like the Great Dao, and they alone can influence your vast land, which is why you were confused just now. From now on, you need to be extra careful, and you must be more courageous and diligent in your cultivation. Only in this way can your vast land grow stronger day by day and balance Yin and Yang."

"This disciple has learned much." Hearing Zhang Sheng's words, Wei Yuan broke out in a cold sweat again. Thankfully, his teacher didn't seem to notice what he was thinking in his daze. Even Wei Yuan himself found this thought a bit...

Zhang Sheng glanced at Wei Yuan's tall and imposing figure and said calmly, "It's better to guide than to block. Since ancient times, those who achieve great things don't concern themselves with trifles. Your current state of mind is not unrelated to those girls. Since it's meat delivered to your mouth, eat it if you want, just remember that this meat has a price. Don't give too little, but don't give too much either."

Wei Yuan then said, "This disciple has learned much."

"Go."

After Wei Yuan left, Zhang Sheng put down his book and looked at his hands. These hands were nothing special, just flawless, suitable for both holding a book and wielding a sword.

However, these hands are somewhat out of place with Zhang Sheng himself, but if you don't look closely, a normal person would instinctively ignore them.

Zhang Sheng suddenly remembered something, and his face darkened.

Wei Yuan has grown up and is naturally attracted to beautiful women, which is perfectly normal. Besides, he is extremely handsome and has already taken charge of a region at a young age, so he is bound to have many beautiful women around him.

The sudden appearance of Yin and Yang within Wei Yuan's Dao foundation inevitably caused a loss of Dao heart, requiring time to gradually repair. Deliberately suppressing it would be overly forceful; it's best to let nature take its course. Wei Yuan himself was unaware of this, but Zhang Sheng, with his different perspective, did not punish Wei Yuan for this mental fluctuation.

But after Wei Yuan left, Zhang Sheng reflected carefully and realized he had overlooked something. This brat was so distracted; if he didn't go to Xu Wan'er or Yun Feifei, there was always Xu Yi and several other young ladies from prominent families. If he really couldn't think straight and decided to face death, there was always Ji Liuli. With so many choices, why was he staring at his hands?
Zhang Sheng felt he needed to find the rules for disciples of Taichu Palace and review them; he needed to find a few excuses to teach this kid a lesson.

but……

Zhang Sheng glanced at his hands again and thought that even though the brat was no good, his judgment was still top-notch.

Back at his residence, Wei Yuan practiced the methods of the Moonlit Myriad Forms Manual, calming his mind and clearing his thoughts, without being startled, agitated, or afraid. Then he began to ponder what Zhang Sheng had said, mainly about how to eat the meat.

Meat has a price; it cannot be more or less than a penny. This is easy to understand. As the saying goes, too much or too little is not good.

But should we eat it or not? Should we accept the teacher's words honestly or dismiss them unnecessarily?
Wei Yuan reviewed all the military books and strategies he had learned in his life. The art of war says, "Make the deceptive appear real, and the real appear deceptive." It also says, "The interplay of deception and reality resides in the mind." Reading these two passages together is as good as saying nothing at all.

Therefore, Wei Yuan didn't know what Zhang Sheng meant, whether it was edible or not. But his intuition told him that it was best not to ask him for confirmation.

In fact, Wei Yuan himself couldn't understand why he suddenly became so distracted at that time. However, upon careful reflection, his teacher's hand and his person seemed to have no connection. If they weren't actually on the same body, Wei Yuan would never have thought they were the same person.

Wei Yuan cleared his mind of these random thoughts, left the room, and headed to the spirit field. It was time to harvest the millet; this was the first batch of spiritual food produced in the realm, and it deserved to be treated with utmost care.

At the edge of the spirit field, two hundred cultivators had already gathered, waiting for Wei Yuan's arrival. The stalks of millet were extremely tough, requiring a Body Refinement cultivator to cut them; their roots were deep and long, sometimes even reaching a depth of ten feet. After the harvest, these roots also had to be dug up, chopped, and sown back into the field. This was a task that ordinary people could not accomplish.

Master Chuhe had all four of his disciples go down into the fields to demonstrate to the cultivators how to collect the seeds, how to cut the stems, and finally how to dig up the roots, while also loosening the soil.

Cui Yu originally wanted Wei Yuan to say a few words, but amidst everyone's eager anticipation, Wei Yuan simply said, "Let's get started!"

The cultivators immediately went down to the field to begin their work. Surprisingly, more than half of these cultivators were at the Foundation Establishment stage, and many of them had just advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage.

They come to work in the fields to get close to the spiritual plants, so as to understand the way of heaven and earth and consolidate their foundation.

At this moment, Master Chuhe stood beside Wei Yuan, stroking his beard and smiling, "This acre of land can yield two hundred catties, and a normal Body Forging cultivator needs to eat one catty a day. However, the rice from your field is of superior quality. Originally it was not graded, but now it has become a low-grade spiritual plant. If a Body Forging cultivator wants to maintain their original cultivation progress, one catty every two days is also acceptable."

This field covers 500 mu and produces 100,000 jin of millet. It seems like a lot, but there are over 10,000 Body Forging Realm cultivators in the realm, so it's not much for each person. However, the one jin per day mentioned by Master Chuhe is based on the standard of a normal small or medium-sized aristocratic family. Where in the Western Regions can people afford that? An ordinary Body Forging Realm cultivator is lucky to have one meal every five or six days.

Cui Yu then asked, "How should these grains be distributed?"

The young masters and ladies from prominent families around them were all staring expectantly at Wei Yuan. They had arrived relatively early and hadn't had much spiritual food for quite some time; their elixirs had been consumed several days prior. Now, everyone was cultivating through meditation.

In the world of cultivation, spiritual food and elixirs are indispensable. Simply practicing meditation is too slow, far inferior to progressing through the consumption of medicine. If it weren't for the Azure Heaven Palace selling everything to buy elixirs, Wei Yuan would still be absorbing moonlight for decades to come.

The dozen or so young masters and ladies from the aristocratic families all felt that, in terms of cultivation, family background, talent, achievements, and even seniority, they should be entitled to a considerable share of grains and rice, at least enough to eat.

In the past, they wouldn't have even glanced at millet; such low-grade spiritual food was only fit for servants and household staff. But now, in Qingming, they were lucky to have anything to eat at all.

Wei Yuan had already considered the distribution issue, and said, "This batch of rice is for all Body Forging cultivators, regardless of their cultivation level, and will be distributed equally per person."

Cui Yu was taken aback, then frowned and said, "Isn't this... a bit inappropriate?" Wei Yuan said, "Don't forget the countless beings in an instant. They are going to rush to the front line to fight. If they eat a couple more meals, many of them will have a chance to survive."

Cui Yu gave Wei Yuan a deep look and said slowly, "Alright, let me sort things out first. I will persuade them."

"Thanks."

Cui Yu waved his hand, then beckoned the young masters and ladies of noble families to another quiet place for a detailed chat.

At this moment, Master Chuhe said, "If you have time, you might as well come over to my place for a seat and a cup of tea."

Since the True Man of the Farming invited him, Wei Yuan had no reason to refuse, so he followed the True Man to his newly built residence. At this time, the True Man's residence was just a pavilion, with wooden tables and chairs inside, and luggage piled up on the side, much of which had not yet been unpacked.

After they were seated, Master Chuhe picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea for himself and Wei Yuan. The teapot was only the size of a palm, shaped like an old tree knot. The tea that was poured out was clear and transparent, with a touch of new green swimming around in the water like a fish, which was quite magical.

Wei Yuan raised his cup and drank it all in one gulp. He immediately felt a surge of spiritual energy explode in his stomach, and his cultivation level instantly increased, equivalent to twenty days of arduous cultivation! Wei Yuan's current Dao power was extraordinary. The fact that this cup of tea could be equivalent to twenty days of his arduous cultivation showed just how powerful it was.

"Good tea!" Wei Yuan praised, then put the teacup back in its place, showing no intention of asking for another cup.

Master Chuhe nodded secretly and said, "Young friend Wei Yuan..."

Wei Yuan quickly stood up, "I dare not accept such a formal address from you, sir."

Master Chuhe gestured with both hands to let Wei Yuan return to his seat, and then said, "If you can't call me 'young friend,' then you can only call me 'realm lord.'"

Wei Yuan could only say, "If you think it's suitable, then it's fine."

Master Chuhe said, "We don't need to be too particular about seniority or titles, anyway, I need your help right now."

"Please speak, sir. If I can do it, I will do my best."

Master Chuhe nodded and said, "I observe that this realm possesses the power of Jia wood generating Xuan, is that correct?"

"A true master has discerning eyes."

“Besides these grains, all the spiritual plants within the realm are showing signs of breaking through their original grades. The Moon Tree Dragon Sunflower is a prime example. This is truly unbelievable; Jia Mu Sheng Xuan is not nearly as miraculous. The other Dragon Sunflower planted on the Netherworld is now showing signs of becoming a celestial plant, which is even more beyond Jia Mu Sheng Xuan’s capabilities.”

Master Chuhe paused for a moment, then said, "Therefore, I have concluded that the vitality in this realm is not from Jia wood generating Xuan, but from a higher-level power. This is no longer a characteristic, but can be described as divine."

Wei Yuan was even more confused by the old Taoist's words. The information about Qingming clearly stated that Jia wood generates Xuan, and this boundary stone was forged by an immortal in the past. Could it be that even an immortal himself didn't know as much about something he forged?
However, Wei Yuan still nodded in agreement, completely convinced.

Master Chuhe then said, “I have a kind of spiritual plant, which, although not of high grade, is rare in the world and has the potential to break through. I haven’t been able to find a good place to transplant it until I saw that piece of Netherworld Soil. I need three pieces of this Netherworld Soil, which can be placed in the herb garden. Consider these pieces of Netherworld Soil a rental from me; I will pay you one hundred taels of immortal silver per piece per month, how about that?”

Wei Yuan was taken aback. Business could be done like this? Just three plots of land, each a zhang square, mixed with only a little bit of Netherworld Soil, and you could earn three hundred Immortal Silver a month? Is soil too valuable, or is Immortal Silver overflowing?

Wei Yuan hesitated. He could buy several thousand more of this Netherworld Soil, but he didn't know if Master Chuhe could handle it.

Seeing that Wei Yuan did not answer immediately, Master Chuhe continued, "Don't worry, this old Daoist will certainly not mistreat the junior. If the things this old Daoist cultivates do indeed make a breakthrough, then there will be an additional reward."

"What do you mean by breakthrough, Master?"

"It's like that one that didn't sprout... no, like the Moon Tree Black Nightshade. It would be best if it could improve the grade, but if that's not possible, any improvement in quality or change in characteristics would count."

So that's how it is. According to Xu Wenwu's world, it's a mutation.

Wei Yuan understood the situation and said, "I have a small request, may I make it?"

"But there's no harm in talking!"

"If the real person does indeed cultivate a variant species with an improved rank, I want some seeds to plant in the realm later."

Master Chuhe chuckled and said, "No problem. Without your Netherworld Soil, those few blades of grass of mine would just rot in my hands."

Wei Yuan was overjoyed and almost couldn't suppress his smile.

Now that Wei Yuan has both good fortune and Xu Wenwu, even the most ordinary spiritual plants will have to obediently mutate in his hands.

(End of this chapter)