Longzang

Chapter 229 People from Noble Families Arrive
In the desolate mountains, several cultivators stopped what they were doing and looked at their senior brother, who seemed somewhat anxious.

The eldest disciple paced around in circles like a lost ant, his expression shifting between anger and uncertainty. At this point, the youngest cultivator couldn't bear to watch any longer and said, "Elder disciple, make a decision soon."

The eldest disciple stopped, his face ashen, and said slowly, "Have I been deceived again?"

"You've been deceived more than once or twice. Your reputation for being a prophet has spread far and wide, so you don't care if you're deceived a few more times. Over the years, the only one who hasn't deceived you is the Azure Heaven Palace."

The eldest brother sighed, looked around at the desolate mountains and wilderness, where no one was around and poisonous plants and insects were everywhere, and said sadly, "This time, I'm afraid I've really dragged you all down with me..."

All the fellow disciples waved their hands: "It's alright, as long as our senior brother pays us for these past few days."

The eldest brother gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go to Qingming!"

"Wait, there's no mission. How are we supposed to get there? According to the ancestral rules, we can't go out empty-handed; we have to be paid."

The eldest brother slapped his forehead: "I almost forgot, this is easy to handle!"

He turned to the youngest cultivator and asked, "Don't you have an older brother in the Azure Sky Palace?"

"Yes."

"Have him issue a bounty quest, inviting a weapon refiner to the Azure Nether Realm to refine a magical artifact. The reward can be anything. Then you accept the quest and have him return the merit points to you privately."

The young cultivator paused for a moment, then said, "Senior Brother, the handling fee is very expensive."

The eldest brother gritted his teeth again: "I'll go for it!"

A day later, the small group of monks finally packed their bags and left the barren mountain where there was nothing.

At this moment, within the Azure Nether Realm, the discussion about siege cannons had long since deviated from its original purpose, and was rapidly moving towards the path of Dao Integration.

According to Xu Wenwu's memory, the concept of siege cannons was vague, but their function was clear: they had to be powerful enough to blast open strong defensive fortifications, including city walls.

In this world, the city walls, whether for humans or other races, are reinforced with magic, altering their material properties. Their sturdiness is no less than that of the reinforced concrete Xu Wenwu described. To breach the Wu Clan's city walls, immense power would be required, enough to expend hundreds of kilograms of gunpowder.

The siege cannons Xu Wenwu remembered were definitely not suitable; the shells were too small and lacked power. The Taichu Palace members currently in Qingming were all top-tier geniuses, possessing powerful primordial spirits and lightning-fast divine senses—not just ordinary intelligence. After some discussion, the group abstracted the problem to how to deliver the cannonballs directly to the head of the Wu Clan's city.

There are many solutions to this problem. Cui Yu suggested directly refining the cannonballs into magical artifacts, allowing them to fly like swords. Powerful cultivators could even operate multiple cannonballs simultaneously, thus solving the firepower problem.

This suggestion was immediately rejected by Wei Yuan. There was no other reason than that the young master of the Cui family didn't know how expensive magic artifacts were, or how much money it cost to hire a weapon refiner. In the young master Cui's mind, such a basic magic artifact wasn't even worth picking up if it fell on the ground.

Even if it's not a magical artifact, there are still many ways to transport cannonballs. Master Chuhe suggested that he could plant a few tree-like demon vines at the edge of the realm. These are demonic creatures that resemble spiritual plants, reaching a height of ten zhang (approximately 33 meters), with numerous vine arms and immense strength. Cannonballs could then be tied to their vine arms, swung around to reach a certain speed, and then thrown out, easily tossing them over a hundred li (approximately 50 kilometers) away.

However, this kind of demon species takes thirty years to grow after being born, and even if it is transplanted, it will take three years before it can be used. Therefore, this plan was naturally rejected.

The final chosen plan was proposed by Ji Liuli. This plan involved setting up an array within the boundary, suspending the cannonballs within the array, and then cultivators using their Dao power to propel the cannonballs forward, passing them one by one. Theoretically, as long as the array was long enough and there were enough cultivators, the cannonballs could eventually reach sufficient speed, making it possible to throw them hundreds of miles away.

Furthermore, if the formation is long enough, the cultivation requirements for cultivators will be greatly reduced; a Foundation Establishment level is sufficient. As long as more people line up and each person pushes along the way, the cannonballs can be propelled to a speed of hundreds of feet in an instant.

The plan was eventually approved by everyone, and after two days of collaborative discussion, it was gradually improved.

Wei Yuan was truly short of funds, so he could only rely on more cultivators and fewer materials. He decided to initially construct a thousand-zhang-long array, staffed with three hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators, working in pairs to propel the cannonballs. The Azure Nether Realm was currently in ruins, lacking everything except for a large number of cultivators needing to solidify their Foundation Establishment; providing them with food would suffice. With the siege cannon mounts in place, the remaining issue was the power of the cannonballs. At this point, relying solely on Sun Yu, gunpowder production couldn't keep up, as several raw materials were originally intended for medicinal use, and large stockpiles were impossible. Therefore, mining was once again placed before Wei Yuan.

Mining doesn't necessarily require experts; a basic understanding of ley lines is sufficient. The main task is to rely on a large number of cultivators to explore the underground with their divine sense.

An ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator can roughly survey the distribution of earth veins within a radius of about three zhang around a mine tunnel. Wei Yuan, however, with the aid of Qingming, can survey approximately three hundred zhang. Therefore, theoretically, in terms of mining exploration, a few hundred cultivators are roughly equivalent to one Dharma Aspect level cultivator; it is not necessarily necessary to have a high-level cultivator.

Coincidentally, prospecting and digging tunnels is also a good way to consolidate the foundation of the road.

Although Wei Yuan has many newly promoted Foundation Establishment cultivators, there are even more places where he needs to use them, so he is clearly short-handed.

Just as he was worrying, he suddenly sensed a flying boat sneaking into the realm. The flying boat's spiritual energy fluctuations were extremely weak, and Wei Yuan only sensed it after it had flown dozens of miles into the realm.

Fortunately, the flying boat released the Cui family's mark in time, preventing the immortal sword on its head from striking down.

Wei Yuan then appeared in front of the flying boat and guided it to land outside Yong'an City. An old man stepped out of the flying boat, and then one young man after another emerged from it, seemingly endlessly, until finally there were about a hundred people standing in front of Wei Yuan.

At this moment, Cui Yu also rushed over. He was surprised to see the old man and bowed, saying, "Fifth Uncle, what brings you here?"

The old man was composed and unperturbed. He looked Cui Yu up and down, then slowly smiled and said, "There are many people from the clan this time. Although they are all good-for-nothings, they all have the blood of the Cui family in their veins, and it has not been easy for them to come all this way. So the elders asked me to bring them here so as not to disturb other families."

The phrase "not alerting other families" naturally refers to the Xu family.

The old man possessed a profound and boundless demeanor, clearly indicating that he was a highly accomplished practitioner of the Dharma, and not just any ordinary one.

Cui Yu then introduced, "This is my fifth great-uncle, Cui Xingjiang, and this is Wei Yuan, the Lord of the Azure Netherworld whom I told my family about."

The old man looked Wei Yuan up and down and nodded, saying, "Truly a dragon among men. It's Cui Yu's good fortune to be able to work with you."

Wei Yuan bowed and said, "Brother Cui is also a man of great talent. It is truly a blessing to have your help."

The old man took out a small box and handed it over, saying, "This is a thank-you gift for this trip. The old lady's intention is that as long as three people in this group can form a Dao Foundation, that will suffice. If more can, there will be additional thanks."

Wei Yuan took the box, put it away without opening it, and said, "I will do my best."

The old man nodded and said to Cui Yu, "There are quite a few people in the clan who are watching this matter, but those who truly need to establish their Dao foundation have not yet come. You have already caught the eye of the clan elders, and if this matter is handled well, you may be able to take it a step further."

Cui Yu said in a deep voice, "I will do my best. However, I am not talented enough to aspire to a position in the clan."

The old man sighed, a look of regret on his face, and said slowly, "Although high cultivation doesn't mean everything, the Cui family is large and powerful, and countless people are eyeing it. Not to mention that even a Dharma Master like Yu Jing Zhenjun can't support the entire Cui family. If your cultivation isn't high enough, even if you sit in that position, the people below won't respect you."

Cui Yu said, "It's been like this for thousands of years, I understand."

The old man nodded, said nothing more, and drove his flying boat away.

Watching the flying boat depart, Cui Yu suddenly smiled bitterly and said to Wei Yuan, "That makes sense, but I still feel a little unwilling!"

PS: September should be better than August, so I'll try to get my guaranteed monthly votes first.

(End of this chapter)