Longzang

Chapter 232 The Mighty Pig Flies
In the stillness of the night, the newly built Xuanwei Six Cities in the northwest of the realm had already fallen asleep, with only a few lights shining in the cities.

A new campsite had appeared on the outskirts of the city, where the newly arrived members of the Cui family lived. It was already late at night, but the large tent in the center of the camp was still lit.

Wei Yuan lifted the curtain and entered, only to see Cui Yu writing furiously at his desk, with a tall stack of books beside him.

"Aren't you going to rest?" Wei Yuan came to the desk, picked up a book and flipped through it.

This book is a detailed list of the Cui family members. It records not only their family background and relatives, but also their innate talent and fortune test results, cultivation experience, and even the major and minor events in their lives. The details are so detailed that even a serious criminal about to be executed would not be recorded in such detail.

Cui Yu rubbed his face and said, "Training starts tomorrow. I need to go through everyone's information and then divide them into two categories: those who can die and those who can't. There are a few guys who are useless, but they are pampered by their elders. It doesn't matter if they can't cultivate their Dao Foundation, as long as nothing happens to them. I plan to put these people in the rear to participate in training and transfer them when it comes to war."

“Senior Brother is indeed very thoughtful.” Wei Yuan handed over a piece of jade paper and said, “I just obtained a body-forging technique from Uncle Yu of the Heavenly Craft Hall. The foundation I cultivated was a ball of mortal fire. Uncle Yu said that the advantage of this technique is that it is very easy to cultivate, with a very low threshold. The difficulty of forging the foundation is the lowest among all the body-forging techniques he has ever seen.”

Cui Yu blurted out instinctively, "What use is a wisp of ordinary fire? To smelt iron in a furnace?"

As soon as he said it, he exclaimed "Eh!" and looked up at Wei Yuan.

Wei Yuan remained calm and said, "As long as the physical constitution of this batch of cultivators preparing to form their foundations does not clash with the fire element, I plan to have them all switch to this cultivation method. This way, there might be a few more people who can successfully form their Dao foundations."

"The Dao Foundation is made of ordinary fire. It is easy to forge, but it is difficult to solidify. It will take at least ten or eight years..." Cui Yu understood halfway through his sentence. This ordinary fire Dao Foundation is best suited for burning in a furnace and controlling the fire. A longer solidification period is not a bad thing.

Cui Yu flicked the jade paper containing the cultivation technique and asked, "What do you mean by giving me this cultivation technique? You can't possibly expect the Cui family to work for you, can you? Let me tell you, that's impossible! No matter how useless they are, they still bear the surname Cui."

"If we let them modify this cultivation method and roll around on the battlefield a couple of times, the chances of them forming a Dao foundation will be much higher."

“That makes sense.” Cui Yu began to ponder.

"Has the casualty count been released yet?" Wei Yuan reminded him.

Cui Yu then remembered this matter and quickly rummaged through the pile of papers on the table. Finally, he found a sealed envelope, opened it in front of Wei Yuan, read it, and handed it to Wei Yuan, saying, "Take a look."

The letter listed only two names; the rest were left to their own devices, and Wei Yuan was free to act as he saw fit.

Upon seeing the contents of the letter, Wei Yuan's expression changed: "As long as three Dao Foundation cultivators can emerge, it doesn't matter how many die?"

Cui Yu nodded: "Yes. This group of people is not as precious as you think, and the ancestor is very determined."

"Among these people, there are those from the direct line, and even those from the eldest branch of the direct line."

"There's only one direct descendant, and that's already been listed. I suspect the other one's family spent a lot of money and pulled strings. Actually, many members of the Cui family aren't worth much. It's easy for large families to have many descendants. My father was very self-disciplined, not letting the Immortal Sect bloodline easily spread outside, and yet I still have three brothers and seven sisters. It's normal for the local branches of the Cui family to have dozens or even hundreds of offspring. Each family concentrates its resources on supporting the talented ones, and as for the others, they let them fend for themselves, as long as they don't starve. Sometimes the family will even start a 'breeding the Gu' mode, like the ones sent here."

Wei Yuan looked at the letter in his hand and frowned, "Is it really okay to disregard casualties?"

"Oh, right, three people came to me last night. They offered a reasonable price, and I promised them I wouldn't die, but I can't guarantee they'd achieve the Dao Foundation. There were also a few others who didn't have much money but wanted to live, but I turned them down."

“Alright, take those five people out and form a separate team. The rest can be mixed with the other Body Forging cultivators. They will all go to the battlefield. Who survives will depend on their own fate.”

Cui Yu added meaningfully, "The ancestor doesn't care about the cost, as long as it's the result. You gave her the result she wanted, so it doesn't matter if everyone else dies."

Wei Yuan nodded: "Don't worry, there will be results."

"It would be best if we could also get that kid from the eldest branch of the main line to form a Dao foundation; we can offer extra money for that."

Wei Yuan nodded: "Have him come to see me tomorrow, I'll give it a try."

Before leaving the camp, Wei Yuan couldn't help but ask, "These people all have the surname Cui, how can they bear to raise Gu poison?"

Cui Yu said, “Everyone wants talented descendants, so they can only have more children. When you have dozens of children, apart from the one or two who are the most outstanding and likable, the rest are almost like strangers, or even worse. At least strangers won’t eat or drink your food, and won’t use your name to cause trouble and ruin your reputation. Moreover, sons beget grandsons, and grandsons beget great-grandsons. In a hundred years, a family of dozens can become tens of thousands. No one can afford to support so many people who live off others.”

"Therefore, the Cui family can reduce the number of freeloaders by employing suicide squads, establishing clan armies, conducting trials, and even waging wars against foreign powers."

At dawn, a man entered the gate of Wei Yuan's residence on the outskirts of the city. This was the man Wei Yuan had asked to pay his respects when he disembarked from the flying boat, and who had immediately become obsequious after meeting Cui Yu. Now, before Wei Yuan, he displayed the same arrogance. Wei Yuan ignored his attitude, routinely inquired about some cultivation-related questions, and then said calmly, "Your family has already paid to keep you alive. I can also guarantee you will establish your Dao foundation, but that will cost extra."

The man nearly jumped up, his face beaming with delight, and exclaimed, "It really can forge a foundation for Dao? I'll add it! I'll pay whatever it costs!"

Wei Yuan said, "Two thousand taels of silver."

Wei Yuan had carefully considered this price. The Taichu Palace's merit system set one hundred merits for an ordinary Dao Foundation cultivator, which could be exchanged for one thousand immortal silver. Wei Yuan doubled that amount.

The young playboy gritted his teeth, pulled out a finger-sized piece of spirit jade from his belt, slapped it in front of Wei Yuan, and said magnanimously, "More than enough!"

"Come with me." Wei Yuan put away the spirit jade, picked up the man, and flew straight to Xu Wenwu's residence.

When they landed, Wei Yuan noticed that he was pale and trembling like a leaf, but a quick scan with his divine sense revealed no illness. So he asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"It's flying too fast, I... can't take it."

Wei Yuan thought to himself, "This guy is just a figurehead."

Xu Wenwu had finished washing up and was about to go out to have a heart-to-heart talk with Tianxing Longkui. Wei Yuan placed the young man surnamed Cui in front of Xu Wenwu and said, "From today onwards, he will eat and sleep with you, and he will do whatever you do. You can also share your original work with him."

Xu Wenwu chuckled, "I have a follower now? But this guy looks a bit weak."

The young playboy was furious, but he was too weak to even stand properly and couldn't retort.

Wei Yuan patted the young playboy on the shoulder and said, "Work hard. The more work you do, the sooner you will build your foundation. If you try to cheat and deceive, you may not be able to succeed even in a year."

When he patted Wei Yuan's shoulder, Wei Yuan secretly sent a wisp of green energy into him.

This person eats and sleeps with Xu Wenwu, and can digest one strand of green energy in at most two days. After three strands of green energy, even a sow can turn into a demon beast. If he still can't cultivate a foundation of Dao, what kind of waste would he be?
As for selling a Dao Foundation for two thousand Immortal Silver, Wei Yuan had carefully considered this price. Although he could sell it for a higher price, the number of people who could afford it would decrease significantly, resulting in lower revenue. The Taichu Palace had already calculated this problem and published several related Daoist books, which were readily available for exchange.

Despite all sharing the surname Cui, most of these people are not wealthy. Some are even born out of wedlock, and you couldn't find even two taels of silver on them. Even the gatekeepers of wealthy families are richer than them.

As dawn broke, Wei Yuan arrived at the training ground. Over a thousand cultivators already stood there, all at the Great Perfection of Body Tempering, with a few still cultivating their Nascent Soul. The hundred or so newly arrived members of the Cui family were also among them.

At this moment, all the cultivators had already formed ranks, holding specially made swords and shields, with thick steel-barreled guns hanging from their waists. After Wei Yuan arrived, several Foundation Establishment cultivators in the field began to shout out commands. According to the numbers in the commands, all the cultivators were repeating three simple actions: firing their guns, charging forward with their shields, and swinging their swords, and then repeating the cycle.

After about a quarter of an hour of practice, a bell rang in the training ground, and the cultivators began to count down. Then, in an instant, all beings were activated!
In an instant, countless energies of heaven and earth poured into the training ground, and every cultivator began to glow, their Dao foundations rapidly taking shape. All the cultivators sat cross-legged, experiencing the feeling of having their Dao foundations within them.

There are now regulations for training Body Forging cultivators within the realm. The daily training sessions will be held three times a day. The first session is for all cultivators to meditate and cultivate, experiencing the Dao Foundation. The following two sessions will train them in combat after they have acquired the Dao Foundation.

At first, the Cui family members were somewhat lazy, outwardly compliant but inwardly defiant, and unwilling to obey. However, after the sudden appearance of all living beings, everyone became obedient and began training seriously.

Wei Yuan observed coldly from the sidelines. In truth, these Cui family disciples had never suffered from hunger since childhood, and their bloodline and physical qualities were quite good. With serious training and some use of their luck, they might be able to train more than thirty Dao Foundation cultivators.

However, Wei Yuan certainly couldn't actually provide the Cui family with thirty Dao Foundations; that would render them worthless. Wei Yuan planned to give the Cui family six or seven in the first phase. Those who didn't successfully cultivate a Dao Foundation could continue to participate in the second phase. Of course, the second phase would require an additional fee.

If it can continue to open in one phase after another, but if it fails to establish a Dao foundation after three consecutive phases, then it is beyond Wei Yuan's ability to save it.

But if the wealthy patrons are willing to spend money recklessly and insist on throwing money at the problem, Wei Yuan isn't incapable of being flexible. In Qingming, as long as the immortal silver is in place, even a sow can not only climb a tree, but also do a backflip and ascend to heaven; there's no reason why a person can't establish a Dao foundation.

At this thought, Wei Yuan suddenly had a dangerous idea: if he raised a cat that suddenly learned to do backflips, who should he bring to see it?

As for consumption, it's up to fate.

Wei Yuan looked northwest. Last night, another large army of the Wu tribe had entered the city, along with a large number of Wu tribe civilians and slaves who were to be used as laborers. With a major battle imminent, this was the best baptism for the Cui family.

(End of this chapter)