Longzang

Chapter 249 Medicinal Materials
Lord Wei roamed the underground world all night, reaping a thousand taels of silver and achieving remarkable results.

This thousand taels of silver was not for buying the mine.

All the ores theoretically belong to Wei Yuan, unless otherwise agreed. Originally, mining was supposed to be done by Yu Zhizhuo, his junior brothers, and the other cultivators, but with Wei Yuan involved, that effort was saved.

Wei Yuan's Golden Light Water Blade Technique was inherently more efficient than that of ordinary cultivators, and his Dao power was over a hundred times greater than that of other cultivators at the same level. Moreover, being in the Azure Netherworld, he could receive a continuous supply of power. The final result was equivalent to a thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators digging all night.

Besides ore, the mining process also yields a large amount of useless broken rock. Some of this rock is transformed into pillars on-site using magic to support the mine tunnels, while the rest is transported to the surface. This broken rock is excellent building material, perfect for constructing cities and houses.

According to Yu Zhizhuo, these were tasks that he was originally supposed to do himself, but Wei Yuan did them all, so these immortal silver coins were a reward, essentially a red envelope for Wei Yuan.

Wei Yuan didn't care about the amount. He hadn't planned to take any payment in the first place. Now that he was getting paid for working for him, how could he complain about too much or too little?

Transporting the underground ore to the surface was another major problem, and relying solely on the few dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators initially allocated to Yu Zhizhuo was certainly insufficient. Although Foundation Establishment cultivators could carry a thousand catties at a time, the workload underground was in the tens of millions of catties. Therefore, Wei Yuan transferred three thousand cultivators who had forged their muscles and bones. Although they were only at the initial stage of Body Forging, they could still carry three hundred catties at a time, and in one round of work, they could carry nearly a million catties.

With these ores, Wei Yuan had to build more furnaces, and then with more molten iron and copper, he needed more craftsmen, but now the Dao Foundation in the realm was insufficient.

After discussing for a long time, Wei Yuan and Yu Zhizhuo finally decided to build ten more furnaces weighing ten thousand catties each. With this, all the Dao Foundations would have work to do, and the scale could not be expanded any further.

Wei Yuan also felt a deep headache. The realm was constantly in a process of adding more water to the dough and more dough to the water. The dough was getting bigger and bigger, and he wondered how big a steamed bun it could become.

Back at his residence, Wei Yuan finally had some free time to check on his cultivation progress.

Spiritual energy constantly rises from the vast landscape, primarily originating from the spiritual plants within the realm. The souls of the Witch Clan have been continuously enriching the Jade Mountain and Black Water, but their impact on the Dao Foundation's spiritual energy is not yet apparent.

The greatest source of spiritual energy is still the herb garden. The addition of a Red Jade Lantern plant in the garden alone provides enough spiritual energy to save Wei Yuan a year's worth of hard work. However, all the other spiritual plants in the herb garden combined now represent a small portion; the real bulk comes from the few plots of Netherworld Soil that Master Chuhe rented.

The True Man of the Hoeing Fields had planted something in there, and as soon as it sprouted, spiritual energy gushed out. Each piece could save Wei Yuan a year's worth of hard work! Now Wei Yuan deeply regretted being so stingy back then.

Another major expense is the spiritual fields used to grow millet. The spiritual fields, totaling five thousand acres, are now becoming increasingly rich in spiritual energy. When they mature and bear fruit, they will contribute an additional wave of spiritual energy.

Finally, there were 20,000 mu of farmland for ordinary people to eat, which surprisingly contained a trace of spiritual energy. However, 10,000 mu was only equivalent to one month of Wei Yuan's arduous cultivation, a qualitative difference compared to spiritual fields.

Although the population was reduced by tens of thousands, the remaining people were stronger and healthier, and the tens of thousands of newly advanced Body Forging cultivators further solidified their Dao foundations. Those who could contribute their fortune also contributed a lot of spiritual energy; one of them was equivalent to ten of those at the same level. Therefore, the more than 90,000 people combined saved Wei Yuan about ten years of arduous cultivation.

All things considered, Wei Yuan only has sixteen years left to enter the mid-stage of the Dao Foundation Realm, which is truly gratifying. He can barely see Cui Yu's ponytail now.

But there is still a magical tree in the vast land.

According to the records of the Immortal Classic, there was once a cultivator who accidentally obtained an Immortal Tree, which then revived in his sea of ​​consciousness. Overnight, not only did that cultivator's Dao Foundation change from Earth Rank to Immortal Foundation, but his cultivation level also directly advanced from the early stage to the late stage of perfection. Three days later, his Dharma Form was formed naturally and directly consolidated. In three days, he completed the Immortal Path that others would take two hundred years to traverse.

This is what you call a celestial tree!
Since reading the Immortal Scripture, Wei Yuan's dissatisfaction with the Moon Laurel Immortal Tree had deepened day by day. This thing not only offered no benefit, but repeatedly stole the gifts of heaven and earth. As a result, it became too fat, forcing it to split off seven sword energies to maintain its size.

If things were going normally, Wei Yuan estimated that consolidating his Dao foundation should be a matter of this year. Compared to others, this speed wouldn't be slow, and he could explain it to his teacher without having to be vague every time like he was doing now. Wei Yuan was calculating when suddenly there was a knock on the courtyard gate, and outside was the aura of the True Man of the Hoeing Field.

The Immortal's early morning visit must have important business. At this time, the Immortal Chuhe alone accounted for 80% of the spiritual energy contribution from the herb garden, significantly elevating his status in Wei Yuan's eyes. Wei Yuan opened the door to welcome the Immortal in, while simultaneously pondering how to subtly rent him a few more pieces of Netherworld Soil.

If the old Taoist dares to rent 10,000 pieces of Netherworld Soil, Wei Yuan will dare to advance to the Dharma Aspect level next month.

Master Chuhe sniffed and said, "What extraordinary thing have you smelled this time? May I come in and take a look?"

Master Chuhe's request was somewhat strange, but everything in the realm was very simple at the moment. Wei Yuan's residence was just a single room, without even an outer hall. People came and went here, so there were no secrets. Therefore, Master Chuhe was invited into the room.

As soon as the True Man of the Hoeing Fields entered the room, his gaze fell upon the desk and he couldn't look away. On the desk was a white jade plate containing a roll of platinum bark, with petals constantly appearing and disappearing around it, which was extremely mystical.

The old Taoist's voice trembled slightly: "And what kind of spiritual plant is this?"

Wei Yuan followed his gaze and said, "Ah, this isn't a spiritual plant, it's more like... a medicinal herb."

"Medicinal herbs? What are those?"

"...Cinnamon."

With Wei Yuan's permission, Master Chuhe carefully took the bark that had been peeled off from the laurel branch, examined it over and over for a long time before putting it down and sighing, "It has no life left, and there is absolutely no possibility of cultivating a new celestial tree from it."

Wei Yuan found this strange and asked, "Why is that?"

The True Man of the Hoeing Fields said, “Immortal objects are self-perfected and form their own worlds. No matter how many pieces they are divided into, the Great Dao within them remains the same. Take the Immortal Tree as an example. Even if it is cut into ninety-nine pieces and placed in different worlds, as long as one piece is revived, the other pieces will die at the same time and become lifeless objects without any spirit. Just like this piece of bark that has been shed.”

Wei Yuan's mind raced. According to Master Chuhe, if other fragments of the Moon Laurel Tree were in the hands of others, then once the branch in his possession was revived, the other branches would all become dead wood. The complete Moon Laurel Tree would only exist with him.

Thinking about it this way, wasn't it a coincidence that when the Sea Fairy was fishing in the mortal world, he caught a laurel branch?

Wei Yuan suddenly felt that everything was arranged in the dark.

The True Man of the Hoeing Fields had not come for a piece of tree bark, but for other important matters. He said solemnly, "Recently, I have had a sudden urge to sense that something extraordinary is being conceived and sprouted. But if I think about it more closely, I will be terrified. Clearly, there is great danger around that thing."

The old Taoist priest and Ji Liuli worked together to calculate, but they couldn't figure anything out. It seemed the opportunity was obscured by something. But the old Taoist was certain it existed, and wasn't far from here. He had inquired around the area these past two days, looking for any secret realms or ruins nearby.

Wei Yuan's heart stirred. He had already excavated the ruins of the Lan Shen Palace, but if we're talking about secret realms, weren't those fragments of cave heavens a few hundred miles away?

(End of this chapter)