Longzang

Chapter 275 Bad Luck
Back in the realm, Wei Yuan felt increasingly uneasy. This young monk, though young, possessed profound cultivation and various supernatural abilities typically found only at the Dharma Aspect stage. When Wei Yuan tried to beat him, it was like hitting a piece of chewing gum—tough and yielding to no force. No wonder he could penetrate deep into the realm and dared to claim some martial arts skills in front of Wei Yuan.

Such talent from a young monk is rare even in the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land; he must be carefully nurtured. The question is, why would a genius disciple from the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land come to this realm? The Primordial Palace and the Great Treasure Flower Pure Land have always kept to themselves, their development directions even differing. Wei Yuan has never offended any Pure Land successors, so there's only one explanation: this monk was recruited by Red Lotus Bodhi.

It's easy to imagine that if you can recruit a young monk today, you might be able to recruit a whole group of young monks tomorrow, and behind the young monks, there might even be senior monks and old monks.

At this very moment, in the damp and poisonous territory of the Shattered Realm, a young monk walked alone, aimlessly.

A clear voice suddenly rang out behind him: "Young master, where do you want to go?"

The young monk turned around blankly and saw two alluring women standing behind him. Upon seeing the young monk's face, both women's eyes lit up; his appearance was truly rare in the world. It was just a pity that one of his eyes still had a dark circle, the other corner of his mouth was still swollen, and his moon-white monk's robe was covered in shoe prints, ruining his dignified appearance.

The woman on the left said softly, "Little mage, where did you suffer any injustice? We sisters still have some meager magical power; how about we avenge you?"

The woman on the right said, "Look at this wound, it hurts my heart. Come, don't move, let me clean your wound..."

As she spoke, she stretched out a soft, white hand to wipe the blood from the little monk's mouth.

The young monk then recovered from his daze, took a step back, and frowned, saying, "It stinks!"

The two women were taken aback. Since they appeared, the air around them was filled with the fragrance of flowers, as well as the scents of bamboo and pine. It was very elegant and the stench of the witch domain was dispelled. Where was the stench?

The little monk pointed at the two of them and said, "You two stink, not just because you smell like stinky men, but also because of all sorts of other stench..."

The two women's expressions changed drastically. The woman on the right's hand turned bluish-black as she grabbed down, sneering, "Little monk, don't be impatient. In a moment, I'll drain you dry, and you'll become part of this stench..."

Bang bang bang!
After a few dull thuds, the two women fell backward to the ground. The little monk stood between them and chanted a Buddhist prayer.

Both women were actually at the late stage of the Foundation Establishment realm, both at the Heavenly Rank, but in an instant they inexplicably collapsed to the ground. Before they fell, they only saw a pink fist growing larger and larger in front of them, and then the world spun around them. Throughout the entire process, their magical power was completely useless.

Both women were in the same state: a bruise around their left eye, a cut at the corner of their mouth, and two shoe prints on their chests. Judging from the soles of the shoes, they appeared to be monk's shoes.

Seeing the bruises on the two women's faces, the young monk inexplicably felt a sense of relief, and the confusion that had troubled him for so long vanished instantly. So he sat down cross-legged and recited a sutra to the two women, which made them extremely agitated.

The sutra was recited from dawn till dusk, and from dusk till dawn. The two women felt that their physical bodies were fine, but their reason was about to be extinguished. Fortunately, the young monk finally came to an end.

After finishing reciting a sutra, the young monk's troubles vanished, and he felt completely clear-headed. His whole body radiated a faint red light, like a sea of ​​blood rippling, leaving the two women dumbfounded and no longer daring to act rashly.

He suddenly had an epiphany and said, "Thank you, two female bodhisattvas, I have understood!"

The two women trembled as if they had encountered their natural enemy. But if they didn't speak up and join in the fun, the little mage might do something, so one of the women asked tremblingly, "What has the little mage realized?"

The young monk said solemnly, "It's not that I don't understand Buddhist teachings, but rather that my martial arts skills are not yet up to par, which is why I cannot turn some stubborn benefactors back from their delusions. I will go back and work hard to improve my skills, and I will definitely convert that wicked beast!"

After saying this, the young monk drifted away, truly displaying an otherworldly air.

"May you achieve great success, Master!" The two women waved to the little monk's retreating figure, then turned and ran away.
-
Within the realm, Wei Yuan put aside his monk's troubles and continued to devour history books. He spent another whole day reading them and finally finished nearly a hundred biographies of powerful ministers.

Rereading the history books this time, Wei Yuan gained new insights. He had actually read these texts as a child under Zhang Sheng's tutelage, but back then he had only skimmed them, understanding little of them. This time, however, he saw a completely different world within the history books. Closing the last volume, Wei Yuan closed his eyes, and the lives of thousands of powerful ministers and treacherous officials from the time of the Great Li Dynasty, spanning tens of thousands of years, flowed slowly through his mind.

These people are seen as treacherous officials by later generations or by historians, but the key point is the title of "Prime Minister." Those who can become prime ministers are all outstanding figures of their time. When Wei Yuan reads history at this point, he no longer just looks at the events, but puts himself in their shoes and thinks about why these people did what they did in that era.

Thinking about it this way, some things have different answers.

By this time, Wei Yuan had been in charge of Qingming for some time. Looking back at history, what he saw was no longer just a few hundred words describing people and events, but rather grain, weapons, soldiers, military equipment, foreign tribes, factions, and so on.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door. Xu Yi stood outside and said, "It's almost time for the next batch of Dao Foundation Advancement."

Wei Yuan said, "Show me the list."

Xu Yi was somewhat surprised, so he went into the room and handed over the roster. There were 170 people in this batch who were scheduled to advance to the Foundation Establishment stage, of whom only 70 came from the Realm, and the other 100 were all prisoners captured this time.

After several rounds of advancement, most of those capable of forging their Dao foundations in the realm have now succeeded, and the rest have little hope. Only those who have recently achieved the Great Perfection of Body Forging have a relatively high chance of forging their Dao foundations.

Nowadays, only teenagers or those whose progress was delayed due to lack of resources remain. This group includes people at all levels, from blood fusion to bone forging, with blood fusion being the majority.

The captured prisoners were all soldiers, whether they were Xu's private troops or Yue Qilin's men. They were well-fed and clothed, their bodies were well-trained, and they were young. So, it was easy to select over a hundred who had achieved the Great Perfection of Body Forging and were on the verge of Foundation Forging. There were also two or three hundred others, whose overall aptitude was quite good.

Wei Yuan circled the hundred prisoners selected, only marked ten names with a checkmark, and crossed out the rest.

Xu Yi was taken aback and asked, "Why is that? They all have a very high chance of successfully forming their foundations!"

Wei Yuan said, "We don't realize it while we're in the Taichu Palace, but it's actually very difficult to build a Dao Foundation outside. Think about how much the Cui family gave us for the last batch of a dozen or so Dao Foundations. So, a Dao Foundation is no small matter. In the past, we had no choice but to give them a chance if there was any possibility. Besides, once a Dao Foundation is built, it has to be sent to the battlefield, where it's a matter of life and death, which is understandable. But now it's different. We have room to maneuver, so we can't easily grant favors, otherwise we'll only be looked down upon."

These prisoners are newcomers, having yet to achieve any merit. Why should they be compared to those who have already faced life and death within the realm, and given the same opportunities? Therefore, only ten slots are allocated to them this time; the rest are brought aside to observe. They need to understand that as long as they accumulate enough merit, the Dao Foundation is within reach! And only by accumulating merit will they have the chance to establish their Dao Foundation.”

Xu Yi felt a chill run down her spine. For the first time, she felt that Wei Yuan seemed different from before. He had become somewhat unfathomable and was no longer the naive boy who was easy to talk to and would take special care of those around him.

Her heart skipped a beat, and for the first time, she felt a little fear.

Within Wei Yuan's sea of ​​consciousness, a wisp of azure energy gradually grew thicker, transforming into an advanced form.

Wei Yuan was taken aback. He had only said a few words casually, so how could he have gained good fortune? What exactly did Xu Yi like? It was truly unfathomable.

Xu Yi's attitude had become more respectful at this point, and he asked, "What's so special about these ten people? Do you know them?"

Wei Yuan shook his head: "I don't know any of them, they just got lucky. Oh, or rather, the others weren't so lucky."

Xu Yi became even more curious: "You can tell someone's luck is bad just by looking at the roster? Is this some new feng shui secret technique? That's pretty amazing!"

Wei Yuan chuckled and said, "How lucky can someone be to have their name crossed out by me so easily?"

(End of this chapter)