Longzang

Chapter 333 What Great Curse?
Sun Yu couldn't explain why this was happening, and Wei Yuan immediately searched the entire new city but found nothing; they couldn't find the source of the evil yin energy eruption. Zhang Sheng and Master Chuhe, who arrived later, also found nothing.

Wei Yuan had no choice but to put the matter aside for the time being. He ordered his men to take good care of the girls who had miscarried due to stillbirth, and then moved the surviving girls to another, more heavily guarded camp. He assigned people to watch over them day and night and set up a protective array to safeguard their luck. Still not entirely at ease, Wei Yuan added a layer of luck to each of the more than three hundred surviving girls to ensure their safety.

By the time all this was done, it was already dawn.

In the early morning light, two flying boats belonging to the Cui family entered the territory and landed on the designated square. Both flying boats were fully loaded with supplies, mainly various grades of textiles that required sufficient time to be mass-produced, as well as 10,000 catties of aged medicinal herbs, to be used as remuneration for the trainees.

In this round, Wei Yuan produced a total of thirty-three Foundation Establishment cultivators, which is less than one-tenth of the total. Although the results were not as amazing as the first round, only fifteen people died, a significant decrease in the mortality rate, which is less than half a percent.

The people from the Cui family who came to receive them couldn't say anything, after all, the results of the first phase were there for all to see. If half the people died, the overall success rate was just over 30%, but considering the number of survivors, it was over 50%. Of the more than twenty people who paid to avoid death, only one succeeded.

Therefore, the more people die, the more Dao foundations are formed. However, the mortality rate in the first phase was too frightening, while the second phase was just right.

Accompanying the two flying boats were over four hundred people, including more than fifty elderly men, all between sixty and eighty years old. These were the Cui family elders whom Cui Luoyu had mentioned before, who wanted to come to Qingming to seek longevity and were willing to pay a high price for it.

The rest were the Cui family members who came for regular training, totaling four hundred people. This batch was the third.

By the third phase, Wei Yuan had already developed a plan for training Dao Foundation cultivators, and everything could be done according to past experience.

The original plan was for the second batch of Cui family disciples to return on these two flying boats. However, during the unloading, a beautiful young woman from the second batch came to Wei Yuan and said that she and some others had sensed the opportunity to build a Dao Foundation, but it was too short a time. She felt that if they accumulated more experience and chose the right Dao Foundation, they still had a chance to build one, so she wanted to stay and study for another batch.

"Choose the correct foundation?" Wei Yuan didn't quite understand for a moment.

The girl gritted her teeth, lowered her voice, and whispered in Wei Yuan's ear, "This time, we'll all choose the Bright Light Sword!"

Wei Yuan suddenly realized, and looking at the dozens of people standing behind the girl, he finally remembered. These guys were all arrogant and proud, insisting on forging their own unique Dao foundation and refusing to choose a template.

After failing once, it seems these people have finally realized their lack of talent and honestly chose the easiest sword to forge: the Bright Light Sword.

"Alright, you guys stay here and train with the third batch. Try again in a month, but that will require additional payment."

"No problem!" the bright young woman readily agreed.

Just as he had sent her away, another young woman from the Cui family, who looked somewhat naive, had a pretty face, and a hot figure, stopped Wei Yuan.

"Lord of the Realm, we...we also want to stay and participate in the third phase. But we don't have any extra money, we only have...only myself, alas!"

The girl lowered her head shyly, stomped her foot, and her chest heaved violently.

"You just said 'you guys'?" Wei Yuan keenly grasped the key point.

The girl pointed to the distance. There stood about a dozen people, watching expectantly. Several of them were gesturing and cheering her on.

The girl blushed and said, "If you like, then she and they are fine too, they are just as fine."

Wei Yuan really didn't understand.

Seeing that Wei Yuan did not agree, the girl hurriedly said, "My lord, as long as you agree, we can do whatever you want, anytime and anywhere, during our studies!"

This time, Wei Yuan finally understood. He couldn't help but cover his face with his hands, deeply feeling that the girls were really outrageous. If it weren't for the nightmarish afternoon he had just experienced at Chunhua Palace, Wei Yuan felt he would have blushed.

However, Wei Yuan couldn't restrain himself. He glanced at the group of people in the distance, taking in their faces, and then resolved to handle matters officially.

"Are you the only ones who don't have the money but still want to try another round?"

The girl said, "Actually, there are still some, but some are unwilling to make sacrifices, and some are not worthy of making sacrifices."

Wei Yuan then had the girl call over all the people who had no money but still wanted to try. He then noticed that there were indeed a few people who were not qualified to make the effort.

Once everyone had arrived, Wei Yuan said, "If you're willing, you can cultivate for another period for free, but the condition is that you must work within the realm for five years after forging your Dao Foundation. If your Dao Foundation is suitable and you're willing to participate in combat, then you only need to serve for two years. So, who's willing to stay?"

The group looked at each other, most of them agreeing, but someone asked, "What if it doesn't work?"

Wei Yuan said, "If you haven't formed a Dao foundation, you can work within the realm for a year."

The conditions were very lenient, and everyone agreed. In fact, as a member of the Cui family, being unable to even afford one term's tuition showed how marginalized one's status was within the family, and therefore, one had no right to bargain.

Seeing that everyone agreed, Wei Yuan ordered Cui Yu to bring a stack of blood contracts, and had everyone sign them by dripping their blood. This way, if they dared to go back on their word in the future, the blood contracts would backfire, causing them a fate worse than death.

The innocent-looking girl came to Wei Yuan's side again and whispered, "Can I not sign the contract and just stay with you?"

Wei Yuan, expressionless, handed her a blood pact document.

At the summit, Zhang Sheng was quite satisfied and turned his gaze elsewhere.

After a chaotic scene, accommodations were finally settled for the Cui family members, and their basic necessities were distributed. Around dinner time, the elders of the third special class, along with dozens of wealthy patrons willing to pay extra, were taken to a lecture hall where Wei Yuan explained the specially designed Dao Foundation template to them.

Everyone was deeply impressed by Qingming's efficiency, which inexplicably gave them more confidence.

In the center of the lecture hall, Wei Yuan smiled as he faced the hall full of wealthy patrons, holding a celestial sword with a faint flame burning in his hand. The moment the sword was drawn, the entire hall was illuminated!

Everyone's eyes lit up immediately, but they also felt that such a magnificent Dao Foundation was obviously extremely powerful and not something they could possess.

At this moment, Wei Yuan pointed and made the sword fly around the lecture hall once so that everyone could see it clearly. Then he said, "This is the special Dao Foundation template we have prepared for everyone: the Great Bright Demon Subduing Sword!"

……

For the next few days, the entire Cui family, young and old, devoted themselves to cultivation.

Ever since Wei Yuan had that brilliant idea that day, he enhanced the lighting effect of the Bright Light Sword and renamed it the Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword, the acceptance of this foundation has increased significantly, and almost everyone is willing to choose this template.

This relieved Wei Yuan. In the first round, there were no templates, so it was fine. In the second round, there were templates, but many people were unwilling to settle for them, resulting in a dismal success rate that almost ruined Wei Yuan's reputation. Now, with the Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword, the success rate in the third round should improve significantly.

Once the results of this round are out, Wei Yuan feels that he might be able to negotiate terms with the Cui family.

Amidst the hustle and bustle, a long convoy left the border, carrying 100,000 catties of grain to be used to set up soup kitchens in Bianning County and recruit refugees.

On the fifth day, the monks stationed on the western border reported that a large group of humans was approaching.

When Wei Yuan flew to the border, he saw Tianyu, who was two days late. At the end of the road in the distance, he could already see billowing dust, and countless people were slowly walking towards them.

“This time I brought three thousand top-grade offerings, ten thousand medium-grade offerings, thirty thousand low-grade offerings, and one hundred and twenty thousand ungrade offerings, in exchange for all the commoners of the witch tribe in your possession.”

After finishing his sentence in one breath, Tianyu said with a slight apology, "There's nothing I can do. I don't know what's going on lately, but there's a severe shortage of high-quality sacrificial offerings. It's said that many of these offerings have been taken by the Heavenly Witches. I don't know what kind of sacrifice they'll have to perform."

“No problem, we can exchange.” In fact, even if Tianyu only brought ten or twenty thousand people, Wei Yuan felt that it was worth exchanging.

Soon the large group of people arrived nearby. The clothes worn by the sacrificial offerings of different ranks were all different colors and were very easy to distinguish.

The highest-grade sacrifices were all actually teenagers around ten years old, while the middle-grade sacrifices were adults no more than forty years old. The lowest-grade sacrifices generally had poorer physical condition, but still showed some signs of being forged.

Finally, there were the 120,000 people outside the designated ranks. These were all newly captured and brought to the Witch Domain, and hadn't had time to fatten them up, so there were all sorts of people, even children who weren't even waist-high. They were all still wearing their own clothes, unlike the rank-bearing sacrificial offerings who wore uniform attire.

The highest-grade sacrifices were all born from people raised in the witch's domain. The middle-grade sacrifices were partly the offspring of their keepers and partly the strongest humans captured from the human race. Both ranks of people were expressionless, quietly awaiting orders. After becoming sacrifices, the witch clan would periodically administer drugs to them. With prolonged use, they would gradually lose all emotion, becoming mindless zombies who only knew how to obey orders.

Knowing that Tianyu had arrived, Wei Yuan had already ordered his men to take the Wu tribe prisoners and set off, first heading north out of the boundary, and then west. Tianyu immediately ordered five thousand cavalry to receive his people, while over ten thousand others were arranged to enter the boundary.

Wei Yuan stood on a high point by the roadside, watching the crowd file in. He suddenly realized that apart from some children, the people outside the 120,000 were mostly adult men and women, with no elderly people at all.

Wei Yuan looked at Tian Yu, who said, "I know that the elderly are actually of no use to you, but you won't say it, so I took the liberty of not bringing anyone over fifty years old."

Wei Yuan paused for a moment, then said, "No need next time. I've already passed the initial stage and can afford to support additional elderly relatives."

Tianyu shrugged: "I don't want there to be a next time."

Wei Yuan smiled faintly and said, "If you don't come, there won't be a next time."

Tianyu shook her head: "Even if we didn't come, you would have come anyway."

Wei Yuan was taken aback; the truth was undeniable, and he was speechless.

At that moment, countless people who entered the realm felt the long-lost tranquility of the human world, especially its vibrant life, and were moved to tears. They had thought they would never return to the human world in this lifetime, but who knew that they would see the light of day again.

Someone pulled aside a cultivator from the realm to ask questions, and then learned that the one standing on the high place was the realm lord. Suddenly, countless people knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly to Wei Yuan, and in the blink of an eye, the ground was covered with a dark mass of kneeling people.

Just as Wei Yuan was about to say no, the azure energy in the vast landscape suddenly increased, forcing him to abandon his plan to leave. Instead, he adopted a solemn posture to absorb the energy. However, this affected manner was somewhat shameful.

After bowing to Wei Yuan, everyone noticed Tian Yu's tall and imposing figure, clearly indicating he was no ordinary person. Some knew that Tian Yu had escorted them back to their realm, while others assumed he was one of the realm's leaders. So, regardless of their knowledge, after bowing to Wei Yuan, they began to bow to Tian Yu.

Tianyu's expression changed drastically, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he spat out a mouthful of blood!

As thousands of people kowtowed one after another, with each bow, the vitality of Tianyu decreased, and in the blink of an eye, it was completely depleted!

Fortunately, Wei Yuan reacted extremely quickly, using the Wood-based magic to keep Tianyu alive, then grabbed him and ran, instantly escaping into the Witch Domain dozens of miles away. Had he been even slightly slower, Tianyu would likely have perished on the spot!
Having narrowly escaped death, Tianyu was extremely weak and filled with lingering fear. He asked, "What kind of powerful incantation was that just now?!"

(End of this chapter)