Longzang

Chapter 334 Infant Corpse
Tianyu was almost worshipped to death, which was purely accidental.

He did indeed save hundreds of thousands of people, so it was only right that he received their bow. With this cause and effect, there was a basis for accepting the gratitude and fortune. However, what was a great tonic for Wei Yuan became a deadly poison for Tian Yu. Tian Yu's foundation was not yet a vast land, how could she withstand thousands of cyan fortunes?
Before he could even endure three bows, he nearly died.

After figuring out the whole story, Tianyu was stunned for a long time, speechless. Those people were genuinely grateful to him, to the point of having developed a kind of faith and fortune; their feelings couldn't be more sincere.

So, in front of Wei Yuan, Tianyu was caught in a dilemma: whether to scold or not. Li Wu wasn't very clever and couldn't think of a solution, so he could only leave sullenly.

The entry of hundreds of thousands of newcomers into the realm instantly boosted Wei Yuan's cultivation speed to another level, increasing his progress by a small increment every year. Now, Wei Yuan only needs seven years to achieve perfect cultivation.

This only represents the contributions of 120,000 people outside the proper order. The higher-ranking sacrifices are still under the influence of the medicine; they will only develop feelings of faith, admiration, worship, and blind obedience once the effects wear off. Wei Yuan then merged them, along with the 10,000 high-ranking sacrifices he had gathered from the Witch City, into the new city of the Xu family's youth.

Inferior offerings are usually used quickly, so the medicine given by the witch clan is extremely potent and poisonous; prolonged use will cause permanent damage. After examining them, Sun Yu found that half of these people had varying degrees of damage, ranging from mild sluggishness to severe intellectual disabilities.

The population of the realm had increased too rapidly during this period, and Sun Yu alone was simply not enough to handle it all. Wei Yuan also wanted to assign Sun Yu a few disciples, but although there were many cultivators in the realm, very few of them were truly capable. Helpless, Wei Yuan had no choice but to select a few dozen clever and quick-witted individuals to assist Sun Yu.

Wei Yuan then prepared fifteen catties of mortal soil and gave five catties each to the old Taoist, Sun Yu, and Yu Zhizhuo, who were all delighted.

Wei Yuan had no way to express his bitterness. He had given too little before, and now he couldn't give more. He could only take it slowly.

With the passage to and from Taichu Palace opened, Sun Yu received news from the palace. It was true that one of his junior sisters had survived, but shortly after returning to the palace, she ransacked Ningxi Zhenren's medicine storehouse and disappeared. At this time, Taichu Palace was short-handed and unable to pursue her for the time being.

After learning about the murderer, Sun Yu remained silent for a long time, and then acted as usual.

Wei Yuan was overwhelmed by the numerous miscellaneous matters within the realm, but fortunately, with more manpower available, many of these tasks could be delegated, allowing Wei Yuan to focus on organizing the army.

Wei Yuanding's initial plan was to reorganize the elite forces of the two towns, with 500 Dao Foundation cultivators as the core of each town, supplemented by 5,000 warriors who had reached the Bone Forging Realm in Body Refinement. One town would consist of infantry, and the other of cuirassiers.

The elite troops of the two towns have reached the level of the Nine Armies of the Great Tang Dynasty, while the proportion of Foundation Establishment cultivators far exceeds that of the Nine Armies. In terms of equipment, each Foundation Establishment cultivator is equipped with a musket with fifty rounds of ammunition. Ordinary soldiers are equipped with ten rounds of ammunition.

The purpose of over-deploying Foundation Establishment cultivators is not only for fighting with Dao techniques, but also for their shooting speed and aiming ability, which far exceed those of Body Forging cultivators.

With just a little training, a Dao Foundation cultivator can achieve a rate of fire of 60 rounds per minute with a manual front-loading gun, hitting the target every time within 30 zhang (approximately 15 meters). Even a moving target at the speed of a galloping horse will almost always be hit.

In contrast, the Forged Warrior's rate of fire is only ten rounds per minute, and its accuracy against moving targets within thirty feet is only half that of the Forged Warrior; it needs to be within fifteen feet to achieve perfect accuracy.

Yu Zhizhuo is truly the only one who can achieve a manual front-loading rate of fire of 600.

With nearly 50,000 young men from the Xu family and 120,000 sacrificial offerings of higher rank, the defenses within the realm are now stronger than ever before. It would be impossible to conquer without an army of hundreds of thousands. The elite troops of these two towns are actually there to fight outside the realm.

When Wei Yuan's troops captured Wucheng a few days ago, they chased the Wu tribe to the edge of the boundary, only to watch helplessly as they drove away. Until his troops have reached the Great Perfection of Bone Forging, Wei Yuan strictly forbids them from leaving the boundary.

After all, without the support of countless beings and the power of the realm, these troops can only retain a maximum of 30% of their combat strength in the Witch Domain.

Wei Yuan spent an entire night finalizing the equipment plan for the elite troops of the two towns, repeatedly wavering between heavy armor and firepower. In the end, after thinking about the fate of Yue Jinshan's ten thousand iron cavalry and Xu Wenwu's description of the otherworld, Wei Yuan finally decided to abandon full-body heavy armor and replace it with breastplates that combined defense and mobility.

Then came the task of determining the candidates for officers at all levels. This was a meticulous task, so Wei Yuan dared not be negligent. He carefully considered each name on the thick roster, and it took him another day to draft a plan. After discussing it with Cui Yu and others, the list was finalized.

With this task completed, the military system within the boundary took initial shape. The elite troops were standing armies, primarily engaged in training, but capable of fighting outside the boundary when necessary.

Next came the troops who were both soldiers and farmers, mainly consisting of the young men of the Xu family and warriors at the first and second levels of Body Forging. They usually balanced cultivation and work, and would become a defensive force when foreign enemies invaded.

Finally, there are the civilians, whose main focus is on work. However, in life-or-death situations within the realm, they must also bless all living beings before engaging in battle, so Wei Yuan routinely arranges some training sessions every few days.

After establishing the basic framework of the military system, Wei Yuan embarked on a massive, complex, grand, and extremely important task: to screen out those with cultivation potential within the realm and impart the Six Books of Body Forging to them.

The people in this realm are different from the Xu family youths. The youths are exceptionally talented, almost all capable of cultivating the Six Books of Body Forging. However, among the mortals in this realm, probably less than one in a hundred possesses the aptitude to cultivate them, hence the need for careful screening. If one's aptitude is insufficient, it's better to cultivate more basic techniques.

Due to a shortage of manpower, this matter will take a very long time, and Wei Yuan estimates that it may not be completed in three months.

Time passed by unnoticed in the midst of his busy schedule. Wei Yuan was reviewing the list of new officers when suddenly a thought struck him: most of the luck he had attached to the three hundred pregnant girls had vanished, leaving only thirty or so!
Wei Yuan immediately rushed out from the main peak, flying towards the new city and heading straight for the camp where the girls lived. It was already late at night, and the camp was quiet, with only lights illuminating a few important entrances and exits, but apart from the guards, there was no one moving around. The girls were all very quiet; when there were no orders, they rested quietly, waiting for the birth of their children.

Wei Yuan had already called Sun Yu before setting off, so Sun Yu flew over as soon as he landed. He scanned the area with his divine sense and his expression turned grave. "So many stillborn babies!" he exclaimed.

In the several large rooms, most of the girls' abdomens had flattened considerably, and a light gray liquid flowed from beneath them. The liquid didn't look like blood, but it had a bloody smell. Wei Yuan scanned it with his divine sense and knew it was blood. However, for some unknown reason, the blood was devoid of any life force, as if it had been drained dry by something.

After a careful examination, Sun Yu placed his hand on a young girl's abdomen and, with a surge of his Dao power, a tiny infant corpse slid out from under her. However, its flesh was shriveled, like a dried-up corpse, and its body was covered in pale gray, dead blood.

After giving birth to the infant corpse, the girl's life force suddenly dropped and almost died, but just as she was about to die, a surge of life force suddenly emerged from her body and saved her.

Sun Yu placed the infant corpse in a silver basin and then induced the birth of several girls, all of whom gave birth to infants that resembled mummies.

Without exception, their life force plummeted immediately after giving birth to their infant corpses, even though Sun Yu had given them life-sustaining pills beforehand. Fortunately, at the last moment, their life force inexplicably restarted, thus saving their lives.

This is the effect of Wei Yuan's blessing of fortune; at the critical moment of life and death, fortune transformed into vitality, thus saving the girls' lives.

Sun Yu's methods failed, and his expression was naturally extremely grim. If it weren't for Wei Yuan's foresight in using his luck to save the girls' lives, these girls would already be dead. The other girls would likely die after giving birth to infant corpses as well.

Or to be more precise, they are already dead, and they only live for the sake of the dead babies in their wombs.

This time, Sun Yu didn't act rashly, saying, "I need help."

Wei Yuan immediately summoned several young girls, each responsible for caring for one stillborn fetus. Sun Yu briefly explained how to handle the aftermath, and then continued to move around, urging each infant to be born.

Sun Yu's medical skills were divine; he could deliver an infant smoothly with a single touch. But even so, it took a full hour to remove all the stillborn babies.

Only thirty girls still had live fetuses in their wombs. Their bellies were swollen high, and the fetuses had grown quite a bit larger. It seemed that they would be due to give birth in just a few days.

If Wei Yuan hadn't witnessed the whole process firsthand, he would never have believed that they were actually only four months pregnant.

This time, just to be on the safe side, Wei Yuan simply added three strands of azure energy to each person.

After finally managing to deal with everything, all the infant corpses were placed in a silver basin in the courtyard. Hundreds of mummified infant corpses together created an indescribably eerie and terrifying scene.

Sun Yu then stepped forward and stood beside Wei Yuan, saying, "These babies are very strange. They not only give away all their vital energy and life force, but also drain their mothers dry. Their mothers, on the other hand, try everything to meet the needs of these babies, even at the cost of their own lives. I just asked a few people, and they all said that they suddenly had a feeling from the bottom of their hearts that they were willing to give everything for these children, even if it meant dying."

"Can't we find the source of the anomaly?"

Sun Yu shook his head: "I can't find it. If the teacher were still here..." He shook his head vigorously, trying to forget the thought.

Wei Yuan said, "There will likely be another one before the children are born. I will try my best to use my luck to protect them. I don't know if I can save their lives this time."

Sun Yu said, "Judging from the size and growth rate of the fetus, it should be within the next few days. I'll just stay here for the next few days and keep a close eye on it."

"Alright, I'll invite the teacher over to oversee things. Oh, and I'll also call over the real snake."

After explaining everything, Wei Yuan left the new city and returned to the main peak, his mind heavy with worry. What had happened to the girl was too bizarre, and crucially, there wasn't a single clue whatsoever.

Back at his residence, Wei Yuan was somewhat restless, so he decided to put aside his work and begin meditating and cultivating. It had been a long time since he had practiced the Taiyin Moon Essence Myriad Manifestations Manual.

In the blink of an eye, the night deepened, and Wei Yuan had already forgotten himself and his surroundings, his mind was clear and serene, and the full moon shone brightly over the vast land, casting strands of moonlight.

Suddenly, Wei Yuan's clear and pure state of mind broke, and he saw a swordsman in plain clothes walking towards him in the moonlight. He immediately put his sword on his back, turned around, and swung his heavy sword down on his head!
This was the sword that nearly killed Wei Yuan back then!
Wei Yuan was startled and suddenly woke up from his meditation. Then all the strange phenomena before his eyes disappeared, but he heard a clear cry of a baby!

Where did the crying come from?
Wei Yuan turned his head and stared in the direction of the new city.

(End of this chapter)