Longzang

Chapter 388 A Storm is Brewing (Thanks to the Alliance Leader, Chief Genius Gargamel)
The mortals in the vast land of China argued at an extremely fast pace. Hundreds of people spoke at the same time, and Wei Yuan found it hard to bear after listening for a while. It was almost like listening to hundreds of fingernails scratching a porcelain vase at the same time.

However, there were some interesting things to discuss amidst the argument. For example, Wei Yuan now knows that the Ice Glass Divine Tree is actually a tea tree...

Wei Yuan originally did not intend to interfere with the lives of mortals in the Dao Foundation, but the two groups of believers started arguing endlessly, so Wei Yuan had to send a thought to order them to shut up.

With a focused mind, I finally found peace and quiet.

Wei Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. Upon further surveying the vast land, he discovered that the Moon Laurel Immortal Tree and the Ice Glass Divine Tree were far apart, each occupying its own territory. The Ice Glass Divine Tree had accumulated much more fertile soil, and believers were constantly bringing soil to raise it higher and higher, giving it an imposing presence that surpassed that of the Moon Laurel Immortal Tree.

At this moment, the Ice Glass Divine Tree had fully recovered, sprouting several new branches with dozens of leaves hanging on them. Wei Yuan couldn't help but pay more attention to its leaves.

The Ice Crystal Divine Tree immediately swayed, and two leaves fell, flying to Wei Yuan's palm on their own. The Moon Laurel Immortal Tree was not to be outdone; two pale red laurel blossoms flew from afar and also landed in Wei Yuan's hand.

A moment later, Wei Yuan sat opposite Cui Yu in the study. A cup of tea was placed in front of Cui Yu, and the refreshing fragrance of osmanthus filled the room.

Wei Yuan smiled and said, "I just got some good tea. You should try it; it should be beneficial to your Dao foundation."

Cui Yu picked up the teacup, its touch icy cold; his entire palm was instantly covered in frost, causing even someone of his cultivation level to shudder. Strangely, despite the bone-chilling cold, the tea in the cup remained clear, without a single ice crystal.

In the teacup were a blue leaf and a pale pink flower. Cui Yu recognized the pale pink flower, after all, Wei Yuan's laurel tree was no longer a secret. He didn't know what the blue ice leaf was, but it was clear at a glance that its quality was no less than that of the laurel flower.

Cui Yu tilted his head back and downed the tea in his cup in one gulp, then froze on the spot as a line of ice appeared on his throat and traveled down. In the blink of an eye, his entire body was covered in a layer of frost!
Wei Yuan observed Cui Yu's aura but did not interfere.

Cui Yu's aura plummeted at first, then began to rise again after a short while. The impurities in his Dao power were significantly reduced, and a touch of icy coldness was added.

Cui Yu regained his color, and the frost on his body melted away. He let out a long breath and said, "Such domineering immortal power! It almost turned my Dao foundation into an ice sword!"

"Has it become a Celestial Foundation yet?" Wei Yuan asked.

“It’s still a little short, but the improvement is already quite obvious. Whether we get past that last little bit or not doesn’t matter anymore,” Cui Yu said.

"Could I have another drink?"

Cui Yu waved his hands repeatedly: "No, we've reached our limit! Drinking more won't do any good and would just be a waste of the divine resources."

Wei Yuan hadn't expected that the quarrel among mortals within his Dao Foundation would reveal another use for the Ice Glass Divine Wood. Moreover, the Ice Glass Divine Wood and the Laurel Immortal Tree were actually quite similar; both were of the Yin element, and the Laurel's platinum moonlight was also extremely cold. When combined, their medicinal properties mutually enhanced, surprisingly strong enough to purify one's Dao Foundation.

Cui Yu then needed to quickly cultivate to solidify his foundation, so he took his leave.

After seeing Cui Yu off, Wei Yuan sealed the remaining ice leaf and osmanthus flower into a box, then called in a cultivator and instructed him to deliver it to the northern mountain gate and hand it over to Zhang Sheng.

There was still some time before dawn, so Wei Yuan wanted to hear more about what these mortals were saying. The changes brought about by tens of thousands of sentient mortals gathering together were already exceeding Wei Yuan's expectations.

With a thought, Wei Yuan heard countless voices, many of which were addressed directly to him.

"My Lord, the person to my left was just secretly cursing you."

"I saw with my own eyes that the chief stole the offerings that were made for you!"

"Some people question the authenticity of your grotto, saying that the spiritual plants growing in the ground are all fake."

"My Lord, the guy in front of me is cursing you in his heart!"

Wei Yuan became increasingly speechless as he listened, so he used his divine sense to enter the vast land and rivers, looking down from beyond the sky. He saw hundreds of people worshipping and praying in front of their own statues of immortals.

On the altar in front of the statue of the deity were many offerings, including celestial fruits and vegetables, and sacrificial animals such as cattle and sheep. However, all the offerings on the altar had the true meaning of a tripod, clearly made of stones from the vast land of China.

Wei Yuan frowned slightly. He had assumed these people would stay quietly like the Dao Foundation Puppet Warriors from before. After all, as long as he didn't die, the spiritual beings in the vast land were basically immortal. The young girl, Yin Yang, whether she possessed any spirituality or not, basically stood still. However, after other spiritual Dragon Guards and Dao Foundation Warriors appeared around her, there were no living beings within a hundred feet of her, and she became invisible from three feet away.

The three dragon guards and several enlightened Dao foundation cultivators remained standing still.

Wei Yuan had initially thought that these sentient mortals were just clever puppets and ornaments that would only move when he gave them a command, but now it seemed that these mortals clearly had their own ideas and were gradually becoming more and more outrageous.

Wei Yuan then inspected the other areas and discovered that hundreds of people were moving stones to build a new statue.

Wei Yuan felt a deep headache. There were tens of thousands of people in total, and now there were more than ten objects of worship. Was this forcing him to switch to the path of incense and gods?
At this moment, Wei Yuan noticed that the hundreds of people repairing the statue had a division of labor: some were moving stones, some were processing the stone materials, and one person was holding a blueprint and giving instructions.

There's already paper? Wei Yuan scanned it with his divine sense and found that the paper still contained the true meaning of the cauldron, but it was flat and soft, and could be rolled into a ball. On the paper was an unfinished divine image, a giant jade toad.

Wei Yuan silently withdrew from the vast land of rivers and mountains.

At dawn, a letter was placed before Wei Yuan, along with a box containing thirty thousand taels of silver. After reading the letter, Wei Yuan went to the prison and approached Xu Chunyuan.

Xu Chunyuan smiled bitterly: "With Lord Wei coming to visit in person, I'm probably going to die today."

"Elder Xu is still very valuable. Someone offered 30,000 to buy you back."

A moment later, Wei Yuan emerged from the prison, his Dao Foundation now containing twenty strands of celestial fortune. The gifts from heaven and earth were divided equally among the spiritual plants. The newly sprouted Langya Divine Tree and the four Immortal Orchids were fiercely competing for the gifts from heaven and earth.

A month passed in the blink of an eye, and most of the 300,000 prisoners became criminals, with 30,000 signing blood oaths and becoming soldiers. All the refugees arrived in Qingming, and now all refugees must start as soldiers.

At this time, the fourth batch of Dao Foundation students had completed their first attempt at foundation forging. Four out of five hundred members of the Cui family succeeded, while five out of two hundred cultivators from the realm succeeded. Thirty out of eight hundred Dao soldiers successfully forged their Dao foundations, a success rate that exceeded the normal level.

However, in Wei Yuan's eyes, the success rate was still somewhat low. After this round, the remaining people should realize that they didn't have much talent and honestly cultivate according to the Dao Foundation template. Even the worst Dao Foundation cultivator is still a Dao Foundation cultivator, which is better than those who can't forge a Dao Foundation in their entire lives.

The Dao soldiers of Taichu Palace are generally of a higher quality than ordinary cultivators, and having fought life-and-death battles on the battlefield, their foundations are much better than other cultivators. However, Taichu Palace generally believes that these people are incapable of forming a Dao foundation, otherwise they would not have been entrusted to Wei Yuan.

The next month will be spent teaching different foundational templates based on each person's physical condition. After practicing accordingly for a month, you can try again.

Within a month, the newly cultivated land had finally reached one million mu, and all of it had been sown, which put Wei Yuan at ease somewhat. As the land was cultivated, the stagnant water in the Azure Netherworld Stone gradually thinned, while the azure water gradually increased, and the power of the Wood element gradually returned.

At this time, the standing army expanded to 40,000, while the combined military and civilian forces numbered 150,000, all equipped with basic firearms.

What Wei Yuan didn't know was that while he was focused on developing his business, the phrase "Xu family Dharma Images are all trash" had already spread far faster and wider than Wei Yuan had imagined.

In no time, the immortal sects, powerful clans, and royal families all knew of this person who, despite being a Dao Foundation cultivator, openly disregarded the authority of the entire clan.

Although Wei Yuan wasn't targeting them, while there were differences in strength among the seven clans and thirteen prominent families, their overall power was roughly on the same level. The Immortal Sect and the Cave Heaven didn't feel they were much stronger than the Xu family either; they were essentially still at the same level.

Especially after Xu Wangu, the patriarch of the Xu family, defeated Pei Tinghai and regained his youth, the evaluation of the Xu family by various forces rose by half a level. Although it is said that Xu Wangu has encountered some trouble and is currently hiding in his cave, unable to enter the mortal world, as long as there is no crisis in his lifespan, any trouble he may encounter in the long years to come can likely be resolved.

Anyone in the know could immediately tell that Wei Yuan was using his feud with the Xu family to cultivate his invincible power, although this method of cultivating power was a bit extreme, more like he was contemplating suicide.

However, each school and sect has no shortage of geniuses who can cultivate invincibility. It's just that most of them cultivate invincibility within their own level. How can anyone challenge everyone by directly crossing a whole level like Wei Yuan?

As a result, countless ambitious young geniuses set their sights on Wei Yuan, eager to test their skills against him. This was something Wei Yuan had never anticipated before he made his statement to the Xu family.

At this time, Wei Yuan was only focused on development and was unaware that the outside world was already filled with the impending storm.

(End of this chapter)