Longzang

Chapter 407 Development Direction
The return journey was on the Bao family's flying boat, a type specifically designed for the family's core members. It was even faster than the flying boat Wei Yuan had rented on his way there, and the journey was smooth and unimpeded.

With nothing to do on the journey, Wei Yuan cultivated in the flying boat, forgetting himself and the world around him, and half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, the vast land suddenly trembled, and Wei Yuan awoke with a start, regaining his senses of Qingming.

With Wei Yuan's return and the Azure Netherworld reawakening, spiritual energy surged forth across the vast land, causing spiritual plants to revive and their growth rate to increase dramatically. At this moment, mortals rejoiced, and several thousand more wandering souls flew in, passing through the Gate of All Realms and completing their reincarnation.

Most of these wandering souls came from refugees, a few were bandits, and a dozen or so died of old age in the realm. Before leaving, Wei Yuan set up a magic array to provide temporary shelter for these wandering souls. Those with sufficient spirituality but unwilling to enter the cycle of reincarnation could remain in the array and be reborn at the Gate of All Realms when Wei Yuan returned.

The Bao family's flying boat was extremely fast. As it got closer and closer to Qingming, the tremors of the vast land became more and more obvious, and streams of spiritual springs gushed out, converging into several small lakes.

The moment the flying boat landed on the Azure Sky, the spiritual sea in the vast land began to boil, the Azure Sky Boundary Stone trembled, and a terrifying behemoth over a thousand feet tall faintly appeared in the sky, coldly looking down at all living beings below.

Countless mortal cultivators in the realm looked up in awe, some even prostrating themselves in worship. Some knowledgeable cultivators guessed that this was a Dharma Image, but they couldn't understand why such a Dharma Image could be so large.
This enormous creature was clearly no ordinary being. It had a slender body and appeared and disappeared in the air, with strange landscapes of mountains and rivers constantly appearing around it as it darted and danced back and forth in the air.

Wei Yuan felt the spiritual energy within the vast landscape slowly rising and converging on the terrifying celestial beast in the sky. This time, the beast was much larger than the one that had attempted to form a Dharma body before, and its aura was far more profound and terrifying. If Wei Yuan took just one more step forward, he would be able to form a Dharma body.

However, Wei Yuan always had a feeling that the spirituality of the vast land and rivers had not yet reached its most perfect moment. With a thought, he calmed the sea of ​​spirituality, and the originally rising spirituality gradually subsided and returned to its original place.

The terrifying celestial beast in the sky was extremely angry; this was the second time Wei Yuan had refused it. It sent out a vague message: There will never be a third time!

Wei Yuan remained unmoved and continued to let the spiritual energy return. The giant beast in the air let out a roar and had no choice but to dissipate unwillingly.

Wei Yuan's greatest gain from this trip to the Bao family was actually these ordinary people. They were no longer just decorations in the vast land, but organized together, capable of truly solving problems. Moreover, with each study, their spirituality and knowledge were rapidly increasing.

With the guidance and leadership of the young woman Yin Yang, the mortals were no longer a disorganized bunch, but instead began to have clear divisions of labor with the young woman Yin Yang at the core, greatly increasing their efficiency.

Wei Yuan wanted to wait and see how these mortals would eventually evolve.

As the colossal beast's form dissipated and its spiritual essence scattered, a torrential downpour began across the vast land. Mortals and spiritual plants alike rejoiced, their spiritual essence gradually increasing.

Wei Yuan disembarked from the flying boat and first sensed the Azure Netherworld. His journey had taken a month and a half, and the harvest season was just a few days away; some fields with more abundant spiritual energy had already been harvested ahead of schedule.

The water in the pool within the Azure Netherworld Stone became clearer, and the decaying landmass began to shrink gradually. The Pure Spirit Trees had taken root and began to grow normally, gradually altering the surrounding environment.

Wei Yuan returned to his residence and began to review the backlog of letters and official documents.

The Western Jin court's reward arrived belatedly, allowing Wei Yuan to establish two more border garrisons. This reward was practically worthless, but Wei Yuan didn't expect the court to actually give anything, since the national treasury was empty and even the King of Jin himself had to be frugal.

Hanyang Pass is now back in the hands of the Xu family, and the garrison has been rebuilt. However, the Xu family's approach this time is somewhat strange. Instead of transferring elite troops from elsewhere, they only brought in a few hundred officers and then recruited 50,000 new soldiers locally. It seems they intend to turn this area into a training base for new recruits.

The rest are just routine matters, which need no further explanation.

After processing the official documents, Wei Yuan reviewed the official gazette again. One of the gazettes specifically mentioned the State of Ji, stating that last autumn, Ji suffered from continuous rains, which destroyed much of the autumn grain, resulting in a poor harvest. Since this spring, there has been unrest within the territory, and many areas have seen the emergence of displaced people.

After putting down the official gazette, Wei Yuan spread out some writing paper, intending to write a letter home. However, after a moment's thought, he put down his pen and instead summoned a cultivator, instructing him to go to Yongzhou and secretly visit his hometown. The cultivator was told not to interfere with whatever the cultivator found, but simply to report back.

There is a distinction between immortals and mortals, and over hundreds of thousands of years, various modes of interaction have developed between cultivators and mortal families. The major clans and powerful families operate on the model of cultivators protecting their bloodline and descendants.

The Taichu Palace, the Four Saints Academy, and the Sword Palace, among other immortal sects, operate on a different model. Before reaching a certain level of cultivation, disciples are required to sever ties with their mortal families. Each sect possesses secret methods to sever the karmic ties between its disciples and their mortal families, and disciples are not permitted to interfere in the lives of their mortal relatives before achieving the status of a True Monarch.

Only after cultivating to the level of a True Monarch will there be no more restrictions. But by then, the cultivator's family members he knew have long since died, and all his so-called descendants are strangers.

As a disciple of the Taichu Palace, Wei Yuan initially exchanged some pills and basic body-forging techniques for his family after gaining merit. This was the limit; any more would affect the effectiveness of severing karmic ties.

This kind of constraint only applies to immortal sects and grotto-heavens; ordinary sects and common rogue cultivators don't really care about it.

The Immortal Sect's approach to this matter stems from 80,000 years ago, when a Celestial Lord named Tai Li emerged from nowhere, possessing unparalleled ruthlessness. Over the past century, he has instilled fear in all other races.

Afterwards, the Wu tribe secretly colluded with a traitor within the human race and found several unknown descendants of the Tai Li Immortal Lord. Using this as a pretext, they suddenly unleashed the Great Curse of Karma when the Tai Li Immortal Lord was fighting a formidable enemy. As a result, the Tai Li Immortal Lord's karma was triggered, causing him to perish on the spot.

Since then, the human race has begun to study methods to sever the karmic ties between immortals and mortals in order to prevent anyone from using mortal bloodlines to curse and kill powerful cultivators. To this day, this method has become quite sophisticated.

Therefore, Wei Yuan dared not disturb his family too much. Only when the younger generation of his family produces several great cultivators in the future, and the family may become a cultivation family, will it be time to rebuild the karmic connection.

After reading the official gazette, Wei Yuan began to ponder the future development direction of the realm. For Qingming, the most important thing was naturally the army. With the adoption of new gunpowder, the firearms were finally usable, but the costs were considerable, with ammunition being the biggest expense.

Adding to the soldiers' full armor, it's estimated that a typical Forged Warrior's equipment costs at least fifty taels of silver, and the ammunition consumed in a single battle often exceeds ten taels of silver. Therefore, for a typical army of ten thousand, the equipment cost alone would be five hundred thousand taels, and with other miscellaneous expenses added up, the total exceeds one million taels.

The cost of elite troops would be double that of elite infantry, and elite cavalry would cost four times as much as elite infantry.

The amount of immortal silver required to assemble an elite army is simply unimaginable. Wei Yuan has pondered this problem for a long time, but no matter what method he uses, he can't avoid the issue of immortal silver. Wei Yuan's ideal combat mode—high rate of fire, dense firepower, and wide-area bombardment—is even more focused on burning immortal silver.

After much thought, Wei Yuan realized that he needed to find a way to make money.

As Wei Yuan was pondering, the flying sable landed on his desk and told him that it really liked this place and planned to explore it. Wei Yuan instructed it not to leave the realm so he could know immediately if anything happened. He also added that if there was nothing else to do, it could help him look for mineral veins.

Seeing Wei Yuan pleading so earnestly, Fei Diao felt bad and agreed. Then she leaped out of the window and disappeared.

At this moment, a letter arrived from the Taichu Palace, written by Ancestor Xuan Yue. Last time, when the Tianqing Palace sent over three hundred Dao soldiers, Wei Yuan returned more than sixty Dao foundations, greatly reducing the pressure on the defense zone under the Tianqing Palace's jurisdiction, which pleased Xuan Yue immensely. Upon hearing this, True Monarch Huang Yun decisively sent three thousand Dao soldiers directly to Qingming, promising to give Tianqing Palace thirty percent of the spoils upon success.

Xuan Yue readily agreed and then assigned the task to Wei Yuan.

Wei Yuan calculated the days and realized that it would be about ten more days before the three thousand soldiers arrived. He felt it was a pity that they had just missed the harvest season and would not be able to experience the wonder of cultivating their minds and spirits in the fields and countryside.

Wei Yuan flipped through the map again, preparing to see which other places around him could be used for a battle. However, since the capture of Hanyang Pass, the officials, both high and low, around him had been behaving themselves lately, with hardly anyone daring to cause trouble, leaving Wei Yuan with a large army but no opportunity to use it.

If all else fails, we'll have to send these soldiers deep into the mine to hone their mental state. If each of them hone their mental state by grinding several thousand kilograms of ore every day, Wei Yuan's mental state will likely improve by the end of the month.

Just as they were pondering, a magical storm suddenly shot into the sky from afar!

This is a fierce battle between Dharma Aspect cultivators, and the battle is so intense that even Wei Yuan is somewhat alarmed! There are only a few Dharma Aspect cultivators in the realm, could it be that an external enemy has infiltrated?

Wei Yuan's figure flashed continuously, and in the blink of an eye, he arrived at the scene of the fierce battle. He saw a storm of magical power floating more than a thousand feet above the ground, with figures moving back and forth like lightning within the storm, fighting fiercely. Even with Wei Yuan's eyesight, he could not make out who was fighting.

At this moment, Wei Yuan noticed that the old Taoist priest Chu He was also standing beside him. The old Taoist priest's face was very pale, his Taoist robe was tattered, and the magic sword he was holding was only half broken.

Wei Yuan rushed over and asked, "Who's hitting this?"

The Master Chuhe said, "A weasel suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I went up to talk to it, but it started fighting with the cat. Later, a snake joined in."

Wei Yuan was startled, but upon closer inspection, he realized that three spirit beasts were indeed engaged in a fierce battle within the storm. Wei Yuan quickly sent a thought to them, and the two sides fought for a while longer before stopping.

Fei Diao flashed and landed on Wei Yuan's shoulder, while the cat jumped into Wei Yuan's arms.

Both of them were very surprised by each other's location, and then they both got angry and started fighting again. Wei Yuan was pushed backward by the sudden magical storm.

Wei Yuan sent another stern thought, and the cat and the weasel reluctantly separated. The snake coiled in the air, warily watching the flying weasel; its scales were upturned, revealing several deep wounds. The cat kept spitting out fur, but even more fur flew through the air, and its body was also stained with blood.

In contrast, the flying sable only suffered minor injuries.

As Wei Yuan listened to Master Chuhe's account, he also heard the three spirit beasts recount their stories, and finally managed to roughly understand what had happened.

The incident began when the True Man of the Farming encountered a flying sable on the road, and thus developed a fondness for its talent, wanting to subdue it.

"Yes, I want to recognize another elder brother..." Wei Yuan silently revealed the truth in his heart.

Fei Diao felt that since he already had Wei Yuan, a two-legged beast, to serve him, having more servants would only cause more trouble, so he ignored the old Taoist's desperate pleas.

But the cat couldn't stand it anymore, not understanding why the old Taoist was so attentive to other spirit beasts besides itself. The two spirit beasts couldn't understand each other's language, but they could roughly understand each other's meaning, and they naturally disliked each other, so they started fighting instantly.

Wei Yuan felt it was necessary to accelerate the development of the spirit beast language. He planned to communicate more with the cat, the flying sable, and the snake in the coming period to collect more data samples from the mortals across the vast land, so that the progress could be faster.

At this moment, a slight commotion suddenly arose in the vast landscape. Wei Yuan swept his divine sense across the area and saw a group of mortals gathered in a courtyard, busily hanging a plaque in the main hall. On the plaque were several powerful and imposing characters:

The Creation of Heaven and Earth Research Institute!
(End of this chapter)