Longzang

Chapter 439 Blessings Arrive
The heavenly tribulation rolled down, almost flattening the buildings in the secluded cultivation area. After the tribulation finally passed, Wei Yuan immediately rushed over and dug three charred bodies, which smelled of flesh, out of the ruins.

Sun Yu and Yu Zhizhuo were both on the verge of death. Originally, most of the lightning tribulation was diverted by the lightning rod, but the heavenly fire and golden blades that followed destroyed the lightning protection equipment, and then the two of them suffered the full amount of golden lightning tribulation and lightning fire tribulation.

The third one to be charred was Xu Wenwu. He was sound asleep when the heavenly tribulation suddenly struck, and before he could escape, he was hit by several bolts of lightning. However, among the three, his aura was the strongest, and he only suffered minor injuries.

Wei Yuan hurriedly summoned a medical cultivator to treat the three. After the tribulation lightning subsided, the three's auras rebounded from rock bottom, their charred flesh peeled off, and new skin began to grow. They recovered within half a day.

Yu Zhizhuo's Dharma form is a small golden bird with large, intelligent eyes. Although it doesn't seem to have much combat power, its agile flight and curious gaze reveal that its Dharma form's rank is definitely not low.

When the bird looked at Wei Yuan, Wei Yuan instantly felt as if he was being seen through. Then the bird let out a miserable cry, tears streamed from its eyes, and it disappeared.

This Dharma form can see through illusions, pass through earth and stone, and also see through the true nature of things. Just now, it tried to see through Wei Yuan's true nature, but almost went blind as a result, and dared not show its face again.

This Dharma Form's functions are more auxiliary, allowing Yu Zhizhuo to see more material properties and travel underground, making it a powerful tool for finding mineral veins. It can also see through an opponent's weaknesses and strengths, and when combined with powerful magic weapons, it can be surprisingly effective in combat.

Sun Yu's appearance was much more striking; it was a giant venomous scorpion, fused together with a pill furnace. Pale black smoke constantly billowed from the furnace, its potent poison evident without even testing it.

Wei Yuan pondered upon seeing it, realizing that this Dharma form seemed somewhat incompatible with Sun Yu's profession of saving lives. Sun Yu's expression also darkened, feeling that his years of benevolence had been misunderstood by heaven and earth.

The third was Xu Wenwu. It seemed like something was about to sprout from his head, but nothing did. After all, Xu Wenwu hadn't even formed his Dao Foundation yet, and was still quite far from achieving the Dharma Form.

After the charred skin and flesh were removed, Xu Wenwu appeared even more fair and delicate, his whole body round and shiny, like a small pearl Buddha.

Wei Yuan carefully reviewed the entire process and finally understood why the Heavenly Tribulation of the Dharma Aspect hadn't killed Xu Wenwu. Somehow, this guy had used up all the luck Wei Yuan had bestowed upon his secluded cultivation place to prevent any unforeseen events.

It was precisely because of this protection of fortune that Xu Wenwu not only survived, but also suffered the least severe injuries among the three. Furthermore, because he had undergone the tribulation to advance to the Dharma Aspect stage as a Body Forging cultivator, Xu Wenwu's physical body was tempered, and the extent of his improvement was astonishing.

With the addition of two more Dharma Aspects to Qingming's power, his strength has greatly increased, much to Wei Yuan's delight. The two will need to remain in seclusion for several days to consolidate their foundations before returning to the Taichu Palace to learn the Dharma Aspect stage techniques.

Wei Yuan ordered the reconstruction of the secluded training ground, and then pondered: the Heavenly Tribulation in the Azure Netherworld often undergoes mutations, greatly increasing the difficulty. What exactly is the problem?
After much thought, Wei Yuan concluded that the problem likely lay with the individual who had advanced in the cultivation level, and there was no other explanation.

Just then, Wei Yuan's heart suddenly stirred, and a figure appeared in the vast landscape. It was Cui Yu. His appearance in the vast landscape meant that he was already asleep in reality.

With a thought, Wei Yuan appeared before him and said, "Aren't you tired from coming here so often?"

Cui Yu shook his head: "No, I have already clearly sensed that the opportunity for promotion is right here."

"Then... take care and get some rest." Wei Yuan felt that his words sounded a bit strange.

For those who have the opportunity to travel across vast landscapes, sleeping and resting is the beginning of another phase of work.

Cui Yu nodded and entered the Research Institute for War Equipment for Equality of All Beings, beginning his contribution to the cause of equality for all beings.

However, Cui Yu is different from others who enter the vast land and rivers; he serves as a node, similar to a celestial plant.

The essence of immortal plants far surpasses that of Dao foundations. As nodes, they can handle thousands of tasks in an instant, while Cui Yu can barely handle four or five tasks at the same time, and at most be responsible for ten mortals, ensuring that their thinking abilities are not idle.

Despite the hardship and the fundamental difference from his usual way of thinking, Cui Yu persevered, going from only being able to stay awake for fifteen minutes to now being able to stay awake for a full hour. He also went from frequently making mistakes while handling two tasks simultaneously to now being able to handle four or five tasks reliably.

Cui Yu entered the Wanli River and Mountain by chance. He was initially unaware of this until three or four times when he realized something was wrong. This alerted Wei Yuan, who then realized that he was actually in Wei Yuan's Dharma World.

However, the experience of working continuously for the past few days, mainly being treated like an ordinary mortal and having his mental abilities exploited by the immortal plants, suddenly sparked Cui Yu's inspiration and unusual talent. He vaguely sensed that good fortune was calling him!

So Cui Yu worked even harder, sleeping at a fixed time every day for two hours at a time, no matter how Wei Yuan tried to persuade him.

Later, Wei Yuan also noticed that Cui Yu's foundation of cultivation was gradually changing and his spirituality was significantly enhanced, so he stopped interfering.

Cui Yu's entry into the Myriad Rivers and Mountains was an accident. Apart from him, Wei Yuan initially wouldn't have brought any other cultivators from the Primordial Beginning Palace in. Those who could enter were the Dao Foundation stage cultivators, as well as the sacrificial offerings and the Xu family youths.

The sacrificial offerings and the young man from the Xu family have clean origins and will not leave Qingming. After entering Wei Yuan's mental world, they can fully participate in various activities. Therefore, Wei Yuan's return to Qingming is equivalent to gaining the thinking abilities of hundreds of thousands of mortals, and the progress of projects in various research institutes has skyrocketed.

However, Yu Zhizhuo and Sun Yu's attainment of Dharma form immediately provoked the other cultivators of Taichu Palace.

There are now fifty or sixty people in the various halls of the Primordial Palace in the Azure Netherworld, each with their own responsibilities. Many of them have reached the late-stage perfection of the Dao Foundation, but their spirituality is still a little lacking, so they dare not advance to the Dharma Aspect. One of the aristocratic scions who was on good terms with Cui Yu accidentally learned that Cui Yu's Dao Foundation spirituality was growing, and he was immediately filled with envy. He pestered Cui Yu for a long time, and Cui Yu had no choice but to reveal his secret.

So this scion of a noble family immediately came to Wei Yuan, expressing his willingness to also go to the world of the mind to train, and swore a solemn oath that he would never reveal Wei Yuan's secret.

This scion of a prominent family was among the first group to come with Cui Yu. He, along with Wang Yu and Xu Yi, were among the original sixteen纨绔 (playboys). Their achievements and friendships were both very profound.

This person has mediocre talent but is quite lucky. Over the years in Qingming, he has gone through countless life-and-death battles and has unknowingly achieved the perfection of his Dao Foundation, leaving everyone else far behind in terms of cultivation progress.

Wei Yuan carefully examined his sea of ​​consciousness and found that although his cultivation level was already perfect, the spirituality of his foundation was far from sufficient, making it quite rigid. Under such circumstances, advancing to the Dharma Aspect stage would only lead to certain death. So, with a "nothing to lose" attitude, Wei Yuan dragged him into the Myriad Miles of Rivers and Mountains.

Naturally, the area that outsiders can see after entering the vast land is quite limited. They cannot see Jade Mountain and the Gate of All Realms, nor can they see Yin and Yang or the Sword of Inheritance.

Wei Yuan knew that as long as he brought people into the world of his mind, his secret of living a simple life would eventually be revealed. However, as long as no one saw the gates to Yin and Yang or the gates to the other worlds, it wouldn't be a big deal.

On the contrary, I was born with a mind world that was almost completely full of spirituality. If I spread this talent, I should be able to gain some good fortune.

Since he had let a scion of a noble family in, Wei Yuan simply summoned all the cultivators who had been in Qingming for a long time before the Dharma Aspect stage and opened up the option of entering the mortal world for trials.

As a result, the vast landscape became much more lively, with dozens of humanoid nodes appearing. Having just entered the vast landscape and witnessed this magnificent world of mental images, people's enthusiasm soared, and everyone tried their best to sleep, working hard while sleeping.

From the moment they entered the vast landscape, they finally felt the joy of not wasting a single second of life, and good fortune was about to descend upon them.

Just as Wei Yuan was concentrating all his efforts on the rapid construction of Bao Yun's Ding'an City, news finally arrived that the Wu Clan army was gathering.

The scouts sent back news that the initial assembled army of the Witch Clan had exceeded 500,000, with the number of subsequent troops and the number of high-level cultivators unknown.

Although Wei Yuan had been preparing for the Wu Clan's advance, the Wu Clan came prepared this time and would definitely not be easy to deal with.

Last time, the Wu Clan sent two Yu Jing, but they returned empty-handed. This time, they've come back with a vengeance, and without a doubt, they'll have more than two Yu Jing. It's just a matter of whether it's three, four, or even more.

Upon learning of the news from the Witch Clan, Wei Yuan immediately sent a letter to the Taichu Palace, requesting Ancestor Xuan Yue to come and oversee the situation. As for the other True Lords, Wei Yuan felt he had neither the right nor the favor to address them, and besides, the northern mountain gates were also under pressure, so True Lords could not be moved lightly.

However, by eloping with Bao Yun, Wei Yuan was unable to invite Bao Manshan to the ceremony. Zhu Yuanjin was elusive, and Wei Yuan had no idea where she was.

Given that their own True Monarch-level combat power might be at a disadvantage, Wei Yuan decided to completely retreat into a defensive posture, sealing off the mines that were already close to the edge of the boundary, evacuating all personnel from outside the boundary, and constructing a large-scale defensive line at the edge, forming a defensive system with Bao Yun's Ding'an City as the front-line defensive stronghold, and deploying several large-scale fortified defense zones on the flanks and rear.

The so-called fortifications, also known as bastions, are a defensive method proposed by ordinary people, representing an improvement and refinement of previous underground defensive battles. They involve constructing fortifications and trenches on the surface while simultaneously digging underground, preserving the original underground combat model.

If the Wu tribe ignores the fortress and bypasses it to attack other Qingming troops, then the troops guarding the fortress will continue to inflict casualties on the Wu tribe.

If the Wu tribe attacks the fortified stronghold, they will suffer heavy casualties. If the defenders are overwhelmed, they will retreat underground. If they cannot hold the underground stronghold, they will escape to other strongholds through pre-prepared passages.

In addition, Wei Yuan also sought help from Li Zhi. Li Zhi immediately mobilized 40,000 elite troops from Zhenshan and brought four Dharma Masters with him.

The two were overjoyed to see each other again and embraced. Li Zhi then said solemnly, "The Witch Clan's visit this time is ill-intentioned. How many True Lords are you currently commanding?"

Wei Yuan said, "It should be two people."

Li Zhi frowned and said, "Mostly not enough."

Wei Yuan knew it wasn't enough, but that was all the resources he had. Li Zhi observed his expression, sighed, took out a jade bottle, crushed it, and a small silver bee flew out, flashed a few times, and disappeared from its spot.

Li Zhi said, "I have invited an elder from my family to come, but he won't arrive for two days. We'll have to hold on by ourselves for the next two days. The silver bee we just saw was a token from a senior from the academy. We can ask him to help us once. That way, we'll have four Imperial Guards on each side. This place isn't suitable for Imperial Guards to fight for long, so we should be able to hold them off."

Wei Yuan was deeply moved; the value of a token that could persuade Yu Jing to act once was self-evident. Li Zhi, without a second thought, took it out and used it without mentioning any reward.

Wei Yuan positioned the Zhenshan Army on the far left flank, guarding the due west. This direction mainly consisted of the Huangzu tribe, but scouts reported that there was no sign of a large army gathering in the Huangzu tribe, and the scouts had not detected any military activity even after penetrating four hundred li.

When the majestic military aura, as imposing as a mountain range, appeared in the northwest, Qingming was already prepared and ready for battle.

(End of this chapter)