Longzang

Chapter 63 A Heart Full of Love
The flying sword moved like lightning, arriving at Zhang Sheng's cave in the blink of an eye. This was Wei Yuan's first time visiting Zhang Sheng's residence. The courtyard was quite messy, with all sorts of strange tools and materials piled up here and there, completely unlike the celestial aura Wei Yuan had imagined, and certainly not the treasure-filled Bao Yun Courtyard.

Zhang Sheng invited Wei Yuan to sit in the study, then brought out a box. Inside was a thick stack of jade paper. Looking at the stack of jade paper, Zhang Sheng was momentarily lost in thought.

"Ten years have passed..." Zhang Sheng sighed, closed the box, picked up the blank jade paper on the table, and placed it in front of Wei Yuan.

"Sign your name, then drip three drops of blood," Zhang Sheng said expressionlessly.

"What is this?" Wei Yuan felt a vague unease.

"This is the resource you've used for cultivation over the past ten years. Now that you're on the verge of establishing your Dao foundation, it's natural that you should repay it. Your share as a disciple of the Azure Sky Palace has already been deducted from it."

Wei Yuan also felt this was reasonable. According to the usual practice of the Taichu Palace, the treatment of disciples at the same cultivation level was roughly the same, with slight differences between different halls, but overall it was largely the same. The treatment was mainly in the form of monthly silver, which was certainly not good, but only enough to maintain basic cultivation needs. On top of that, if a disciple wanted to speed up their progress, they would need subsidies from their own family, such as Bao Yun and Xiao Yu, who came from powerful clans.

Another approach is to focus on supporting talented disciples. Each hall will contribute a portion of their own funds to provide them with resources. For example, Zhang Sheng's monthly allowance is almost as high as that of the Dharma Immortal.

Paying back debts is a matter of course. Although the jade paper was blank, out of trust in Zhang Sheng, Wei Yuan still signed his name and dripped his blood onto it. The blood was immediately absorbed by the jade paper, which then recorded Wei Yuan's primordial spirit aura; the contract was complete.

Zhang Sheng pointed at the jade paper, and words gradually appeared on the paper. Then Wei Yuan saw a long string of numbers, and his vision went black.

The debt to the immortals is 23,770,000 silver coins...

The remaining amounts are irrelevant; the first two taels are what matter. Wei Yuan never imagined he would owe 23 million taels of immortal silver! As an entry-level disciple, even if Wei Yuan didn't eat or drink, it would take him 200,000 years to repay this debt, not even counting interest. Even after achieving the Foundation Establishment stage, it wouldn't be any different. An ordinary Foundation Establishment disciple receives 100 taels of silver per month, and Wei Yuan would still need to work for 20,000 years without eating or drinking—more than ten Dharma Aspect True Persons live to that extent.

Fortunately, Zhang Sheng said that there was no interest on this debt, otherwise Wei Yuan didn't know if he would have lost his Dao heart on the spot.

Wei Yuan finally managed to calm himself down. It wasn't his fault; he only owed Bao Yun two hundred thousand taels of silver, yet he had already acted against his conscience on several occasions. Suddenly burdened with such a huge debt, even a True Lord would find it difficult to remain calm.

After calming himself down, Wei Yuan began to carefully reflect on his ten years of cultivation. In fact, the amount of pills he consumed alone was already enormous. Wei Yuan was suffering terribly from consuming pills every day, so he had no time to think about how much money he had spent in total.

Besides the elixirs, refining one's foundation also seems to cost a considerable amount of money. Wei Yuan only recognized a few of the medicinal herbs Ji Liuli used, but even those few herbs were worth tens of millions, almost reaching the level of rare and precious herbs. The problem is that rare and precious herbs are only used occasionally, while these herbs are used every seven days.

After overcoming the initial panic, Wei Yuan gradually calmed down, his mind becoming even more composed than when he only owed ten thousand taels. Back then, he was so worried that he couldn't sleep all night, felt guilty even if he ate too much rice, and almost went into qi deviation several times during his cultivation.

Wei Yuan suddenly remembered a saying he had heard when he was a child: "Many lice don't itch, many debts don't worry."

The sage has not deceived me.

Zhang Sheng took the jade paper and carefully placed it in a hidden compartment on the wall, then added several sword energy seals.

After doing all this, Zhang Sheng returned to Wei Yuan and asked, "Do you think my immortal swords are worth tens of millions of immortal silver?"

Wei Yuan wanted to nod, but felt that the flattery was too exaggerated. As the saying goes, too much of a good thing can be bad, so he honestly said, "No."

Zhang Sheng glared at him and corrected him, "Not now!"

"Not now!" Wei Yuan repeated, emphasizing "now." Zhang Sheng was finally satisfied and asked, "Then do you think Grandmaster's Heavenly Fire Boiling Sea Dharma Form is worth tens of millions of immortal silver?"

Wei Yuan initially wanted to shake his head, but after thinking about it, he changed his mind and nodded instead.

"Of course not, not at all!" Zhang Sheng corrected again with an expression of utter despair, "That old... your grandmaster's Dharma form is not even worth as much as these few immortal swords of mine, and he has already spent all that money."

Wei Yuan, who was naturally clever, immediately understood: "So it was because of the patriarch's influence..."

Putting aside the amount owed, being able to borrow twenty million taels of immortal silver is a skill in itself. Wei Yuan, with his top ranking in the unified examination, could only borrow a hundred thousand taels at most. Not to mention him, even Zhang Sheng's immortal swords wouldn't be worth ten million taels. Only Xuan Yue Zhenjun's influence is worth that much.

As for Zhang Sheng and the Burning Sea Immortal, they're not shameless enough.

"So, if you dare to create a celestial foundation for me, I'll clean up the mess myself without even needing Ancestor Xuan Yue to lift a finger!" Zhang Sheng said sternly.

Just now they said that only Earth-rank cultivators could kill traitors... Wei Yuan thought to himself, but naturally dared not show it on his face.

"Go back and pack your things. The sect will send a flying boat to Ganzhou in three days. I will go with you then."

Three days later, Wei Yuan boarded the flying boat and finally left the empty valley of Xuanqing where he had lived for ten years.

This flying boat was completely different from the one Wei Yuan had used when he first came to the Taichu Palace. The entire flying boat was 150 zhang long and 30 zhang high, with nine stories of pavilions on the deck and seven more cabins below. The flying boat was entirely a deep blue-green, crafted from ten-thousand-year-old spirit wood. It could carry ten thousand people, but this time, heading to Ganzhou, there were only a few hundred cultivators on board; the cabins were mostly filled with cargo. It was said that this boat, when fully loaded, could carry a million shi (a unit of dry measure).

The giant ship's flight speed was much slower; the journey to Ganzhou would take a full seven days. Wei Yuan could then enjoy the scenery along the way. Ten years ago, the ship was too fast, and Wei Yuan was too small; all he could see outside the window was a jumble of bizarre, shimmering lines.

Whenever he had time, Wei Yuan would run to the deck. He loved standing at the bow, watching the rolling sea of ​​clouds rush towards him and then sweep past beneath the ship. At that moment, looking up at the vast sky and down at all living beings, there was no greater feeling than this.

As you gaze upon the vastness of heaven and earth day by day, your heart seems to gradually broaden, becoming able to encompass the world.

That day, Wei Yuan stood at the bow of the ship again. Zhang Sheng appeared beside him at some point, also gazing at the rolling sea of ​​clouds, and said, "We'll be at the battlefield tomorrow. Aren't you afraid?"

"Will you die?"

"This is a battlefield of slaughter against alien races, anything can happen, even those charlatans in the Heavenly Mystery Hall can't predict it. In other words, anyone can die, you and me. Even the three ancestral masters, who were so powerful back then, perished one after another after a great battle."

Wei Yuan, being a young man, was fearless and even somewhat eager to try. He suddenly said, "Can I ask you a question?"

Zhang Sheng chuckled: "With a major battle looming ahead, you're still thinking about all that nonsense. Fine, ask away."

"I see that many people in the palace have Daoist partners. Master, what kind of Daoist partner do you wish to find?"

“You child…” Zhang Sheng shook his head, unusually not losing his temper, but pointed to the vast sea of ​​clouds in front of him and said, “There is great love in heaven and earth, and there is great love in the human world. I have love in my heart, and it is love for heaven and earth, love for the human world, not the love between men and women.”

(End of this chapter)