Longzang

Chapter 745, Section 742: Preparing for the Battle of the World's Fragments
Upon returning to the northern mountain gate, Wei Yuan went to visit Immortal Lord Yan Shi. The meeting place was still that unchanging courtyard. After exchanging greetings, Wei Yuan recounted his meeting with Khan Silver Moon and the content of their conversation in detail.

Yan Shi held his teacup, motionless, and after a moment, as if waking from a dream, asked, "What were you saying just now?"

Wei Yuan was somewhat surprised, so he repeated it again.

Yan Shi finally listened and said, "I just killed a small world of the Left Wise King, and he attacked me fiercely, so I suffered a small loss. I couldn't spare any attention to come here for a while."

Wei Yuan was taken aback and asked, "You suffered a small loss?"

Yan Shi sighed, “I was struck by a spell in one of my caves, which destroyed hundreds of miles of land and caused widespread suffering! My opponent was truly unethical, actually taking advantage of my distraction to launch a sneak attack. But I have memorized this spell, and I have also marked the one who cast it. I will make him suffer bad luck for a hundred years before I can vent my hatred!”
This battle also shows that these people in my cave have been complacent for too long. They can even relax at times like this, no wonder they suffered a loss. They must be properly taught a lesson..."

Immortal Lord Yanshi's reflection lasted a full quarter of an hour, summarizing more than a dozen lessons learned, identifying eight areas for improvement, and further demonstrating his ability to draw inferences from one instance to another, while also recognizing several potential hidden dangers...

Wei Yuan stood quietly until Yan Shi finished speaking, then cautiously asked, "Is that all?"

"that's it."

"So, you destroyed an entire Imperial View Small World on the other side, and they retaliated with a spell that destroyed hundreds of miles of land?"

"Yes."

Wei Yuan didn't know what to say. He never mentioned that Immortal Lord Yan Shi had taken advantage of him, but when he suffered a small loss, he would launch into a long, drawn-out discussion, offering various summaries and reflections. This kind of personality…

Wei Yuan thought it was a good idea and was ready to study hard.

Yan Shi finally finished speaking, and then asked, "What did you just say?"

Wei Yuan had no choice but to recount his meeting with the Silver Moon Khan once more. Then, Immortal Lord Yan Shi remained noncommittal and asked, "What do you plan to do?"

Wei Yuan said, "I think we should first feign compliance and find out the true relationship between the Left Wise King and him, and why they became enemies. Then we should find out how many other sworn enemies he has in Northern Liao. If necessary, we might as well give him a push and make sure to eliminate Silver Moon first. If the Ancestral Master thinks it is acceptable, we can perhaps make peace with the Left Wise King and let him preserve his strength to go back and deal with Silver Moon."

Yan Shi said, "Yin Yue has not yet ascended to immortality, but from what you're saying, you already regard him as your number one enemy. Why is that?"

Wei Yuan hesitated for a moment, then said, "This disciple is just making things up. Qing Tong said that the Silver Moon Khan made a vow to make the Liao people on earth live as well as the immortal realm. This disciple felt that this person was my greatest enemy in life, and if there was an opportunity, it would be best to kill him in advance."

If the Left Wise King truly has a mortal feud with him, then he shouldn't be weakened too much; he should be allowed to return and fight against Silver Moon. Whatever anger you have, vent it on the Junior Grand Preceptor.”

Yan Shi glared at Wei Yuan: "If I only attack the Junior Grand Preceptor, won't people say I only pick on the weak?"

Wei Yuan shamelessly said, "Soft persimmons are delicious!"

Yan Shi finally nodded and said, "It seems you've finally come to your senses. This is a natural wariness towards an opponent who is also accumulating human fortune. Although you can't see it, you should have already sensed the immense Liao people's fortune emanating from Yin Yue."

In front of the immortal, Wei Yuan dared not boast and honestly said, "This disciple did not sense anything, but I felt that Yin Yue had extraordinary insight and was exceptionally accurate in judging people. So this disciple was a little flustered."

Yan Shi looked at Wei Yuan and said calmly, "He really has a good eye for people! Among all the heroes in the world, only you and him are worthy of the title. We immortals are all mediocre and despicable."

"You knew all along?" Wei Yuan was taken aback.

“You were carrying my celestial treasure, and he also insulted me. Now that the treasure is back with you, I naturally knew.” Yan Shi glared at Wei Yuan again before continuing:
"Silver Moon is already outside the Immortal Gate, and must have already seen the immense fortune you possess, which is why she wants to form an alliance with you. Well, forming an alliance is fine, not forming an alliance is also fine, each has its advantages, it all depends on what you do. At this point, political maneuvering is only an auxiliary means, everything still depends on you."

Wei Yuanxin calmed down a little and asked again, "Does the Ancestor know Qing Tong's background? Why does she want to assist Prince Jin in his cultivation?"

Yan Shi frowned slightly, a rare occurrence, and pondered for a moment before saying, "Her origins are quite strange; even I'm a little confused. One possibility is that she comes from an ancient sect, Immortal Dream Cloud Heaven. This sect appeared suddenly and is shrouded in mystery; its members act strangely, making it difficult to understand their intentions. Another possibility is that she's a secret cultivator from the Fallen Buddha Land. Hmm, this sect..."

Later, Yan Shi frowned and remained silent. After thinking for a moment, he said, "It's alright. You possess great fortune in the human realm, and these hidden sects can't do anything to you. At most, they can only try to guide you to do something. Qing Tong doesn't seem to have any ill intentions towards you at the moment, so there's no need to worry."

Go back and gather your luck; something important needs you to do later.

Wei Yuan's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly asked, "What is the matter?" "Just now, following your advice, I carefully examined the young Grand Preceptor's assets and set my sights on a deep blue world. However, the young Grand Preceptor doesn't have many items in stock, and he's very protective of each one. At this moment, I need to mislead him so that I can take advantage of the chaos to make my move."

What you need to do is disguise one of my hidden realms as a place of ordinary human activity, and then, when I'm besieged by the enemy, I'll suddenly reveal the real hidden realm and launch a full-scale sneak attack. I'm sure I'll achieve something!"

Wei Yuan was taken aback. Was he being asked to use himself as bait to catch fish? The grotto-heavens of Immortal Lord Yan Shi were all golden with a hint of red. Whenever one appeared, a golden grotto-heaven would bring a group of smaller worlds to besiege it.

The mortal world is at best a small white world, barely a light green after devouring the Star Pivot Stone. What makes it so special that it needs the Golden Cave Heaven to besiege it?

Wei Yuan felt that even if he managed to catch the fish, if Immortal Lord Yan Shi was even a little slow, he would lose his bait.

Yan Shi knew he was worried, so he comforted him, "There's no need to worry, it's not certain that something bad will happen."

Upon hearing this, Wei Yuan became even more worried.

Yan Shi said, "You haven't accumulated enough yet, so it's not time for you to take the stage. Go back and accumulate some luck first, and then digest that fragment of the world in your mental world. That should be enough."

"But I see that your entrance to the fragment of the world is very well constructed, yet your method of attacking it is still inadequate. I will pass on to you a Heavenly Secret Transformation Technique specifically for attacking the world of mental illusions. Once you have mastered it, you can go and digest that fragment of the world yourself."

Then, True Lord Yan Shi chanted incantations, and countless Daoist talismans flooded into Wei Yuan's sea of ​​consciousness. This transmission of the Dharma lasted for a full seven days.

The Heavenly Secret Transformation Technique can bestow fortune upon Dao soldiers, puppets, and celestial beings, greatly increasing the strength of those who receive this fortune. Wei Yuan possesses a great deal of humanistic azure energy, making it perfect for offensive purposes.

Normally, Wei Yuan can enhance his own luck, and the effect lasts for a long time. However, the Heavenly Mystery Transformation of Luck Technique can stimulate luck, greatly increasing its consumption, but its effectiveness is also correspondingly increased. With the blessing of the Heavenly Mystery Transformation of Luck Technique, his strength can be directly multiplied, far beyond what he used to be.

The battle with Silver Blade had already depleted Wei Yuan's luck, and now he felt his azure energy was even more insufficient. Some things he had already planned to do needed to be put on the agenda as soon as possible.

After leaving Immortal Lord Yanshi, Wei Yuan returned to the town. After habitually inspecting the defenses, he went back to his residence to carefully check and assess the fortune.

Now, the Purple Fortune is gone, and the Azure Fortune is down to just over 300,000. This meager amount is barely enough for three major battles. As for the extraterrestrial fortune, Wei Yuan doesn't know how much he owes after the last Yin-Yang chaos, nor when he'll be able to repay it.

The only thing that can be planned right now is the flow of auspicious energy. Wei Yuan examined the source of the auspicious energy closely and discovered that the three towns in the north had already contributed 120,000 units of auspicious energy. The reserve Dao soldiers guarding the three towns totaled 300,000, so it was quite remarkable that they could contribute 120,000 units of auspicious energy to Wei Yuan.

At most, about 60% of the trainees who haven't yet reached the Great Perfection of Body Forging can contribute their Qi Luck. The Left and Right Towns have only recently been taken over by Wei Yuan, so their Qi Luck is limited. The Seventh Town, on the other hand, has received all that it deserves, leaving no extra potential for Qi Luck.

The Qingming Kingdom now has seven million inhabitants. With its rapid population growth, it has inevitably seen the emergence of power struggles, cunning and extortion, lax governance, and rampant corruption. Its fortune is far less than it was at the beginning of its existence.

Although ordinary people have systems such as military merit, cultivation channels, and the legacy of great merit, they cannot change the fact that most people have neither talent nor insight.

These people have no hope of advancement, but they love to compete with each other. However, they don't compete in bravery and diligence, but in the petty and shrewd ways of the common people. For example, when working in the same field, they are determined not to do a single bit more than others. And if they succeed in slacking off, they are as happy as if they have eaten honey.

The Azure Netherworld is about to enter its seventh year, yet this year the yield per unit area of ​​many fields has decreased instead of increased, which defies common sense. The truth is, as the Azure Netherworld's nurturing effect deepens, the earth's energy increases every year, and the spiritual energy becomes increasingly abundant.

When Qingming was first established, many of the best fertile fields have now been transformed into spiritual fields; many who originally lacked the talent for Dao Foundation now have a chance to break through to the template Dao Foundation.

If everything remains the same on a single acre of land, the yield can increase by 30%, so how could it possibly decrease instead?

Wei Yuan hadn't noticed such a subtle difference before, and the decrease was only a dozen or so kilograms. In other places, a slight difference in yield per mu would be understandable. But in Qingming, this single change meant a reduction of dozens of kilograms per mu, which is a 30% decrease in yield!

Wei Yuan's first reaction was that someone was stealing grain, and his second thought was that something was wrong underground.

So he sent a message to Master Chuhe through his avatar. Master Chuhe was in charge of the spirit fields, so he would be able to detect any problems with the earth's energy.

A moment later, the old farmer replied: No one is stealing grain, and the soil is functioning normally. The reduced yield is simply because too many people are slacking off.

(End of this chapter)