Longzang

Chapter 779 A joy to behold
The few hundred Zhao soldiers covering the rear were indeed all little tyrants. When they saw Wei Yuan's army arrive, they scattered all over the mountains and fields, staging a scene of "the king is coming to arrest me."

Such a clumsy act naturally won Wei Yuan over on the spot.

Wei Yuan glanced around and discovered that there was still a trace of treasure energy remaining on the spot, and this treasure energy was clearly the embryonic form of the Imperial Landscape Treasure!

Such obvious signs of treasure, along with the little Tyrannosaurus Rex running rampant all over the mountain, are tantamount to openly telling Wei Yuan that the treasure is on one of the little Tyrannosaurus Rex, and it's up to Wei Yuan whether he wants it or not.

Wei Yuan glanced at the lively little Tyrannosaurus Rex and immediately dispatched 3,000 troops to capture it, while he himself continued to lead the chariot force in relentless pursuit.

After pursuing them for another hundred miles or so, they found that the Zhao army had taken up a strategic position and set up a defensive line.

Wei Yuan didn't hold back, immediately ordering the trucks providing fire support to move forward, revealing their vehicle-mounted infantry guns, and bombarding the Zhao army's positions. In less than an hour, the Zhao army covering the rear was either killed or surrendered, and Wei Yuan continued the pursuit.

A few hundred miles further on, the Zhao army suddenly split in two. A small group of high-ranking generals, accompanied by their personal guards, fled over mountains and valleys, while the main force of the Zhao army continued their frantic march along the main road. Wei Yuan was almost able to see the Zhao army's morale, but at this moment, he was once again in a dilemma.

After weighing the options, Wei Yuan gritted his teeth and ordered the chariot troops to pursue the main force of the Zhao army, while he led a small cavalry unit into the mountains to pursue the Zhao army general.

The chase continued for a day and a night. Wei Yuan finally caught up with the small group of Zhao soldiers ahead. Now they were outside the Shattered Domain, and Wei Yuan dared not leave the military camp rashly. Otherwise, if Yu Jing were to ambush him, he would be in serious trouble.

Therefore, Wei Yuan followed closely behind the two thousand light cavalry, constantly using fragments of military treatises to increase his speed. Just as he was about to catch up, the Zhao army in front suddenly stopped, and then several Dharma Masters broke away from the army formation and flew south at full speed!
Wei Yuan was stunned. He had always thought that the other side cherished their soldiers like their own children, and would rather risk not being able to escape than desert from the army. He never expected that at the last moment, they would actually abandon their personal guards!
For a general, his personal guards are not just brothers, but even closer than brothers. In a real battle, a general's fighting ability often depends on the strength of his personal guards. That's why Wei Yuan had no suspicions and pursued them relentlessly.

But at the last moment, why did several Dharma Generals suddenly escape?

Wei Yuan wanted to give chase, but a faint aura of Imperial Realm appeared in the air, causing him to stop. Wei Yuan narrowed his eyes, looked up at the sky, and said in a deep voice, "I will remember your kindness today, senior! I will definitely repay you in the future!"

A loud snort came from the sky, clearly displeased, but said nothing more. Wei Yuan could only watch the Dharma Generals depart, and with no way to vent his resentment, he ordered his men to tie up all his personal guards.

When the prisoners were brought before him, Wei Yuan was furious. These men were hardly personal guards; their cultivation was mediocre, not even reaching the third level of Body Tempering. They were merely ordinary soldiers dressed in personal guard armor. It seemed the Zhao army also possessed a treasure similar to Shadow Step, and its power surpassed Shadow Step, which allowed them to move so quickly with a group of ordinary soldiers.

Wei Yuan's face darkened, and he had no choice but to lead his troops back to await the movements of the other detachment.

Soon, news arrived from Cui Yu's side that the Zhao army had suddenly dispersed into a dozen or so smaller units, each several thousand men, and were fleeing in different directions. He dared not divide his forces, but instead pursued and annihilated one of these units. By this time, they were not far from Zhao territory, and Cui Yu could no longer pursue them, so he took the prisoners and returned.

Thus, Wei Yuan's long pursuit over a thousand miles ultimately resulted in the annihilation of less than ten thousand Zhao soldiers, plus several hundred small Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Speaking of the little Tyrannosaurus Rex, Wei Yuan did acquire a shield embryo. This embryo was full of spiritual energy and was indeed a treasure; however, it contained the essence of sharpness. What kind of sharpness does a defensive shield need? Therefore, this treasure was truly useless. Even if it were refined into a spiritual treasure, it would be more for show than practical use, belonging to the bottom tier of spiritual treasures.

If Wei Yuan were merely someone who could barely reach the Imperial Realm, this item wouldn't be unusable. But Wei Yuan already possesses a plethora of immortal plants; why would he even bother with this one?
Throughout the pursuit, Wei Yuan was filled with resentment. Fortunately, the speed and firepower of the mobile armored vehicle unit exceeded the enemy's expectations, and they managed to take down two small rearguard units. Otherwise, Wei Yuan might have suffered internal injuries from anger.

The subsequent large-scale relocation of the two prefectures was incredibly complex and demanding. Wei Yuan was overwhelmed with work and it took him more than two months, until midsummer, to finally relocate all the millions of people to Qingming. For the first time, Qingming's population exceeded 20 million.

With a large number of people, it is necessary to quickly open up the fields. Opening up the fields inevitably involves water. Yu Zhizhuo collaborated with the Master of Farming to dig deep canals in the fields, using bamboo fences as canal walls, so that the water in the fields could seep into the canals. The water was then collected into hollowed-out pits to form artificial lakes, and then the water quality was gradually improved.

At this time, Qingming has opened up millions of acres of land, and is leaping from 15 million to 20 million acres. The single-season grain production exceeds 3 billion catties, which is enough to feed 60 million people throughout the year. Moreover, this is based on the standard of 300 catties, rather than the minimum of 240 catties.

With more people, more land is cultivated, more grain is produced, and more fortune is generated. At the same time, after everyone in Qingming was able to eat their fill, the number of Body Forging cultivators surged. Now, more than a million people in the entire Qingming have begun Body Forging, half a million have reached the first stage of the Muscle Realm, and two hundred thousand have completed the Blood Fusion stage.

That summer, over 40,000 cultivators achieved the Great Completion of Body Forging. Among them, 20,000 were those who had failed to forge their Dao Foundation in previous sessions and were trying again, while nearly 20,000 were newly promoted to Great Completion of Body Forging. Including those from aristocratic families, independent cultivators, and Dao soldiers trained by the Taichu Palace, Wei Yuan had to hold a Dao Foundation Ceremony for a total of 50,000 people in the summer session of the seventh year of Tianqi!
Just the three moments of sentient beings alone would consume 150,000 Daoist Qi. If we add the extra Qi for the VIPs, we would need to add another 10,000.

In that year, Sun Yu developed the Dao Foundation for the Small Heavenly Circuit to Nourish the Primordial Qi and Clear Toxins. This Dao Foundation manifests as a cloud of misty water vapor, which can soothe the mind, accelerate physical growth, and eliminate toxins.

The reason Wei Yuan remembered this Dao Foundation was that it once again lowered the bar for Dao Foundations. The requirement for innate talent and aptitude to cultivate it was only half that of the Great Bright Demon Subduing Sword and seventy percent of the Old Daoist Chu He's Beast Taming Heavenly Heart. Judging from the worst human-rank flying swords in the past of the Primordial Palace, the cultivation requirement for this Dao Foundation had been reduced to thirty percent of the original. In Sun Yu's words, anyone who looks like a human can cultivate it.

Sun Yu's words weren't unfounded. The requirements for this cultivation method specifically stated that young girls were more likely to succeed, and those with delicate features would find the difficulty reduced by another 10%. As for why, Sun Yu couldn't explain it either. However, the cultivation world was full of strange things, and there were far more bizarre requirements than this.

Wei Yuan inquired further about the job prospects of this Dao Foundation, but was persuaded by Sun Yu's few words.

After treatment, wounded soldiers and patients have a long recovery period, and the quality of their recovery during this time directly affects the effectiveness of the treatment. However, the number of beautiful female disciples in the medical clinic is limited, which is far from enough to meet the huge demand for care. They can only treat the wounded and then leave them to fend for themselves.

Cultivators who have mastered the Dao Foundation for Detoxification can significantly accelerate the recovery of injured patients during routine care. Sun Yu estimated that with the care of a cultivator who has mastered this Dao Foundation, the mortality rate for amputations, liver or kidney transplants, or similar procedures, could drop by 70%, and the recovery period could be shortened by two-thirds. Based on the current population size of Qingming, Sun Yu felt that at least two thousand caregivers would be needed, which is only one per ten thousand people, making it extremely rare.

This reason immediately convinced Wei Yuan, and thus this Dao Foundation became the focus of promotion for this Dao Foundation Ceremony. As a result, in addition to pretty girls, many pretty boys also chose to study this Dao Foundation, which was beyond Wei Yuan's expectations.

Some boys and girls who thought themselves handsome also chose to study this foundational path, but their success rate was abysmal. Wei Yuan had no choice but to transfer them all to learn Beast Taming Heavenly Heart, and eight out of ten succeeded.

In the summer of the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, this season's Dao Foundation Ceremony was destined to be recorded in history. Not only did the number of candidates exceed 50,000 for the first time, and the number of those who successfully cultivated their Dao Foundation exceeded 5,000, but it also proved that good looks could indeed increase the chances of successfully cultivating one's Dao Foundation. Of course, those who thought they were good-looking didn't count.

With over four thousand more Dao Foundation cultivators added to Qingming, and including those recruited and those who joined him, the total number of Dao Foundation cultivators has reached nearly fifteen thousand. Although the vast majority of them are template cultivators who cannot go to the battlefield, when it comes to a life-or-death situation, if they unleash a flying sword spear, their combat power is still far superior to that of Body Forging cultivators.

With the increase in human fortune, the expansion speed of Qingming has also increased. Now its radius is over 800 li, which is equivalent to the area of ​​two prefectures.

The Qingming Empire has expanded far too rapidly in the past year. Since Wei Yuan became the Southern Military Commissioner, through both looting and purchasing, it has added a full ten million people in the blink of an eye. Right now, they are busy just ensuring that these ten million newcomers have food and shelter. Next, they will need clothes, books, and finally, immortal cultivation.

Wei Yuan was busy dealing with countless trivial matters. The days passed in the blink of an eye. When Qingming was finally on track and running normally, Wei Yuan realized that he had unknowingly been able to easily handle 512 tasks.

This was a remarkable achievement, and Wei Yuan excitedly went to Zhang Sheng to share the good news. He then discovered that Zhang Sheng was in seclusion, cultivating his spirit and attempting to break through to the late stage of the Foundation Establishment realm. Upon seeing Wei Yuan, Zhang Sheng emerged from seclusion, intending to offer Wei Yuan some guidance in his cultivation.

After chatting for a while, Zhang Sheng realized that what Wei Yuan lacked at this time was accumulation and what he needed was perseverance. The rest was just cultivating his spirituality, and there was really nothing else to guide him on.

Wei Yuan then inquired about Zhang Sheng's cultivation progress and discovered that Zhang Sheng was working hard to imbue the immortal sword with spirituality.

Among the beings in the Immortal Sword, the most common is the Sword Immortal who wields a sword. This is the supreme sword path that the Sword Palace has proven over the past ten thousand years. No other form of Dharma theory can compare to the Sword Immortal who wields a sword in terms of comprehensiveness.

Zhang Sheng was exceptionally talented and naturally followed the righteous path, cultivating himself into a dignified sword immortal. With a flick of his finger, a sword immortal in green robes stepped out of his body and stood there, wielding the Heavenly Rank Azure Rain Sword.

Wei Yuan observed that the sword immortal's movements were fluid and skillful; although it had not yet truly developed sentience, it was already remarkably agile. Once this sword immortal achieved Dharma form, developed true sentience, and underwent a transformation in its Dao power, it would be capable of single-handedly taking on Cui Yu's six heavenly soldiers in terms of combat strength.

Wei Yuan was a little curious. If he remembered correctly, Zhang Sheng had forged a total of thirty-six swords. He wondered if this sword immortal was going to grow thirty-six arms, each holding a sword, or grow several sword pouches or backpacks on his body to store all the immortal swords.

Just as he was wondering, Zhang Sheng said, "There are four of these sword immortals now."

Immediately afterward, a swordswoman dressed in red appeared before Zhang Sheng, wielding a flaming immortal sword. She held an improved version of the immortal sword, Pseudo-Sun, which was originally only of the human rank. However, in her hands, its power increased again, reaching the earth rank. Although it was still far from the original immortal sword, Great Sun, it was enough to cultivate a separate Dharma form.

Zhang Sheng said, "There are currently twenty-four such sword cultivators."

Wei Yuan's mind raced as he quickly calculated and concluded that these twenty-four swords were enough to beat Xiao Yu to a pulp.

Zhang Sheng, of course, wouldn't be so bored as to constantly try to stir up Xiao Yu's Dao heart. But Wei Yuan was incredibly bored and was preparing to write another letter to Xiao Yu.

(End of this chapter)