Longzang

Chapter 832 A Divine Opportunity
Qingming has been running academies for several years, and all qualified commoners are required to receive three months of free early childhood education—a right and an obligation. Therefore, the people of Qingming have long held the belief that education is essential.

Wei Yuan's original plan was to have qualified students serve as teachers in the introductory classes, gradually expanding the scale of education like a snowball. In this way, Qingming would be able to train enough qualified teachers on its own in just a few years.

However, in the past two years, the population of Qingming has expanded too rapidly, increasing by a factor of zero, and the construction of the academy has suddenly fallen behind.

Wei Yuan's large-scale construction of academies and promotion of universal intellectual enlightenment, transitioning from basic to elementary education, has already laid a foundation. Many people now understand the importance of reading. Even those who didn't before can appreciate the saying, "In books, there are houses of gold; in books, there are beauties like jade."

After months of hard work, Wei Yuan reaped more than two million Qing Qi, with almost everyone who enrolled contributing.

After more than a decade of hard work, Human World has accumulated enough data. Although the path of destiny is ethereal and elusive, Human World has also lifted a corner of its veil.

When the refugees first arrived in Qingming, they were mostly on the verge of starvation and physically exhausted. Only a few strong and grateful individuals would generate the aura of azure, roughly one in three or four.

Then, as they ate and clothed themselves in the Azure Netherworld and their bodies gradually grew stronger, many people who originally had no fortune to contribute slowly began to generate fortune. Those who were already strong would generate one or more additional strands of azure energy after they began to forge their bodies.

After the body is forged, extra luck will be generated, and this can also be applied to studying.

Many of those mortals who have completed their enlightenment can contribute another wisp of azure energy. The conclusion is now clear: the stronger a mortal is, the more azure energy they can generate.

Once they have established their Dao foundation and entered the Immortal Realm, they are essentially life in another form, and the fortune they generate gradually changes, from cyan to deep cyan.

When people cultivate to the level of Yujing, the essence of their immortal path is elevated once again, and the resulting fortune also changes, turning from blue to purple.

Therefore, Wei Yuan was not lying. His large-scale promotion of academy construction to enlighten the people was the best way to gain massive popularity for the youth movement in a short period of time.

Seeing the vast expanse of golden, shimmering new fortune amidst the everyday life, Wei Yuan knew something had gone wrong, just like how the Yin Soul Cauldron had suddenly transformed into the Yellow Spring Cauldron.

The golden, glazed aura was vast and boundless, and if broken down, there were at least 100,000 strands of it. Such a fortune was unprecedented and had never been recorded in any ancient texts.

Having received such fortune, the karmic consequences were beyond measure. Even Immortal Lord Yan Shi was stunned, let alone Wei Yuan himself.

After a long silence, Immortal Lord Yan Shi sighed and said, "Now, let's do this matter well."

Wei Yuan had composed himself and said, "Disciple understands. Whether there are any unforeseen circumstances or not, this is what disciple wants to do, so please rest assured, Ancestor, disciple will do his best."

Yan Shi nodded, then suddenly seemed somewhat disheartened and sighed, "Crossing the gate to immortality is nothing more than stepping from one cage into another, only a little bigger than the original place. Before heaven and earth, we are still destined to be puppets."

Perhaps realizing that it wouldn't be good to appear dejected in front of his junior disciples, Yan Shi perked up and said, "The situation at the Northern Mountain Gate has eased, which is why we were able to come here and make our move. We've come to first eliminate some of the hidden forces left behind by the Witch Clan, and also to let them know that my Taichu Palace is not to be trifled with."

"Once the great war begins, we will take turns guarding the outer heavens. You can fight without worry; I will handle the Heavenly Witches. I just checked; you have laid out the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Grand Array throughout your realm, which saves me a lot of effort. You should transfer control of the array to me."

Wei Yuan did as instructed and transferred the core control of the Zhou Tian Star Array. Immortal Lord Yan Shi then took out a jade chime and gently tapped it. Wei Yuan instantly felt his heart skip a beat.

In an instant, dozens of people died silently in the azure sky, with all sorts of strange causes of death. Many others were seriously injured, numbering at least several hundred.

Wei Yuan's divine sense was also connected to the Zhou Tian Star Array, and he instantly saw that the people who were suddenly seriously injured had all been marked with conspicuous marks.

Yan Shi said, "Those who just had accidents were all spies of the Witch Clan, or had already been planted with the Witch Clan's seed. Once activated, they would be controlled by the Witch Clan. I changed their fate, making their luck exceptionally bad for the next three breaths, which is the result now. You just need to arrest everyone who had accidents just now, and there shouldn't be any who escaped."

Wei Yuan activated the Human World Fireworks, instantly analyzing and comparing the information to identify everyone. These people were a diverse bunch, doing all sorts of things, and even included two young disciples of the Primordial Beginning Palace.

Upon seeing everyone's identification information, Wei Yuan was also taken aback and said, "So many of them are spies from the Witch Clan? And why are there disciples of the Primordial Palace among them?"

Yan Shi said calmly, "Witchcraft is mysterious and unpredictable. These two disciples may have harbored resentment towards you, which is why they were vulnerable to witchcraft. Perhaps they themselves didn't even realize they had been tricked. By eliminating the spies planted by the witch clan, we have already won a small victory. The one who planted these spies is probably not having a good time right now."

Now that the Azure Netherworld is clean, you can proceed to the next step: disrupting the celestial mechanisms. I will now teach you the art of fishing for destiny. The version Tinghai taught you back then was a simplified one; now I will teach you the complete version. Practice it often when you have free time, fishing right there in the Azure Netherworld. You might have an unexpected reward, or at the very least, you can disrupt the Witch Clan's plans.”

Wei Yuan was not pleased but worried. Fishing for luck was just like fishing, except that the two sides were competing in terms of all strength, including innate destiny.

Fishermen are often caught, and there are countless examples of people being dragged into the water by big fish. Some are good at fishing, while fish are good at catching people. Therefore, in the history of cultivation, those who are skilled in divination and love fishing for luck mostly do not have a good ending. However, with a formidable enemy at hand, Wei Yuan has no scruples and has been studying diligently with Yan Shi for the next few days.

The essence of the Qi-based fishing technique is vast; if it were written down, it would probably be hundreds of thousands of words long. Wei Yuan could only try his best to comprehend the senior's true meaning, and memorize the specific techniques in the mundane world for now, to ponder them slowly later.

On the surface, it seemed that what would take others a month to learn a major Daoist technique, Wei Yuan memorized in just three days. No matter how Yan Shi tested him, Wei Yuan answered fluently. Yan Shi was naturally very satisfied and ordered Wei Yuan to practice on his own, while he left with Xuan Yue and the Lord of the Ming King Palace.

When Yan Shi was imparting the Dharma, the two True Lords were constantly moving around in the Azure Netherworld, and as a result, they dug out dozens of spies of all kinds.

Most of these people were sent by the Nine Kingdoms or other sects, but when Yan Shi took action, they were caught in the crossfire, and their luck and destiny were significantly diminished. Thus, these unfortunate fellows, for various reasons, ended up in front of the two True Lords, walking right into their trap.

After Yan Shi left, Wei Yuan immediately followed Yan Shi's instructions and personally set up a small fishing formation. As for what to use as bait, Wei Yuan was a little stumped. After thinking it over, he went to the little rooster and plucked a feather to use as bait, which he then threw into the formation.

The bait has been placed; now all that's left is to wait patiently.

……

The Witch Realm, the City of the Moon.

Inside a dilapidated abandoned house, Huixin huddled in a corner, hugging herself tightly, shivering from the cold.

Saint Heart, meanwhile, was drawing a formation on the ground with a charcoal pencil made from a small piece of charcoal spirit charcoal, saying as she drew, "Don't do this! I've been beaten more and injured more badly than you, okay?"

Hui Xin angrily said, "Didn't you say that the Qingyuan was a lot? How come it's not enough after only two meals? We can't even pay for the food! They made us work in the kitchen to pay off the debt, but you just ran away. You didn't even get away, and you got a beating for nothing!"

Saint Heart sighed, "Don't say that! How was I supposed to know that things in Moon City were so expensive? They're more than ten times more expensive than outside, it's outrageous. Now, with the winds of change gathering and a major event about to happen, this is our golden opportunity. We absolutely cannot be trapped in the kitchen, not knowing when we'll be able to get out. No, this is a trap of fate; once we're trapped, we'll definitely miss out on a great opportunity!"

Hui Xin was furious: "I've been following you for years, and all I've seen is things getting worse and worse. I've never seen any opportunity! Can you at least get some money? We can't even talk about food, can we at least buy some medicine?"

Shengxin sighed, "If you were a little prettier, you could repay us with your body, and we would be much better off. It's a pity that you're not even as good-looking as those guards, so they can't even muster any lust for you. It's really a shame."

"Shut up! How much better are you than me?"

At this moment, the magic circle was completed, and the Holy Heart stopped arguing, chanting, "At the cost of three years of my lifespan spent sincerely making friends..."

Before he could finish speaking, a bolt of golden, shimmering lightning suddenly appeared out of nowhere and struck Shengxin hard on the head, knocking him over.

This lightning strike was truly brutal. Shengxin struggled to his feet, wondering, "Do I have no friends left?"

Huixin said irritably, "Even if they originally existed, you've killed them all along the way."

“That makes sense…” Saint Heart scratched his head, then suddenly said, “At the cost of my partner’s appearance, I’ll be granted this opportunity by heaven!”

He spoke the next sentence so quickly and urgently that Huixin had no time to stop him. Startled and furious, she drew her short sword, and her reflection appeared on the blade—sure enough, she had changed quite a bit!
The moment Huixin saw her own face clearly, she nearly fainted. Gritting her teeth, without saying a word, she drew her sword and lunged at Shengxin, each strike aimed at a vital spot.

Sacred Heart was momentarily flustered and hurriedly cried out, "Next time, I'll use myself! Next time, definitely!"

"Really?" Huixin asked, still somewhat doubtful.

Sacred Heart sighed, "What else can we do if it's not real? This is all we can do! In your current state, where is there any room for a sacrifice to descend?"

Without uttering a word, Huixin plunged her sword into Shengxin's thigh.

Just then, with a bang, the door was kicked open, and a Liao ethnic minority member covered in blood rushed in, collapsing unconscious.

Hui Xin was stunned. Looking at the Liao tribesman lying on the ground, she hesitated and asked, "Is this... an opportunity?"

(End of this chapter)