Longzang

Chapter 838 Big Project

Even excluding the tens of thousands of strands of azure energy that were initially dispersed, Wei Yuan invested at least 600,000 units of luck into this giant fish. And then what about the fish?
Fishing with luck often yields intangible and intangible creatures, and skilled anglers can even use it to alter the course of fate. However, Wei Yuan caught a large catch on his first cast, only to find himself unable to see anything, inevitably leading to disappointment.

Wei Yuan carefully reviewed the entire fishing process and finally determined that he must have caught something. However, his analysis of the "human touch" (a metaphor for the fish) yielded no conclusion, as there were too few clues.

The best solutions to such a perplexing situation are threefold: luck, divination, and luck divination. So Wei Yuan went to find Ji Liuli, wanting her to calculate what he had actually caught.

To everyone's surprise, Ji Youli refused on the spot, neither confirming nor denying the possibility of a result; he simply said he wouldn't. As for the reason, he had none; he just said he was in a bad mood that day.

Ji Liuli's strange reaction made Wei Yuan realize that this matter probably involved immortals and couldn't be considered legitimate. So, just now, he had essentially competed with an immortal for food, and even won?

Since he couldn't find any fish, Wei Yuan had no choice but to give up. At that moment, an official matter came to mind, and Wei Yuan entered the realm of everyday life to read it carefully.

This official business concerns allocating research funds to academicians.

In the Azure Netherworld, an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator earns one Azure Yuan per month, a Perfected Immortal Foundation cultivator earns an average of sixty-four Azure Yuan per month, and an ordinary Dharma Aspect cultivator earns approximately fifty Azure Yuan per month. Based on this data, the preliminary proposal for the Human World Project suggests that each academician receive five hundred Azure Yuan per month for basic research funding and one hundred Azure Yuan for basic living allowance. For large research projects, separate research funding will be allocated after approval.

After carefully reviewing the proposal, Wei Yuan found it feasible and approved it.

When the proposed plan was announced, the newly elected academicians were in an uproar; no one had expected that research funding would actually be allocated. Although the money was nominally for research, once it was in their pockets, how they spent it was entirely their own business.

On its own, this amount of funding is not small, and large projects can be applied for separately. For the cultivators, these are all unexpected surprises.

Several cultivators who were not direct descendants of the Taichu Palace were filled with trepidation. Many of them directly refused the requests from their relatives and disciples to have a big meal and celebrate. They asked those around them to keep a low profile and be cautious. They immediately began to rack their brains, thinking about what project to report so that they could use the funds with peace of mind.

The cultivators of Taichu Palace had a different reaction. Some of them hadn't expected it, while others simply didn't care about such a small amount of money.

For example, when Xiaoyu saw the funds arrive, he only played with Qingyuan a few times before putting it aside. This amount of Qingyuan was less than the gifts and tributes he had received in a single day during his time as city lord.

Xiao Yu collected all the gifts and monetary donations and put them into the city lord's private treasury. This treasury was used to handle matters of fairness in Xiao Yu's eyes, primarily providing relief to the lowest-class mortals. The overall tone of Yong'an City remained one of rapid development; with development, many problems would naturally be resolved.

As the sages said, "When the granaries are full, people know etiquette," which is the meaning of this saying.

So for the past month, Xiaoyu's reputation has been really bad, mainly summed up in two sentences: she still takes the money, but doesn't do the work.

In addition, although Xiao Yu came to Qingming in anger, she did not leave behind any magical treasures, so she still had hundreds of thousands of taels of immortal silver with her, and was not short of money.

Seeing Xiaoyu continue with her official duties, Shaoyang Xingjun quietly appeared, picked up the stack of green coins, looked at them, and said, "You just left them aside like that?"

Xiao Yu replied without looking up, "In a city of several million people, I receive thousands of official documents every day. How can I possibly have the time?"

Shaoyang Xingjun said, “In the Star Palace, if the Star Lords wanted to handle official business, there would probably be millions of matters to attend to every day. But I haven’t seen any Star Lord who is really busy from morning till night without a moment’s rest. If you were to leave these matters to the mortal world, it wouldn’t make much difference. You’re not handling official business; you’re just trying to be busy.”

Xiaoyu stopped what she was doing and frowned slightly.

Shaoyang Xingjun then said, "You rank eighth among the academicians, and Cui Yu ranks ninth."

Xiao Yu finally became alert and summoned a servant, saying, "Find out what General Cui has been busy with these past few days."

Seeing that Xiaoyu understood, Shaoyang Xingjun went to the bookshelf and took out several books to study carefully. Half a day later, the attendant returned to report, saying, "General Cui wrote a letter to the Cui family patriarch some time ago, and it is said that the patriarch immediately sent a team of several hundred people, all of whom are skilled craftsmen. Then General Cui is also soliciting projects in the army, saying that he wants to do scientific research... something like that."

Xiao Yu was shocked and slammed her hand on the table, exclaiming, "This guy is incredibly cunning!"

Cui Yu is ranked after Xiao Yu, and this ostentatious display clearly indicates he's planning something big. When Xiao Yu ends up empty-handed while Cui Yu reaps the rewards, how can Xiao Yu possibly maintain his position ahead of him?
During the annual examinations, Bao Yun was ranked first, and Xiao Yu was second, a result of a combination of family background and talent. Although Cui Yu's family background was not bad, his talent was lacking, so he could only be ranked lower.

Years later, Xiaoyu would still call him "senior brother," a term born of their old school days and the affection for Cui Yu who always took the lead and cared for his classmates. In her heart, Xiaoyu only had eyes for people like Wei Yuan, Zhang Sheng, and Bao Yun; she never considered Cui Yu a rival.

However, Xiao Yu only narrowly won the academician election, which already surprised him greatly. Now, Cui Yu is putting in even more effort in research projects and is about to overtake Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu finally understood why Shao Yang Xingjun had reminded her: ranking and reputation were of paramount importance. Indeed, experience counts; Xingjun's vision was far-sighted.

Xiao Yu waved away her attendants and sneered, "Cui Yu has hundreds of thousands of soldiers, but I have millions of subjects! I will reward research projects in the city with huge prizes, and I won't have to worry about suppressing Cui Yu! No one can touch my eighth position!"

“There are two people ahead of you who are not from the Taichu Palace,” Shaoyang Xingjun reminded him.

Xiao Yu immediately frowned: "Those two are geniuses. Their cultivation isn't that great, but they're really smart and not easy to deal with. They might have some ingenious ideas, and there's no way to guard against them."

"Rankings are like rowing against the current; if you don't move forward, you fall behind. Don't forget, there's still Zhang Sheng who hasn't made it in yet. Once she reaches the Dharma Form stage, she'll definitely be vying for the Dean's position."

Xiao Yu's heart skipped a beat. She didn't think of Zhang Sheng, but rather Wei Yuan's large face. This guy definitely wouldn't be satisfied with just being an honorary dean; he'd probably want to become an academician too. Did that mean she'd have to step back again? If she did, she'd fall outside the ranks of academicians altogether.

“It seems this project cannot be taken lightly,” Xiaoyu said.

Lord Shaoyang smiled slightly and said, "When I saw the false sun that day, I was truly amazed and found it unbelievable. So these past few days, I have been following this line of thought and researching information in the mortal world. I have discovered that Qingming is following the path of making everyone a dragon, and is constantly lowering the threshold for the Dao Foundation so that more people can cultivate the Dao Foundation."

This direction actually goes against the current practices of major sects and aristocratic families. Sects and families are all researching the purest and most refined Dao, focusing on how to make their Dao foundation stronger and purer. But Qingming aims to help more people cultivate their Dao foundation; this is Qingming's fundamental principle, and also the direction Wei Yuan values ​​most. Our project must align with this principle to be truly important.

Within the template of Dao foundations, there are not only pseudo-suns far inferior to Zhang Sheng, but also the Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword, and even the Bright Light Sword, etc., all originating from the Immortal Sword Great Sun. But speaking of the Immortal Sword Great Sun, who can compare to this lord?

A great sun appeared in Shaoyang Xingjun's hand, which then rapidly expanded and dimmed, transforming into a dark red planet. Then, the outer shell peeled away layer by layer, finally revealing a tiny bit of material inside that emitted a faint glow.

This substance transformed into a celestial sword in the hand of the Lesser Yang Star Lord. A tiny ember burned within the translucent, turbid blade, and the sword body radiated a slight heat. The entire sword exuded the true meaning of returning to tranquility.

Xiaoyu was both surprised and delighted, but also very embarrassed. She said, "This, isn't this similar to the Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword? But its power is much greater than that one. Star Lord is indeed amazing!"

"Just being close enough isn't enough." With a slight tremor of his hand, Shaoyang Xingjun dispelled the true meaning of returning to tranquility from the sword, and the heat emanating from the sword actually intensified.

After removing the true meaning of returning to tranquility, the true power of this sword drops sharply, but the requirements for mastering it also drop sharply, even lower than those for the Bright Light Sword!

"This sword can be named Remnant Flame. You can refine it and submit it. Your Azure Nether Dao Foundation might double. This is a great merit and a great fortune. No matter how big a project others undertake, they will not be your match."

Looking at the remnant flame that had been downgraded and degraded from the Legend of Sword and Fairy: The Great Sun, Xiao Yu's face burned with shame, and she accepted it with both hands.

(End of this chapter)