Longzang

Chapter 91 Ten Thousand Miles... of Rivers and Mountains? (Bonus Chapter 2)

Wei Yuan pointed to the young master's group and asked, "Why is this person's head worth so much?"

The Taoist priest flipped through the booklet in his hand and said, "According to the regulations, the ordinary Dao Foundation is one hundred, and then the Earth Rank, Heaven Rank, and Immortal Rank double for each level. The Foundation Strengthening, Rebirth, and Spirit Nourishing stages double again for each stage. This young master has a Heaven Rank Dao Foundation and has also cultivated to the Spirit Nourishing stage, so his base has been multiplied thirty-two times, and he has gained a total of three thousand two hundred merits."

"What a pity, the young lord of the Liao tribe only has one head..." Wei Yuan sighed in his heart.

Closing the booklet, the Taoist smiled and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, this Kanbida will surely become a Dharma Image in the future. In fact, it's not a loss at all to be able to buy the fate of a future Dharma Image with 30,000 taels of immortal silver."

Wei Yuan said, "How can causing internal strife earn so many merits?"

"This is no small matter. It has changed the entire battle situation, so the True Men gave two thousand after careful consideration."

The merit system of Taichu Palace has been in place for thousands of years, and has encountered all sorts of situations. By the time of Wei Yuan's generation, it had become quite comprehensive, taking all aspects into consideration. The fairness of the merit system is the foundation of Taichu Palace, and it has been personally supervised by the Immortal Lords throughout the ages, allowing no room for falsehood.

After Wei Yuan confirmed the merits, the Taoist put away the jade paper and handed over a book, saying, "This is the merit list for this grand examination. Everyone's merits are listed here, and it is updated every seven days. However, this book can only be updated within a thousand miles of the mountain gate. It cannot be used outside this range. In addition, it is also the general merit list for those in the Foundation Establishment stage. It will be activated when we return to the mountain gate."

Wei Yuan took the booklet, opened it, and saw that he was currently ranked first, with Bao Yun in second place, whose merit points were also over eight thousand. You have to understand that Wei Yuan traveled a thousand miles north alone, slaughtered an entire Snow Eagle Cavalry team in half a day, and killed the young master Kan Bida, who was in the late stage of Dao Foundation, and that's how he got twelve thousand merit points. Bao Yun, on the other hand, had eight thousand.

However, Wei Yuan quickly realized what was going on. In the battle where he rushed to Bao Yun's aid, Bao Yun mobilized all her own troops within a radius of several hundred miles, then firmly held the main force of nearly ten thousand Northern Liao cavalry under the fortified village, and in the final battle, crippled the main force of the Agula tribe in eastern Bianning County. In terms of impact on the overall battle, Bao Yun was no less significant than Wei Yuan. If it weren't for the death of the young master triggering internal strife within the Agula tribe, Wei Yuan's contribution to the overall battle would actually be far less than Bao Yun's.

Bao Yun had many experts and thousands of elite armored soldiers under her command. Most of the merits had to be distributed, and even so, she still had eight thousand merits in the end. You can imagine how heavy the losses were for the Liao people.

The third-ranked person on the list only has a little over two thousand, and the rest are only a few hundred or so. In fact, the major exam has only been going on for a few days, and the vast majority of Dao Foundation cultivators are just small pawns on the battlefield. Usually, they are like Wei Yuan on the first night, fighting a small cavalry squad and then it's over.

After settling the merits, the Taoist left the room, no longer disturbing Wei Yuan. Only then did Wei Yuan have time to examine his newly forged Dao foundation.

His consciousness entered his sea of ​​consciousness, gazing at the vast, endless land, leaving him momentarily at a loss. His Dao Foundation had been formed for some time now, and Wei Yuan had examined it more than once, yet each time he stood on this boundless land, he still felt a profound sense of unreality. How could anyone not even be able to fully comprehend their own Dao Foundation?
The land was a vast expanse of desolation, littered with rubble and gravel. Although the Dao Foundation was named Wanli Heshan (Ten Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains), it was only ten thousand miles long; the rivers and mountains were nowhere to be seen.

Wei Yuan bent down and picked up a few pebbles, finding them to be ordinary stones with nothing supernatural about them. The ground was covered in these pebbles; the deeper he dug, the more gravel there was, eventually leading to a solid rock layer. Wei Yuan gripped a crevice in the rock, trying to break off a piece. He exerted a sudden force and successfully broke off a piece, but at the same time, a sharp pain shot through his head. Wei Yuan then remembered that this rock was actually his Dao foundation; forcibly breaking it off was equivalent to tearing a small piece from his primordial spirit, hence the excruciating pain.

After accidentally experiencing the pain of his primordial spirit being torn apart, Wei Yuan never dared to act recklessly again.

The land was devoid of life, not even soil. Only in the center of the continent stood a small mountain, about ten feet high, entirely verdant, like a flawless piece of jade, revealing its mystique.

This small jade mountain is the product of the eldest sister's ten years of relentless refinement. It looks small because it is compared to the entire continent; it is not so small compared to other people's foundations.

Li Zhi's Four Symbols Three-Legged Cauldron was already quite large and heavy, standing eight feet tall and resembling a jade mountain. However, the jade mountain was solid and about ten feet in diameter, much thicker than the Four Symbols Three-Legged Cauldron. The amount of refining it would have been enough to refine at least seven or eight Four Symbols Three-Legged Cauldrons. If the jade mountain were forged into ordinary flying swords, at least several hundred could be forged.

At the summit of Jade Mountain, an unusually vibrant life force was brewing, about to sprout. Wei Yuan was very familiar with this life force; it originated from the fruit of Bao Yun. Could it be that a Seven Wonders Tree would one day grow on this mountain? Wei Yuan was truly looking forward to it.

Although Wei Yuan had seen Bao Yun's Seven Mysterious Trees in the Hall of Myriad Forms, the images and glimpses of their essence were merely simple representations, with very general descriptions. After all, it was a Foundation Establishment stage, and no specific abilities were given; the images were only of the initial state of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. However, during the battle to aid Bao Yun, Wei Yuan personally witnessed the Seven Mysterious Trees sweep away the yellow aura within a radius of dozens of miles. Although this was aided by the power of an array, it was still an immense divine power, and one of the most useful on the battlefield, directly altering the battlefield environment.

Over the next day, Wei Yuan repeatedly tried, exhausting his primordial spirit, and finally figured out several abilities of the Dao Foundation.

First, it involves transforming the world. Like other Dao foundations, the vast rivers and mountains can also be manifested. However, with Wei Yuan's current Dao power, he can only manifest a very, very small part centered on Jade Mountain, about a hundred feet in length.

After manifesting, the environment within a hundred feet of Wei Yuan will change, converging towards the human race's pure domain. If he were still in the Liao Domain, no yellow aura would appear within a hundred feet, effectively turning the Liao Domain into a neutral region. At first glance, this transformation of heaven and earth seems somewhat similar to Bao Yun's Seven Wonders Tree, but the actual mechanism is completely different.

The Seven Wonders Tree forcibly dispels the yellow aura of the Liao region by cleansing it with pure energy, somewhat like using a strong current to wash away mud and sand. At the same time, it also suppresses and harms the Liao people within its range. The Heaven and Earth Transformation, on the other hand, reverses the nature of the world within its range. Although it is not as powerful as the Seven Wonders Tree, it is more thorough and longer-lasting.

This ability is truly extraordinary. When fighting against alien races, once an enemy enters within a hundred feet of Wei Yuan, it is as if they have entered a neutral area from the Liao region. They can no longer borrow the power of heaven and earth, and their strength is directly reduced by 20%!
Then, within ten zhang of Wei Yuan, it will become a pure and peaceful realm. When the alien race gets close, their strength will be reduced by 20%, while the strength of the human soldiers will be boosted by 20%.

If Wei Yuan were to lead a human army into a battle against the equally powerful Liao barbarians in the Liao region, the battle, which was originally of equal strength, would turn into a one-sided crushing defeat under the influence of the changing times.

(End of this chapter)