Longzang

Chapter 95 First in Merit and Merit (Bonus Chapter 6)

Wei Yuan had only heard that the patriarch, having achieved mastery of Taoist arts, ventured westward alone and placed the first boundary stone in a land overrun by foreign races—the origin of the Azure Void at the Taichu Palace's mountain gate. He had never heard of boundary stones again since.

The fact that Boundary Stones were listed as a separate category clearly indicated their extreme importance, which piqued Wei Yuan's curiosity, so he clicked to browse through it. Under this main category were several subcategories: Boundary Stones, Advanced Stones, Top-Grade Stones, and Rare Stones.

The category of Boundary Stones is extensive, with detailed descriptions provided. The core of a Boundary Stone is crafted from Void Stone, possessing the power to transform the world. The resulting realm is determined by the cultivator who nurtures it. Once a Boundary Stone is planted, the surrounding天地之运 (heaven and earth's fortune) will correspondingly shift, generally converging towards the Pure Realm of the Human World.

Humans primarily used boundary stones to expand their territory.

After planting a boundary stone, cultivators need to constantly nurture it with the vital energy of heaven and earth and various rare and precious materials. When nurtured to a certain degree, the boundary stone can advance in rank. Generally speaking, a basic boundary stone can transform the land of a town; after a hundred years of nurturing, it becomes a mid-grade boundary stone, capable of covering a county; a thousand years makes it a high-grade boundary stone, encompassing a prefecture. Within the area covered by the boundary stone, the human race can freely reproduce, live, cultivate, and thrive.

There were over a hundred entries under the list of ordinary boundary stones, and Wei Yuan carefully examined them one by one.

Jieshi 377: 17 years of nurturing, qualified, no special characteristics;
Jieshi 491: After five years of nurturing, it is qualified and has no special characteristics;
Boundary Stone 1302: After 48 years of nurturing, it is qualified and possesses a slight power of the Earth God.

Jieshi 2033: Not warmed, qualified.

……

Each boundary stone is numbered, making them virtually unique. Major immortal sects, key sects, and the Great Tang Dynasty exchange information, with boundary stones being a primary topic of discussion. These boundary stones have undergone a period of nurturing, ranging from a few years to several decades, while some have not yet been nurtured and are likely newly made.

As for those boundary stones that hadn't been nurtured for long but had returned to the exchange list, Wei Yuan understood after reading a few more explanations. The owners of these boundary stones went out to expand their territories, but the alien races became too powerful, their settlements were destroyed, and the boundary stones had to be removed and retrieved. Many cultivators died in battle when their settlements were breached, and then the boundary stones were found and brought back by others, eventually falling into the hands of the Taichu Palace.

Behind many of the boundary stones, which have been nurtured for less than a hundred years, are destroyed settlements, mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

With a sigh, Wei Yuan looked at the price of a New World Stone: 100,000 merit points.

Wei Yuan silently closed the file.

After calming himself down, Wei Yuan clicked on a boundary stone that had been nurtured for seven years and was surprised to find that it cost 91,000 merit points. How come a nurtured boundary stone was cheaper?

Wei Yuan put down the jade tablet and went to consult the Taoist priest in charge of the hall.

The Taoist priest sized up Wei Yuan and said, "A new boundary stone is like a piece of new jade. After being nurtured, it bears the mark of its owner's Dao power. If the owner's Dao power is incompatible with the previous owner's, the owner will have to spend extra effort to remove the existing Dao power mark and nurture it from scratch. Even if the Dao power attributes of the two owners are similar, purity becomes increasingly important in the later stages. The purer the boundary stone and the more profound the nurturing, the more wondrous it becomes. Therefore, a second-hand boundary stone that has not been nurtured for long is not as valuable as a new boundary stone."

"I see." Wei Yuan suddenly understood, and then continued to humbly ask, "Why is it that some boundary stones that have been nurtured for seventy or eighty years are far more expensive than new boundary stones?" "After a hundred years of nurturing, when the time is right, the boundary stone will advance and the boundary will expand tenfold. Compared with the benefits of advancement, purity is nothing."

Wei Yuan nodded, surprised that expanding territory was so complex and involved so much knowledge.

The Taoist priest couldn't help but say, "Junior brother, please forgive me for speaking out of turn. If you want to expand your territory, you must at least reach the Spirit Nourishing stage. This is no child's play. The ferocity of the alien races is not just talk; they really can take lives. Where did you get so many second-hand boundary stones in your catalog? Most of them were unclaimed when they were delivered!"

The Taoist priest began, speaking earnestly: "Junior Brother, expanding territory is not child's play. Boundary stones are just one link in the chain, far from the whole picture. If you want to expand territory, you need relatives and teachers to suppress the situation, right? You need elite guards to serve as the backbone of the army, right? You need to prepare provisions, supplies, and magical artifacts, right? For the first ten years, you need to provide food, clothing, shelter, and transportation for mortals, right? These are all merits! According to past precedents, if you want to expand, boundary stones account for half, and these also account for the other half. You are still young, where will you get so many merits? Right now, you should focus on cultivation and strive to improve. Of course, if you come from one of the Seven Clans and Thirteen Noble Families, then disregard what I said."

The Taoist priest practically had the words "ambitious but unrealistic" written all over his face, but his words were also sincere. Wei Yuan thanked him sincerely and then said, "I come from a poor family. I'm just looking at these things to broaden my horizons and increase my knowledge."

The Taoist nodded and said, "I see. If you have any questions, you can ask me. Also, let me add one more thing: most of those who successfully expanded their territories did not use ordinary boundary stones."

Wei Yuan understood the Taoist's instructions, returned to the desk, and began to examine the boundary stones in the three subcategories.

There are far fewer entries for advanced boundary stones, only a dozen or so.

Life-Generating Stone: Possesses the power of life-giving, accelerating the growth of all things within its domain and aiding in the healing of injuries.

Life-Protecting Stone: It has the power to stabilize the soul and can temporarily save one's life from fatal injuries within the realm, but requires treatment within one hour.

However, Wei Yuan could only view two or three items; the rest required exchanging Heavenly Merit. As for the later "Top-Tier" category, he couldn't even open it. Only one item under the "Exotic" category was viewable by Wei Yuan.

Infant Fire Stone: The realm is filled with the power of fire, possessing the potential for nascent life. It can generate an Infant Fire Pool, which can be used to refine special magical artifacts. However, the realm is not suitable for mortals to live in.

Whether it's an advanced or exotic stone, the price far exceeds that of ordinary boundary stones, starting at least at 500,000 merit points.

After seeing the boundary stone, Wei Yuan finally realized that expanding his territory was still a long way off. However, the boundary stone's high price was justified; treasures capable of altering the world are never cheap.

After leaving the Hall of Merit, Wei Yuan took another look around the Mission Hall. He now had many more missions available, but the missions for those in the early stages of Foundation Establishment were quite simple and the rewards were low, mostly a hundred or two hundred merit points, rarely exceeding a thousand—a far cry from the rewards on the battlefield. Wei Yuan looked through the missions for a while but couldn't find anything suitable. So he handed over the items he needed to send back to his hometown to the steward of the Mission Hall and paid fifty merit points as payment. The steward would then find a suitable cultivator to arrange delivery.

After touring the two main halls, Wei Yuan went to the Hall of Myriad Forms to see where his Dao Foundation was located in the starry river. The vast expanse of land was unprecedented; Wei Yuan estimated it to be undoubtedly his Immortal Foundation, judging from the attitudes of True Monarch Xuan Yue and the other True Immortals in the hall. Furthermore, if the life force nurtured in Jade Mountain could sprout and grow into a Seven Wonders Treasure Tree, then Wei Yuan felt his Dao Foundation would be no less than Bao Yun's. After all, everyone has a tree, and Wei Yuan also has an extra piece of soil.

(End of this chapter)