Longzang

Chapter 963 Development Direction
In the end, they were unable to identify which of the dozen or so mortals was the true inner demon.

The inner demon was ultimately vanquished. With Wei Yuan's tacit approval, the immortal plants activated the formation, annihilating all mortals within it. Wei Yuan immediately felt his mind clear, as if a considerable burden had been lifted. This proved that the inner demon was indeed among these people.

However, this also proved that the inner demon is constantly evolving, and even when it was right in front of Wei Yuan, with the range reduced to a dozen or so people, Wei Yuan still couldn't find its exact location.

On the other hand, Wei Yuan noticed a subtle change in the attitude of the immortal plants towards mortals. In the past, the immortal plants were quick to call for war and killed, treating mortals like dirt, tossing them away without a second thought.

This time, the target has been narrowed down to just a dozen or so mortals. In the past, they wouldn't have summoned Wei Yuan at all; they would have simply wiped them all out. But now, the immortal plants are no longer willing to indiscriminately annihilate mortals. In their eyes, this seems no different from slaughter.

Wei Yuan pondered, could it be that these mortals in the world are already transforming into sentient beings, rather than being mere phantoms created by the mind?
This may be a sign that the everyday life of ordinary people is slowly evolving.

Wei Yuan had been pondering what would happen after the Human Realm advanced to the Imperial Realm. Normally, as a Dharma Image, it was already equivalent to a complete mental world. But after reaching the Imperial Realm, would it simply mean having a few more grotto-heavens?
But Wei Yuan has now discerned a trend: the sentient beings within the mortal realm are slowly transforming from the illusory to the real, and there may even be karmic consequences in the future. Coupled with the unique attributes of the Yellow Springs and the Pure Land, Wei Yuan feels as if he is watching a complete world slowly grow and mature.

The inner demon tribulation is not over yet, and it's unknown when it will end. However, the transformation of the mortal realm has indeed begun, and Wei Yuan is already on the path to advancing to the Imperial Realm. It's just that the mortal realm is too vast; even the terrifying true form of the Molten Dragon could only occupy a small portion of the sea surface within it.

Such a vast world of mental images will take a long time to transform, but once the transformation is successful, it may be an unprecedented spectacle.

Having figured this out, Wei Yuan was no longer in a hurry and prepared to continue to contend with his inner demons. Then he began to ponder how to deal with the fourth grotto-heaven.

The more grotto-heavens there are, the faster the body can absorb the vital energy of heaven and earth, and the faster the human world can grow. However, the cost is that the more grotto-heavens there are, the more unstable the entire system becomes. If it exceeds a certain critical point, it may cause the collapse of the entire mental world.

When it came to choosing the fourth grotto-heaven, Wei Yuan was caught in a dilemma. He couldn't decide whether to place a killing-type treasure there, sacrificing breathing efficiency for immediate combat power, or to choose a life-giving treasure to greatly enhance the breathing ability of the entire mortal realm.

This was a choice between two development paths, so Wei Yuan put both options into practice and prepared to solicit the opinions of Zhuge Liang and Feng Xiaogang.

After dealing with his innermost thoughts, Wei Yuan once again headed to the secret realm. Two flying boats were parked outside the secret realm, and a large-scale camp had been established there, with hundreds of cultivators busy at work.

Upon seeing Wei Yuan arrive, Yu Zhizhuo led him to the teleportation array. At this time, dozens of cultivators were busy around the array, carefully measuring it and replacing some of its components.

Yu Zhizhuo said, "It has been confirmed that this formation is over 100,000 years old, but the exact age is unknown. This secret realm itself may not seem large, but it is actually in a different world from this one, with its two ends spanning hundreds of thousands of miles within this world. This teleportation array is the exit of the secret realm, and it is only responsible for the short distance from the secret realm to this one, which is not far and the burden is not heavy."

"I see." Wei Yuan also had some knowledge of formations and knew that in this way, the teleportation formation could handle a relatively large number of people and supplies. Although there would be some consumption, it would only be a fraction of that of a long-distance teleportation formation.

Yu Zhizhuo continued, "This formation was originally powered by spirit stones, a common energy source for formations in ancient times. However, spirit stones are mostly natural minerals, and once used, they are gone. Furthermore, their purity is unstable, making direct use quite inconvenient. Therefore, after learning to use spirit stones, our human race developed artificial spirit stones tens of thousands of years later, using cultivators' Dao power to cast stone molds. The resulting spirit stones have a purity and spiritual energy content far exceeding that of natural spirit stones, yet their price is less than one-tenth of that of natural spirit stones."

However, some uneducated old fogies from other races were stubborn and clung to the idea that natural spirit stones were superior. So our ancestors had no choice but to sell all the natural spirit stones to them, and we used man-made ones ourselves.

Wei Yuan asked, "And now? I've never heard of natural spirit stones before?"

"Now?" Yu Zhizhuo gave a strange look, pointed at the busy cultivators, and said, "Tens of thousands of years ago, a master craftsman of our human race discovered that cultivators were more useful and more durable than spirit stones. Moreover, they could restore their Dao power on their own, regulate their mood, and if they were lucky, they could even advance in rank. Since then, natural spirit stones have been used less and disappeared completely after a few thousand years."

"so……"

Yu Zhizhuo pointed to several iron boxes next to him and said, "The engine is ready."

……

After the teleportation array was activated and the spirit stones were replaced with an engine for power, the efficiency of the entire teleportation array was greatly improved, allowing dozens of cultivators to enter and exit at a time. Moreover, each recharge only takes the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

A large number of Qingming cultivators passed through the teleportation array, exploring the surrounding world bit by bit like ants. Yu Zhizhuo simply moved his bed over there. Every time he arrived in a new world, he was always fascinated.

Master Chuhe also spent more and more time here, and the spiritual plants and trees of the mountain people's region were all new to him. After the first batch of more than a thousand cultivators arrived, Wei Yuan began to use a large number of heavy armor and weapons to build a defensive line here.

However, the teleportation array was no longer sufficient. Wei Yuan had anticipated this, so he first transported various weapons and tools, and then a smelting furnace was under construction. Wei Yuan planned to mine raw materials locally, manufacture building materials, and gradually develop this place into a large-scale forward base.

As the mineral exploration progressed, Yu Zhizhuo made new discoveries almost every day. He even felt that the progress was not enough, so he forcibly dragged Wei Yuan underground and made Wei Yuan act as a human excavator to cast the Golden Light Water Blade Technique, reliving the days when he was digging in the Qingming Underground.

After digging that night, Wei Yuan felt he needed to find a way to get another boundary stone. He still had a fragment of an Ancestral Boundary Stone, but he was still undecided about whether to use it here or in the Desolate Realm.

One alternative is to replace it with a regular small boundary stone that's a few hundred miles long, use it as a temporary solution, and then see how the situation develops before making any further decisions.

　I'll try to update tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)