Chapter 127: Mutual Support
This was the former site of the Swelling Water God Palace. Thus, there were existing plans they could refer to, and they could find out the general layout of the major earthly veins immediately. The main chamber was where Qingming was rooted, and it couldn’t be moved. That was why it was the most important area of it all. In the future, everything within a hundred li radius would be designated as the core zone, and all key structures would be located within this area.
But of course, the core zone did not need to be that big at the moment. They could afford to construct various temporary buildings in this area as well. They could be relocated little by little when the domain was bigger.
What was once the disciple area was where everyone was living right now. However, the Swelling Water God Palace did not have many disciples, so it was nowhere big enough to accommodate anyone. This would require planning.
Near the periphery of the core zone between the disciple area and the mortal towns, Wei Yuan selected a few scenic locations and designated them as commercial zones. In the future, these areas would serve as the sites for passing caravans or large, permanent shops. Although the spirit energy in these lands were somewhat lacking, the scenery was second to none.
Wei Yuan had devised these plans in the blink of an eye, not needing to put much thought into them. Next, he focused his mind on Qingming and, drawing on its power, began to examine the flow of the earthly veins and the distribution of mineral deposits in the surrounding area.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to make a major breakthrough in terms of mineral deposits. However, he found something while inspecting the earthly qi.
The central peak of the Swelling Water God Palace was steep, straight, and around two hundred zhang tall. It was also a natural focal point of earthly qi and vitality. That was why the gentle slope stretching over a dozen li between the central peak and the central hall where Qingming was planted was the area with the most abundant earthly qi and vitality in the surrounding region. The Swelling Water God Palace had established a herb garden here, but it was small in scale and poorly maintained. It had also been destroyed along with the mountain gate.
The two tracts of land flanking the central peak were slightly inferior, but that didn’t mean they weren’t excellent. Even by the Palace of Absolute Beginning’s standards, they were good enough to be developed into herb gardens. When the day came where Qingming had completely transformed this corner of the world, both plots would be on the same level as prime-grade herb gardens.
The Swelling Water God Palace had built some disciple residences here. It was a complete waste of a good land to put it mildly. After he was finished with the inspection, Wei Yuan planned to relocate all disciple residences to the foot of the mountain. Only a small section of the mountain would be preserved for the construction of several high level abodes.
The mountain peak wasn’t big, and there was only a small courtyard at present. In the future, several halls and courtyards serving as the residences for the most pivotal figures of this realm would probably be built here.
Wei Yuan proceeded to sketch out a massive array between the central hall and the central peak. Its function was to gather ambient spirit qi, earthly vein and vitality. When the array was formed, the best herb gardens in this zone would meet the Palace of Absolute Beginning’s requirements to be rated as upper-grade. In the future, when Qingming advanced to the next rank, they might even become top-grade herb gardens.
Sketching large arrays like this was not difficult for Wei Yuan. Back in the day, his Heaven and Earth Theory teacher had taught him over a dozen large arrays with a fairly wide application of uses. In fact, the largest one covered a thousand li of land. For now, there was no need to set up the complete version of the array. He only needed to lay down the framework and have it run at a basic level.
After he was done with the sketch, Wei Yuan went to the spot where the center of his array would be set up to inspect it. It was an abandoned herb garden that was overgrown with weed. The few medicinal plants peeking out of the swarm were nothing special as well. However, this would change when the array was complete. This would become the spot with the richest spirit qi in the entire region, where spirit herbs and plants would grow the fastest and be of the highest quality.
Wei Yuan threw down a blast of fire and burned all of the weed including the worthless herbs into ash. Then, he cast an Earth Dragon spell that tilled the soil thoroughly as if an earth dragon was passing through from the underground. Finally, he cast a few Water Blade spells and unleashed a shower of water blades into the ground, moistening it and loosening it further.
With that done, Wei Yuan had finally cleared out a plot of land measuring three square zhang. Just then, the sound of hooves closed in on him. It was Xu Wenwu finishing his horseback riding and returning to report.
Wei Yuan retrieved his fortune little by little. As expected, the amount he received from the horse had decreased after Xu Wenwu had taken it out for a run; half of a black qi to be exact. Although it was just the most basic level of fortune, it was still a significant amount considering that the target was a mortal horse.
The horse only shrank slightly in size after he had retrieved all of the fortune. Not only was it still a zhang tall, he saw feathers near its hooves, and coin-sized scales growing out of its cheeks. Finally, he sensed a bit of spirit energy in its body. From now on, the horse was no ordinary horse any longer. Although it wasn’t on the level of an immortal steed yet, it had definitely crossed into the realm of the extraordinary. Even the mounts of the Snow Hawk Cavalry of the Liao were no better.
An idea crossed Wei Yuan’s mind, and he cleared out another three square zhang of land. After planting two Star Dragon Tree seeds in the soil, he said to Xu Wenwu, “Over the next few days, you will water and loosen the soil around the tree on the left. But don’t touch the one on the right.”
“Don't worry, big bro!”
“Once you’re done, you’ll ride this horse for another two hours. For now, these will be your daily tasks.”
Wei Yuan thought that Xu Wenwu would look annoyed or complain, but surprisingly, he was brimming with anticipation. He was clearly enthusiastic about farming[1].
Wei Yuan proceeded to inform him about the Star Dragon Tree’s preference for humidity and air. In short, the plant should be watered, and the soil should be loosened as often as possible. Again, Xu Wenwu surprised him by absorbing all of the information in just one hearing.
Having said that, Xu Wenwu grabbed a sword forging to use as a spade. Unfortunately, he only managed a few digs before he found himself sweating all over. He had no choice but to switch to a dagger forging instead.
Wei Yuan reassigned the distribution of Jia Wood Nurtures Life and focused most of it on the two Star Dragon Tree, observing them. Just moments later, the seeds in the soil began to show signs of growth. By his estimate, the growth rate of a spirit herb in this particular herb garden was five times the normal rate. If he concentrated the power of Jia Wood Nurtures Life here, then the growth rate would increase to fifteen times the original rate.
Very satisfied with his discovery, Wei Yuan set the matter aside for the time being and left to check on those who were looting and clearing the battlefield.
Just then, he sensed something and looked at the sky. Two clouds of blurry, bluish qi had appeared out of nowhere and started pouring rain. The raindrops were, in fact, materialized worldly origin qi. They were highly beneficial to one’s cultivation. They were all being absorbed into Qingming to accelerate its progress.
He had learned about this unusual phenomenon during class. When a cultivator had cultivated their Avatar, they would begin resonating with the heaven and earth around them. That was why their deaths usually resulted in an extraordinary phenomenon. When someone slew an Avatar Trueman, the world would bestow a reward upon the slayer. It was impossible to say how big of a reward it would be, just as good or evil did not come into the equation. The world would reward a villain who slew a virtuous person just as surely as it would reward the opposite. If an Avatar of a foreign race slew a human Avatar, then they would receive a reward from their world. The reward might even be extra big.
The bluish qi raining above his head at the moment was the world’s reward to him. They were the highest quality worldly origin qi as well. There were two clouds, so he reckoned that they came from Xu Guanwen and the Great Warlock.
Wei Yuan had changed this corner of the world with Qingming, so the worldly reward he received for killing two Avatars were different as well. Xu Guanwen yielded less, and the Great Warlock obviously yielded more. However, he was taught that the worldly reward should go to the slayer, namely him. Why was Qingming intercepting everything?
Wei Yuan did not understand what was going on and felt a bit disgruntled. However, he soon discovered that it wasn’t just Qingming’s nurturing speed that was being increased. The range at which he could manifest the Great Realm had increased as well! In just a short time, it had grown from one thousand zhang to two thousand zhang!
Since becoming one with Qingming, the Great Realm was basically manifested all the time. It was slowly but surely absorbing all spirit qi within its range.
Although the amount of spirit qi each piece of land could absorb was pitifully small—it would take over half a day just to absorb a single wisp—he could now manifest two thousand zhang of the Great Realm. All things considered, it was a substantial amount of spirit qi.
Understanding slowly dawned upon Wei Yuan. Perhaps this was how he was meant to cultivate after obtaining the Great Realm.
Moments later, the bluish qi disappeared, and the worldly reward came to an end. The vitality within the jade hill grew even more vigorous until suddenly, it began pulsating strongly. At some point, a tiny crack appeared at the summit of the jade hill, and a cluster of tender shoots sprouted forth!
As the shoots sprouted, Qingming tremored in unison and spewed forth a vast surge of vitality and spirit energy. The ambient spirit qi within its domain gradually rose to a new level, and everything seemed brighter and more vibrant than before. Countless living beings rejoiced, and even the plants seemed more vigorous than before. In particular, some ancient trees looked like they were on the verge of awakening a speck of sentience.
Overwhelmed by the spectacle, Wei Yuan found himself momentarily unsure if Qingming was nurturing the Great Realm, or the Great Realm was nurturing Qingming.
1. This suggests that Xu Wenwu studied civil engineering back in his world, a field that was widely known as useless and prospectless. This is strictly China though. Just imagine a field of study that has no prospects and earns you little money in your country and you’ll get the idea. ☜
