Longzang

Chapter 1160 The Way of Harvesting
Wei Yuan stood against the wind, with the vast blue sky stretching out behind him.

The recent contest with Cui Wantong has made it clear to the world that Wei Yuan, relying solely on his Daoist power and supernatural abilities, is capable of contending with immortals. Furthermore, the number of Wei Yuan's trump cards and methods is in no way inferior to those of a powerful true immortal. While Lü Changhe was indeed killed in a sneak attack, in a true life-or-death struggle, Lü Changhe's fate would most likely have been the same.

It was only through a direct confrontation with Cui Wantong that Wei Yuan truly earned the awe of the immortals.

Even now, Wei Yuan still felt a little regretful. Back when his ancestor Yu Jing was at the time, he was already hunting down immortals all over the world, and letting them escape was considered a disgrace.

Wei Yuan himself struggles to kill even a minor immortal. He first needs to immobilize the opponent with the power of his domain, then attach causality to them with his Peerless Dao Domain before he can truly deliver the killing blow. For example, he can use techniques like Reverse Slash, the Sweeping Away of the Four Barbarians and the End of the Ten Thousand Ages Sword, the Evil Yang Heavenly Pillar, and the Slash of Human Fortune... and that's it. Most of his other methods can only injure, not kill.

Wei Yuan deeply felt his own methods were inadequate, far inferior to those of his ancestor. He pondered carefully where he could improve. However, the ancestor's legacy consisted of only fragmentary information, lacking even a unique path of cultivation. His path was largely dismantled and integrated by the Three Immortals, becoming the later path of the Three Views.

Previously, Wei Yuan didn't quite understand, but now he understands it to some extent. It must be that the ancestral path was too high and too difficult to pass on, so the three disciples each inherited a part, and then tried to integrate and lower the threshold. In this way, they created the Three Views and Daoist lineage, and became immortals by virtue of it.

Since the gap between him and the patriarch was so great, Wei Yuan decided to put aside the path of cultivation for the time being and focus on learning how to conduct himself, deal with others, and cultivate his demeanor, with an emphasis on demeanor.

So he stood with one hand behind his back and the other in front of him, facing the wind, his clothes fluttering, his expression solemn, his eyes clear, somewhat resembling the demeanor of his master in his prime.

After Wei Yuan had prepared his attire, he waited for over an hour, but the mysterious immortal still hadn't appeared. However, Wei Yuan had a faint feeling of urgency, so he couldn't leave and could only continue standing on the high place enjoying the breeze.

Gradually, curious gazes began to fall from the sky, as if wondering what Wei Yuan was doing. Wei Yuan vaguely felt a warm current surging deep within his skin, but the heat was insufficient, barely reaching the surface of the sun, and couldn't penetrate his skin to make him blush.

At that moment, on a small hill in the distance, a campfire was burning, and a pot of hot soup was simmering on the fire. Bald Old Six held a ceramic bowl, finished the rest of the soup in a few gulps, wiped his mouth with his greasy sleeve, and said, "Brother, don't stand so high, be careful not to fall."

Wei Youcai stood on a rock taller than a person, the biting mountain wind blowing his clothes and hair forward. Compared to before, his temples were noticeably grayer.

The rocks were covered in moss, and a small cliff lay not far ahead; one wrong step and you would fall. Wei Youcai swayed a little in the mountain wind, but he refused to come down, saying only, "It's alright, I'll take a couple more looks."

Bald Old Six sighed, stopped trying to persuade him, and sat down against a big tree, lost in thought.

The old steward suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He didn't say a word, but busied himself taking down the campfire and cleaning up the traces.

At that moment, a ghostly figure appeared and swiftly ascended the mountaintop. Bald Old Six and the butler, both beaming with joy, asked, "Fifth Brother, did you succeed?"

The man took out a porcelain bottle from his bosom, uncorked it, and a beam of blue light shot out from the bottle's mouth, as thick as water, creating ripples.

The man laughed and said, "I have fulfilled my mission! With so much taken in one go, your matter should be settled, brother."

The butler glanced at the bottle opening and clicked his tongue, "So much! Isn't that a bit too much?"

The man said, "There is much more of this stuff than I originally expected. I only took a small portion, so it won't have any impact."

Bald Old Six reached the rocks and helped Wei Youcai down. Wei Youcai took the porcelain bottle, looked at it, and nodded, saying, "That should be enough."

The fifth brother, dressed as a night owl, said, "Then, shall we go?"

Wei Youcai looked back one last time before leaving with the others and disappearing into the mortal world.

Wei Yuan waited for a long time, but suddenly his sudden inspiration vanished, leaving him surrounded by a bunch of people staring at him like he was an idiot.

Wei Yuan was furious. He immediately took out a page of the story outline, the content of which was extremely provocative, except that all the character names were yet to be filled in. Wei Yuan picked up a pen, pretending to add names to the story, and sure enough, all eyes scattered, fearing that Wei Yuan would target them. In the past, Wei Yuan carried the fortunes of millions, like a walking bomb; whoever poked him was doomed. Today, Wei Yuan relied on the fact that all the people of Qingming were enlightened, their bodies were forged, their Dao foundations were as numerous as hairs on a cow, and their karma was a hundred times greater than that of the countries outside the realm. He incited the people of Qingming to name and curse the immortals. For the immortals, this was like being surrounded by thousands of flies at all times, and these flies not only spoke human language, but also spoke extremely filthy language.

The immortals were greatly troubled, yet helpless. If they were to follow the old rules and strike back with lightning, it could potentially inflict the karma of tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of mortals.

Therefore, nowadays, ordinary immortals are extremely unwilling to offend Wei Yuan and only seek peace and quiet.

Wei Yuan ultimately failed to meet the last immortal and had to return to Qingming. However, upon entering Qingming, he immediately sensed something was amiss. Wherever his divine sense passed, many people appeared somewhat listless. Among these people were mortals, those with forged bodies, but most were still at the template stage of Dao foundation.

Wei Yuan immediately scanned the data of several central spiritual energy stations, and sure enough, the spiritual energy they produced had decreased by about 10%.

Wei Yuan immediately notified all the cultivators of the Taichu Palace, and in the blink of an eye, they all entered the bustling world of various realms and began to investigate within their respective areas of responsibility. This investigation indeed uncovered a problem: the life force nurtured within at least several thousand template-level Dao Foundation cultivators had vanished!

In the previous great battle, Wei Yuan had exhausted the fortune and even the willpower of the Qingming people. However, as time passed, some people gradually generated new fortune. These template foundations were people whose fortune was about to be born, but they were not quite complete enough to contribute, and their fortune suddenly disappeared before they could contribute!
Because their luck was still a little lacking, these cultivators were somewhat listless, as if they hadn't slept well for several days. Their efficiency in all aspects dropped sharply, and thus the anomaly was discovered.

When this conclusion was reached, even Wei Yuan found it hard to believe. How could the unformed human destiny within his body disappear?
This matter was of great importance, and it was in a completely unfamiliar territory for Wei Yuan, so he summoned Immortal Lord Yan Shi. Upon arriving, Yan Shi stood atop the Azure Netherworld, his divine sense instantly sweeping across the entire area, marking an additional tens of thousands of people. Most of these were Body Forging cultivators, with over a thousand template-based Foundation Establishment cultivators, and even two Golden Core Dharma Aspects.

The results of Immortal Lord Yan Shi's investigation surprised Wei Yuan once again. He could even steal the fortune of a Dharma Image? This person's methods are truly unbelievable!

Wei Yuan himself didn't know how to steal fortune, so he could only use a clumsy method to transform the world and benefit all people, and then wait for people to contribute their own fortune. Because most of the fortune stolen came from cultivators, the total loss amounted to nearly two million ordinary people's fortune.

Immortal Lord Yanshi summoned the two Golden Core Dharma Images and carefully examined them, saying, "Their fortune has been harvested."

Yan Shi looked solemn and waved his hand, scattering several array plates that formed a large array in the air. Then, white mist filled the array, and a little girl with long hair reaching the ground walked out from it.

The girl looked to be only about ten years old, with long, pure silver hair that was over ten feet long, most of it trailing behind her. Although she was standing in the air, her feet shone brightly, as if she were firmly on the ground.

Yan Shi then said, "This is Abbot Bai Youzhenjun of Wuliang Temple. Wuliang Temple's path mainly focuses on cultivating destiny and fortune. The number of disciples is small. It is the only place in the palace that does not take the unified examination of the immortal sects. Each disciple is found by their master according to their destiny. Abbot Bai has only come out of seclusion a few times in the past few decades. The last time he came out of seclusion was fifty years ago, so you have never seen him before."

I remember that two hundred years ago, Wuliang Temple had eight people. Now, I don't even know how many disciples are left in Wuliang Temple.

Bai You said, "I'm the only one left in the temple now; I don't know where the others have gone."

Yan Shi was also taken aback, seemingly not expecting that the Wuliang Temple, one of the three temples of the Three Immortals lineage, would only have its abbot present. However, he did not ask any further questions, but instead summoned two Golden Core Dharma Images for Bai You to see.

The little girl-like Bai You's eyes gleamed with a pale gray light, like burning embers. After observing carefully for a moment, she suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, her face showing exhaustion. She closed her eyes, two tears rolling down her cheeks, and said, "It is indeed a technique of harvesting fortune. The caster's skill is superb, even surpassing mine. This harvesting of fortune is so clean, leaving no residue, yet it does not damage the essence of the harvested one in the slightest, and there is only one trace of harvesting, fleeting and ephemeral. A master indeed!"
Such methods can silently and instantly reap the fortunes of tens of thousands of people; their thieving skill is so formidable that it could be described as stealing a nation!

Wei Yuan was surprised by the little girl's high praise for the other party and immediately felt a little guilty. He hurriedly asked, "Senior, could you explain this luck-harvesting technique in detail? The other party has harvested so much of my luck. Is there any way to prevent this?"

Bai You took out a black handkerchief, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and slowly said, "In ancient times, human emperors used human fortune as a ladder to ascend to heaven step by step. Therefore, the method of stealing fortune has existed since ancient times, and most of them are demonic and evil arts. But later, with the rise of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, each religion developed its own method of collecting fortune, and the names were different. Buddhism calls it turning cause and effect, Confucianism calls it taking fortune, and Taoism calls it the virtuous one."

"Upon the founding of my Taichu Palace, my Immortal Ancestor of the Boundless Temple, deeply concerned about the rampant demonic cultivators and the covetous eyes of other sects, decided to research a method for harvesting fortune to counter this formidable enemy. Later, the method created by the Immortal Ancestor proved so powerful and effective that it was called the 'Method of Harvesting Fortune,' and this name gradually gained popularity."

Wei Yuan finally understood: everything outside the Taichu Palace was taken, only within the Taichu Palace was cut. Therefore, everything outside the palace was evil, while only within the Taichu Palace was the righteous path. This logic made sense; how could the righteous path be cut slower than an evil cult?
Bai You continued, "This person's harvesting of fortune is both accurate and swift, reaching a state of perfection. Even after I ascend to immortality, I'm afraid I wouldn't be any better. Judging purely from his techniques, he combines the styles of my Wuliang Temple and Jianmu Hall, which can be said to be a combination of the strengths of both."

Wei Yuan felt he had discovered something extraordinary again. Did the Jianmu Palace also have methods for harvesting fortune? The Taichu Palace not only had methods for harvesting fortune, but also more than one school of thought.
At this moment, Wei Yuan gained a completely new understanding of the profound heritage of the Taichu Palace.

(End of this chapter)