Longzang

Chapter 1218 Face
After agreeing on the breakthrough to the Great Core stage, the cultivators dispersed. Feng Chutang, however, didn't leave immediately. He lagged behind, and when no one was around, said to Wei Yuan, "The Pure Land has a very long history and a vast accumulation of knowledge; there are countless methods within its sect. I think we should be careful. These guys from the Pure Land are worshipping you for no reason; they definitely don't have good intentions!"

Wei Yuan stopped and asked, "So what do you plan to do?"

Feng Chutang said without hesitation, "Arrest those people first, charge them with being spies of the Pure Land, and if there's no evidence, we'll fabricate some. After they're taken down, we'll interrogate them slowly. In short, we can't let them worship so casually."

Wei Yuan said, "As you know, many of the guys who come out of the Pure Land, especially those with high cultivation, are just empty shells. Torture won't work."

Feng Chutang disagreed, saying, "My Taichu Palace has many spells, and our ancestors have passed down many righteous methods that can bewitch the mind and confuse the spirit. If I learn more spells, I will surely find one that can deal with the bald thief."

Wei Yuan chuckled and said, "Even if we find out they're spies for the Pure Land, what about the believers? Are we going to arrest them all too? That's hundreds of thousands of people!"

Feng Chutang's face turned gloomy, and he said coldly, "Those who achieve great things do not concern themselves with trifles! Although these mortals are blindly obedient, they are also guilty and should be punished! We can build a city in the mining area or the mountains, move them there, and have them do hard labor such as mining, iron smelting, and road construction. We can gradually temper their character and erase all traces of Buddhism before releasing them."

Wei Yuan shook his head: "This has escalated into a major incident. Besides, even if these people have made mistakes, they shouldn't be punished. If you were just a mortal, unaware of all the complexities, and saw someone opening the path to immortality by worshipping the Realm Lord, wouldn't you participate?"

"That's true, but..."

Wei Yuan interrupted him, saying, "Don't make any big moves for now. Let's figure out what the Pure Land is planning to do first. Until then, we can freeze the opening of new dojos and prohibit old dojos from registering. Let's impose some restrictions for now."

Feng Chutang frowned, still dissatisfied.

Wei Yuan advised, "Uncle-Master Feng, we have many important matters to attend to right now, all of which take precedence over this matter. Those monks from the Pure Land are unpredictable and elusive, and they like to lay traps far and wide. Let them do as they please! They can plot their schemes bit by bit, while we will blaze our own trail on the main road. Before long, the Pure Land's schemes will naturally become useless."

Feng Chutang sighed helplessly and said, "I have been very worried lately. This is my Dharma Image's ability to sense disasters. Don't underestimate the Pure Land. I have consulted the classics and it seems that the Pure Land was behind the fall of the third, fourth and fifth generation palace masters. But during that period, the Pure Land had a particularly close relationship with my Taichu Palace on the surface. The two families even fought against the Sword Palace together."

"That bald thief is cunning, I knew it all along, don't worry!"

After seeing Feng Chutang off, Wei Yuan returned to the Lü Clan's ancestral mountain to begin preparations for alchemy. Others handled the preparation of materials, the setup of the alchemy furnace, and the adjustment of the weather and earth veins around the main hall; Wei Yuan only needed to light the fire and begin the alchemy process.

After years of operation, the Refining World Array has now basically covered the entire ancestral land, with only the bottom part still unsealed. Wei Yuan then separated a portion of his divine sense to begin digging from top to bottom.

The upper part of the immortal's remains at the foot of the ancestral mountain had been noticeably thinned, and several deep holes led directly into the interior. Inside the mountain, a hollow several tens of feet high had been carved out, with a cylindrical pillar ten feet thick and fifty feet high standing in the center. At this moment, thousands of array threads were constantly cutting at this pillar, but it would take a long time before a piece of fine white sand fell off.

This cylinder was exceptionally difficult to cut, but it was none other than an immortal's unrefined finger bone! As soon as Wei Yuan dug to this point, he immediately began to dig along the finger bone, while simultaneously gathering points to refine it.

Time flies when you're busy. Wei Yuan occasionally checked on recent events in Qingming, and then some reports caught his attention.

……

Several months ago.

Although there had been no major battles for several years, the border between Jin and Zhao was never a peaceful place.

Three Dharma Masters were flying through the air, piloting their magical artifacts, when a beam of light appeared ahead, carrying an old man and a young boy. The two groups were at the same altitude, facing each other head-on.

The three Dharma Masters of the team suddenly stopped and shouted, "Who are you? How dare you scan me with your divine sense?"

The old man stood in the air, protecting the boy to his side, and sneered, "That's a ridiculous thing to say! The world is so vast, how can you see the way without divine sense? Besides, what can I do to you three fake cultivators?"

The three Dharma Aspects were furious and shouted in unison, "We are subordinates of Qingming, here to escort military supplies! Your approach to us is an act of treachery!"

The old man snorted and said, "Not everyone wants to be a dog. If you've chosen to be a dog, don't wag your tail, or people will know you're naked!"

Since things have come to this point, the only option left is to fight.

A moment later, the three Dharma Aspects, covered in wounds and disheveled, fled at full speed, not daring to look back, and even threw away the storage backpacks they were carrying.

The old man took out a square handkerchief and wiped away the two beads of sweat that had finally appeared on his forehead. The boy's eyes lit up, and he lunged towards the storage backpack on the ground. But he froze halfway there, stopped by the old man's finger.

“That’s Qingming’s military supplies. The backpacks are sealed. Once opened, the military formation will know immediately. We’re just passing through. It’s okay to kill a few Golden Core defeated dogs, but if we touch the military supplies, Qingming will send high-level cultivators to hunt us down. They might even send a Earthly Realm cultivator or a Heavenly Realm cultivator.”

The boy was so startled that he stuck out his tongue, not daring to make a move. The old man put several backpacks together, casually set up a protective array, and then took the boy into the air to continue their journey.

Several hours later, a group of Dharma Aspect cultivators swiftly arrived. They were neatly dressed, all in black robes with silver patterns, the clothes tailored to fit their bodies perfectly, exuding competence and strength. This group of ten were all Dharma Aspect cultivators, with the leader having a golden pattern on his shoulder insignia, indicating he was a Human-rank Dharma Aspect cultivator, not a Golden Core cultivator.

As soon as the Dharma Masters arrived, they immediately surrounded the area. Then, several of them opened their backpacks, took out tools and array plates, and began to conduct an on-site investigation.

"The backpack contained fingerprints, all of which have been extracted and are available for comparison."

"The array contains traces of magical energy, which has been successfully absorbed. We are currently analyzing the source of the magical energy and its cultivation method... The analysis is complete. It is the 'Spring Pavilion Dew Collection Method,' a cultivation method of the Jiangliu Sect from Wen County, Yuzhou, in the northern border of Zhao State."

"The surrounding environment has been surveyed. There should be two cultivators staying here for a long time, one in the middle stage of Dharma Aspect and the other in the Foundation Stage of Dao."

"【Jiangliu Sect】There is one Yujing, and three Dharma Aspects, of which only one is at the mid-stage of Dharma Aspect: Zhang Zhounian. His Dao Foundation is full of vitality and not very old. He should be his great-grandson who is known as a genius."

These cultivators were extremely professional and meticulous in their investigation. This place was not far from Qingming, and they had special magical artifacts that could connect them to the prosperity of various realms, so their investigation was exceptionally swift, almost instantaneous.

In the blink of an eye, the identities of the old man and the boy were completely exposed.

One of the Golden Core cultivators suggested, "Should we petition the General to dispatch the Night Patrol Division to arrest the man?"

The cultivator with a golden mark on his shoulder pondered for a moment before saying, "They haven't touched the military supplies because they're afraid of things escalating. And since they're heading towards the Zhao Kingdom, they should already be inside Zhao territory. If we go into the Zhao Kingdom to capture people, it will probably cause trouble. This matter is no longer within our authority. Let's report it."

The cultivators then cleaned up the scene and submitted a report on the spot using their magical artifacts. After finishing all the tasks, a Golden Core cultivator suddenly said, "Lord Cui, our returning colleagues said that the old fellow looked down on them quite a bit. We are all Golden Core cultivators as well, and we can't swallow this insult."

General Cui said somewhat helplessly, "Then we can only set up an ambush nearby and see if he will pass through this place again. In any case, he is not allowed to pass through Zhao territory."

“General, I know that our Golden Core Dharma Aspects are weak, but this is unique to Qingming! They know this and still come to humiliate us. Doesn't that mean they don't respect Qingming or the Realm Lord?”

The general surnamed Cui was also speechless, so he added a few more sentences after the report.

This is not an isolated case. With the surrounding wars ceasing, the Azure Nether Army has no place to use its skills. However, more and more affairs are being taken over by Golden Core Dharma Images and Template Dao Foundations. In many cases, they have to go outside the Azure Nether, and some cultivators have even ventured into the Southern Jin and Song Kingdoms.

Without Qingming, the template Dao Foundation was somewhat acceptable, and everyone was used to it. However, the Golden Core Dharma Form was simply like something from another world; the cultivators only saw it as a novelty and ridiculed it in various ways.

As people moved further away from Qingming, they no longer cared about Qingming's power. When cultivators disagreed, they naturally sought to prove their strength in Daoist arts. However, how could a Golden Core Dharma Form compare to a True Dharma Form? Naturally, they were all utterly defeated, losing ten battles without a single victory.

Each of the numerous reports added a bit of unease to Wei Yuan's mind. As the unease grew, he suddenly realized that this was a matter that needed to be resolved.

There were already quite a few reports of Golden Core cultivators suffering defeats and humiliations in battles, and the number that went unreported must be even greater. Furthermore, other intelligence sources mentioned an incident where a Golden Core cultivator fought three Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Southern Jin Dynasty, was defeated, and captured. This became a laughing stock, and many who were planning to switch to the Golden Core path changed their minds.

At this moment, a voice gradually grew louder in Wei Yuan's heart: The Golden Core is unique to Qingming. To humiliate the Golden Core is to humiliate Qingming, and to humiliate the Realm Lord...

A chill ran through Wei Yuan's eyes, and in the blink of an eye, a research topic was placed on the desks of many researchers: improving the combat power of Golden Core cultivators.

Times have changed. Qingming is no longer conquering the world with just a dozen or so Dharma Forms; its research now relies on millions of templates. With a massive number of researchers, it won't be long before the Qingming Golden Core astonishes the world!

Beneath the passionate outburst, a small thought lingered: if I could vent this anger and clear my Dao heart, wouldn't all you Golden Core cultivators feel embarrassed to keep hiding your destiny any longer?

(End of this chapter)