Chapter 421: Massive Upgrade (2)

A few days later.

Wei Yuan was summoned to the Mastercraft Hall. True Lord Jin Shi was seated in the hall, gazing at an antique-looking flowerpot before him. The soil inside the pot was a lustrous black tinged with deep indigo.

The moment he entered the Mastercraft Hall, Wei Yuan’s gaze was immediately drawn to the flowerpot. At the same time, the blood in his veins surged and nearly reached a boiling point in the blink of an eye.

True Lord Jin Shi said, “The immortal-grade storage ring has been opened, and this is what was inside.”

“What is it?” Wei Yuan asked.

Dan Mingzi’s voice came from outside the hall: “This is the blood of a True Dragon, infused with soil from undersea volcanoes in the deepest depths of the Eastern Sea.”

True Lord Jin Shi echoed in agreement, “Senior Brother Dan Ming is more knowledgeable than me in this regard.”

Dan Mingzi entered the hall and took a seat beside True Lord Jin Shi. Gently stroking his long eyebrows, True Lord Jin Shi replied, “This is no ordinary dragon blood. Specifically, it is the blood of a dragon’s liver. When mixed with volcanic soil from the Eastern Sea[1], it becomes an exquisite treasure soil that is perfect for cultivating immortal plants. Ordinary immortal plants planted in it possess the potential to rise by one grade.”

Wei Yuan knew that Dragonhawk must possess a treasure, and it was likely a True Dragon Treasure. However, he never imagined it would be so rare as to alarm even the abbot of Mother Nature Monastery.

True Lord Dan Ming continued, “This treasure soil originally contained three drops of dragon liver blood. This old Daoist took the liberty of extracting one drop and refining it. In this form, its medicinal properties can be released gradually, and it can be taken by those with weakened constitutions to restore their damaged foundation. However, if another drop is added, it will come to possess an effect akin to the Rebirth of Xuanmu[2]. It can aid one in shedding their old foundation, reshaping their physical body, and potentially elevating their constitution to a new level.

“But as with everything, there are both benefits and drawbacks. This action will entangle one with the karmic ties of a True Dragon, which may cause one’s fortune to decline slightly.”

Hearing this, Wei Yuan understood immediately: the refined dragon liver blood was practically tailor-made for Zhang Sheng. Without a moment’s hesitation, he answered, “Please refine another drop, abbot!”

Extracting two out of three drops of True Dragon blood from the treasure soil would undoubtedly cause some sort of degradation. As for the extent of that degradation, Wei Yuan didn’t bother to ask.

Before Dan Mingzi could speak, True Lord Huang Yun appeared beside True Lord Jin Shi and called out, “Wait!”

She then pointed at the flowerpot and said, “The combination of dragon liver blood and the Eastern Sea’s Soil of Water and Fire creates a top-grade treasure soil. It is a priceless treasure to our Jianmu Hall. The Bao Clan’s path to immortality is founded upon the Wood element, and most of their Dao Foundation and Avatar prodigies possess immortal plant treasure trees. Therefore, this pot of soil holds extraordinary significance to themes. Even a True Lord, assuming they’re able to transfer their core Avatar into this soil, may be able to elevate their aptitude just a little further.

“If you were to give this pot of soil to the Bao Clan, no request you made would be considered excessive. Furthermore, if one’s Dao Foundation is an immortal plant, even if it were more than half destroyed, this soil would not only restore that damage, but also allow it to advance to the next level. However, there must be at least two drops of dragon blood in that soil. If even one drop is missing, it will not boast such miraculous effects.”

Upon hearing this, Wei Yuan immediately understood what True Lord Huang Yun was referring to.

Looking up at the three True Lords seated high above, Wei Yuan couldn’t help but feel another headache coming on. How did they seem to know everything about his personal affairs? Was there anything that they didn’t know?

But now the dilemma was right in front of him: there were a total of three drops of dragon liver blood, and each side needed two drops. Just one drop was useless. Wei Yuan suddenly felt as if he’d been handed a no-win question.

The three True Lords seemed to have their own standpoint as well: Dan Mingzi was subtly siding with the Skyblue Hall, True Lord Huang Yun was clearly backing the Bao Clan, and True Lord Jin Shi was neutral.

After much deliberation, Wei Yuan asked, “Is there any dragon liver blood left in the Palace?”

Dan Mingzi shook his head. “We have the blood of a True Dragon, but none that comes from the liver.”

True Lord Huang Yun also said, “For treasure trees and immortal plants, dragon liver blood is an irreplaceable treasure. Not even the blood of a True Dragon will do.”

Wei Yuan’s headache grew even worse.

After weighing his options, Wei Yuan finally said, “I humbly request that Senior Danming refine another drop of dragon blood.”

Seeing that Wei Yuan had made his decision, Senior Danming and Senior Huang Yun vanished[3].

Once the two True Lords had departed, True Lord Jin Shi took out a weapon and handed it to Wei Yuan. The weapon bore some resemblance to the Immaculate Pure Land, but it was larger in size and had a wider barrel. Even Wei Yuan’s large hands were barely enough to grip it.

The barrel was also longer, with a bulging section on one side housing the bolt mechanism, through which ammunition could be loaded. Aside from the bolt mechanism, the barrel was covered in fine grooves designed both to improve grip and to serve as engraved mystic arrays.

True Lord Jin Shi tapped his finger, causing three metal tubes to appear before him and float toward Wei Yuan. He then said, “This is the... hmm, ammunition for your new gun.”

Clearly, True Lord Jin Shi was still new to the term “ammunition.”

Wei Yuan took them and pressed one round tube into the gun. Then, with a flick of his Dao energy, he ejected it out. Both the loading and ejection felt incredibly smooth.

“My apologies, but this old Daoist is truly not very skilled in this area. These three rounds of ammunition are all prototypes; just take them and use them for now. Each one possesses the power of a single strike from a late-stage Avatar.” Having said that, True Lord Jin Shi handed Wei Yuan the design blueprints for the three rounds of ammunition.

The jade paper was densely covered with array diagrams, as well as the ingredients for the ammo casing and core. At a glance, Wei Yuan spotted at least seven types of expensive materials. A single round of ammunition like this was easily worth tens of thousands of taels of immortal silver. Having grown accustomed to ammunition costing just one tael per round, he couldn’t help but wince at the cost.

True Lord Jin Shi said, “This old Daoist has reforged this gun with numerous added materials. It is now equivalent to a World Ruler’s spirit treasure. However, once you return, you’ll need to select some immortal spirit qi to infuse into it, then reforge and activate it with the flame of an Avatar. Only then can you awaken its hidden miracles, transform it into a true spirit treasure, and store it in your sea of consciousness.”

“Thank you, True Lord!” Wei yuan had originally thought it could only be upgraded to a top-grade mystic treasure, but the Hallmaster of the Mastercraft Hall turned out to be far more generous than he thought—he had directly elevated it to the level of a spirit treasure.

True Lord Jin Shi added, “Consider this spear as compensation for the Essence of Metal you’ve gotten for Zhizhuo. Also, I’ll be sending some more disciples over to your realm to gain some experience.”

Wei Yuan was overjoyed, of course. This was a free lunch that had fallen into his lap.

Upon returning to his quarters, Wei Yuan immediately set to work reforging his newly acquired gun.

Once activated by immortal spirit qi, the weapon would naturally harmonize with Heaven and Earth. It would then draw upon Wei Yuan’s predetermined destiny, fortune, and the current environment to spontaneously generate matching miracles and properties. It would also gain its own name.

Of course, everything came with its trade-offs. Wei Yuan would not have the joy or right to name the weapon himself.

The array required for the reforging process had already been provided by True Lord Jin Shi. Wei Yuan spent some time setting up the array, and then it was time to choose which immortal spirit qi he would use to activate the spear.

At this stage, Wei Yuan hit another snag. He had simply way too many types of immortal spirit qi in his disposal. In their bid to become the core of the spirit treasure, the immortal plants had already begun squabbling among themselves. Actually, scratch that, they were already on the verge of coming to blows.

This was a serious matter. Even the four orchids could no longer remain composed. They banded together to oppose the other immortal plants, and for a time, their sheer numbers gave them a formidable presence. However, Wei Yuan had a feeling that, assuming these orchids actually succeeded in subduing the other immortal plants, they would immediately turn on each other.

Although immortal plants had differing grades, Wei Yuan felt that was merely a human classification. Each type of immortal plant possessed unique miracles and uses. When used in the right context, their potential was unmatched by no other. This, of course, gave Wei Yuan quite a headache, so he issued it as a new mission to the three major research institutes of the Great Realm.

This mission was no small matter. Devotees of every immortal plant sprang into action, striving to prove that their immortal plant was the strongest.

It was only then that Wei Yuan realized that faith is faith. If it were based on logic and reason, then it wouldn’t be faith, it would be what Xu Wenwu called “science.”

The intensity of the arguments among the various factions reached a fever pitch right from the start, resembling nothing less than a series of holy wars. To ensure that their immortal plant emerged victorious, the first step was to secure control over the three major research institutes, and the second was to submit their immortal plant as the one true immortal plant in the mission reports.

The mortals quickly grasped the crux of the struggle, and in the blink of an eye, the conflict entered its second phase: the battle for leadership over specific groups.

The struggle in this phase was far more complex. Since Wei Yun had ruled out martial conflict as a way to decide anything from the very beginning, the various factions of devotees had no choice but to rely on their wits, making the struggle exceptionally complicated.

The mortals engaged in debates from every possible angle—whether decisions should be made by majority or minority rule, how lineage should be defined, the hierarchy of various occupations, original sin, and so on. It eventually got to the point where they discussed the very definition of leadership itself.

Those who lost the arguments did not give up. Some prepared to launch martial conflict, while others began questioning the authority of the three great research institutes and set out to establish their own. However, they split over the question of what kind of research institute they should create, ultimately leading to the establishment of several new ones.

In the blink of an eye, several new research institutes sprang up across the Great Realm. In the end, every immortal plant had its own dedicated institute. In this regard. The orchids held a clear advantage as it boasted four research institutes in total.

The real headache, however, came from the small group intent on martial conflict, many of them hailing from the Nine Heavens Ten Earths Battle Sage Cultivation Complex. Since they had muscle for brains and fire for tempers, verbal sparring was naturally not their strong suit. As a result, once the debates began, they were quickly defeated and left seething in rage.

Since Wei Yuan had ruled out the option of martial conflict from the very beginning, some of them grew resentful, believing that Heaven and Earth were unjust, the immortals and gods were unjust, and the realm lord was unjust.

In the end, they turned their wrath against Wei Yuan, accusing him of being the puppet master pulling the scenes behind the scenes. They even chanted slogans such as:

“My fate belongs to me, not the heavens!”

“Are Immortal Lords and realm lords given their high status by birth?”

They plotted to destroy Wei Yuan’s immortal statue[4], overthrow his tyrannical rule over the humanity existing within the Great Realm, and proclaim the jade toad as the new lord of the realm. They began secretly carving statues of the toad to be placed throughout the Great Realm to strengthen their faith.

Before launching their uprising, they suddenly stormed into the Dawn of Heaven and Earth Institute and unearthed a large seal from the courtyard, inscribed with the words: “Having received the Mandate of the Toad, may the Toad lead a long and prosperous life.”

This group then went about the land carrying the seal, proclaiming that the time had come and that it was time to reestablish the order of Qian and Kun[5].

Unable to tolerate this farce any longer, Wei Yuan unleashed several bolts of lightning upon these overly dramatic fools the meaning of the saying, “Heaven and Earth are merciless.”

After dithering for some time and eventually realizing that the mortals simply could not provide a unified answer, he adopted a compromise: using Yin Yang’s aura as the base, he took a small amount of qi from each immortal plant and blended them all together. Then, he channeled the mixture into the mystic array.

Thus, the worldly origin qi manifested and poured down, fusing within the array with the various elements of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, as well as various fortunes, to generate a spark of spirituality. Consequently, the spear became sentient and gained a name: Brutality.

1. Author put southern sea here... christ these typos will be the death of me eventually. ☜

2. This sounds grand, but Xuan means profound/mystical, and Mu means female. This line, “玄牝之门，是谓天地根” means “The Gate of Xuanmu is the root of Heaven and Earth.” Again, it sounds incredibly grand, but it really means that all living things come from the female reproductive organ... lol. That said, I suppose I do appreciate that the olden people don’t mince words with fundamental truths. Or at least, they use pretty words to make it less... blunt. ☜

3. You guys have NO. IDEA. How juicy all this is due to the author’s previous novel. I can’t believe the guy wrote an entire novel just as a setup for this one. At least I personally believe so. ☜

4. Yes it was destroyed, but they obviously rebuilt it. ☜

5. Meaning Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang, the Universe. You can see why I just transliterated it in the end. Ah, I miss my Stranger Danger days where words are just part of a word salad.... ☜