Chapter 240: Heaven is Unfair

Dusk was approaching, and the setting sun was like blood.

In the commandery city of Bianning Commandery, there was smoke from cooking everywhere, and the sound of chickens crowing and dogs barking could be heard from time to time; if it weren't for the thick green Qi that could be seen not far from the city, this place would be like a paradise.

There were still many people queuing at the city gate waiting to enter the city, and soldiers were rummaging through their luggage, occasionally stuffing things that looked decent into their own bosoms.

A lazy general sat on the city wall, looking not very old, lazily watching the people queuing under the city. The original city gate captain stood beside him, looking like he was nodding and bowing.

That young general yawned and said: "You have many people looking, but the oil and water are not good! Those guys are all dressed in rags; how much money can you get if you strip them all?"

The captain complained: "Isn't that so! These days, all that come are these kinds of people; occasionally we can meet a few merchant caravans, but they all have backgrounds, giving two rewards as a routine, simply like dismissing beggars."

After complaining, he immediately changed into a smiling face and said: "Still have to follow General Yue, to be able to eat well and drink well!"

Yue Qilin yawned again and said: "It's almost time for dinner, eating is important; tell your people not to check anymore, let them all in and close the gate quickly! Then go to your house to eat! I'm craving the food your wife cooks."

The captain's face blossomed with joy: "My woman, although she is ugly, her cooking is indeed unique! Tonight I prepared old tofu with pickled vegetables; it will definitely give you a new taste!"

Yue Qilin patted his shoulder and said: "Good! If it tastes good this time, I'll let my newly married little wife learn from your wife."

"Don't worry! Guaranteed to teach and guarantee to learn!"

The soldiers at the city gate stopped checking and let all the queuing people in at once. Among the crowd were many strong men, carrying tattered packages, and after entering the city, they disappeared without a trace.

The Commandery Governor's mansion was brightly lit, and the music was melodious.

In the main hall of the mansion, a large table was set, and the Bianning Commandery Governor Li Weisheng was hosting a banquet for his colleagues. As the main official second only to the Commandery Governor in the commandery, the Vice Prefect Sun Chaoen naturally sat beside him.

An official said: "Why didn't General Yue come?"

Li Weisheng said lightly: "General Yue doesn't like liveliness, and isn't used to these vulgar dishes, so if he doesn't come, he doesn't come."

Immediately, several officials observed the situation and began to talk about Yue Qilin's faults. However, everyone's words were very measured, and there were no overly outrageous remarks.

After three rounds of wine, Li Weisheng said: "Lord Sun, I heard that you sent a memorial to the capital early in the morning; what important matter is it, worthy of such diligence?"

Sun Chaoen smiled and said: "I am not like Lord Li, with a deep foundation and no backing in the imperial court, so I have to be diligent. There is nothing much in that memorial; isn't there news of an immortal tree from the west recently? I saw an immortal tree in an ancient book in my early years, named Bai Yu Scarlet Cherry, which is very similar to the rumors of this tree. This Bai Yu Scarlet Cherry is an immortal tree that can prolong life, which is extremely rare."

"Rumors may not be true; Lord Sun is impatient. Is that the only thing in the memorial?"

"Of course not. I impeached Commandery Governor Yuan; that immortal tree is under his jurisdiction, and he was completely unaware of it until it became widely known. Just the crime of poor governance and ineffective supervision is enough for him to drink a pot. Secondly, I also impeached Commander Yue Jinshan; recently the Shaman tribe has had frequent movements, but he has no achievements, and he appoints people by nepotism, monopolizing power, and doesn't communicate with civil officials about any military fortress generals; he has a rebellious heart!"

Li Weisheng had originally brought a cup of wine to his mouth, but it stopped there, and he said in astonishment: "Lord Sun, you... impeached a bit too much."

Sun Chaoen said: "Eating the monarch's salary, being loyal to the monarch's affairs, that's all."

Li Weisheng said again: "There is a difficult problem at the moment, and I hope all the lords can think of a way. Recently, the refugees coming from within the pass have been increasing day by day, and the city is already somewhat overwhelmed."

At this time, a young official with a scholarly look sitting at the very bottom said: "The Shaman Domain is arduous, with war fires flying; these people don't live well within the pass, what are they doing running outside the pass?"

The officials' expressions remained unchanged, but in their hearts, they were all sneering secretly: This one is truly someone who has never touched the world, if they could live within the pass, who would run thousands of miles outside the pass?

This official's surname was Cai, and he was a Metropolitan Graduate pointed last year, and after being recorded, he was placed in Bianning Commandery.

Gaining everyone's praise, the scholar's spirit was lifted, and he raised his voice, saying: "Human life is at stake; these people have come thousands of miles to Bianning Commandery, and they must have no grain left. And there is still plenty of surplus grain in the commandery; I think we should set up porridge sheds, open the granaries to release grain, and then drive these commoners to reclaim the surrounding wasteland; in this way, the overall situation can be settled next year."

Li Weisheng pondered and did not speak.

Sun Chaoen then said: "Although there is grain in the commandery, there are fixed numbers, and military grain also has to come from here, and the militia also has to come from here. Every grain of rice is not surplus. If we release grain because a few hungry people come today, and release grain because a few hungry people come tomorrow, how much grain is enough to release? We are not immortals and cannot conjure grain out of thin air."

The scholar surnamed Cai's face couldn't hold up, and he argued: "I have read the account books; there is still plenty of grain in the books, enough to last until after autumn next year. As long as enough new fields are opened this year, the official treasury can be replenished next year."

Sun Chaoen said lightly: "I don't know where Lord Cai saw the account books? Why didn't I see them?"

Without waiting for the scholar surnamed Cai to answer, Sun Chaoen said again: "Releasing grain without an imperial decree, is Lord Cai truly for the imperial court, or do you want to use the imperial court's money and grain to fight for your own reputation?"

These words were heavy. The scholar surnamed Cai flushed red and argued: "My own reputation is of no importance..."

Li Weisheng interrupted him and said: "Releasing grain is a major matter, and this official cannot decide alone; it is better to report it and wait for the lords in the court to decide."

The scholar surnamed Cai sat down unhappily and didn't speak anymore.

Several officials exchanged glances secretly. They knew the inside story; that grain was only stored in the account books, and the granaries were empty, and the grain inside had long been resold. As for who it was sold to, everyone knew it well, but no one asked or mentioned it; after all, everyone had shared the silver.

——

(The legendary separator, this line outside the brackets only counts as one character)

Azure Void. Wei Yuan hadn't rested for several days; he ran back and forth between the weapon forging field, the mine, the medicine garden, the training ground, etc., almost doing everything himself, as if only this could make him forget some things.

At this time, the sky was neither bright nor dark, the sun was born and the yin descended, and the vitality was at its most concentrated and lively time. The training ground was solemn, and over two hundred cultivators sat cross-legged in the training ground, waiting for the arrival of the most important moment in their lives.

Most of the cultivators were dressed in rags, and one could tell at a glance that they were from the Domain of Shattering. But among them, there were dozens of people who were brightly dressed and uniform in style; these were all Cui family children.

Wei Yuan walked on the training ground, walked among the crowd, and at this time, spiritual energy surged, and he opened "Instant Shacha Shacha Zhongsheng" once again to give everyone a final experience.

With the help of Azure Void, Wei Yuan could perceive the situation of everyone's sea of consciousness and could roughly judge the probability of achieving Dao Foundation.

This batch of realm cultivators was much worse than the previous two batches; roughly only about half could forge a Dao Foundation, and even if Wei Yuan blessed them with luck, the number that could achieve it was less than seven tenths.

The cultivators in the realm who originally had enough talent but were limited by cultivation techniques and resources had already forged Dao Foundations. Those who were starting to forge foundations now basically had insufficient talent and bone structure, and had congenital hard injuries; even if Wei Yuan used luck as a foundation to forcibly raise them a notch, and then illuminated the path ahead with "Instant Shacha Shacha Zhongsheng," there were still many who couldn't pass the Dao Foundation hurdle.

Wei Yuan felt secretly sorry in his heart. These cultivators had all experienced many bloody battles, and it could be said that they all crawled out of piles of dead people, each with firm will and iron-like determination. It was just that their innate foundation was too poor, just like building a house on floating sand; no matter how brilliant a designer came, it was useless.

The Cui family members were another story.

Most of these playboys from noble families had only experienced the one bloody battle that had just passed; now there were seventy people left, including twenty-something who bought immortality.

So the true combat loss of the Cui family disciples was that thirty died in battle out of over seventy, with nearly half casualties. But the improvement brought by surviving the bloody battle was also quite obvious; the primordial spirits of those who survived had all grown stronger, and their will was not comparable to before. Actually, these people didn't know that the strengthening of the primordial spirit was their true harvest, and in some respects, it was even more important than the Dao Foundation.

!.

Among these Cui family children who had been on the battlefield, even without relying on luck, there were eight who had hopes of condensing a Dao Foundation at this time, among which a young girl had a sword embryo faintly appearing in her sea of consciousness, and she actually had hopes for the Earth-rank.

Wei Yuan still remembered that on that day, this young girl kept promoting herself because she wanted to buy immortality for her younger brother, but she couldn't promote herself.

Wei Yuan walked among them, secretly supplementing luck for several of them, roughly making up fourteen Dao Foundations. As for that young girl, Wei Yuan gave an extra strand of Dao luck, perhaps to push her to the Earth-rank.

In contrast, the twenty-something who bought their lives looked very ugly; their primordial spirits were all dim and lusterless, and their will was even more shattered; there were several who couldn't even achieve purity and emptiness now, and various thoughts kept popping up one after another; Wei Yuan didn't know how their seas of consciousness were refined.

The medicinal Qi on these people was very heavy; one could tell at a glance that they hadn't eaten less medicine since childhood, and as a result, the medicinal properties were stagnant and not dissipated, which instead affected their foundation. Not everyone was like Wei Yuan back then, who could eat pills as meals without leaving any medicinal Qi.

Speaking of bone structure, these twenty-something were the highest among all the crowds, but their primordial spirits were dim and weak, and their state of mind was filthy, just like having a solid foundation, but the building materials were all mud and dry grass, so naturally, nothing could be built.

Among the crowd, only one young master in brocade clothes had extraordinary bone structure, and his primordial spirit was also strong, like a crane standing among chickens, not in vain for Wei Yuan to have placed three strands of luck on him back then.

The bell rang nine times, which was the extreme of numbers.

"Instant Shacha Shacha Zhongsheng" closed, "Wood-Born Profound" opened, and everyone began to condense the Dao Foundation.

Heaven and earth spiritual energy poured down from the void from time to time, and those who forged Dao Foundations were led to the side, where there were high-level cultivators specifically explaining matters of consolidating the Dao Foundation.

Joyful cheers rang out from time to time in the training ground, and there were also people sighing, and even people crying bitterly. The training ground had long been set up with arrays, and those who hadn't completed the foundation forging couldn't hear the sounds of the outside world at all, nor could they feel the Dao power fluctuations of others.

Although there were many cultivators in the training ground, only the Cui family children were noisy and shouting.

The realm cultivators were all silent; those who succeeded waved their fists hard, which counted as celebration. Those who failed were also very calm, waiting for the next opportunity.

After another moment, there were sounds of cursing one after another, and there were people who wouldn't let go of the realm cultivators, insisting on asking for an explanation: why could they not forge a Dao Foundation even though they spent money, while those who were from collateral branches and many of whom were still carrying wounds could forge it?

It wasn't until Cui Yu appeared, kicking the few leaders who were making trouble to the ground with a dark face, that the incident was suppressed.

Just at this time, a beam of light shot into the sky from the top of that young master in brocade clothes, huge lotus petals slowly bloomed around him, and a tyrannical aura swept across the training ground.

That young master stood up and laughed toward the sky: "Who said I, Cui Changfeng, couldn't forge a Dao Foundation? When I go back, this green lotus will blind the dog eyes of those old things!"

Looking at the green lotus that was gradually fading, Cui Yu had a face of black Qi and looked toward Wei Yuan.

Wei Yuan was also astonished; could it be that he used too much force and catalyzed a Heavenly Foundation? But then he thought about it and felt something was wrong; according to this guy's original bone structure and state of mind, let alone three strands of luck, even thirty strands wouldn't catalyze a Heavenly Foundation, so there must be other reasons.

At this time, that young master in brocade clothes saw Wei Yuan, came over, and reached out to pat him on the shoulder, saying: "You kid are not bad, you do things reliably, the few thousand taels of immortal silver I spent were worth it!"

His hand hadn't landed on Wei Yuan's shoulder yet when he was kicked over by Cui Yu, and then it was a beating.

That young master called out in pain while saying: "Brother Yu, lighter, lighter! You and I are both Heavenly Foundations now, so many people are watching, leave me some face..."

At this moment, Cui Yu only hated that the heavens were blind and the Great Dao was unjust, and he struck with another three-tenths of his strength.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 241 =====