Chapter 544: Temporary Worker

In the Cold Abyss Realm, Wei Yuan paused to catch his breath and think.

He had spent only one day total during these back-and-forth trips; in the previous round, he had excavated three feet of dark crystal on each side, and now he could finally turn around freely.

But as the dark iron above slowly pressed down, Wei Yuan had no time to rest—he immediately manifested four hammers of varying sizes and began striking the dark crystal.

After his previous experiments, Wei Yuan now roughly understood the vibration range of the dark crystal; the four hammers, each different, struck in rotation, their clinks stacking layer upon layer. After one full cycle of all four hammers, cracks appeared across the dark crystal. After two more rounds of striking, the dark crystal shattered into a pile of fragments.

After collecting the chiseled dark crystal, Wei Yuan gained another table-sized space to move. He continued striking and soon chiseled out another large chunk. Gazing at this relatively intact piece of dark crystal, he suddenly had an idea—he carefully stood it upright, propping it against the descending dark iron.

Wei Yuan excavated two more rounds, totaling several hundred jin of dark crystal, roughly one zhang on each side. He turned back to check—the dark crystal pillar indeed held back the dark iron's descent—and only then did he relax slightly, returning to his digging.

Before his Dao energy was exhausted, Wei Yuan had excavated nearly two thousand jin of dark crystal, totaling about two zhang on each side, before returning to Qingming.

The first thing Wei Yuan did upon returning to Qingming was to find Master Chuhe True Person and Sun Yu, giving each a piece of dark crystal the size of a table. Master Chuhe, the old Daoist, grinned so wide his mouth wouldn't close—he took Wei Yuan to see the Wushen Flower.

The Wushen Flower was entirely deep purple, its petals long and slender, fading from white to purple, with slightly curled tips where a dense violet crystal gathered. The flower looked extremely fragile, yet within a zhang's radius, not a single living thing remained—not even cats or snakes dared approach; only flying weasels ventured slightly closer, but none dared enter within three feet.

Master Chuhe True Person tossed a common magical sword into the air. Instantly, the flower spat out a pale purple mist that clung to the blade. A wisp of vapor rose from the sword and was sucked into the Wushen Flower—then the sword shattered into a pile of lifeless, soulless debris.

Master Chuhe True Person tossed another small piece of dark crystal. This time, the Wushen Flower suddenly surged with excitement, leaping from the soil and wrapping the dark crystal in its leaves midair! It then flew back to its original spot, re-rooting itself in the earth, taking the dark crystal with it underground.

Wei Yuan was startled—he hadn't realized the Wushen Flower could move freely! Its rooting in the soil had merely been an illusion!

Its lunge had been as swift as lightning; a Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn't have dodged it. Even someone like Cui Yu, at that level before forming a Law Form, would have been unable to escape.

"Where did this flower come from?"

The old Daoist didn't hide it: "The seed was found deep underground by Brother Xiao. I used the bones of great Wushen as soil and the corpse-qi of ten thousand Wu Zu as nourishment, finally succeeding in cultivating it. In ancient times, this flower was the natural enemy of the Wu Zu, so I named it the Wushen Flower."

"Now that I have sufficient dark crystal, I'm confident I can cultivate it into a Yu Jing-level demonic flower. Then, within my Law Form, I'll gain another sea of demonic blooms—and in the Wan Hua Realm, I'll advance further. The Xin Xiang Realm is within reach!"

Wei Yuan looked at the Wushen Flower, then recalled the seaweed in the mortal world. It seemed that in the Wuyu realm, every natural enemy was especially numerous—and especially cruel. Even flowers and plants were like this; what of the ferocious birds and beasts? But one thing was common: they all fed on the Wu Zu.

It seemed that since ancient times, the Wu Zu had lived a miserable existence.

Wei Yuan left the herb garden and went to the clinic.

Sun Yu was not greedy at all—he said he absolutely couldn't use so much dark crystal. The amount Wei Yuan gave was enough to mix with thousands of jin of poison, enough to kill half the people of Ningzhou.

But Wei Yuan now had more dark crystal than he knew what to do with, so he forcibly shoved it into Sun Yu's hands. Sun Yu accepted it with a smile, saying he could exchange it for Heavenly Merit whenever he needed money.

Wei Yuan said nothing, turned, and left.

After distributing the materials, Wei Yuan donated several dozen jin of dark crystal to Tai Chu Palace, closing the Merit Hall's contribution channel for now—it would no longer accept dark crystal. While Lu Xuan Xuan Yue Master Fenhai Zhenjun had not yet returned to the northern sect, Wei Yuan used the Reflection Wall to contact his Ancestor, then inquired about the Merit Hall's exchange system.

Tai Chu Palace priced all items in Heavenly Merit, but only Yu Jing-level materials. There were so few Master Fenhai Zhenjun in the entire sect that their numbers changed only every few decades. Many Yu Jing-level materials were useful to only three or five Master Fenhai Zhenjun, sometimes fewer—once quantities exceeded a certain limit, they simply couldn't be used.

This was true of both dark earth and dark crystal.

Yu Jing-level magical treasures required a sentient core material as their foundation—this was the key to determining their quantity and quality. Cold iron and dark crystal were merely auxiliary materials; without the core, no matter how much auxiliary material you had, it was useless.

Having understood how the Tai Chu Palace's Merit exchange system operated, Wei Yuan realized that for now, neither dark iron nor dark crystal could be exchanged—and other materials were likely the same.

But Tai Chu Palace not accepting dark iron didn't mean it had no other uses. In fact, dark iron had extremely wide applications—yet it was simply too expensive. Aside from forging Yu Jing magical treasures, no one dared use it for anything else.

This time, Wei Yuan didn't rush back to the Cold Abyss Realm. He calculated: with the dark crystal pillar supporting it, the underground space could hold for at least a day. But to truly stabilize a space, he still needed dark iron as a pillar.

At this moment, another report appeared in the Mortal World. This report was intriguing—it was co-authored by the Institute of Primordial Creation and the Institute of Equal-Being Warfare Equipment, bearing the distinct flavor of the Outside World.

Along with the report came a recent development plan for the Mortal World. It emphasized raising another small island fifty li out into the ocean, to prepare for future expansion. The plan required Wei Yuan to complete this task within three days, without delay.

Seeing this development plan, Wei Yuan felt utterly drained.

No mistake! One word! One sentence! One detail! One thing! One look!

In the past, the Mortal World had been a little girl he could dress however he pleased—give her a golden hairpin, add a golden-threaded pleated silk skirt. Now, she wanted to dress herself? And assigned him tasks?

Wei Yuan's Dao energy was limited—he had to prepare for war, dig in the Cold Abyss Realm, and now raise land for the Mortal World. It was already insufficient. Worse, this development plan specified the island's exact location, size, and shape—but didn't say what it was for!

Wei Yuan was furious. This was tantamount to rebellion. But when he investigated carefully, he couldn't trace who had proposed the plan. It was as if some hidden dragon, after drinking too much water, suddenly had this idea, then broke it into tasks, and finally produced this plan.

The source of this little dragon was a researcher at the Institute of Primordial Creation—a new recruit, appearing in the Mortal World only after the Rain Kingdom War, and only one month old in actual age.

Though he worked at the Institute, he had not been officially hired. Meaning, if Wei Yuan flew into a rage and demanded accountability for this plan, the final outcome would likely be the dismissal of a temporary worker.

Such a petty trick couldn't fool Wei Yuan. He merely sneered—and went ahead and raised the island exactly as the plan demanded. He wanted to see what those hidden figures behind the scenes truly intended.

Wei Yuan had read extensively in history—he was now on alert. Why else would these people hide themselves, pushing a temporary worker to take the blame?

But such tricks could only fool fools—and even then, with zero sincerity.

This plan mobilized thousands of mortals and two immortal plants—such a massive project couldn't possibly be decided by a temporary worker.

Wei Yuan thought: if they'd put forward a dean or vice-dean to take the blame, it might have looked plausible—perhaps even fooled him.

Though displeased with the development plan, another report deeply intrigued Wei Yuan. The moment he saw it, he forgot his anger and read it carefully. He read it again and again—still unsatisfied.

The report was divided into a main section and attachments. The main section's title: "On Protracted War."

(End of Chapter)