Chapter 94

Wei Yuan had only heard before that the Grandmaster had achieved success in Daoist arts, traveled west alone, and placed the first Boundary Stone in a place where alien races were rampant, which was also the origin of the Tai Chu Palace's mountain gate, Konggu Xuanqing. Since then, he had never heard of Boundary Stones again.

Boundary Stones can be listed as a major category alone, which is obviously extremely important, which aroused Wei Yuan's curiosity, so he clicked to browse. Under the major category, there were several subcategories: Boundary Stone, Advancement, Supreme, and Exotic.

There are numerous entries under the Boundary Stone subcategory, and there are also detailed introductions. The core of the Boundary Stone is refined from Void Nether Stone, which has the ability to transform heaven and earth. As for what realm it is after transformation, it is determined by the cultivator who nourishes it. After the Boundary Stone is planted, the destiny of heaven and earth within a certain range will be transformed accordingly, generally leaning toward the human realm's clear domain.

The main means for the human race to open up territory is the Boundary Stone.

After planting the Boundary Stone, cultivators need to constantly nourish it with the essence of heaven and earth and various heavenly materials and earthly treasures. When nourished to a certain degree, the Boundary Stone can advance. Generally speaking, a most basic Boundary Stone can transform a town's area; after a hundred years of nourishment, it becomes a middle-rank, which can cover a county's area; a thousand years is a high-rank, which can encompass a county's area. Within the coverage of the Boundary Stone, the human race can freely multiply and live, reclaiming wasteland and farming.

There are over a hundred entries under the ordinary Boundary Stone list, and Wei Yuan looked at them carefully one by one.

Boundary Stone 377: Nourished for seventeen years, qualified, no characteristics;

Boundary Stone 491: Nourished for five years, qualified, no characteristics;

Boundary Stone 1302: Nourished for forty-eight years, qualified, possesses weak Earth-Bearing Power.

Boundary Stone 2033: Not nourished, qualified.

Each Boundary Stone has a serial number, which is basically unique. The major immortal sects, major sects, and the Great Tang all share information with each other, and major events like Boundary Stones are the main content of mutual communication. These Boundary Stones have been nourished for a few years, some for decades, and some have not been nourished yet, which should be newly made Boundary Stones.

As for those Boundary Stones that have not been nourished for long but have returned to the exchange catalog, Wei Yuan understood after reading a few more explanations. The owners of these Boundary Stones went out to open up territory, but the alien races were powerful, the settlements were destroyed, and the Boundary Stones had to be uprooted and taken back. Many cultivators died in battle when the settlements were breached, and then the Boundary Stones were found by others and brought back, eventually falling into the hands of the Tai Chu Palace.

Behind the many Boundary Stones that have been nourished for less than a hundred years are destroyed settlements, and mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

While sighing, Wei Yuan looked at the price of a new Boundary Stone: one hundred thousand merit points.

Wei Yuan silently closed the information.

After steadying his mind, Wei Yuan clicked on a Boundary Stone that had been nourished for seven years and was surprised to find that the price was ninety-one thousand merit points. Why is a nourished Boundary Stone cheaper?

Wei Yuan put down the jade tablet and went to consult the deacon Daoist in the hall.

The Daoist looked at Wei Yuan and said: "A new Boundary Stone is like a piece of new jade. After nourishment, it is marked with the owner's Dao power. If the later successor's Dao power is incompatible with the previous owner's, they have to spend extra effort to grind away the existing Dao power mark and nourish it from scratch. Even if the Dao power attributes of the previous and next owners are similar, purity becomes increasingly important in the later stages. The purer the Boundary Stone and the thicker the nourishment, the more wonders it will have. So, second-hand Boundary Stones that have not been nourished for long are actually not as expensive as new ones."

"So that's how it is." Wei Yuan suddenly realized, and then continued to ask humbly: "Some Boundary Stones that have been nourished for seventy or eighty years have prices far higher than new ones. Why is that?" "After a hundred years of nourishment, the heat is reached, the Boundary Stone will advance, and the boundary will expand tenfold. Compared with the benefits of advancement, purity is not worth mentioning."

Wei Yuan nodded, not expecting that opening up territory was so complicated and had so much knowledge.

The Daoist could not help but say: "Little junior brother, don't blame the old Daoist for saying one more word. If a Dao Foundation wants to open up territory, they must at least cultivate to Spirit Nurturing. This is not child's play, and the alien races are not just talking about being cruel; they will really kill people. How did you think the many second-hand Boundary Stones in the catalog came about? Most of them were ownerless when they were sent here!"

The Daoist started and said earnestly: "Little junior brother, opening up territory is not playing house. The Boundary Stone is just one link, far from everything. If you want to open up territory, you must have relatives and teachers to suppress the situation, right? You must have elite personal guards to serve as the backbone of the army, right? You must prepare food, pay, and magic tools, right? For the first ten years, you must prepare food, clothing, housing, and transportation for mortals, right? These are all merit points! According to past examples, if you want to open up, the Boundary Stone accounts for half, and these also account for half. You are still young, where would you get so many merit points? Now you should focus on cultivation and strive to improve. Of course, if you come from the Seven Families and Thirteen Noble Clans, just pretend I didn't say anything."

The Daoist almost wrote the four words "aiming too high" on his face, but the earnestness in his words was also sincere. Wei Yuan thanked him sincerely and said: "I come from a poor background, and I only look at these to broaden my horizons and increase my knowledge."

The Daoist nodded and said: "So that's it. Then you can come and ask me if you don't understand anything. In addition, the old Daoist will say one more word: most of those who successfully open up territory do not use ordinary Boundary Stones."

Wei Yuan understood the Daoist's hint, returned to the desk, and began to check the Boundary Stones in the last three subcategories.

There are far fewer entries for advanced Boundary Stones, only a dozen or so.

Life-Mysterious Stone: Possesses Life-Mysterious Power, accelerates the growth of all things within the boundary, and is beneficial for healing injuries.

Life-Protecting Stone: Possesses the power to stabilize the soul; within the boundary, one can temporarily save one's life if suffering a fatal injury, requiring treatment within an hour.

However, Wei Yuan can only view two or three entries, and the rest all require Heavenly Merit for exchange. As for the supreme catalog behind, it cannot even be opened. Only under the Exotic item is there one that Wei Yuan can see.

!.

Infant Fire Stone: The boundary is filled with Fire-Element Power, possesses the opportunity of new birth, and can generate an Infant Fire Pool, which can refine special magic tools. But it is not suitable for mortals to live within the boundary.

Whether it is advancement or exotic, the prices are far higher than ordinary Boundary Stones, starting at at least fifty thousand merit points.

After reading the Boundary Stones, Wei Yuan finally knew that opening up territory was still very far away from him. However, it is reasonable for Boundary Stones to be so expensive; how can treasures that can change heaven and earth be cheap?

Leaving the Merit Hall, Wei Yuan went to the Task Hall for a turn. Now he could take on many more tasks, but the tasks for the early Dao Foundation stage were very simple, and the rewards were low, mostly one or two hundred merit points, rarely reaching a thousand, which could not be compared with the battlefield. Wei Yuan looked at the tasks for a while but did not find a suitable one. So he handed the things to be sent back to his hometown to the deacon of the Task Hall and paid fifty merit points as a reward. The deacon would naturally find a suitable cultivator to arrange the delivery.

After turning around the two halls, Wei Yuan went to the Myriad Forms Hall, wanting to see where his Dao Foundation was in the galaxy. The Myriad Miles of Rivers and Mountains is unprecedented, and Wei Yuan estimated that it should be an Immortal Foundation without a doubt, which could be known from the attitudes of Grandmaster Xuan Yue and the several True Persons in the hall. Besides that, if the trace of vitality gestated in the Jade Mountain could germinate and grow into a Seven-Wonderful Treasure Tree, then Wei Yuan felt that his Dao Foundation should not be inferior to Bao Yun's. After all, everyone has a tree, and Wei Yuan also has a piece of land.

(End of chapter)