Chapter 996: Where the Ten Thousand Swords Return, What Is the Homeland?

The literary sphere is in uproar; multiple strategies must be deployed simultaneously.

Wei Yuan himself was highly resourceful, and with countless clever minds from the mortal world offering advice, thousands of strategies quickly emerged; after consolidation, filtering out the useless and retaining the essential, dozens of actionable strategies were finalized.

These strategies had little connection to one another and were hard to rank by effectiveness, so Wei Yuan simply bundled them together and named them the “Policy Package.”

……

Moments later, Xiang Xiaoyu’s expression was half-pleased, half-irritated; she hefted the Policy Package in her hand and asked: “...So, in your mind, I’m the one suited for this?”

Wei Yuan hurriedly said: “Everyone has their own duties—only you’re idle... oh, you’re busy, but the capable should bear more! Besides, launching a literary journal, weekly, poetry gatherings, and the literary sphere demands impeccable presentation—only you can do this!”

Xiang Xiaoyu snorted heavily, signaling disbelief, then said: “Some of these policies of yours are downright vicious and filthy; others are crude and vulgar—how could you even think of them? I never thought you were this kind of person!”

Wei Yuan laughed: “The Sage said: appetite and desire are human nature. The common folk, exhausted after a day’s labor, love this stuff. We give them what they love first; once they’re hooked, we slip in our own agenda. And are you sure you don’t want to grace the cover of the first issue of the Gossip Weekly? The aura will be immense—first-issue cover, and the aura only grows from there!”

Xiang Xiaoyu grew visibly displeased: “What kind of trash is even in your Gossip Weekly? All base, lowbrow filth—you want me on the cover of this?”

“It has the widest circulation, the largest print run, and the most aura.”

Xiang Xiaoyu hesitated.

The logic was clear: the common folk vastly outnumbered the scholar-gentry; for a thousand commoners, perhaps only one was a literati—aura generation was not even in the same league.

The common folk labored all day, barely fed, exhausted to death—who had time to read poetry and essays? They only loved tales of sons-in-law and mothers-in-law leaping into rivers to die together. The first issue of the weekly featured a story of a great Confucian scholar leaping into the river with three daughters—an embellishment of history adding one more character, heightening its drama and intensity, penned by an unknown, loveless mind from the mortal world.

Seeing Xiang Xiaoyu hesitate, Wei Yuan said: “How about this—let Bao Yun handle it too. The content you find unsuitable, hand it to her.”

Bao Yun was no longer the shy girl of old; she came from a prominent family, well-traveled and worldly, and bore the Heavenly Demon’s Marvelous Form—Wei Yuan himself found her overwhelming. Moreover, the Bao clan was vast, and Bao Yun handled these shadowy affairs with ease.

Xiang Xiaoyu finally nodded, clinging to her peculiar obsession, and went over every detail with Wei Yuan again.

This time, Wei Yuan didn’t just want to counterattack—he aimed to rebuild the entire communication system, seize control of the literary discourse, and ultimately achieve a world ruled by a single doctrine.

Besides the Gossip Weekly, there was the Hanlin Academic Journal, promoting new masterpieces from literary giants; and the Mo Yu Wei Yan, dedicated to interpreting classics and exegesis—both aimed squarely at literati.

Similar to the Gossip Weekly was the New Selection of Tales—its name was instantly understandable to any literate commoner.

The World Affairs Weekly covered current major events and could carry heavy hidden agendas; then came the Water-Moon Mirror-Flower, primarily filled with hidden agendas, with only a few true worldly facts sprinkled in—the latter pushed fake news and real gossip.

The Water-Moon Mirror-Flower later became wildly popular, also known as the Water-Moon Report or the Mirror Report, since it originated from Huaxuan Street in Yong’an City—its other name was Huaxuan Street Daily. The more aliases, the bigger the affair—something Wei Yuan had never anticipated.

With these multiple publications launched at once, they seized every battlefield.

Next, they would host a poetry gathering and a literary conference—grand in scale, fully funded by Wei Yuan for travel and lodging, with high-class hospitality, and carefully selected beautiful men and women from Zhao Guo as attendants, inviting literati from across the land.

The two grand events would bestow the titles “Poet Immortal of Jinnan” and “Number One Literary Figure of the Eight Prefectures.” Great Confucians scoffed at these titles, but with official backing from both Jin Guo and Zhao Guo, they held immense appeal for young literati and mid-tier scholars.

Within Qingming’s inner circle, the Qingming Nine Kingdoms Aid and Development Office was formally established. Its main mission: fund pro-Qingming figures within the nine kingdoms, smear anti-Qingming figures, and indiscriminately attack those loyal to the nine kingdoms.

This entire series of measures left Xiang Xiaoyu dizzy. Then Wei Yuan checked the accounts—it hadn’t cost much at all; selling a few shipments of canned food would cover it all. The contracted smear artists in the Development Office each got less than one can.

Xiang Xiaoyu accepted the task and immediately consulted Bao Yun on work distribution; Wei Yuan, meanwhile, returned to studying Chapter Eight of the Initial Exploration of the Wild Realm—mastering this chapter would reveal the basic principles of heavenly tribulation, and the Fourth Heavenly Cave would then be within reach.

The clever minds of the mortal world were growing ever more numerous, and their thinking was turning increasingly dangerous; some had already written: “The people are weightier than the Creator Immortal”; others were drafting essays beginning: “Heaven and Earth are unkind, treating all things as straw dogs; the Immortal Sovereign is unkind, treating the common folk as straw dogs.”

Wei Yuan felt he must ascend to the Heavenly Tribulation Cave immediately—he needed to tighten the reins on these people.

As he buried himself in reading, a familiar faint fragrance suddenly reached his nose. Wei Yuan barely thought “Oh no,” when the familiar figure tackled him; they clung tightly together, as if sandwiching a pillow between them.

Bao Yun smiled faintly, whispering: “I heard you took in a sister who can bear eight at once—should I go learn the Floating World Dragon Map?”

Wei Yuan gasped in alarm: “Don’t you dare!”

Zhao Fusheng was a wolf with ambitions—he held incriminating evidence on Zhao, yet still had to remain vigilant; he could not let Bao Yun meet him.

Bao Yun smiled lightly: “I’ve already learned it.”

A deep sense of dread surged through Wei Yuan—fear, worry, and a desperate urge to avoid hearing more—but then Bao Yun leaned close to his ear and whispered: “I’ll teach you now...”