CHAPTER 678: TEN YEARS

After the approval of the large-scale development plan for Qizhou Island, everyone was exhilarated.

With such a vast Qizhou Island, if various Spirit Plants were cultivated throughout, the annual output of Spiritual Objects alone would increase the income of the Great Chu Immortal Nation several times over.

Wang Hong secretly calculated that if Qizhou Island were fully developed, the annual income would be no less than that of his own Space.

After all, his Space was just over three hundred mu, and regardless of other advantages, its output was equivalent to tens of thousands of mu of spirit fields.

"Perfect timing. During my travels outside, I acquired numerous seedlings of Spiritual Herbs and spirit fruits. Xu Lun, prepare some land temporarily. I'll give you the seedlings when the time comes," Wang Hong said.

Before entering seclusion, Wang Hong planned to cultivate a batch of seedlings. Spirit Plant seedlings were the most difficult to nurture, but if he could cultivate them in his Space for a few years beforehand, it would save him a lot of trouble.

The group then discussed many specific matters. Since Wang Hong's seclusion this time might last several decades, many things needed to be discussed and arranged in advance.

After the meeting dispersed, Wang Hong returned to the harem, where he had some Spirit Meals. Surprisingly, the Wood Fairy was also skilled in preparing Spirit Meals, and the various delicacies she made suited his taste.

Later, he returned to the secret chamber and entered his Space once more. Now, his Space was already filled with various Spirit Plants, so he had to temporarily clear out a large area for seedling cultivation.

Since expanding to three hundred and sixty-five mu, the area of the Space had not increased further.

He had tried many methods, even consuming a piece of High-grade Spirit Stone and wasting a Spirit Vein, but to no avail. He could only temporarily set it aside and wait to see if there would be an opportunity in the future.

He had stored some seeds of every kind of Spiritual Herb in his Space, and this time, they would come in handy.

He only intended to cultivate seedlings of high-tier Spiritual Herbs this time. Although the growth period of these Spiritual Herbs was longer, they were more beneficial for the long-term development of the faction.

While high-tier Spiritual Herbs could be bought in Fengwu Continent, the supply was not particularly abundant. Purchasing them in large quantities was quite difficult, and once something became scarce, its price would skyrocket.

In the warehouse within his Space, which contained many shelves, each item on the shelves was labeled.

These were truly his collection items, including various rare Spiritual Objects collected from the outside world and some high-tier or even Ten Thousand-Year Spiritual Herbs harvested in his Space.

He found several boxes containing seeds and selected some three-tier and four-tier Spiritual Herb seeds to sow in the cleared space.

As for one and two-tier Spiritual Herbs, they were easy to grow and manage, and there was a high demand in the market. Naturally, there would be plenty of planting on Qizhou Island, and Xu Lun and the others could handle these seedlings themselves.

A month later, just before Wang Hong was ready to enter seclusion officially, he met with Xu Lun and handed over a batch of Spiritual Herb seedlings.

Upon opening them, Xu Lun found that they were all high-tier Spiritual Herbs, and they had been growing for about thirty years.

He had been worrying about this matter in the past few days. Cultivating one and two-tier Spiritual Herbs was relatively easy, but three-tier and higher Spiritual Herbs were not only difficult to cultivate, but even finding the seeds was challenging. 𝘳ÂℕÒᛒĚs̩

Utilizing the power of the Great Chu Immortal Nation on Fengwu Continent, they had quietly searched for a month, but the results were not significant.

Unexpectedly, His Majesty had already anticipated this problem and had solved it long ago.

"In addition, I have also cultivated a new variety of Spirit Grain. Take some to try planting. However, this Spirit Grain may require special soil to grow. I have also prepared some Spirit Soil to improve the soil. You can sprinkle some in the spirit fields to enhance the adaptability of various Spirit Plants," Wang Hong said as he handed a bag of Spirit Grain to Xu Lun.

This Spirit Grain was from his Space and was the result of several mutations. Previously, the Spirit Grain had grown larger with each mutation, but after reaching a certain size, it began to shrink again.

Now, the volume of this Spirit Grain was only slightly larger than ordinary rice grains, but each grain contained an extremely large amount of Spiritual Energy.

However, this type of Spirit Grain had proven unable to grow in many external environments. It could only survive when some Space soil was mixed into the spirit fields.

Therefore, when Wang Hong handed several large Storage Bags of Space soil to Xu Lun, he solemnly instructed, "These Spirit Soils are not easy to prepare and can only be used within Qizhou Island. They are not to be leaked outside."

After Xu Lun left with the seedlings and Spirit Soil, Wang Hong also reminded the Wood Fairy to practice cultivation honestly in the harem and not to cause trouble.

Next, Wang Hong entered the secret chamber, opened the complex formations, and began the long process of seclusion.

One month after Wang Hong entered seclusion, Zhang Chunfeng led more than five hundred people into the Wan Kui Sect secret realm.

Due to limited manpower, apart from assigning some people to guard the entrance, the rest, though all high-tier Cultivators, could only go to the Spiritual Herb garden to manage the spirit fields and start planting the Spiritual Herbs.

One year after Wang Hong entered seclusion, Liu Changsheng found the whereabouts of the Redeye Bandits, whose hideout was surprisingly on an island very close to Fengwu Continent.

He immediately organized over a thousand elites and launched a surprise attack on the Redeye Bandit's hideout.

Many cultivators nearby witnessed the battle. They saw over a thousand black-robed cultivators suddenly appear above an inconspicuous island as if they were demons descending from the heavens.

With their formidable strength and lightning-fast speed, before the cultivators watching the spectacle could comprehend what was happening, the Redeye Bandit's hideout had already been razed to the ground.

Then they watched as the black-robed cultivators looted the spoils of war and disappeared without a trace.

Later, some immortal cultivators who had been watching from the sidelines went up to the island and found not a single living soul left on the island. Even the little spirit chickens raised by the cultivators on the island had been killed and taken away.

All the original cultivators on the island had been slaughtered, leaving no bodies behind.

The brazen acts of murder, arson, and looting carried out in broad daylight, in front of everyone's eyes, were horrifyingly brutal.

However, among the cultivators watching from the sidelines, there were some exceptionally wise individuals. They discovered from the traces left on the island that the original occupants were none other than the Redeye Bandits.

This revelation left the nearby cultivators trembling with fear. They hadn't expected that the infamous Redeye Bandits had been their neighbors all along. It was truly fortunate that they had survived until now.

But what terrified them even more was the sudden appearance of the black-robed cultivators, who effortlessly wiped out the Redeye Bandits.

Some curious individuals wanted to inquire about the origins of these black-robed cultivators. However, all intelligence agencies had no information about this mysterious force, as if they didn't exist at all.

From then on, the Cultivation World had another legend of a black-robed force.

In the third year of Wang Hong's seclusion, the three walls surrounding Qizhou Island were successfully constructed. The walls were over thirty zhang tall and reinforced with sturdy formations.

Large numbers of giant crossbows were installed on the city walls. Even four-tier Demonic Beasts could be killed by them.

Moreover, the giant crossbows on the second city wall could directly attack enemies climbing the first city wall.

Likewise, the third wall could attack those attempting to climb the second wall.

Between the three walls, there were swaths of poisonous substances, as well as Devilish Vines and demon-hunting trees that actively hunted for prey.

Before entering seclusion, Wang Hong had also specially bred hundreds of swarms of Poisonous Bees and released them among these.

If any external enemies wanted to breach the defense of these three walls, they would have to pay a hefty price.

After the completion of the city walls, Xu Lun reassigned all the manpower involved in building the walls to cultivate spirit fields and contribute to the large-scale development of Qizhou Island.

Nowadays, one could see one or two cultivators leading several rough and unfinished puppets, carrying hoes and cultivating spirit fields all over Qizhou Island.

Although these puppets were crude and inexpensive, they were extremely practical in land clearing and excavation.

Some of the cleared spirit fields had already been planted with various Spirit Plants, and only a few puppets were needed for daily management.

Occasionally, a low-tier cultivator would come by to inspect and assist the puppets in replacing Spirit Stones and issuing new orders.

In order to produce the most puppets with the least amount of materials and in the shortest time, the Ministry of Works worked overtime every day, tirelessly busy day and night.

Due to the high-intensity refinement of puppets every day, the Ministry of Works had trained quite a few refining tool masters proficient in puppet refinement.

In the seventh year of Wang Hong's seclusion, the Nine Matrix Formation designed by the Sloppy Old Daoist was finally successfully deployed.

This formation covered every corner of Qizhou Island.

The main formation was located in King's City, with countless sub-formations connected to it. Each sub-formation was only connected to the main formation and not to other main formations.

As a result, even if one sub-formation was breached, it would still not affect the defense of the other sub-formations.

In addition to defense, the entire large formation also had offensive and airspace prohibition functions, among many others.

Especially notable was its airspace prohibition function, which remained inactive during peacetime. However, once invaded by external enemies, the airspace prohibition formation would be activated, preventing all enemies from flying in the air and forcing them to attack the three walls from the ground.

After the completion of the large formation, combined with the three city walls on the ground, the defense of Qizhou Island could be described as impregnable.

In the eighth year of Wang Hong's seclusion, a group of Demon Race once again found the secret realm of Wan Kui Sect. They forcibly opened a gap in the Formation of Heaven and Earth Fire that guarded the passage.

The cultivators stationed at the entrance discovered this, and Zhang Chunfeng used the command token in his hand to mobilize the killing formation within the Formation of Heaven and Earth Fire, annihilating the group of Demon Race within the formation.

Unfortunately, this group of Demon Race didn't even understand what had happened before they died, thinking until their last moment that the formation was just too vicious.

In the tenth year of Wang Hong's seclusion, the Human Clan Alliance clashed with the Demon Race Alliance on the border.

In this battle, the Human Clan Alliance emerged victorious and even pursued the fleeing enemies, pushing the front line forward by one or two hundred miles.

It was said that during the most intense fighting between the two sides, the Human and Demon Alliances, a surprise force from the Human and Demon Alliance, consisting of over a thousand four-tier Demonic Beasts, infiltrated from the flank of the Demon Race, causing chaos in their formation and quickly routing them.

The news of this great victory spread throughout the Cultivation World. However, the fighting continued and intensified, yet at this moment, both the Human and Demon Clans appeared extremely confident.

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