CHAPTER 700: CRIMSON FLAME ISLAND

Ten thousand miles south of Qizhou Island lies a collection

Ten thousand miles south of Qizhou Island lies a collection of islands, where volcanoes erupt year-round, making it inhospitable for ordinary folk.

Yet, to Immortal Cultivators, such islands are like treasures.

This is because the island boasts abundant fire elemental resources, making it an ideal environment for practicing Fire Element Cultivation Techniques and cultivating fire attribute Spiritual Herbs and spirit fruits.

At this moment, a fleet of ships slowly approaches. Several cultivators fly out from the island. Initially, they were about to shout in anger, but upon seeing the emblem of the Great Chu Immortal Nation on the ship, they swallow their words.

The cultivators from the Celestial Maiden Palace on the island had already been notified. Without any trouble, they happily handed over Crimson Flame Island to the army of the Great Chu Immortal Nation.

Skinny Monkey and the others set foot on Crimson Flame Island, immediately feeling a scorching heat that made it hard to breathe.

After circulating their Spiritual Power a few times around their bodies, they felt some relief.

The Spirit Vein on this island is a Fire Spirit Vein, unlike the ordinary Spirit Veins that lack attributes. This Fire Spirit Vein is a variant of the ordinary ones, imbued with the power of the Fire Element.

For cultivators of the fire attribute, it's like being in their element, but for those not attuned to fire, it's quite painful to stay here for long periods, and it may even lead to the invasion of fire poison into their bodies.

Skinny Monkey's cultivation level is high enough to resist the invasion of this fire poison for a short time by circulating his Spiritual Power, but his soldiers aren't so fortunate.

As ordinary soldiers step onto Crimson Flame Island, they are roasted red, their mouths parched.

Yang Tiezhu takes out a Jade vial, pours out two white Pills, takes one herself, and stuffs the other into Gu Wei's mouth.

"Fortunately, we were prepared early; otherwise, it would have been troublesome."

At this moment, everyone in the army takes out a vial, pours out the same white Pill, and takes one. Instantly, they feel the scorching heat dissipate.

These Pills are called ice clear pills, capable of purging the body of fire poison. Depending on their cultivation level, taking one pill guarantees protection from fire poison for one to six months.

They are refined mainly from a Spiritual Herb called Cold Spirit Herb that grows in extremely cold regions.

The spirit fields of Qizhou Island are not suitable for the growth of such Spiritual Herbs. While Wang Hong's Space could accommodate them, they hadn't previously planted a large quantity of Cold Spirit Herb.

Therefore, to quickly gather a large number of Cold Spirit Herbs, branches of the Great Chu Immortal Nation in major cities were mobilized, buying up nearly all the Cold Spirit Herbs from dozens of surrounding cities.

However, the materials required to supply tens of thousands of people with ice clear pills are immense, as this niche pill isn't typically stocked in large quantities.

Finally, a batch of mutated Spirit Grain from Qizhou Island was harvested and traded with a family specialized in cultivating Cold Spirit Herbs, obtaining a sufficient quantity.

The first appearance of mutated Spirit Grain from Qizhou Island in trade unexpectedly garnered great popularity and fetched a good price.

The transactions were settled by grain, with the value of each grain of mutated Spirit Grain roughly equivalent to the ice clear pills being consumed now.

After consuming the ice clear pills, the army was no longer affected by the island's fire poison and was dispatched to explore the entire island.

After two hours, everyone reported their findings, which were then summarized.

Crimson Flame Island has a large-sized Fire Spirit Vein, sixteen volcanoes, five veins of spirit ore, and two thousand acres of cultivated spirit fields.

However, the miners and mining tools from the spirit ore veins and the Spiritual Herbs from the spirit fields had long been removed.

Now, everything on Crimson Flame Island needs to start anew.

Currently, the manpower of the Great Chu Immortal Nation is insufficient, so they can only assign the over thirty thousand people to do farming and mining, while also being responsible for defending Crimson Flame Island.

Originally, the Celestial Maiden Palace on the island only left a few cave mansions, which are far from enough for the over thirty thousand people.

Everyone found a relatively flat area and began constructing barracks.

Finally, they also need to construct some platforms around Crimson Flame Island, where giant crossbows will be placed, and people will be stationed there long-term.

These giant crossbows, when connected, can attack every corner outside of Crimson Flame Island. If there are any external enemies, they would need to face attacks from at least two giant crossbows simultaneously.

Of course, these subsequent constructions will take some time, at least a year to complete everything.

At the same time, on Qizhou Island, Wang Hong is discussing with Xu Lun and others about increasing the population.

Currently, the Great Chu Immortal Nation already owns Qizhou Island, Crimson Flame Island, and the Wan Kui secret realm. However, the population is relatively small.

Due to the shortage of manpower, up to now, the Wan Kui secret realm has not been formally developed, and there are many veins of ore yet to be mined inside.

Although the quantity and concentration of Spirit Veins in the Wan Kui secret realm are not as good as those on Qizhou Island, they are still better than most Spiritual Sites, even compared to Crimson Flame Island.

Unfortunately, up to now, large areas of the Wan Kui secret realm are still covered with weeds, wasting the excellent Spiritual Site.

"Xu Lun, what do you think about increasing the population?" Wang Hong asked Xu Lun first.

"Your Majesty! Currently, the birth rate of the Great Chu Immortal Nation is not very high, but due to the long lifespan of Immortal Cultivators, the overall population is still on the rise. However, the Great Chu Immortal Nation has experienced several major wars, resulting in massive casualties each time, which has led to slow population growth."

Xu Lun analyzed the reasons for the slow population growth and continued, "To increase the population, there are only two ways: one is to produce offspring ourselves, encouraging the citizens to have more children, and the other is to introduce people from outside."

Currently, Immortal Cultivators are not particularly proactive about producing the next generation. If Mortals could possess the excellent physique of Immortal Cultivators, with the merrymaking every night, each person would likely have hundreds or even thousands of offspring.

"Your Majesty, we can absorb some population from outside into the Great Chu Immortal Nation again," a minister proposed.

"The newly recruited population will certainly lack loyalty to the Great Chu Immortal Nation, and I'm afraid it may cause trouble in the future," another official expressed concern about introducing people from outside, echoing the sentiments of the entire nation.

They have grown together with the Great Chu Immortal Nation and have sacrificed a lot for its present. Some have even sacrificed their lives. However, if outsiders suddenly join and share in the various benefits of the Great Chu Immortal Nation, it would naturally breed resentment.

Moreover, there is indeed a problem with the loyalty of the newly added population.

"Xu Lun, Liu Changsheng, in the next period of time, both of you will dispatch your subordinates to various Mortal worlds to recruit a group of children and adolescents. Regardless of their Spiritual Roots aptitude, even those with mediocre Spiritual Roots will be recruited and uniformly trained and educated."

Even if their Spiritual Roots are slightly lacking, after some cultivation, there are many tasks waiting for them to do on Qizhou Island, such as overseeing the spirit fields, working in various workshops, and so on.

No one opposed Wang Hong's final decision.[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and heartfelt thankyou for your support!]