Chapter 550: Beyond Hezhou (Patreon)

Immortal Path Space : Table of Content/Chapter List

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After Wang Hong recounted Xiao Xi's achievements in detail, Xiao Xi once again expressed his gratitude, overflowing with appreciation.

"Your Majesty, you praise me too much! These are all things that I should do as your subordinate," Xiao Xi replied humbly.

Wang Hong's expression turned serious, and he said, "In the Great Chu Immortal Nation, it is a rule that effort should be rewarded. If I let you contribute without recognition, I would be failing as a king. Today, I reward you with a Golden Core Pill, a Five-Color Spirit Jujube, and a Golden Dewspirit fruit to assist you in forming your Golden Core."

Xiao Xi accepted the pill with gratitude and bowed once more. Wang Hong smiled and said, "That's enough for now. You may leave, and please bring Tian Chen in."

In the camp of the Imperial Dragon Army, Wang Hong spent a whole day distributing the eighty sets of Core Building materials and received a chorus of gratitude in return.

Those selected for the Imperial Dragon Army were all loyal and accomplished individuals who could be relied upon in critical moments.

At this critical juncture of life and death, Wang Hong could no longer afford to hide his resources. He distributed eighty Golden Core Pills at once.

If they were to lose this battle or even die in battle, no matter how well he had hidden his secrets, it would be nothing more than a secret in a coffin.

The prerequisite for everything was to survive. Only by surviving could they have the opportunity to find ways to remedy the situation later.

In the days following the distribution of Golden Core Pills, more than fifty cultivators in the Imperial Dragon Army broke through, adding to the ranks of Golden Core cultivators.

The rest, however, failed to advance, which Wang Hong did not find surprising. Even with the addition of Golden Dewspirit fruit and Five-Color Spirit Jujube to improve their success rates, the outcome was as expected.

It was those who failed to advance that felt a heavy burden of guilt towards Wang Hong and were reluctant to face him.

In response, Wang Hong personally comforted them, urging them to let go of their concerns and strive for success next time.

Although they had added fifty Golden Core cultivators to their ranks, it didn't significantly impact the overall situation.

Among the eighteen routes of the Demon Clan, there were around two thousand tier-three Demonic Beasts in total. Even if they didn't all come out at once, there would still be at least a thousand enemies to face.

The population of the Great Chu Immortal Nation and the number of cultivators were limited. Even if Wang Hong expended all his resources, he couldn't possibly cultivate so many Golden Cores.

Alone in the Royal Palace, Wang Hong poured a cup of green tea and let the steam rise from the teacup. Whenever he faced a difficult problem that required contemplation, he enjoyed brewing a pot of mutated Qiu Long Tea, sipping it as he thought.

In front of him lay a large map, marked with various forces and the potential directions from which the Demonic Beasts might attack.

Taking a sip of tea, his mind cleared, and all the cluttered thoughts dissipated. He stared at the map and suddenly remembered something. He took out a Jade Scroll and, with the activation of his Spiritual Power, created another map in front of him.

This map depicted a vast ocean with numerous scattered landmasses, some large and some small. In the center was a vast landmass composed of several large-sized landmasses.

Some of the smaller landmasses were represented as tiny black dots on the map, more appropriately called islands.

At the top of the map, three large characters were written: "Little Yuan Realm." It was the map of the Little Yuan Realm that Wang Hong had obtained from the Qing Fox Clan's treasury.

On this map, the land they currently inhabited was just one of the more remote medium-sized landmasses known as Hezhou.

"Perhaps I've been too short-sighted before, why should we confine ourselves to just one place?" Wang Hong mused aloud.

"However, when the Demon Clan defeated the six major sects earlier, why didn't they migrate to other landmasses? There must be reasons I don't know about."

With these thoughts in mind, he activated a Transmission Talisman and, after finishing his tea, replaced the table with Spirit Wine and some small dishes.

After a while, Sloppy Old Daoist entered from outside. He now served as the Minister of Personnel and had undergone a significant transformation in appearance.

His hair was neatly combed, and he wore an immaculate official robe, giving off a refined air.

"Greetings, Your Majesty! I wonder what brings you to summon me?" Sloppy Old Daoist greeted respectfully.

"Senior Brother Chu, no need for formalities. Come, sit down, and let's talk while we drink," Wang Hong said, pointing to the chair beside him.

Sloppy Old Daoist accepted the invitation without hesitation and took a seat beside Wang Hong.

"Here, have a drink. How do you find this wine?" Wang Hong poured a glass of Spirit Wine for Sloppy Old Daoist.

At their realm, ordinary spiritual objects had little effect on their cultivation levels, so these wines and dishes were mainly for their enjoyment.

Even for Immortal Cultivators who had lived for countless years, life would be meaningless if it was solely about achieving immortality.

Therefore, besides striving for longevity, they must have other pursuits or hobbies to make life more enjoyable.

On this point, Wang Hong and Sloppy Old Daoist shared a common passion: fine wine.

Sloppy Old Daoist took a sip of Spirit Wine, and his eyes lit up.

"Your Majesty, this wine is excellent! I've lived for hundreds of years and have never tasted such fine wine. The past centuries were truly wasted," Sloppy Old Daoist said, savoring the aftertaste of the wine in his mouth, which lingered for a long time.

"This is wine I found in the cave mansion of the Winged Tiger Clan's ancestor during my last visit. I didn't expect that old demon to have such a taste for luxury; he had hidden several barrels of fine wine," Wang Hong explained.

Upon hearing about the several barrels of wine, Sloppy Old Daoist's eyes lit up. Wang Hong knew exactly what he was thinking, remembering the time when Sloppy Old Daoist had stealthily waited outside a Demonic Beast's den for months just to steal its wine.

"Don't worry, I'll send you a barrel later."

"I called you here for another reason. Take a look at this," Wang Hong said, activating the Jade Scroll map of the Little Yuan Realm once again, projecting a massive map in front of them.

Sloppy Old Daoist glanced at it briefly, appearing quite familiar with the map.

"This should be the map from the fifth level of the Qingxu Sect's Scripture Tower, right? It wasn't a secret among the higher-ups of the Qingxu Sect," Sloppy Old Daoist remarked.

Having been a senior member of the Qingxu Sect, Sloppy Old Daoist was naturally more informed about certain confidential matters than Wang Hong.

"I want to ask, since everyone knows about this map, and there are other lands nearby, why didn't any sect choose to migrate to other lands for survival?" Wang Hong, during his time in the Qingxu Sect, had only reached the Foundation Building stage and was unaware of higher-level decision-making and secrets.

However, he at least knew that after various major sects migrated to the Southern Region and Northern Region, their lives didn't improve, and there was even a trend of struggling to survive.

"The Little Yuan Realm is vast, but not every landmass has Spirit Qi. Some lands have extremely sparse Spirit Qi, making it impossible for cultivators to survive. Of course, most lands do have Spirit Qi, but those with Spirit Qi have already been occupied. If newcomers want to intrude, they will face hostility from everyone on that land. Given the state of the six major sects at the time, if they had rashly landed on other continents, they could have been wiped out. Lands without Spirit Qi are meaningless to go to, as it would be a dead end. Comparatively, the Southern Region and Northern Region are slightly stronger. Another crucial point is that when leaving Hezhou, they would have to cross vast and perilous seas, which are not calm waters. Many dangers lurk in those waters. To safely traverse those areas, one would need at least Nascent Soul stage strength," Sloppy Old Daoist explained.

As Sloppy Old Daoist continued, he finished his cup of Spirit Wine, his expression becoming melancholic as if recalling some unpleasant memories.

Wang Hong refilled his cup, asking, "Do you have any knowledge of the terrain around Hezhou?"

"I never left Hezhou before because my cultivation level wasn't sufficient. I'm not familiar with the surroundings," Sloppy Old Daoist replied.

After listening to Sloppy Old Daoist's explanation, Wang Hong gained a rough understanding of the surrounding area. "I have a request for Senior Brother Chu."

"What is it? Your Majesty, please instruct me."

Wang Hong refilled his cup once more and said, "I hope Senior Brother Chu can explore the surrounding area and gain knowledge of every landmass and island in the vicinity."

"It shouldn't be too difficult. You can leave it to me, Your Majesty. I will keep you informed of any findings."

Sloppy Old Daoist readily agreed. With his current Nascent Soul cultivation, he was no longer afraid to leave Hezhou.

"Very well! I entrust this task to Senior Brother Chu!" After discussing official matters, they continued to drink for a while. When Sloppy Old Daoist left, Wang Hong fulfilled his promise and gave him a barrel of Spirit Wine.

In reality, this Spirit Wine had been aged for three thousand years in his personal space, although it still fell short of his Ten Thousand-Year Spirit Wine. However, achieving three thousand years of aging for Spirit Wine in reality was an incredibly challenging feat. It required an excellent Spiritual Site, three thousand years without disturbance, and most importantly, the discipline to resist drinking it for three thousand years.

As a result, while you might occasionally come across a three-thousand-year-old spiritual herb, no one had ever seen three-thousand-year-old Spirit Wine.

Sloppy Old Daoist left the Royal Palace contentedly, and on the same day, he embarked on his journey. To reach his destination, he would have to pass through the Demon Clan's territory, but for a Nascent Soul cultivator, sneaking past was not difficult.

During this time, Xu Lun was organizing the population from various areas, relocating them all to King's City. Many people had just settled down and enjoyed several years of stability in one place, and now they were being uprooted once again. Only a few people could accept this calmly, and it required explaining the pros and cons to make everyone understand the severity of staying in their original locations.

As they looked at the immature crops in the fields, many people felt their hearts ache. These crops were the result of their hard work, nurtured with time and sweat. Now, only halfway to maturity, they had to be abandoned.

"After leaving here, we'll have Spirit Meals every day in King's City, and we'll eat Demonic Beast meat."

A middle-aged man stroked the head of a little girl next to him, comforting her while also persuading himself. Then, he picked up the little girl and headed towards the gathering point.

"Daddy will take you on a Flying Boat. It's huge, and I heard it can carry hundreds of people. It can even fly in the sky without wings."

In the town, families, with all their belongings, lined up to board the Flying Boat.

"Sir, please leave your cow behind. Cows can't board the Flying Boat, and you won't need to farm temporarily when you arrive in King's City. Your cow won't be of any use."

Underneath the Flying Boat, a martial artist was trying to persuade an elderly hunchbacked man.

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Next Chapter >>Chapter 551: Clearing the Homeland