Chapter 593: Protecting the Demonic Beast (Patreon)

Immortal Path Space : Table of Content/Chapter List

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While the population on Qizhou Island had doubled, the number of troops had decreased rather than increased.

In the past, during the crisis in the Qingxu Mountain Range, a total of six hundred thousand troops were conscripted to deal with the situation.

Now, Qizhou Island was temporarily in a secure environment, and there was no need to maintain such a large military force. Over the years, a significant portion of the army had been disbanded.

Currently, only two hundred thousand of the most elite troops remained, ready to be well-trained, following the path of becoming elite soldiers.

As for the soldiers who had been discharged, they were all assigned to engage in the development and planting of spiritual fields.

Now, within the Great Chu Immortal Nation, any place possessing an Intermediate-grade Spiritual Vein, even though there weren't enough people migrating there yet, these Spiritual Sites were still being developed.

They were then planted with Spiritual Herbs or spiritual fruit trees. These newly added spiritual fields near King's City were managed with precision, while those further away were managed more extensively.

In any case, with the current vast land and sparse population, as long as these spiritual fields were cultivated, slightly lower yields were still acceptable.

After Wang Hong came out of seclusion, he flew to the outskirts of King's City. A large area of Spirit Grain had matured, and many martial artists were harvesting it.

Due to the increase in spiritual fields, the Spirit Grain production had greatly increased. Now, all the residents of the Great Chu Immortal Nation could have at least one meal of Spirit Rice every day.

Many people could even enjoy a meal of second-tier Spirit Rice, leading to a steady improvement in the overall strength of the nation.

Wang Hong had now expanded his cultivation to include the planting of second-tier Spirit Rice. There were many varieties of second-tier Spirit Rice, but the one he had mutated twice through Space was of the highest quality among the Intermediate-grade types.

With the same planting time, both yield and quality were higher than other second-tier Spirit Rice varieties.

The second-tier spirit fruit tree he had transplanted from Space was still thriving outside of Space and would yield a large number of spirit fruits every year.

Xu Lun had opened specialized Spirit Grain and spirit fruit stores in Lin Hai City, and business was doing well.

Now, the shops operated by the Great Chu Immortal Nation for external trade had expanded to three cities surrounding Lin Hai City, each with more than a dozen stores.

Together with Lin Hai City, they earned a significant amount of Spirit Stone every year. Some of these Spirit Stones were retained for development and expansion, while the rest were used to purchase applicable resources in the city and transported back to Qizhou Island.

Wang Hong was flying over a grove of spirit fruit trees when he saw Skinny Monkey approaching from a distance. He stopped in place and waited.

"Your Majesty, you've come out of seclusion! I happen to have something I want to discuss with you," Skinny Monkey said.

"What is it?" Wang Hong inquired.

"I want to lead a group of people to the Desolate Spirit Sea to hunt down savage beasts."

"Oh, have the savage beasts at the Desolate Spirit Sea caused you trouble?" Wang Hong teased with a smile.

"Not exactly. I'm planning to have a friendly interaction with them first. Only if that doesn't work out will we resort to force," Skinny Monkey replied earnestly.

"In fact, this time, I want to hunt some savage beast Blood Crystals. I've already successfully advanced to the Nascent Soul tier, and many of my brothers who don't have Spiritual Roots have reached the peak of the third-tier martial artists but can't break through to the fourth tier. I want to help them."

Skinny Monkey finally revealed the purpose of his journey. Over the years, the Nascent Formation Pills and Spiritual Herbs cultivated by Wang Hong had matured, allowing him to refine a large number of Nascent Formation Pills.

As a result, the Great Chu Immortal Nation had seen a surge in Nascent Soul Cultivators, including the first batch of cultivators who had followed him. Regardless of their aptitude for Spiritual Roots, they had all formed Nascent Souls.

Currently, the total number of Nascent Soul Cultivators in the Great Chu Immortal Nation had reached more than fifty individuals, and their overall strength was on par with second-tier powers in the Fengwu Continent.

However, Cultivators made up only a small fraction of the population in the Great Chu Immortal Nation. The majority of people were ordinary individuals without Spiritual Roots, unable to practice cultivation and could only pursue martial arts.

Among these martial artists, the cream of the crop had already reached the third-tier of martial arts, matching the power of Golden Core Cultivators.

However, it seemed that they had reached a bottleneck at this stage and couldn't make further progress. Currently, only Hu Jian had successfully reached the fourth tier due to the use of a savage beast Blood Crystal.

If they could find a way for third-tier martial artists to advance to the fourth tier, the Great Chu Immortal Nation, with its vast numbers, would have the potential to stand up against first-tier powers even without Soul Transformation Cultivators.

"This matter doesn't concern you alone. As the ruler of the Great Chu Immortal Nation, I have a responsibility to be involved in this. I will accompany you," Wang Hong stated.

Of course, Wang Hong needed to be a part of this endeavor. As the leader of a nation, it was essential to maintain relationships with subordinates, and a balance between benevolence and authority was the best approach.

Hunting savage beasts to help subordinates advance in tiers would earn him their gratitude, regardless of the outcome. Otherwise, why would individuals choose to pledge their loyalty to him when they could be independent?

He had many other matters to attend to during this time.

Over the past thirty years, as the cultivation levels of everyone had improved, especially with the emergence of a large number of Nascent Soul Cultivators, the Spirit Vein and Spirit Qi on Qizhou Island had become insufficient.

For the Great Chu Immortal Nation to continue its development, it was necessary to enhance its Spirit Vein. While they could obtain Spirit Veins through auctions, it was a slow and costly process.

Wang Hong didn't want to resort to force on the Fengwu Continent, as he didn't want to offend others without reason, especially since there were many powerful individuals there, and he didn't dare to take that risk.

The best solution was to quietly return to Hezhou and reclaim the Spirit Veins that had been taken by the Demon Clan.

It had been decades since he last attempted this, and he believed that the Demon Clan should have recovered somewhat by now.

The lack of Spirit Veins was one issue, and another concern was the dwindling meat supply on Qizhou Island.

When they retreated from Hezhou, they had engaged in multiple battles with the Demon Clan and had collected a large amount of Demonic Beast meat, which had sustained them for a long time on the island.

They had originally released all the Demonic Beasts on the island to serve as a daily source of food.

However, during their time in Hezhou, where battles were constant, they had relied on Demonic Beast meat daily to rapidly increase their strength.

Now, the Demonic Beasts on Qizhou Island couldn't withstand the constant hunting and consumption by the increasing population.

The Demonic Beasts on the island were now protected, and hunting was prohibited for young Demonic Beasts and pregnant females.

This was part of Wang Hong's vision for the Great Chu Immortal Nation, where everyone used Demonic Beasts as resources for cultivation, ultimately turning Demonic Beasts into food for humans.

In Hezhou, however, the Demonic Beasts had been unable to grow to maturity due to constant attacks by the Demon Clan.

Now, Wang Hong had tried this concept on Qizhou Island, and the results were evident. In just a few decades, the Demon Clan on the island had to be protected in order to survive.

With no meat readily available, the citizens had become accustomed to this way of life and couldn't change it overnight.

As a result, there were frequent cases of people secretly hunting and violating the prohibition on hunting protected Demonic Beasts.

Now, they had to obtain Demonic Beast meat from external sources to supplement the domestic consumption and make up for the shortfall.

Fengwu Continent was not a viable option for this, as the Demonic Beasts there were allies. If he were to hunt them recklessly, it would anger many.

Currently, the only place Wang Hong could think of was Hezhou, the territory occupied by the Demon Clan.

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and heartfelt thankyou for your support!]

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Next Chapter >>Chapter 594: Return to Desolate Spirit Sea