Chapter 669: The Sky Curtain and Earth Network

"Sect Master, the Azurewood Malevolence cavern we discovered is a high-grade second-tier one. It hasn't been exploited yet, but because it's near the Desolate Ruins, it's guarded by a pack of Azure Wolf demonic beasts..."

Chen Mobai had a standing quest in the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion to collect Azurewood Malevolence. Zhou Wangshen took this very seriously and had been searching for it throughout the territory of his Xiao Kingdom for years.

However, cultivators are also human. Even professional geomancers would find nothing ninety-nine percent of the time when searching for these spirit vein caverns, let alone ordinary rogue cultivators.

The discovery of the Azurewood Malevolence this time was thanks to the plan to excavate two major rivers.

The river courses Chen Mobai selected were meticulously surveyed and designed. Every turning point was an already identified spiritual nexus within a spirit vein on the plateau. As the river water flowed across the plateau, it would draw out the spiritual energy from these nexuses, enriching the land and fostering lush vegetation.

In addition to this, Chen Mobai also drew inspiration from the Immortal Sect's concept of the "Earth Network."

He only learned this after forming his Core: all the mountains, rivers, and geographical features on the Primordial Star had been refined by the Immortal Sect's previous Incarnation-stage cultivators into a colossal grand formation. This formation encompassed all spirit veins, centrally controlled the Earth's spiritual nexuses, and had the Five Peaks Immortal Mountains as its hub.

It was precisely for this reason that the Five Peaks Immortal Mountains were a sixth-tier spirit vein.

All spiritual energy of the Immortal Sect had to pass through the Earth Network's main gate near the Five Peaks Immortal Mountains before being released into the Thirty-Six Grotto-Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands. From there, local spiritual network departments would distribute it as needed, and then, tier by tier, it would be transported through the Earth Network conduits to countless households.

If the Heavenly Curtain and Earth Network, these two colossal grand formations, were to operate simultaneously, they could even propel the Primordial Star out of its current orbital path and send it surging into the unknown cosmic ocean.

Given the current strength of the Divine Wood Sect and Chen Mobai, constructing the Heavenly Curtain and Earth Network was naturally beyond their capabilities.

However, the foundation could be laid first. While excavating the two major rivers, Chen Mobai also instructed the Divine Wood Sect's Formation Department and Spirit Vein Department to map the topography and spirit veins of the entire Eastern Barren Plateau. He had them embed formation plates and flags into the spiritual nexuses where the major rivers would pass.

In the future, if the Divine Wood Sect could cultivate an outstanding formation master, all these elements could be linked together to form the Nine Bends River Formation, attempting to recreate a part of the Earth Network.

And the discovery of the Azurewood Malevolence cavern this time was a direct result of these efforts.

A group of Divine Wood Sect disciples, tasked with locating spirit veins and determining spiritual nexuses before river excavation began, found no reaction after embedding the formation plates.

Later, true disciples from both the Formation Department and Spirit Vein Department arrived. They drilled a hole in the surface crust and discovered Azurewood Malevolence gushing out.

However, the scope of this terrestrial malevolence spirit cavern was considerable, even extending into the Desolate Ruins.

When the Divine Wood Sect opened the cavern's entrance here and began collecting Azurewood Malevolence, it attracted an attack from a pack of demonic beasts, nearly leading to their complete annihilation.

However, the two true disciples possessed decent combat abilities. Furthermore, thanks to the sect's significant growth over the years, their pockets had swelled, allowing them to purchase many life-saving treasures. They managed to hold out until Zhou Wangshen arrived with reinforcements.

Subsequently, Zhou Wangshen simultaneously dispatched personnel to guard the Azurewood Malevolence cavern and immediately reported the matter to Chen Mobai, seeking recognition for the achievement.

"The discovery of the Azurewood Malevolence is indeed a meritorious deed. However, the progress of the Mo River's excavation is severely behind schedule. If your efforts here delay the completion of the two rivers' confluence, the great meritorious work of treating Hong Kingdom's desertified land will also be postponed."

After inspecting the Mo River's progress, Chen Mobai, accompanied by Zhou Wangshen, Luo Xue'er, and their group, headed towards the Azurewood Malevolence cavern. En route, he particularly emphasized the priority project.

Finding enough Azurewood Malevolence would allow him to condense the fourth-tier Extreme Yang Slash.

Having grown up in the Immortal Sect, he understood that the strength and prosperity of the collective were crucial for an unending legacy.

After all, even Incarnation-stage True Monarchs would turn to dust at the end of their lifespan. The Immortal Sect relied on a continuous succession of Incarnation-stage cultivators across generations to maintain social stability and prosperity, thereby creating millennia of peace and prosperity.

As the Sect Master of the Divine Wood Sect, and with Zhou Shengqing having reached the Nascent Soul stage, Chen Mobai hoped to further cultivate and nurture more Core Formation cultivators, thereby bolstering the sect's upper-tier foundation as a major Nascent Soul-stage sect.

After all, among the Three Great Sects of Eastern Yi, there were always more than ten Core Formation cultivators at their peak.

The more Core Formation cultivators there were, the greater the possibility of someone achieving the Nascent Soul stage.

Zhuo Ming and Yin Qingmei, both geniuses with Nascent Soul potential, were therefore individuals Chen Mobai intended to nurture as quickly as possible.

Thus, although he was delighted to be able to master the Extreme Yang Slash, Chen Mobai still reprimanded Zhou Wangshen and Luo Xue'er, urging them to focus on the most critical tasks.

"Sect Master, we also want to work hard, but people from the sect's Three Halls and Twelve Divisions prioritize taking missions in Yan Kingdom. Only when there are truly no options left do they consider coming to our Xiao Kingdom..."

Luo Xue'er couldn't help but complain. As the former Deputy Hall Master of the Hall of Rewards, she had extensive connections within the Divine Wood Sect. She had fully expected that collaborating with Zhou Wangshen to excavate a major river would be no difficult feat.

But after truly undertaking the task, she discovered how pragmatic the younger disciples of the Divine Wood Sect truly were.

As the most brilliant disciple of the Little South Mountain lineage and the Sect Master's direct disciple, Zhuo Ming also proved herself by cultivating tens of thousands of mu of spiritual fields and distributing spiritual rice for free. This led to all the Divine Wood Sect's active forces flocking en masse to Yan Kingdom.

Even if they couldn't find missions in the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion, by simply going to Yan Kingdom, any cultivator with even two spells could find work.

Even those without spells, who simply exerted physical labor to excavate river channels, were far more efficient than mortals.

This was because Zhuo Ming had commissioned the Artifact Forging Department to produce a large quantity of first-tier iron tools for river excavation, field hoeing, and so on. These tools required spiritual energy to operate, so cultivators below the third stage of Qi Condensation, attracted by the free spiritual rice benefits, eagerly vied for these tasks.

Luo Xue'er and Zhou Wangshen had also considered replicating Yan Kingdom's successful experience.

However, without an outstanding spiritual planter like Zhuo Ming overseeing the entire process, not only was the harvest efficiency low, but even the river excavation was delayed.

"Sect Master, the main issue is that we simply don't have enough manpower here. In fact, Junior Sister Zhuo often comes to assist and guide us, but the sect's disciples are unwilling to come here. Do you think it would be possible to issue a policy in the sect's name to guide some Qi Condensation disciples to Xiao Kingdom?"

Having worked here for several years, Zhou Wangshen deeply felt the isolation of being understaffed and unsupported.

Originally, when he first assumed the post of protector, he leveraged the Zhou family's influence to assemble what could be called the most luxurious team in Xiao Kingdom: four Foundation Establishment cultivators, including himself, twelve former true disciples, and over a hundred Qi Condensation disciples.

Meanwhile, E Yun, along with Yuan Chizhi and Chen Mobai's favored Yu Lian and Qi Rui, could barely match him in the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators. However, the number of Qi Condensation disciples accompanying them to Yan Kingdom was far inferior to his.

Now, after merely a decade or so, the situation had completely reversed.

Under Zhou Wangshen's command, there were now Zhou Bingyan and two newly recruited Foundation Establishment cultivators from the sect, totaling seven Foundation Establishment cultivators. This force was almost comparable to the entire accumulated strength of all cultivation families in Xiao Kingdom.

Even looking across the entire Eastern Barren, it was second only to the major sects.

However, upon observing Yan Kingdom, Zhou Wangshen was left with nothing but a feeling of envy.

Leaving aside the original four, E Yun's group, Chen Mobai later established the Longevity Academy there, leaving his youngest disciple, Jiang Zongheng, in charge. After inspecting the entire Eastern Barren, Ding Ying and Lian Maozhi also voluntarily stayed behind, bringing the total to seven Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Crucially, after graduation, most students from the Longevity Academy who didn't achieve high enough scores to further their studies at the Divine Wood Sect were directly recruited and absorbed by E Yun nearby, causing a rapid increase in the number of Qi Condensation cultivators under his command.

Later, Zhuo Ming arrived, bringing with her Yin Qingmei and Luo Yixuan.

In Yan Kingdom alone, there were a full ten Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The unique advantages of Northern Abyss City allowed it to gather the most rogue cultivators and family cultivators in the entire Eastern Barren. Coupled with the students from the Longevity Academy, E Yun effortlessly assembled a force of a thousand people when they first began excavating the river channel.

Furthermore, Liu Wenbai mobilized the resources that Little South Mountain had spread throughout the Eastern Barren, providing an unending stream of funding.

And what's more, to curry favor with Chen Mobai, even without a direct order from him as Sect Master, the people from the Three Halls and Twelve Divisions explicitly and implicitly instructed their department disciples to flock to Yan Kingdom to assist Zhuo Ming in earning merit.

Beyond Qi Condensation disciples, Foundation Establishment cultivators were no exception.

The Heretical Golden Core was still on the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion's exchange list!

Any cultivator with a desire to achieve Core Formation was now highly motivated, actively seeking missions and accumulating contributions.

Even if they couldn't exchange for a Heretical Golden Core, the annual third-tier Immortal Peach Fruit was a rare treasure for Foundation Establishment cultivators. Yan Yuanhao's breakthrough to the late Foundation Establishment stage after consuming it further greatly stimulated them.

The mission list accumulated over nearly a century in the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion was almost entirely cleared within a few short years by the Divine Wood Sect's diligent Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Newly appearing missions now essentially had to be snatched up to be acquired.

Within the seven kingdoms under the Divine Wood Sect's rule, there was suddenly favorable weather and peaceful governance.

Many Foundation Establishment cultivators hoping for further advancement proactively went to Yan Kingdom when there were no missions available in the Spiritual Treasure Pavilion.

When Chen Mobai previously went there for inspection, besides core Foundation Establishment cultivators like Zhuo Ming and E Yun, there were also fifteen to twenty unfamiliar Foundation Establishment cultivators from the sect following in the air behind them.

It could be said that nearly half of the Divine Wood Sect's Foundation Establishment cultivators were on the Eastern Barren Plateau.

And on the Eastern Barren Plateau, eighty percent of the Divine Wood Sect's disciples were gathered in Yan Kingdom, obeying Zhuo Ming's command.

Witnessing the scene where Zhuo Ming received abundant help due to her popularity, Zhou Wangshen and Luo Xue'er felt deeply aggrieved.

They felt that if they had such manpower and resources at their disposal, their progress would certainly not be slower than Yan Kingdom's.

After listening to their complaints, Chen Mobai compared the lineups of the two kingdoms. It seemed Zhuo Ming's side was indeed somewhat excessively luxurious.

The main reason became clear with a little thought: it was undoubtedly due to his influence.

Chen Mobai found it difficult to intervene in this matter. After all, they were assisting his disciple, and many Foundation Establishment cultivators were even helping voluntarily, without seeking remuneration.

However, the progress of the White River in Xiao Kingdom could not be allowed to lag too far behind. Zhou Wangshen and Luo Xue'er were also diligent and dedicated, and this time they had helped him locate an Azurewood Malevolence cavern. Therefore, he still needed to find a way to assist them.

"Later, I will have Ming'er select several batches of well-trained cultivators from Yan Kingdom to come and help you excavate river channels, cultivate spiritual fields, and plant spiritual rice."

With experienced hands assisting, the White River's progress would certainly improve significantly. Chen Mobai also planned to balance the progress of both sides later, having Zhuo Ming lead the main Yan Kingdom contingent to Xiao Kingdom.

After all, the more work done, the more merit accumulated.

"Thank you, Sect Master!"

With Chen Mobai's words, both Zhou Wangshen and Luo Xue'er wore expressions of delight.

At this moment, they arrived at the Azurewood Malevolence cavern. Zhou Bingyan and two other Divine Wood Sect Foundation Establishment cultivators were guarding the location, having set up a simple formation to resist the assaults of a pack of wolf-like demonic beasts.

Just then, a brilliant orange-red light illuminated the sky, instantly descending and crisscrossing outside the formation. In a flash, all the demonic beasts were reduced to scattered chunks of flesh, their blood staining a wide circle of green grass red.

The two cultivators beside Zhou Bingyan, witnessing Chen Mobai's Sword Malevolence for the first time, were utterly astonished.

It was important to note that among this pack of azure wolves, two second-tier alpha wolves were hidden. After they formed a natural beast formation for a group assault, the three of them could only rely on their own formation for self-preservation.

Yet, under that heaven-descending brilliant light, all of them were reduced to minced meat without any power to resist.

"Greetings, Sect Master!"

At that moment, multi-colored clouds descended from the sky. Zhou Bingyan was the first to salute the serene and refined young man at the forefront, and the two Foundation Establishment cultivators behind her immediately followed suit.

"Rise, all of you. I observed from above with my spiritual sight and found that one of the demonic beasts had already formed an inner core. Send someone to collect it; it can be delivered to the Alchemy Department in the name of your Xiao Kingdom at the end of the year."

As soon as Chen Mobai's words fell, Zhou Wangshen's eyes lit up. He immediately directed one of the Foundation Establishment cultivators to search among the scattered flesh.

Each demonic beast inner core sent to the Alchemy Department was worth ten thousand sect contribution points.

Chen Mobai no longer valued such minor things, so he bestowed it as a favor upon Xiao Kingdom. Zhou Wangshen, in turn, would not hoard it but would distribute it among his cultivators based on their merits after Xiao Kingdom and the sect settled contributions at the end of the year.

"Hmm, the quality of the Azurewood Malevolence here is good, and there's a sufficient quantity."

By this time, Chen Mobai had already inspected the terrestrial malevolence spirit cavern with his divine sense, and a satisfied smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.

His Extreme Yang Slash lacked only the final two golden flames.

As for the "Great Sun Fire," after condensing its seed with the Vast Heaven Mirror, he had cultivated a complete bloom using Ignition Arts over the years, sparing no spiritual stones.

Once all nine Blazing Yang Slashes were complete, he could then integrate them with the Great Sun Fire.

With Chen Mobai's Core Formation cultivation, extracting the Azurewood Malevolence was naturally effortless. He completed its refinement using sealing spirit tubes in just three days.

By this time, only Zhou Bingyan remained by his side.

Zhou Wangshen had initially wanted to stay with him, but Chen Mobai instructed him and Luo Xue'er to take their people back first, instilling in them the idea that excavating the river channels was the paramount task, not to be delayed for a single moment.