Longzang

Chapter 965 The Fortress is Initially Complete
In the first month of the second year of Hongjing, a sturdy fortress rose from the ground in the territory of the mountain people. Two thousand cultivators were already working day and night in the fortress. Iron, copper, lead and tin were being produced in large quantities in the mining area, and the daily output of various spiritual minerals was already a thousand catties.

The workshop area within the fortress was taking shape, with smelting furnaces blazing and forging machines roaring day and night. A separate energy zone had also been established. More than a hundred newly advanced Moonflower Sky Mist Dao Foundation cultivators had been transferred here, working in three shifts. Two groups were always present in the magic array to consolidate their Dao Foundation and provide energy to the entire fortress.

Although the Moonlit Sky Mist Dao Foundation is relatively easy to cultivate, it generates the power of the Taiyin Moonlit Essence, which has a wide range of uses. First, as an energy source, it is much more stable and enduring than that of the Fire Element Dao Foundation cultivators. Second, it has applications in weapon forging, fertilizer, talismans, and formations.

In addition, the large flying boat that Qingming is developing will also be powered primarily by Yuehua cultivators.

Since the emergence of a large number of Moonlit Sky Mist cultivators, after repeated research by the academicians of the Azure Netherworld Engineering Academy, it was decided to readjust the various weights and measures currently in use in Azure Netherworld. The new system is more aligned with the outer world, while also incorporating Azure Netherworld realities to achieve standardization and make it easier to use and understand.

For example, horsepower has been adjusted from the maximum output of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator to the average output of the most numerous Moonflower Sky Mist cultivators. Therefore, the total power supply of the Mountain Folk Domain Fortress is now equivalent to the power of one hundred horses, with an additional fifty as backup.

In the blink of an eye, it was mid-February in Hongjing, which was a key time for the acceptance inspection of the fortress construction.

On this day, Wei Yuan set off from Qingming early in the morning, passed through the secret realm, and arrived at the fortress through the teleportation array.

He walked out of the teleportation hall with a smile, but the place in front of him was empty. There was no grand scene of everyone waiting as Wei Yuan had expected. Only two beautiful female disciples were waiting outside the teleportation hall.

Upon seeing Wei Yuan, the two beautiful female disciples bowed and said, "Lord of the Realm, our master instructed us to wait here and accompany you to inspect the progress of the fortress construction."

Although the two female disciples were young and beautiful, with good cultivation and talent, and each had their own unique style of dress—one lively and spirited, the other pure and elegant—they were both very much to someone's liking… However, Wei Yuan felt he didn't care about these things. He frowned slightly and asked in a gentle tone, "Who are your teachers?"

One of the female disciples was under Sun Yu's tutelage, which was not surprising. But the other, who looked so innocent, was actually a disciple of the tea garden under the old Taoist Chuhe, which made Wei Yuan inwardly criticize this seemingly honest old Taoist several times.

All the cultivators were busy with their own things at the moment, and they all felt that the so-called progress inspection was just a formality, so none of them showed up.

Helpless, Wei Yuan had no choice but to patiently listen to the detailed explanations from the two beautiful female cultivators accompanying him, and finally understood the current status and progress of the entire fortress. The progress in all aspects of the fortress far exceeded the original plan and was remarkably efficient.

Wei Yuan then reviewed the internal work logs for the fortress construction. The logs recorded what the various cultivators had done, what they planned to do, and the main reasons for their decisions. After reading the logs, Wei Yuan discovered that the cultivators communicated and negotiated regularly, coordinating their progress in advance to avoid wasting time on preliminary steps.

For example, when Master Chuhe wanted to develop the Mountain Folk's World Medicinal Garden, all the special tools needed were provided by Yu Zhizhuo. The Mountain Folk's territory had unique diseases, and Sun Yu needed special pills when developing treatments. These pills came from Xu Henshui, who needed Chuhe to provide wild medicinal herbs initially, and then continue to supply cultivated medicinal herbs. With Sun Yu's medical clinic, the safety of miners, horsemen, and growers could be guaranteed, allowing them to operate at full speed.

Moreover, the unique climate and environment of the mountain village, along with the availability of medical clinics capable of treating patients on a large scale, are prerequisites for the migration of ordinary people here.

As for the source of mortals, Yong'an City, Xiaoyu's hometown, is the first choice. Yong'an City is huge, with a large number of training grounds and academies. Mortals who have completed body forging and those who have completed a year of training are as numerous as hairs on a cow. And now, thousands of talents who have completed three years of training in the academies and whose body forging is close to completion are about to finish their studies.

Secondly, there's Ding'an City from Bao Yun. Initially positioned as a defensive hub, Ding'an City, after repelling the Wu tribe, is now nearly two thousand miles from the border and has long since become a major inland city. Backed by mountains and forests, the spirit wood forest has gradually taken shape and begun mass production of spirit wood, thus driving a wave of related industries. The settled population has now exceeded one million. At this point, the various cultivators are cooperating and coordinating with each other, even having already formulated plans for the fortress for the next two years, and have also developed defense contingency plans. They anticipate being able to withstand a major offensive from the mountain people after three months, and a full-scale attack by the mountain people with the strength of an entire nation after one year.

Such coordination has given way to a semblance of human interaction. Although there is no human interaction here, the cultivators are accustomed to working in such an environment, and their self-coordination based on past habits is quite efficient.

The fortress was like a newly blossoming flower, sprouting, growing, and blooming right under Wei Yuan's nose. All Wei Yuan needed to do was watch and wait for it to bloom.

After searching for a long time, Wei Yuan finally found a task that suited him: to establish a node for human habitation within the fortress. Initially, at least one hundred work positions were required.

This task itself isn't difficult, but this place is too far from Qingming. To establish a node connecting to the mortal world here, Wei Yuan would need to leave a divine thought as a relay at all times. This is a considerable burden for Wei Yuan in his current state.

Wei Yuan assessed the situation and concluded that he could currently only create a maximum of two similar nodes. More would have to wait until he completed his advancement to the Imperial Realm.

But no assessment is needed to know that the fortress's importance far outweighs the divine thoughts that are being occupied. Moreover, once the human settlement nodes are established, the entire city can operate automatically under their coordination. Ordinary minor problems will be resolved on their own, and all operations will be optimized, resulting in an efficiency increase that is not just a matter of doubling or tripling.

So Wei Yuan found an open space next to the teleportation array, left his divine sense there, and set up the array. It took him about half an hour to complete. Then he just waited for the craftsmen to come and build the main hall and set up their research stations. Wei Yuan then realized that he had been busy for half an hour and then had nothing else to do.

Wei Yuan sensed the surroundings with his divine sense and found that none of the cultivators were in the fortress, not even Sun Yu. Moreover, he couldn't find any of them within a radius of five hundred miles. Wei Yuan could only sigh and silently take out the boundary stone from his robes, preparing to find a place to settle them.

This boundary stone was something Wei Yuan had exchanged from the Tai Chu Palace. It was a mid-grade boundary stone, nurtured to a range of four hundred li, and it had cost Wei Yuan a considerable amount of his Heavenly Power. Wei Yuan had come excitedly, carrying the boundary stone, but he was only accompanied by two beautiful female disciples the entire time. Although one of these female disciples was lively and spirited, and the other pure and elegant…

Wei Yuan composed himself, took the boundary stone, and scanned the entire city with his divine sense, searching for the location where the boundary stone would be placed.

With a sweep of his divine sense, Wei Yuan discovered that an open space had been prepared near the teleportation array, with many pre-cut stones piled up beside it. The quality of these stones far exceeded that required for normal construction, being of the same grade as the main hall of the teleportation array, and sufficient to withstand the bombardment of several Dharma Aspect level Dao spells.

Once the boundary stone is placed, it will form the core of the entire fortress along with the teleportation array, becoming a crucial defensive point. However, Wei Yuan remembers that there were previously buildings on this open space. Now, not only have the buildings been demolished or moved, but stones for constructing a sturdy main hall have also been reserved. Isn't this telling Wei Yuan to place the boundary stone here?
But the problem is, these guys all know I'm bringing back the Boundary Stone, so why aren't any of them showing up? Wei Yuan couldn't help but feel a little resentful.

In fact, Wei Yuan already had the answer to this question in his heart.

A month ago, a sizable force of mountain people was wiped out, and the mountain people were bound to retaliate sooner or later. The next time they came, it wouldn't be a mere ten thousand strong. Therefore, all the cultivators knew time was of the essence and were working frantically, pushing forward with all their might. When the mountain people's army arrived, they would be met with a heavily armed fortress.

This is certainly a great thing, but it has a slight flaw: the Realm Lord didn't participate much.

(End of this chapter)