Cultivating Immortality from the Book of Life and Death

Chapter 421: Pioneering the Land. (First Update!)

Reclamation?
Zheng Que was slightly taken aback. Just as he was pondering the meaning of those two words, Ning Jiushan on the high platform continued, "Now, distribute the exam papers!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he took out a box with talismans and seals from his storage bag. As usual, the examiners present passed it around and checked it to make sure there were no signs of it being opened before opening the box in front of everyone, revealing a box full of jade slips.

These jade slips have a warm and lustrous texture and a radiant sheen, indicating that the materials used to make them are quite extraordinary, and that the messages they record are of great importance.

Ning Jiushan cast a spell, and the jade slips neatly stacked in the box instantly flew into the sky like migratory birds, forming an array above the snow-capped mountains, creating a scene that seemed to blot out the sun.

Immediately afterwards, Ning Jiushan changed his hand seals again, and the jade slip that was floating in mid-air suddenly fell down like a dense rainstorm, heading towards the crowd of cultivators participating in the immortal examination.

Each jade slip landed precisely in the hands of one of the examinees.

Zheng Que received the jade slip and immediately began to examine it.

The information in the jade slip is divided into three parts. The first part is a map of the outer perimeter of Xue Tong Pass. The snow mountain where they are now is located on the edge of Xue Tong Pass. There is an array set up by the imperial court on the mountain, which keeps the part above the mountainside out of the blood mist of Xue Tong Pass.

All areas ravaged by the blood mist are within the Blood Pass and also within the scope of this Immortal Trial.

The map marks the distribution of numerous locations containing resources related to Blood Pass.

The vast majority of these resource points are mineral veins, while some contain spiritual materials and rare treasures. A few "strange" locations have also been marked...

However, a large number of ghosts gather near each resource point.

The closer you get to the center of Blood Pass, the higher the cultivation level of the ghosts.

The second part details the specifics of land reclamation...

Each time you occupy a resource point and effectively mine it, you earn one point.

Establish a stronghold within the Blood Pass area, complete the corresponding defenses, and earn two points.

Opening a shop in a stronghold and enabling effective transactions will earn both the stronghold owner and the shop owner one point. If they are the same person, a total of two points will be added.

Establish an effective caravan and earn some points.

Expanding the map has two scenarios: First, discovering a new resource point and marking it on the map earns five points; second, discovering an unmarked monster of [Iron Tree Prison] level or higher and marking its activity area on the map earns ten points…

Of all the profits earned during the imperial examination, the court would collect 10% as tax, and the remainder would belong entirely to the examinee.

If resource points are lost during the initial development phase, the corresponding points will be reset to zero.

If a stronghold, shop, or caravan is destroyed, whether due to ghosts or other reasons, the corresponding points will be reset to zero.

The land reclamation period is six months. After six months, the ranking of the immortal examination will be based on points.

The top two hundred will all pass the immortal test.

The last part is the precautions.

Firstly, there are many "strange things" about Xue Tong Pass, and the "strange things" marked on the map are extremely dangerous, but they also hide great opportunities.

Secondly, the dangerous areas marked on the map may be haunted by the ghosts of the "Iron Tree Prison".

Third, all candidates share the same map. Marking a resource point on any map will cause that resource point to appear on all maps once confirmed by the examiner. Of course, the points will go to the candidate who first marked the resource point. Fourth, the court does not prohibit candidates from fighting each other for resources, but it forbids candidates from killing each other without cause.

Fifth, during the imperial examination, the imperial court will observe the entire process without interfering in any way...

After reading the contents of the jade slip, Zheng Que nodded slightly.

According to the map provided by the imperial court, the closer one gets to the center of Xue Tong Pass, the richer the resource points become.

The more remote the area, the fewer resource points there are.

To obtain a high enough score, the location of this stronghold should be as close as possible to the center of Xue Tong Pass.

There are many resource points there. After setting up a stronghold, you can occupy more resource points in the surrounding area.

However, thinking of the enormous creature that had been empty in his sight but incredibly clear in his senses, Zheng Que's expression became slightly solemn.

The closer you get to the center of Blood Pass, the more dangerous areas there are, with frequent ghostly disturbances and endless "strange occurrences." Without sufficient strength, let alone establishing a base, even survival is a question...

"Establishing outposts, opening shops, building caravans, and mining mineral resources..."

"If we can build it all up, it won't just be a base, it will be a whole market town!"

“With markets and settlements, settlements can be established. With settled people, over time, villages and towns can be formed, and then develop into cities…”

"Is the imperial court's upcoming immortal examination requiring the cultivators participating to establish markets within Blood Pass?"

"This is indeed pioneering work..."

Zheng Que pondered for a moment. Although the map marked the territories of some [Iron Tree Prison] ghosts, it did not include [Evil Shadow Play]. He would have to find this appointed underworld messenger himself.

Just then, Ning Jiushan on the platform continued, "Now, distribute the resources."

Several examiners immediately took out several boxes from their storage bags. Following the same procedure as before, the boxes were opened only after all the examiners had confirmed their authenticity in front of everyone. Inside were storage bags that looked exactly the same.

Ning Jiushan cast a spell, and all the storage bags flew out at once. In the blink of an eye, a storage bag was floating in front of each examinee.

Zheng Que reached out and caught the storage bag. He opened it and found a large number of pills and talismans inside, as well as several jade slips with slightly different appearances.

These jade slips look much more ordinary than the one that was just distributed separately, and the information recorded inside doesn't seem to be particularly important.

Despite this, Zheng Que ignored the pills and talismans and began to examine the jade slip first.

The first jade slip records ten defensive formations used to establish a stronghold, each corresponding to different situations and having different effects.

The materials used to set up these formations were the talismans in the storage bag.

The second jade slip records the name, effects, and refining method of the pill in the storage bag. This pill is called the [Evil-Repelling Pill]. After taking it, it can suppress the evil energy permeating Blood Pass. All the materials used in its refining come from Blood Pass and can be found in most resource points.

The third jade slip contains the characteristics of a large number of spiritual materials and rare treasures, as well as methods for collecting and preserving them.

The fourth jade slip contains illustrations of common ghosts and monsters found at Blood Pass...

(End of this chapter)