Unlimited priesthood

Chapter 139 Construction
A man who can bend and stretch!

Seeing that Long Yu was very pragmatic, Shen He didn't say much and directly cast a spell to activate the Spirit Control Contract.

Long Yu lay on the ground, letting the contract be formed, his eyes slightly moist, a shattered dream of the Dragon King.

But once the contract was established, it quickly composed itself and adapted to its new identity. It clung to Shen He's legs again, its eyes filled with hope as it looked at the fish-dragon seal in his hand: "Master, this is of great help to my cultivation, could you…"

"cannot!"

Shen He directly shattered its hopes.

"Oh~!"

Seeing Shen He's cold-heartedness, Long Yu couldn't help but draw out her voice, then sat pitifully to the side, looking like she had suffered a great injustice.

"This item will serve as the core of the formation, enhancing the spiritual energy of Fish Dragon Island."

Shen He offered a rare explanation, then tossed him a few bottles of White Spirit Pills: "As for your cultivation, you'll make up for it with pills. Don't worry, I won't treat you unfairly."

"Elixir?"

Long Yu caught the jade bottle, intending to open it to check, but the large fish head and short fins clearly prevented him from doing so. In the end, he could only toss the jade bottle into his mouth and chew on it along with the medicine.

"Um!?"

After chewing for a while, the fish's eyes widened, and it quickly threw the remaining White Spirit Pill into its mouth.

"Great, great, really great!"

After consuming a few bottles of elixirs, it immediately recovered from its despondency and looked at Shen He expectantly again: "Master, is there any more?"

Shen He looked it up and down: "One of these White Spirit Pills is equivalent to a thousand catties of spirit rice. I gave you five bottles, nine pills in each bottle, that's forty-five pills, which is forty-five thousand catties of spirit rice. You just ate it all like that?"

"They're still growing, so they're eating a bit more."

Hearing this, Long Yu felt a little embarrassed: "I used to rely on the spiritual energy of the Fish-Dragon Seal for nourishment. Now that the Fish-Dragon Seal is gone, I naturally need more. If you don't have that many pills, you can leave the Fish-Dragon Seal with me temporarily..."

"rest assured!"

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted. Shen He stroked the fish's head, a strange smile on his face: "I don't have much of anything, but I have plenty of spirit rice and spirit pills. I'll give you as much as you want!"

After saying that, he stuffed several bottles of White Spirit Pills into its hands.

Not only it, but also the Golden-Winged Eagle, the Seven-Star Dragon Carp, and the Copper-Backed Alligator Dragon—all the contracted spirit beasts received a share of the spirit pill.

"Master is so generous!"

Although he couldn't figure out why Shen He was being so generous, he was still very happy to see the Spirit Pill Dragon Jade in his hand and popped another bottle into his mouth.

"Enjoy your food, eat slowly!"

Shen He ignored it, picked up the fish-dragon seal, and walked towards the center of the lake.

The lake within a lake was not large to begin with, and the crystal palace that had been built there was also quite tiny. Now it has been completely demolished and turned into spirit stones of different sizes and grades, which are placed on the shore.

"It even has high-grade spirit stones. It seems that the owner of this seal is no ordinary person."

Shen He collected the spirit stones, then plunged into the lake and used the Fish-Dragon Seal and the spirit stones he had taken from the Crystal Palace to set up an array in the center of the lake island, gathering spiritual energy to nourish the earth's veins.

There's no need to nurture it, since the Fish-Dragon Seal itself contains spiritual energy, and the Crystal Palace has also extracted a large number of spirit stones. Shen He can simply pave them into earth veins and instantly transform Fish-Dragon Island into a spiritual land.

And he did just that. First, he laid spirit stones in the heart of the lake island, shaping them into spiritual veins that took root in the earth. Then, he branched out several veins that went in all directions. Soon, the island was shrouded in mist and clouds, and the primordial spirit of heaven and earth was fully manifested, like a fairyland on earth.

The spiritual array is set up, its roots running deep in the earth.

A moment later, the smoke and clouds gradually dissipated, but a faint mist still lingered. The spiritual array's veins were hidden deep within the lake island, not only flowing gently but also subtly enhancing the spiritual land's grade.

Spiritual lands also have grades, corresponding to the cultivator's cultivation level. For example, Red Maple Valley is a third-grade spiritual land, which can satisfy the cultivation needs of Qi Refining cultivators and help them reach the Foundation Establishment stage.

Shen He has now set up a spirit-gathering formation, using the fish-dragon seal and a large number of spirit stones to pave the earth's veins. The resulting man-made spiritual land has reached the fourth rank, which can support the cultivation of Foundation Establishment and even Core Formation cultivators.

This is just the beginning. With the effect of the spirit-gathering array and the secluded cultivation ground, the level of Fish-Dragon Island will be further improved, and it is possible that it will become a fifth-order spirit land or even a sixth-order spirit land.

A fourth-tier spiritual land can provide nourishment for foundation building and the hope of condensing the core.

If the fourth rank is already like this, one can only imagine the fifth and sixth ranks. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it's a chance for the Nascent Soul stage. If it were released, countless cultivators would risk their lives to fight for it. The four major sects of the righteous and demonic factions, who are currently locked in a fierce battle, might even turn their attention to it.

Shen He had inquired and found that there was only one fifth-order spiritual land in the entire inland cultivation world, which was Xuanxiao Mountain, where the Xuanxiao Sect was located. The remaining Yunlong Sect, Wanshou Mountain, Youming Sect, and Huangquan Valley were all fourth-order spiritual lands, but each had its own unique characteristics, which could barely ensure the continuous formation of the core.

As long as he manages Fish Dragon Island well, surpassing the major Core Formation sects is only a matter of time.

After the spirit array and earth vein were laid, Shen He summoned the contracted spirit beasts, including Long Yu, and said, "This lake is located on the earth vein, where spiritual energy is concentrated, which is very beneficial. I will plant spiritual plants such as green lotus and white lotus roots in it, and you are allowed to lead your respective clans to live there and guard the spirit vein and spiritual plants."

"Thank you, Master!"

Although the Crystal Palace had been demolished, Long Yu was overjoyed to hear that they could still live in the lake and wanted to rush forward to hug his leg again. Shen He kicked it away and said to the Seven-Star Dragon Carp and the Copper-Backed Alligator Dragon, "But let me make this clear: if anyone can't control their mouth and steals unripe spiritual lotus roots or other spiritual plants, I'll stew them, understand?"

"Don't dare!"

Long Yu knew that these words were most likely meant for him, so he immediately made a promise.

……

After setting up the fishpond, Shen He picked up a hoe and sickle and began clearing the spiritual plants and fields on the island.

Because of the Fish-Dragon Seal, Long Yu, this dead fish, doesn't care much about other spiritual creatures and is completely left to his own devices, causing many of the spiritual herbs he planted and the spiritual fields he painstakingly cultivated to become neglected.

Although these spiritual herbs and rice plants did not completely wither and die thanks to the spiritual energy of its "Crystal Palace," and some even grew vigorously, they grew haphazardly without any planning. They would steal nutrients from one another and spiritual energy from the other.

This kind of "poisonous insect" cultivation method may eventually produce some high-level spiritual plants, but the harvest is completely disproportionate to the effort, which is an extremely serious waste.

Shen He could not allow it; he needed to make a plan for these spiritual plants.

He picked up a sickle and hoe and separated the wildly growing, even tangled, spiritual plants. Then he cleared the overgrown spiritual field, removed all kinds of useless and even poisonous weeds, and replanted spiritual rice and spiritual herbs.

In this way, after an unknown period of time, acres of spiritual fields were cultivated, with the five grains clearly separated and medicinal herbs standing in their respective places. There were rice paddies, medicinal herb fields, as well as flowers, grasses, and fruit trees, all neatly arranged.

It's a godsend for people with OCD!
After finishing his work in the fields, Shen He took out materials to prepare for building the alchemy room and equipment chamber.

Whether it's alchemy or weapon forging, both require the aid of firepower.

This fire is not an ordinary fire, but a spiritual fire, a flame lit by spiritual energy.

Low-level alchemists and weapon refiners lack the necessary resources and can only use their own magical power to burn spiritual fire. However, this consumes too much energy and is not sustainable, so it can only be used to refine low-level pills.

To refine high-level pills, one must build an alchemy room, set up a furnace inside, draw in spiritual energy or directly throw in spirit stones to borrow external force to ignite the spiritual fire.

However, this method is only a second-rate alchemy method. The first-rate alchemy method is to directly activate the earth's veins and use them as fuel to burn spiritual fire.

This kind of spiritual fire is also called earth fire. It burns not only for a long time and stably, but also has extremely high quality, which can greatly improve the success rate of refining weapons and pills.

However, earth veins are extremely precious, being the core of a spiritual land. Burning earth fire around an earth vein is even more serious than burning spirit stones, and ordinary forces simply cannot support it.

As far as Shen He knew, in this inland cultivation world, only the five major Core Formation sects had built Earth Fire Furnaces, and they dared not use them lightly under normal circumstances, only activating them when refining fourth-order spirit pills or fourth-order spirit weapons.

As a result, the five major Core Formation sects have basically monopolized the "Foundation Building Pill" market in the inland cultivation world, and they also control most of the spiritual artifacts. Other forces or rogue cultivators who want to achieve Foundation Building either have to spend a lot of money to buy from them or take a risk and fight to the death.

Shen He has already reached the fourth level in Spirit Control Martial Arts, and his Immortal Qi Refining is nearing perfection. In a few more years, he will be able to attempt Foundation Establishment.

Although he was extremely confident that he could successfully establish his foundation even without pills, he still wanted to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill if conditions allowed.

He had already done his research and found that the greatest significance of the Foundation Establishment Pill was not to increase the success rate of Foundation Establishment, but to save lives.

Because the foundation building of immortality requires the integration of essence, energy, and spirit into one. Essence is the physical body, energy is magical power, and spirit is the soul. The three are collectively known as the Three Flowers. The foundation building of immortality is the gathering of the Three Flowers at the top, a transformation of body and soul, and the formation of spiritual consciousness.

This process is extremely dangerous. If not handled properly, it can damage one's vital energy and spirit, or even cause one to be completely destroyed. Therefore, a breakthrough pill like the Foundation Establishment Pill is needed to protect the cultivator. Even if the foundation cannot be successfully established, it can still protect the cultivator, ensuring that their vital essence remains intact and they are not harmed at all.

Although Shen He had many advantages, this was his first time trying to cultivate immortality.

Therefore, if he had the means, he would still like to get himself a Foundation Establishment Pill.

After all, it's better to be safe than sorry!

After a flurry of activity, Shen He finally completed the construction of the alchemy room and equipment chamber.

The alchemy room is directly connected to the earth's veins, allowing for the ignition of earth fire at any time, which is of great help in both alchemy and weapon crafting.

"call!"

Setting up arrays to gather spiritual energy, cultivating fields, and finally building elaborate alchemy rooms and artifact chambers—even a cultivator would feel somewhat exhausted after such a busy schedule.

But compared to exhaustion, I felt even more satisfied.

Looking out, Shen He saw a lake island, shrouded in mist and clouds. On the island were rows of fields and square ponds, with spiritual rice, spiritual herbs, spiritual plants and trees, as well as a group of spiritual beasts, clam maidens, turtle spirits, shrimp soldiers and crab generals.

It is both a paradise on earth and a pastoral landscape.

"Xiu Xian?"

"what!"

Shen He smiled, very satisfied, and then brought up the profession panel to check the level of the hermit.

As expected, it was already full.

Then...

(End of this chapter)