Cultivation of Immortality: This is what unorthodox methods are like.

Upon hearing this, the seventy-two clouds of dust beneath Wang Quan's feet stretched out two arms and gestured in sign language.

Seeing that the stone ox spirit ignored it, it grew a mouth again, bared its teeth, and roared.

As a result, the stone ox spirit still ignored it.

The seventy-two roads of dust and smoke hung their heads in dejection, listless, fearing that the royal power would abandon them.

Wang Quan coughed: "No need."

"I have a means of transportation."

"Moreover, with your status and strength, you can help me look after and expand this manor."

The dust and smoke from the 72nd road were all smiles.

The Stone Ox Demon God grinned from ear to ear: "Master of Sprinkling Flowers, you are so kind."

Royal power...

He comforted the stone ox spirit and told it to take good care of the place.

The stone ox demon patted his chest and repeatedly assured him that there would be no problem.

In the end, the royal power was gone.

After he left, the Stone Ox Demon God coughed once.

Ten thousand ghosts and monsters bowed their heads and prostrated themselves, saying, "Greetings, Lord Ox."

The Stone Ox Demon God laughed heartily: "There is only one master in this world, and that is the Flower-Scattering Master."

"You can just call me Grandpa Cow from now on."

"Yes, ma'am."

The Stone Ox Demon God was satisfied to see that the ghosts and monsters obeyed him, and then led them to refine bricks and stones, cut down trees, and expand the manor.

The stone ox, a work of many ghosts and spirits, was filled with joy as it was done.

Before long, he felt prying eyes sweeping over him from all sides.

The demon roared and transformed into a creature hundreds of feet in size, howling and growling in all directions.

The prying gaze disappeared.

This spirit did not shrink its body, but instead roamed the earth, surveying the surroundings and intimidating the unseen neighbors.

However, during the patrol, he felt his own strength was rapidly improving.

In just three to five days, his size increased by more than ten feet.

This rate of increase is nothing to him, who is already several hundred feet tall. Back in City 95, when he was refining pearls for the Western Ghost Emperor, he could grow one foot taller every ten thousand years.

However, after landing here, it grew by more than ten feet in just a few days.

"It truly is a treasure land."

"This place might be a fragment of a treasure land belonging to some god or demon."

"If I can comprehend the mysteries of this place, I will definitely be able to glimpse a trace of the mysteries of gods and demons, and may even become a god or demon myself."

"If you can't become a god or demon, then become a demon god who devours the flesh and blood of gods and demons."

The stone ox demon chuckled.

-----------------

Reality:

Ever since the ghosts and spirits of the first level of the underworld were moved to the second level to guard the safe zone, Wang Quan has been sitting high on the clouds of Stone City.

He peered into the light of the Big Dipper, observing the inside and outside of Stone City.

Inside the city:

The spirits and warriors worked in an orderly manner under the arrangement of the master of ceremonies and the Taoist nun.

They either gather the light of the sun and moon to refine materials, or absorb magical power to polish materials, or diligently plant trees to refine various ley lines and spiritual veins.

More often, people worship the four directions, the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Although the new cultivators were gone from the vast Stone City, the city remained bustling and prosperous.

All living things are busy, and few cause trouble.

Occasionally, there would be troublemakers, but soon enough, the big and small Drill Winds would lead a pack of ferocious monsters to rush up and send the troublemakers to the kitchen.

Because fewer and fewer spirits are making mistakes or causing trouble, monsters like the Big and Small Drill Winds, in order to meet the needs of the kitchen, keep using some tricks to provoke some short-tempered, unlucky creatures to cause trouble.

Finally, it was only natural to send them to the kitchen.

Ghosts, zombies, and spirits, carrying the Emperor's Banner, struggle against the evil forces of earth, fire, wind, and water beneath the earth.

They either gather evil energy, destroy evil energy, or manage evil energy.

There were also ghosts and spirits standing by the city wall.

They stood like pillars supporting the sky, watching over the outside of the city.

When strange weather or bizarre creatures sweep in, they unleash their power to forcibly stop them.

If you can't stop it, then let the city walls block it.

However, the spirits are powerful, and few unusual weather conditions can break through their defenses.

Occasionally, when abnormal weather conditions broke through, they would be quickly obliterated by the pre-laid rituals, restrictions, lightning, and magical artifacts after hitting the city walls.

Outside the city:

A series of unusual weather phenomena swept through.

As the city expands, these unusual weather conditions become exceptionally volatile.

They roared, crashing down on the stone city from all directions, whether from the sky or the earth, like millstones trying to grind it into powder.

However, Stone City, having endured the turmoil of the monarchy, possessed such a strong foundation that it withstood these abnormal weather impacts.

Wang Quan observed unusual weather patterns and discovered that these phenomena could be roughly categorized into 365 types.

Each category is further divided into hundreds or thousands of different forms.

They are only similar in essence.

He saw a distant volcano spewing out streams of lava, which then transformed into fiery winds, seas of fire, hot winds, and heat waves that swept across the land.

He saw springs gushing water from the ground.

Various kinds of cold winds and chills spewed out from it, merging with other abnormal weather phenomena to form an even more terrifying climate.

"To clean up abnormal weather patterns, we must destroy their source."

"However, all these sources are guarded by terrifyingly unusual entities."

Abnormal, resembling ghosts, evil, or spirits, such as deities or monks.

But they are not the same.

Some of these anomalies can immunize against attacks from the "Life Cultivation" school, while others can immunize against attacks from the "Sexual Cultivation" school.

Some problems can only be solved using magical artifacts.

The Anomalies have no distinction of realms and employ bizarre methods.

There are strange anomalies, so much so that even cultivators at the Blessed Land Cave Heaven Realm cannot afford to offend them.

As for cultivators at the Purple Mansion Golden Core level, they could perish at any time when faced with those anomalies.

Back then, when the master of ceremonies and the Daoist nun first arrived in the far west to clean up the source of the abnormal climate, most of the cultivators who perished were experts at the Purple Mansion, Golden Core, or even the Nascent Soul and Dharma Aspect realms.

Previously, Stone City expanded its territory little by little by using rituals, a vast amount of magic, the Emperor's Banner, zombies, and worship in all directions.

This method is the safest, although the progress is a little slow, it is steady and solid.

If given enough time, the monarchy would love to continue pushing things forward in this way indefinitely.

However:

Now, less than a thousand years have passed since the calamities of the era and the dynasties.

He desperately needed a foundation.

And this foundation is Stone City and the drowned lower house from which he was born.

The school that was formerly known as the "Drowning Away" has developed reasonably well so far.

With Qian Xiuyue around and the ever-increasing number of sunflower spirits, Wang Quan believed that the drowning lower house was no longer his concern.

He only needs to sit in and oversee things when necessary.

Stone City, on the other hand, needs to develop rapidly—expanding its territory is the best way for Stone City to develop.

In recent years, the number of living beings in Stone City has been increasing.

Many creatures need to stand to sleep.

If Stone City is not expanded, the massive number of newborns will have nowhere to stand.

Therefore, he must expand, and expand rapidly.

Thus, he set his sights on the source of those abnormal climates and the abnormal creatures guarding those sources.

A ghost or spirit approached and said in a deep, muffled voice, "Fellow Daoist, are you perhaps trying to eliminate the source of the anomaly?"

Wang Quan nodded: "That's right, I have that plan."

The ghost scratched his head: "Fellow Daoist, just now, the power of Stone City has increased significantly."

"Moreover, its power continues to increase over time."

"The creatures in the city can improve their strength even without cultivating."

"If we plan for another thousand or eight hundred years and accumulate even greater power, then eliminating the source of the anomaly will be the best course of action."

"Cleaning it up now would likely require a massive cost."

"Even with our help, the casualties will likely be heavy."

Wang Quan shook his head: "One thousand eight hundred years is too long, I can't wait that long."

The ghost was bewildered: "Why?"

"A thousand or eight hundred years is nothing to you!"

Wang Quan said earnestly, "Because, eighteen hundred years from now, the era will change."

This spirit, unaware of the impending calamity, was overjoyed upon hearing the news: "A good change of eras!"

"A new era, a new look."

"If we strive, we might become the kings of the new era."