Da Ming: The system granted me immortality; I clock in every day.

Wang Shouren picked up a long wooden stick and tapped it on a model of a mountain deep within the sand table.

"The scouts report that there is a place called Wolong Ridge, thirty miles from here. The spirit stone and associated minerals there are exposed on the surface, with astonishing reserves. However, this place is also a gathering place for beast tides."

Wang Shouren's voice turned cold, revealing the iron-blooded ruthlessness of a seasoned general.

"The army will rest for three days. After three days, I will personally lead 30,000 elite troops, with artillery clearing the way, straight to Wolong Ridge."

"Shen Jiansheng, within these three days, you and the artisans accompanying the army must engrave spirit runes on all three hundred crossbows and five thousand muskets. This battle cannot be lost!"

Shen You nodded heavily and clasped his hands in a fist salute.

"Rest assured, Commander, even if I go without sleep for days and nights, I will not miss any military matters!"

The war machine of the Ming Dynasty was already wound up and ready to be unleashed with just a few words of planning in the central command tent.

On the outskirts of Zhenhai Fort, near the coast, a completely different scene of bustling city life unfolds.

Although the imperial court maintained strict military discipline, it provided great convenience to the civilian merchants who accompanied the army.

This vacant lot was temporarily designated as a market area.

Old Zhao was standing in front of piles of salted meat barrels that looked like small mountains, holding an abacus in his hand, grinning from ear to ear.

"Lord Wang, this is top-quality Shandong dried salted meat. It's been at sea for two months and hasn't picked up any off-putting smell. Our price is a steal; one bucket of meat for three taels of silver from Tongling Bank."

"If you buy it all, I'll give you ten more bags of coarse salt!"

A Ministry of Revenue official in charge of military procurement flipped through the account books and waved his hand.

"Alright, enough with the empty talk. The army is heading deep inland, and this salted meat is the best way to stave off hunger. I'll take all three hundred barrels of this."

"Here you go, this is a 900-tael spirit silver note. Go to the main branch in the capital and you can exchange it for real gold and silver anytime."

The person in charge took out a stack of banknotes printed with intricate anti-counterfeiting symbols from his sleeve and handed them to Zhao Laolang.

Old Zhao took the silver note, carefully examined the faint glow flowing on the paper, and after confirming that it was genuine, he carefully put it into his pocket.

"Thank you for your kindness, Lord Wang! I'll have my men help carry the meat into the camp right away!"

Having successfully completed a major deal, Zhao Laolang felt as if the sea breeze from the New World was sweet on his face.

But in the bustling crowd around them, the scholar in the blue robe was nowhere to be seen.

"That poor, pedantic scholar vanished as soon as he landed. Perhaps he was captivated by the novelty of this new continent and ran off somewhere to join the fun?"

Zhao Laolang muttered something to himself, but didn't think much of it, and turned around to tell the sailors to get to work.

At this moment, behind Zhenhai Fort, on a rugged beast trail leading to a wild jungle.

The night fog grew thicker and thicker, making it difficult to see a person even five steps away.

The air was filled with the smell of decaying leaves fermenting and the fragrance of some unknown, exotic flowers and plants.

Li Changqing wasn't wearing any night clothes; he was still wearing his ordinary blue cloth robe and holding a mottled Xiangfei bamboo folding fan in his hand.

He walked along this ancient beast path, overgrown with thorns, where even scouts had to tread carefully.

Their pace was as leisurely as if they were admiring the moon in their own backyard.

The surrounding vines covered in barbs, or the poisonous insects lurking beneath the fallen leaves, their bodies covered in venomous spots.

Just as they were about to touch the hem of his clothes, they all seemed to have encountered some insurmountable natural enemy, and they all shrank back and retreated.

All things have a spirit, and it is human nature to seek advantage and avoid harm.

Faced with the faint aura unintentionally emitted by this immortal traveler, the most primitive creatures in this wild forest showed the most instinctive awe.

"The spiritual energy here is even richer than that on the coast. The flourishing of vegetation here has surpassed the laws of the mortal world."

Li Changqing stopped in front of an ancient tree that was dozens of feet tall and had a trunk so thick that it would take ten people to encircle it.

He stretched out his long, slender fingers and gently stroked the rough bark, which resembled dragon scales.

He could clearly feel that the roots of this ancient tree were deeply embedded in the earth, greedily absorbing the spiritual substances flowing from the earth's veins.

If another thousand or hundred years pass, this tree might develop a rudimentary intelligence and transform into a spirit among the plants.

"The workings of nature are truly wondrous. If the Ming Dynasty can completely assimilate this continent, its profound foundation will be enough to last for ten thousand generations."

Li Changqing withdrew his hand and continued walking deeper into the jungle.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the military camp and the scheming of the city, this tranquil and ancient forest gave him a long-lost sense of comfort.

He walked deeper and deeper, and the ancient trees around him became increasingly dense, completely obscuring the starlight overhead.

The only source of light in the forest was the strange moss that grew on decaying wood, emitting a faint blue glow.

And fist-sized, glowing flying insects hovering in mid-air.

They walked for about ten miles.

The previously flat terrain suddenly rises, forming a steep cliff with jagged rocks.

Wisps of white mist continuously seeped out from the crevices of the cliff.

That was no ordinary water mist, but rather an extremely dense, almost liquefied, spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

"Wolong Ridge".

Li Changqing stopped and looked up at the black mountain range that resembled a giant dragon coiled around.

The main vein of Ling Shi that Wang Shouren planned on the sand table was located in this place.

"roar!!"

A deep, suppressed roar, yet filled with boundless savagery, echoed from a huge cave above the cliff.

The sound echoed through the mountains and forests, causing the leaves on the ancient trees around to fall in a rustling sound.

Followed by.

Several pairs of eyes, as large as copper bells and emitting a faint green light, lit up behind the boulders on the cliff.

It was a pack of demon wolves, each the size of a calf.

Their fur was a dark bluish-green color, and sparks seemed to fly as they rubbed their claws against the rocks.

These demonic wolves were clearly the guards on the outer perimeter of Wolong Ridge.

They sensed the presence of a living person and silently surrounded Li Changqing from all directions, trapping him beneath the cliff.

A suffocating, bloody killing intent instantly filled the air.

The leading wolf king was even larger, with a tuft of long silver hair growing on its forehead.

It bared its fangs, growling menacingly as it stared intently at the seemingly helpless human in blue before it.

In its still-undeveloped intelligence, this human did not have the pungent smell of gunpowder from those soldiers wielding fire sticks, nor the clanging sound of metal that they found so annoying.

This should be a delicious and tender blood dish delivered right to your door.

"This beast is even more robust than the bandits from beyond the Great Wall."

Looking at the wolf pack closing in, Li Changqing was not alarmed at all; instead, he commented with great interest.

He tapped the folding fan lightly against his palm.

"However, I am here to enjoy the scenery today, not to exorcise demons. The army will be here to train in a few days, so let the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty kill these meritorious prey."

Li Changqing spoke calmly to the wolf king.