Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery
Chapter 703 - 684 The Rise of the Cultivation Industry

Shang Zheng, dressed in a gray robe, took a deep breath, suppressed the panic in his heart, and step by step entered the somber, ink-black palace.

He was born into a collateral lineage of the Shang Clan, oppressed by others, and had ended up in this godforsaken place, where he could be facing life and death at any moment.

The palace was deathly silent.

There were no servants, no maidens; the wind blew, causing the curtains to flutter eerily in all directions, intensifying the dread in one's heart as if walking among ghosts and shades.

It was not until he reached the heart of the palace,

high above on the Black Crow Throne, that he saw a young man in blue, with a longsword at his waist, sitting upright, his gaze serene.

"Greetings, Immortal Tushan!"

Shang Zheng dared not look more than he must, fighting to restrain the trembling of his body, as he made a deep bow in salute.

The person before him,

was the infamous Tushan old demon who had single-handedly annihilated the Hei Clan of the Northern Plains!

According to the intelligence, the man's mind was profoundly deep; he often used avatars to travel, showing no mercy, and bullying the weak was a common affair.

He had schemed for a hundred years, inciting internecine fighting within the Hei Clan. After their strength was greatly weakened, he audaciously set a trap to slay the Divine Crow Immortal and destroyed the Beast Spirit Immortal City, which had a legacy of ten thousand years, becoming the foremost loose cultivator demonic head of the Northern Plains.

A mere Golden Pill Monk from a collateral lineage, dying here, would raise no one's concern.

Even the death of one from the direct lineage would be the same.

The Northern Plains were already no longer the sovereign land of the clans of the Northern Plains.

"Business Friend Shang, no need for excessive courtesy."

The voice that came from the Black Crow Throne was gentle and crisp, naive, like that of a real sixteen-year-old boy.

Shang Zheng inwardly shuddered.

"What are the Nascent Soul members of the Northern Plains families doing now?"

Jiang Ding did not waste time on pleasantries and asked, "Do they still have the capacity to scour the world with double-digit numbers of Nascent Souls, seeking to hunt down their enemies?"

"Immortal, my cultivation base is too low, I truly do not know."

Shang Zheng's body trembled, a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.

This pressure, as if the next moment one's life could vanish without any power to resist, was so immense that even a Golden Pill Monk could not maintain composure.

"Speak of what you do know."

Jiang Ding said indifferently.

"Yes, Immortal!"

Shang Zheng keenly sensed the other's displeasure and dared not delay a moment further: "Northern Plains' Blood Cloud and other rogue forces roam and expand everywhere, the Great Sun Army and Great Sun Sword Forces are attacking cities and seizing territories everywhere; it is now rather chaotic, with conflicts erupting in various places."

"Under this influence, the borders of the three major powers have also experienced several unusual movements; Immortals of Nascent Soul are stationed at various formation nodes."

"Logically speaking, logically speaking... they should not have the spare capacity."

"Logically, it ought to be so..."

Jiang Ding fell into contemplation, comparing with information from various sources: "Haven't the pacification armies of the Liudao Sect, Ice Snow Palace, and Joyous Union Sect already mobilized? How are the battles faring?"

"The journey is long, and they have not yet reached the battlefield."

Shang Zheng explained hastily: "The cost of operating long-distance teleportation formations for large distances is steep, a few individuals might be manageable, but when it involves tens of thousands, along with a significant amount of supplies, they can only travel by treasure ships. Seven years' time is not enough to arrive, and it is projected that it will take another seven to eight years for the armies of the three sects to reach the Black Snow Prairie."

"I see."

Jiang Ding appeared unfazed, as if he had already been aware of this information.

The spatial technology of the Northern Plains families was not very advanced; had it been the technology of the Xianmen Sect, the cost would not have been so great, and it would be normal for large armies to travel via long-distance teleportation Formations.

As for the likes of the Great Sun Sect... that remained unknown.

Even though they possessed the technology, there was still a long way to go before they could actually implement it.

Materials—many that seemed cheap and common—were not found in a single Small World, and could only be replaced with extremely expensive alternatives.

There are also related Refining Masters, space-related Formation Method masters, maintenance personnel everywhere, and even the operators have certain requirements—there are many of them, not just one or two. It's a whole system.

Advanced technology requires highly skilled talent to operate it effectively, and the Great Sun Sect can't cultivate such talents in many areas.

Golden Pill Monks, with limited knowledge; their intelligence isn't of much value.

"Business Friend, you come here, the Shang Clan comes here,"

"If you want to do business, then let's do business—I'm not opposed,"

Jiang Ding said indifferently, "However, do not do anything that violates Tushan Immortal City's laws. I remember that your Commerce Association also has similar regulations. Don't make things difficult for me."

"To come a few more times, others might think I am an old antiquity who is brutal, bloodthirsty, and rejects the merchant path."

"That is not true."

The existence of the Lingbao Commerce Association is indeed beneficial to Tushan Immortal City.

After the development of Tushan Immortal City, it leaped from being a place where Talismans, Magic Tools, Elixirs, and other finished goods were dumped at low prices, and where Spirit Mines and Elixir materials were purchased at low prices, to becoming a place that provides high-quality, fair-priced Talismans and Magic Tools.

Unfortunately, with the Immortal Path's productivity increased, the local consumer population seems to be insufficient.

The Shang Clan has recently been buying these goods and profiting enormously from reselling them. With their extensive network across the Northern Plains, in this age of frequent wars, they never worry about sales outlets.

The resources of the Three Kingdoms are limited; there are only so many Spiritual Veins and so many resources to be produced. Development has a ceiling, and the effect of boosting the Cultivation ecological circulation can't be seen without thousands or even tens of thousands of years.

However, once there's an influx of foreign materials, if the development of the Immortal Path processing industry could take off, it might reach a new level, surpassing the natural nature of this land and experiencing rapid development.

In this regard, there is a certain common interest with the Shang Clan.

"Immortal!"

"This young one will absolutely abide by the Tushan Law and won't violate it in the slightest!"

Shang Zheng suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with incredible surprise and quickly catching the hidden meaning in the words of the person upon the Black Crow Throne.

His heart pounded with excitement.

If this could be achieved, this place would instantly transform from an exile land to a great opportunity for him!

"That's good."

Jiang Ding nodded slightly, "I am tired. Business Friend, if you have matters, go and discuss them at the newly established Commerce Hall."

"Immortal, this young one takes his leave,"

Shang Zheng hastened to stand and said.

...

"The battle for the King's Court in the Northern Plains..."

In the vast and quiet hall, Jiang Ding murmured to himself.

Connecting to the Sea of Consciousness, in that part of the starry sky symbolizing the land of the Northern Plains, there were scattered points representing the Heaven Light Dao Troops. The points were steadily increasing, far surpassing the Tushan Immortal City side in speed.

The number of Northern Plains servant girls, including the candidates, was four thousand two hundred and eighty-six!

All of them have twinling roots or exceptional understanding; the standards have not been lowered in the slightest, and as time goes on, the number is still increasing without any sign of stopping.

The reason for the servant girls from the Three Kingdoms rushing continuously to the Northern Plains was exactly this—massive military expansion, and there weren't enough people to teach for a while.

The three Golden Pill servant girls of Spring, Summer, and Autumn, along with a large number of formal servant girls, are intensively training the new candidate servant girls from the Northern Plains, striving to form troops as quickly as possible and join the frontline battle.

"The goal of 108,000 Daoist Soldiers doesn't seem so far away..."

Jiang Ding was somewhat surprised.

The fact that the Spring, Summer, and Autumn servant girls could expand the army at such speed without any decline in quality, was naturally not due to their Golden Pellet Realm's abilities.

You should know that having a twinling root aptitude is already considered a superb talent in the Cultivation world; a Sky Spiritual Root is something you can't ask for. Often, only one out of tens of thousands of people can have it. In the Golden Pill Sects and influences, such individuals are the backbone of support, and each entity has very few of them.

The reason it is done so effortlessly,

Is naturally because of the extensive network of Blood Cloud and many Golden Pill Cultivators who have heard of Immortal Tushan's renowned reputation and have cooperated voluntarily, even sending their own junior generations to join, hoping for a promising future.

This is the value of a Tushan Sword Cultivator's promise, worth its weight in gold.