132: Chapter 132 Ten Million People, Blood Nether Armor

The Law of Time covered the Divine Kingdom, and the various departments of the Ancestral Court began operating according to the hundred-year plan drafted by Wang Mu, with twelve learning cities entering the construction stage simultaneously.

The power of the Creation Pond of Life and Death diffused along the ley lines, first flowing into the medical clinics, nurseries, and cultivation academies of each city, while the legions did not participate in the allocation for the time being.

In the third year of the Divine Kingdom, the records of newborns sent back from various places had already changed, and the newborns' Physique, Divine Soul strength, and Meridian integrity had all improved.

Many young children who needed medication for recuperation stabilized their Qi and blood on their own, and when practicing breathing techniques, their Meridians' capacity to bear Spiritual Qi also exceeded that of the previous generation.

The Alchemy Pavilion compiled data on dozens of batches of newborns, confirming that the power of creation would not overdraw their lifespans, nor did it leave behind hidden dangers of relying on external objects.

Upon receiving the results, Wang Mu immediately expanded the nurseries in each city and transferred teachers from the academies to establish basic cultivation classes covering all towns.

In the tenth year of the Divine Kingdom, the birth population doubled compared to the original records, the mortality rate continued to decline, and the population of each city began to migrate orderly to the new territory.

Wang Mu did not concentrate the existing subjects into the new cities. He designated batches according to water sources, spirit fields, mineral veins, and transportation conditions, filling the population city by city.

Each learning city received migrants in batches, with a planned population cap of five hundred thousand. Spirit fields, herb gardens, pastures, and workshops were simultaneously opened outside the city, allowing residents to participate in production as soon as they landed.

The urban areas that had not yet completed construction remained closed. No one was allowed to occupy land privately, nor could they use their official positions to prematurely demarcate areas with abundant Spiritual Qi.

An official in charge of migration altered the roster without authorization, attempting to prioritize the settlement of the families from the Hundred Arts Hall. After checking the records, Wang Mu stripped him of his post on the spot, and all irregularly allocated housing was repossessed.

"The new territory is ruled by the Divine Lord and is also built together by all subjects. Whoever dares to use their position to pave the way for their own family will go to the mines to relearn the rules."

The order spread across the twelve learning cities. Several local officials who were preparing to pull strings to change the roster voluntarily withdrew their applications, and the migration order stabilized thereafter.

In the twentieth year of the Divine Kingdom, the wasteland on the new plains was successively opened into spirit fields, water conservancy Formations were built on both sides of the main river channel, and grain production maintained growth.

The blood essence mineral veins also entered a comprehensive mining stage, with Ores sent along tracks to the Martial Dao Holy City, and the furnace fires of the Casting Workshop never went out day or night.

The Alchemy Pavilion established three hundred herb gardens on the new plains to specialize in cultivating high-tier Spirit Medicine, and the originally scarce medicinal Materials gradually broke free from inventory restrictions.

In each learning city, children turning six uniformly entered the academies, first studying basic breathing and Body Forging methods, and then being assigned to different disciplines based on assessment results.

The effect of the Creation Pond in improving Aptitude accumulated year by year. Among the children who entered school in the twentieth year, the number of those with talents in Alchemy, Formation, and casting multiplied several times.

Wang Mu registered this batch of children without arranging positions in advance, only requiring each academy to hold an assessment every three years and adjust their training directions according to their results.

In the thirtieth year of the Divine Kingdom, the population officially exceeded ten million, the main urban areas of the twelve learning cities were all put into use, and traces of human habitation appeared everywhere in the new territory.

Spirit fields outside the city connected into areas, fleets transporting Ores and grain traveled back and forth along the official road, and maintenance camps were set up every hundred miles at Formation nodes.

The first round of development for the 180,000 square kilometers of territory was completed, population distribution tended to balance, and the Spiritual Qi circulation and ley line operations stabilized year by year.

Wang Pingan overlooked the Divine Kingdom, allowing the Law of Time to continue operating. Breaking through ten million in population was only the first stage, and the achievements of the Hundred Arts Hall would determine whether the legions could complete the next round of upgrades.

After the Dao-Enlightening Bodhi Tree took root in the Hundred Arts Hall, various departments moved their most difficult projects under the tree, and the plaza quickly became the busiest research area in the Divine Kingdom.

The Formation Hall was responsible for dissecting the Law of Slaughter, the Alchemy Pavilion studied the backlash of Asura blood-refining, and the Casting Workshop handled the material of broken blades and the structure of armor.

At first, the three parties were unconvinced by each other. Formation Masters believed that blacksmiths could not understand Formation nodes, while blacksmiths maintained that Formation patterns could not withstand battlefield impacts.

Alchemists were caught in the middle, testing hundreds of blood-refining Materials every day and handling test subjects corroded by killing intent.

Wang Mu allowed the departments to argue, setting only one rule: every judgment had to leave behind test records, and whoever could produce results would lead the subsequent plans.

The head of the Casting Workshop simply moved his bedding under the bodhi tree, staying there for ten years. Aside from furnace testing, the rest of the time was spent browsing the Asura forging Legacy.

He successively dismantled more than three hundred Formation Plates, ruined nine furnaces of blood essence Ore, and had even been invaded by killing intent into his Sea of Consciousness, falling into a coma for seven days. Upon waking up, he hugged his test records and returned under the tree.

In the forty-third year of the Divine Kingdom, the Formation Hall found the basic nodes of the Law of Slaughter and dismantled the incomplete Law into seventy-two low-tier blood patterns.

A single blood pattern could only enhance a small amount of sharpness, but seventy-two blood patterns combined according to the Formation diagram could disperse the pressure of the Law and bypass the bearing upper limit of first-tier Materials.

The head of the Casting Workshop obtained the seventy-two blood patterns and guarded the furnace for three days. On the morning of the fourth day, he threw all the original blueprints into the furnace.

Several assistants thought the plan was void and were preparing to organize the failure records when he took out an armor diagram from the ashes that retained only nine main patterns.

"If all seventy-two are engraved into the armor, before the enemy even draws their blade, the person wearing the armor will be corroded by the killing intent first. Leaving nine is the only way the military array can use it."

The Formation Hall rearranged the Formation paths around the nine main patterns, the Alchemy Pavilion wrapped the blood-refining Materials with soul-cleansing medicinal liquid, and the three parties finally finalized a stable plan.

In the fiftieth year of the Divine Kingdom, the furnace fires above the Casting Workshop connected into a crimson light belt, and the first set of third-generation mysterious armor rose from the main furnace and landed in the center of the armor-testing platform.

The mysterious armor was dark red all over, the breastplate retained the soul-cleansing bone patterns, the shoulder guards and arm guards were embedded with nine blood patterns, and the inner layer connected to the Qi and blood circulation array.

The head of the Casting Workshop named it the Blood Nether Xuan Armor. It retained the ability of the second generation nether-bone xuan armor to resist Divine Soul attacks, and its close-combat protection was also enhanced.

When a weapon struck the armor's surface, the nine blood patterns would disperse the impact across the entire set of armor, and then rebound part of the force back along the struck area.

Wang Shan, whose injuries had just recovered, received the news and did not even return to the military camp. Carrying his crimson flame saber, he rushed to the Casting Workshop and reached out to take the first set of mysterious armor.

"Step aside, I'll test the armor!"

The head of the Casting Workshop raised his hand to stop him, but Wang Shan had already removed his old armor. The Formation Master in charge of testing hurriedly activated the protective Formation, and only then did Wang Shan slip the Blood Nether Xuan Armor onto his body, channeling his Qi and blood into the nine blood patterns.

Dark red blood light circulated along the armor plates, and the soul-cleansing bone patterns on his chest lit up accordingly. The two sets of Formation patterns each followed their own path, and the consumption of Qi and blood was also maintained within the design range.

Wang Shan raised the crimson flame saber and slashed the breastplate three times in succession. The blade edges struck up patches of sparks, and the Formation Masters outside the armor-testing platform closely stared at the monitoring Formation Plates.

After the three strikes fell, three shallow marks were left on the surface of the mysterious armor. The blood patterns absorbed the impact, and the rebounding force was transmitted back along the blade body, causing the crimson flame saber to vibrate accordingly.

Wang Shan lowered his head to inspect the armor surface, his laughter spreading across the Casting Workshop: "Good armor! It's hard enough, it can hold out for a few more strikes!"

Just as the head of the Casting Workshop was about to check the records, Wang Mu walked in from outside the door. The surrounding craftsmen put away their smiles and returned to their respective positions one after another.

Wang Mu glanced over the blade marks on the armor-testing platform, his tone steady: "The first finished product hasn't even completed full-item testing, and you're already taking a blade to hack at yourself?"

"Armor is made just to block blades. Hanging it on a rack for worship, can it possibly earn military merit on its own?"

Wang Shan raised the crimson flame saber and tapped the shoulder guard twice. As the crisp echo spread, the satisfaction on his face was not concealed in the slightest.

"Take it off. The Formation Hall needs to check the wear and tear of the blood patterns, and the Alchemy Pavilion also needs to confirm whether killing intent has invaded your body."

Wang Shan stood on the armor-testing platform, still wanting to argue: "Testing it while wearing it is faster. Send me into the Shura Field to fight a round, and wherever there is a problem, it can be found on the spot."

Wang Mu opened the general logistics ledger and flipped to the main combat army's budget: "If you wear it for another quarter of an hour, the next batch of military funds will be deducted by thirty percent, and the maintenance of heavy artillery will be postponed by ten years."

The smile on Wang Shan's face froze. He was silent for a moment, unbuckled the armor, and put the Blood Nether Xuan Armor back onto the armor-testing platform.

"Wang Mu, besides managing accounts, what else can you do?"

"I can also make people who mess with sample armor have no money to change armor."

A few low chuckles came from the Casting Workshop. Wang Shan turned back to scan the circle, and the craftsmen lowered their heads to inspect their furnaces one after another, no one willing to bump into this legion commander.

Wang Mu inspected the wear and tear of the mysterious armor and did not pursue the matter further, only ordering the Casting Workshop to completely input the data of Wang Shan's three slashes into the test archives.

Although this test did not conform to the procedure, it proved that the Blood Nether Xuan Armor could withstand the frontal slash of a Half-Step Martial Grandmaster, and the nine blood patterns showed no signs of losing control. As for the bearing upper limit at the Martial Ancestor level, it still required further testing with military arrays and heavy artillery.

After five years of adjustment, the Blood Nether Xuan Armor was officially finalized. The Casting Workshop expanded its furnaces and began mass production at a rate of five thousand sets per year.

The Alchemy Pavilion also delivered results in the same period. After dozens of purifications, the Shura Grand Commander's essence blood was finally refined into the first furnace of Berserk Blood Battle Pills.

The head of the Alchemy Pavilion personally brought the Medicinal Pills to the Ancestral Court. When the medicine box opened, twelve dark red Medicinal Pills suspended in the medicine-sealing array, their Qi and blood fluctuations locked tightly by the medicinal shell.

"This pill can stimulate Qi and blood and spiritual power in a short period of time. After the medicinal power subsides, the Meridians will not suffer long-term damage, and the blood-refining backlash has also been cleared."

The head of the Alchemy Pavilion handed dozens of medicine-testing records to Wang Mu, which recorded the changes in Qi and blood, spiritual power, and Divine Soul of Martial Masters and Purple Mansion Cultivators before and after taking the pill.

The Berserk Blood Battle Pill could not help Cultivators ascend Realms, but it allowed peak-Realm experts to release their accumulated foundation of many years during combat, making it suitable for cross-Realm offense.

Hearing the news, Wang Shan cast his gaze toward the medicine box again. Wang Mu closed the box lid in advance, locking the medicine-sealing array together.

"If you test medicine recklessly again, I'll deduct your military funds first, and then have the Medical Cultivator Camp reserve a ten-year hospital bed for you."

Wang Shan swallowed his words back and turned to walk toward the military camp, the sound of clashing armor plates echoing all the way out of the Ancestral Court.

Wang Mu immediately issued an order to all departments that all Half-Step Golden Cores and Half-Step Martial Grandmasters were to continue suppressing their Realms, and no one was allowed to use medicinal power to impact barriers.

The Blood Nether Xuan Armor and Berserk Blood Battle Pills had just been finalized, and the legions had not yet completed coordinated training. Breaking through Realms at this time would cause the hundred-year accumulation to lose the opportunity for unified release.

"Before the Divine Lord gives the order to ascend, whoever dares to break through Realms without authorization will be stripped of their military post and have their cultivation resources suspended for thirty years."

The strict order spread into the military camp, and no one touched the Golden Core and Martial Ancestor barriers anymore. All peak-Realm experts returned to the Shura Field to begin adapting to the Blood Nether Xuan Armor and Berserk Blood Battle Pills.

Only half of the hundred-year evolution had passed. The Blood Nether Xuan Armor entered mass production, the Berserk Blood Battle Pills were listed as military supplies, and a new round of transformation for the Immortal Martial Legion unfolded from this.

In the fifty-fifth year of the Divine Kingdom, the first batch of five thousand sets of Blood Nether Xuan Armor was delivered to the main combat army, and Wang Shan personally presided over the equipment change and military array testing.

The new armor was heavier than the second generation nether-bone xuan armor, and the internal Qi and blood array also needed to be re-adapted. When many armored soldiers formed arrays for the first time, their front and back feet staggered by half a step, and the sound of clashing armor plates consequently became a chaotic mess.

Wang Shan did not lower the training intensity, sending all five thousand people into the Shura Field to repeatedly dismantle and reorganize arrays under the pressure of Soul Power and the impact of blood cores.