252: Deep cultivation and meticulous work bring forth inspiration

With Elder Ling Yunzi overseeing the defense and the Qingfeng Guards assisting, the "Nine Revolutions Spirit Nurturing Grand Array" was complete, and preparations for the "Lesser Void Isolation Array" were in full swing.

The internal and external environment of Zhenbei City finally welcomed unprecedented stability and harmony.

However, Lin Shanhe and the high-level officials knew well that this peace was hard-won, and needed to be cherished all the more, transforming it into a powerful driving force for sustainable development.

The focus of the entire city shifted completely toward the cultivation of Internal Skill and the accumulation of foundations.

Eastern Front, Donghua Mining Area.

During this precious time before the official deployment of the "Lesser Void Isolation Array," Elder Mo did not rest.

He led the Formation Hall Disciples to begin deeper fine-tuning and optimization of the "Nine Revolutions Spirit Nurturing Grand Array."

The grand array was complete, but there was still room for improvement in its resonance with the Spiritual Vein and the jade marrow heart.

They attempted to guide the power of the grand array to more precisely nourish the depths of the mineral vein, hoping to further improve the quality and yield of the raw spirit jade ore, and even... attempted to catalyze new, tiny branches of the jade marrow Spiritual Vein.

This was a long and delicate process that required extremely high patience and skill, but once successful, the returns would be enormous.

Wei Rong focused on expanding the applications of jade marrow essence.

Of the jade marrow essence produced stably every day, besides the portion handed over to the Main Sect and kept as strategic reserves, the rest was regarded by him as supreme treasure material.

He opened a joint study class for the Artifact Hall and the Pill Hall, teaching personally and guiding Core Disciples to attempt incorporating trace amounts of jade marrow into the refining of higher-grade Magic Treasures and the condensing of Medicinal Pills.

Several days later, the first furnace of "Purple Mansion Nurturing Divine Pill" with trace amounts of jade marrow powder was produced.

When the pill was formed, colorful light filled the room, and an exotic fragrance assailed the nostrils.

The medicinal effect was gentle yet powerful, having remarkable miraculous effects for Golden Core Cultivators to nourish their Divine Sense and temper their magic power, with a value far exceeding ordinary fourth-tier Medicinal Pills.

On the Artifact Hall side, they also successfully refined a trace of jade marrow spirit into a Flying Sword embryo; while it did not increase its sharpness, it made it more spiritual, greatly increasing the potential for future nurturing and advancement.

These Breakthrough results, although very low in yield, marked a crucial step for Zhenbei City in the production of high-end Cultivation resources.

Western Front, the vast newly annexed lands.

Zhao Baichuan oversaw the newly established "Western Frontier Sentry Post," using it as a base to advance westward steadily and surely.

No longer pursuing speed, but focusing on digestion and consolidation.

The World Purifying Guard used the sentry post as a center to conduct dragnet-style clearing operations, completely sweeping away the remnants of the Chieftain of the Wind Howl Tribe and potential bandit threats, ensuring the safety of trade routes and migration paths.

Huo Chen's work was more meticulous.

He led the internal affairs deacons and the backbone of the assimilation camp deep into the various tribal settlements that had newly joined, not for simple management, but for true "Fusion."

Helping them plan villages, teaching more advanced farming and animal husbandry techniques, establishing Elementary schools to teach the common language and alliance rules, selecting youths with potential to enter the Zhenbei City Dao Academy to study, and even supporting them in developing unique handicrafts (such as a tribe skilled in tanning a type of fire-resistant lizard skin).

After a combo of "teaching a man to fish" and "cultural Fusion," the newly annexed citizens' sense of identity and belonging to the World Purifying Alliance grew with each passing day.

They were no longer merely the managed, but gradually became an organic part of the World Purifying Alliance's exploration of the Western Wilderness, beginning to spontaneously maintain order, provide labor, and even enthusiastically join the army.

The territory on the Western Front was quietly yet solidly and continuously extending westward in a relatively peaceful and efficient manner.

Inside the city, the development of each hall entered a virtuous cycle.

After the first batch of Dao Academy graduates were filled into various positions, they brought new vitality.

Under the careful guidance of Sun Yan, Shi Lei's ability to sense Spiritual Veins became increasingly refined; he could already vaguely sense the structures deep underground to the west, and could even provide early warnings for small-scale fluctuations in earth Qi, becoming an indispensable "living radar" for the mining area and the Exploration Team.

The rest of the graduates also began to stand out in their respective fields; some improved the Spirit Plant irrigation Formation, while others optimized the quenching process for Magical Artifacts.

The scale of the Mutual Trade Market expanded once again, becoming the veritable trade center of the western wilderness.

Not only did surrounding tribes come here to trade, but merchants from even more distant prefectures began risking the journey across the wilderness to purchase the "thick earth tuber," "jade dew pill," high-quality leather, and the newly developed "fire-resistant lizard skin armor" unique to this place.

Zhenbei City not only produced and sold its own goods, but also began to play the role of a material distribution hub for the wilderness, with tax revenue increasing greatly and prosperity changing with each passing day.

The warehouse reserves were unprecedentedly full.

raw spirit jade ore, various Spirit Materials, Medicinal Pills, Magical Artifacts... everything was available.

Lin Shanhe and the internal affairs deacons formulated a detailed contribution point exchange system, encouraging soldiers and the public to use contribution points to exchange for needed resources, greatly stimulating everyone's enthusiasm.

On this day, the last few rare Materials needed by Elder Ling Yunzi to set up the "Lesser Void Isolation Array" were delivered via the Thoroughfare.

The Elder immediately went into seclusion to begin refining the core of the array base, and the day of setting up the array was just around the corner.

However, in this seemingly excellent situation, Lin Shanhe remained unusually clear-headed.

He convened the middle and high-level officials for a meeting titled "Remain Vigilant in Times of Peace, Check for Leaks and Fill Gaps."

"The expansion on the Western Front is going smoothly, but the abnormal Evil Qi in the depths of the wilderness that Elder Ling felt earlier cannot be ignored.

Huo Chen, does the Reconnaissance and Patrol Team have any new findings from their exploration to the west?" Lin Shanhe asked.

Huo Chen stepped out, his expression grave: "Reporting to the Elder, the furthest reconnaissance team I dispatched has established a temporary stronghold eight hundred miles west of the Western Frontier Sentry Post.

They reported that the terrain in that area changed abruptly, with many deep ditches and rift valleys, filled with Evil Qi, and rarely any living beings.

They sensed several weak but extremely cold fluctuations of earth-based Evil Qi, the source of which is unknown and untraceable; it seems there is a natural Formation or a powerful existence hiding there.

The team did not dare to go deeper and has retreated to the stronghold to monitor."

"As expected, there is something suspicious..." Lin Shanhe mused, "Order the Western Frontier Sentry Post to pause the westward advance and shift to consolidating the existing defense line, strengthening reconnaissance, but absolutely do not take risks lightly.

Wait for Elder Ling to come out of seclusion, perhaps we can ask him to use his Divine Sense to explore from a distance."

"The city is prosperous, but the population is increasing, and resource consumption is growing daily," an internal affairs deacon reported, "Although the output of the Spirit Garden has increased, it still cannot keep up with demand.

Especially the basic food and daily necessities needed by low-tier Cultivators and Mortals, which still need to be imported in large quantities from the Eastern Province, which is costly."

"This is a long-term plan," Lin Shanhe nodded, "Lu Zhu, can the Artifact Hall develop large-scale farming Magical Artifacts more suitable for the arid land of the wilderness?

Su Wan, can the Agriculture Hall further optimize the thick earth tuber seeds to increase their yield and drought resistance? Or even... introduce other drought-resistant, high-yield crops?"

Lu Zhu and Su Wan looked at each other and said in unison: "We will do our utmost!"

"In addition," Lin Shanhe's gaze swept across everyone, "Our city now relies on the Thoroughfare to communicate with the Eastern Province; although convenient, it also carries risks.

We need to gradually improve our self-sufficiency.

Each hall needs to set a goal: within five years, increase Zhenbei City's basic material self-sufficiency rate to over seventy percent!"

After the meeting ended, each hall took action, starting to solve the various problems encountered in development in a targeted manner.

Just as everyone in Zhenbei City was working hard and focusing on development, a small, dust-covered caravan, having endured many hardships, arrived at the Mutual Trade Market from the far west of the wilderness.

What they brought was not some precious Materials, but an unsettling piece of news.

During the trade, the caravan leader inadvertently mentioned to a Law Enforcement Hall deacon: about a year ago, from deep within an ancient black forest in the far west of the wilderness, several violent tremors and pillars of Evil Qi shooting into the sky were heard and seen, lasting for several days before stopping.

Since then, that area has been completely shrouded in thick gray-black mist, devoid of life, and no one dares to approach it again.

There are rumors that some ancient Devil Head has awakened, or that a strange treasure has appeared, triggering the Evil Qi...

The news was reported layer by layer and finally placed on Lin Shanhe's desk.

"Ancient black forest... violent tremors... sky-high Evil Qi... shrouded in gray mist..." Lin Shanhe tapped his fingers on the desk, his brows furrowed.

This vague rumor from the distant west seemed to have some subtle connection with the abnormal Evil Qi sensed by Elder Ling Yunzi and the findings of Huo Chen's Reconnaissance and Patrol Team.

The vastness of the wilderness far exceeded imagination.

What Zhenbei City had seen might just be the tip of the iceberg.

What kind of secrets and dangers were hidden in those unknown depths?

The road of development was never smooth sailing.

External threats seemed to have temporarily subsided, but potential hidden dangers and variables from afar were still like a sword hanging overhead.

Lin Shanhe took a deep breath, filed this intelligence, and classified it as top secret.

"Pass the order: raise the city-wide alert level to Class B.

All outgoing exploration and trade caravans must be extra careful and report any abnormalities in a timely manner.

Accelerate the deployment speed of the "Lesser Void Isolation Array!"

Under the veneer of prosperity and peace, Zhenbei City tightened its strings once more, continuing to move forward steadily and firmly toward deeper and more distant goals.

Deep cultivation and meticulous work, what is nurtured is not only spiritual opportunities, but also the profound foundation to cope with future storms.