Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather Chapter 1904 - 1138: Forward Base (Part 2)
Previously on Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather...
But this matter isn’t urgent; the Spirit Source Land can be developed slowly.
First establish a basic defense system, then complete the construction of the city walls and the Array layout, and finally slowly raise the Spirit Vein’s grade.
Yang Zhenshan set up a Grotto Heaven gate in the canyon, the construction of the forward base proceeding in an orderly fashion, while at this moment the Unpredictable Ghost Sect’s Ghost Soldier army was still more than five thousand li away from the forward base.
Five thousand li sounds far, but at the Ghost Soldier army’s sweeping speed, it would take at most three months for them to scour their way to the area near the forward base.
In other words, the forward base had to get ready within three months to block the first wave of the Ghost Soldier army.
Atop the peak on the eastern side of the canyon, glistening snow blanketed the summit, as if someone had placed a cap on this enormous mountain range.
Ma Qiuyan hovered above the peak, overlooking the layers of distant mountains.
"Senior Sister, what are you looking at?" Ning Yun came up behind Ma Qiuyan and asked softly.
Ma Qiuyan turned back, smiled brightly. "Nothing much."
Ning Yun sized her up from head to toe, blinked. "Senior Sister, you’ve got something on your mind!"
Ma Qiuyan’s expression was a bit unnatural. "No I don’t!"
"Tsk, still trying to fool me? Look at these eyes of mine!" Ning Yun pointed at her own clear eyes. "I’ve long since seen right through you!"
Ma Qiuyan was amused by her antics. "You, you—still like you haven’t grown up."
"Master said we have to keep a bit of childlike innocence, or living gets too tiring!" Ning Yun giggled.
"Senior Sister, what are you worried about?"
Ma Qiuyan brushed back the stray hair at her forehead. "Ah, I’m worried about Senior Brother!"
"Senior Brother? Isn’t Senior Brother doing fine? What’s there to worry about?" Ning Yun was a bit surprised.
The "Senior Brother" they were talking about was naturally Yang Jizhen. Although Ma Qiuyan and Yang Jizhen had long since become husband and wife, Ma Qiuyan still habitually called him Senior Brother.
"Senior Brother is preparing for Core Formation." Ma Qiuyan said.
Ning Yun came to a realization. "That’s a good thing, Senior Sister; there’s no need to worry!"
At present Yang Jizhen was already a hundred and eighty years old, his cultivation having reached Late-stage Foundation Establishment. Although he was still some distance away from Core Formation, it was about time to start preparing for it.
In fact, not only Yang Jizhen—Ma Qiuyan, Ning Yun, Cui Yang, Zhang Hexuan and the others could all begin preparations for Core Formation now.
Li Janning and Li Jian’an were about twenty years younger than them and could afford to wait a bit longer.
This batch of Disciples under Yang Zhenshan were all outstanding. Their innate talent wasn’t exactly extraordinary, but with ample resources, they progressed quickly, and none of them had fallen behind.
"Core Formation has risks after all." Ma Qiuyan said.
Ning Yun giggled. "Senior Sister, rather than worry about Senior Brother, you’d better worry about yourself!"
"Me?" Ma Qiuyan looked at her in confusion.
"Mm, you. Not just you, but me too!" Ning Yun pulled a bitter face. "It’s not like you don’t know Master plays favorites. When Senior Brother forms his core, Master will definitely make thorough preparations, so Senior Brother won’t be in any danger!"
"But you and me—Master probably won’t bother with us!"
Ning Yun said, aggrieved.
Ma Qiuyan was taken aback, but thinking it over, she felt Ning Yun’s words weren’t wrong.
Although Yang Zhenshan treated all of his Disciples more or less the same in everyday matters—giving out resources when they were due, showing concern when it was needed—Yang Jizhen’s status was different. He was, apart from Yang Zhenshan himself, the first Immortal Cultivator of the Yang family and was highly valued by Yang Zhenshan.
All along, the resources Yang Jizhen received were the best, and the care he enjoyed was the most.
Everyone was well aware of this, and of course none of them harbored any resentment. Status wasn’t something you could change, and besides, Yang Zhenshan had never shortchanged them.
"By your logic, I really should be worrying about myself." Ma Qiuyan said with a smile.
With Ning Yun breaking up her train of thought like this, much of the anxiety in her heart dissipated.
Ning Yun laughed. "Hehe, I heard Master has refined another Nine Tripod Divine Pill. When the time comes we’ll go beg Master and have him give us one Nine Tripod Divine Pill as a safety net!"
"With a Nine Tripod Divine Pill, even if we can’t form a True Pill, we can at least form a Fake Pill!"
At this, Ma Qiuyan couldn’t help but smile. "You really do think big. Didn’t you see Second Young Master and Third Master are still in line waiting for the Nine Tripod Divine Pill? How could it ever be our turn?"
"That’s not necessarily so. I heard that Master Kou and Red True Man go to the Void to collect Star Cores whenever they have nothing better to do, and Lin Zhenren and Master Yunxiao also collect Void Star Cores! Maybe in a few decades, Master will be able to refine lots of Nine Tripod Divine Pills." Ning Yun said with a grin.
"Your information is quite well-informed." Ma Qiuyan said.
"Naturally. There’s nothing happening in the entire Immortal Palace that I don’t know about!" Ning Yun said smugly.
"Then do you know how many Spiritual Medicines the Green Bull Demon King has?" Ma Qiuyan deliberately tried to stump her.
Sure enough, the smug look on Ning Yun’s face froze. "That I really don’t know. The Green Bull Demon King hides them too well. Every time I go over, he avoids me, like he’s afraid I’ll steal his Spiritual Medicines!"
Ning Yun was lively by nature, and her favorite thing was to drop in on others, so she had great connections within the Immortal Palace; most people liked chatting with her.
But there was someone who didn’t buy her act—the Green Bull Demon King. The Green Bull Demon King only found her annoying, always disturbing his cultivation.
With Qing Niu’s temperament, he wished he could go his whole life without anyone coming to visit.
The two joked around for a while, then went back to arranging Arrays.
On the other side, Xuanzhen had already brought his three Disciples—Chang Ming, Changqing, and Chang Liang—into the deep mountains of the central region of the Wanhua Mountain Range.
They hadn’t brought any Divine Generals with them—or rather, they hadn’t brought any Divine Generals from White Jade City.
Chang Ming, Changqing, and Chang Liang were all Disciples personally taught by Xuanzhen; all of them used Divine General Chessboards as their life-bound magic treasures.
White Jade City was heavily invested in cultivating Divine Generals; naturally they were the ones closest to the water and the first to get the moon, able to prioritize cultivating their own Divine Generals.
An ordinary Divine General Chessboard could cultivate three hundred and sixty-one Divine Generals. The four of them together had more than fourteen hundred Divine Generals, so there was simply no need to bring any others.
Just as Yang Zhenshan had predicted, although the Unpredictable Ghost Sect had occupied more than half of the Wanhua Mountain Range, their Ghost Soldier army still couldn’t cover the entire range.
At this moment the Ghost Sect had already begun deploying Yin Soldier Blood Puppets to construct White Bone Pillars among the mountains, but to build enough White Bone Pillars, they would never manage it without several decades.
And the demon beasts in the forests weren’t fully cleared out by the Yin Soldier Blood Puppets. From time to time one could still see demon beasts and Mutant Beasts darting among the trees.
Xuanzhen and Chang Ming stood on a sheer cliff, watching as a group of Yin Soldier Blood Puppets below were in the middle of slaughtering a pack of demon beasts and Mutant Beasts.
The Howling Moon Wolf Clan was a relatively common Demon Clan in the Wanhua Mountain Range. They had many packs scattered throughout the range.
The pack before them probably hadn’t managed to escape in time and had been found by the Yin Soldier Blood Puppets, hunted all the way to this spot.
"Master, there are twelve Ghost Soldiers down there and three hundred and sixty-two Blood Puppets! Should we make a move?" Changqing said, itching to fight.
Xuanzhen’s gaze swept across the forest below. "You’re mistaken. Over there are another four Foundation Establishment Cultivators."
"Foundation Establishment Cultivators? Where?" Changqing’s gaze searched inch by inch through the forest but found nothing unusual.
Chang Ming pointed at a stand of forest not far away. "Over there; they must have set up a concealment Array."
Hearing this, golden light flashed across Changqing’s eyes. He looked toward the spot Chang Ming indicated and sure enough found four black-robed Cultivators hiding within an Array.
"What are they doing?"
"Heh, most likely trying to lure the snake out of its hole." Chang Ming said with a smile.
"Lure the snake out of its hole!" Changqing understood. "These guys are really insidious!"
They were definitely Disciples of the Unpredictable Ghost Sect. Their goal was of course to hunt down more demon beasts and Mutant Beasts—the Howling Moon Wolves in front of them weren’t that strong and weren’t worth the Ghost Sect sending out four Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
You have to know the Ghost Sect’s Foundation Establishment Cultivators liked fighting in groups; they either drove Ghost Soldiers and Blood Puppets or commanded Yin Soul Ghost Generals.
It was entirely normal for a single Foundation Establishment Cultivator to control hundreds of Ghost Soldiers and Blood Puppets.
Now, with four Foundation Establishment Cultivators gathered here, it was obvious they weren’t here to deal with this pack of Howling Moon Wolves, but to lure and slaughter more demon beasts and Mutant Beasts.
