Chapter 1193: Chapter 656 Flourishing Development_2 Chapter 1193: Chapter 656 Flourishing Development_2 “Our own strength is the real strength,” continued Mobai. “Once Brother Zhou achieves the Nascent Soul, our Divine Wood Sect will genuinely unify the Eastern Wilderness. Even Fu Shixiong and the disciples below us will feel prouder and more at ease.”

Chen Mobai’s words made Zhou Shengqing’s face turn solemn. He took the bottle of Return to the Sun Spirit Water and thanked him earnestly.

“Junior Brother Chen, rest assured,” Zhou Shengqing replied. “The day I leave seclusion will be the day the Divine Wood Sect overwhelms the Eastern Wilderness.”

Hearing this, Chen Mobai and Fu Zongjue exchanged a smile, then together they sealed off Zhou Shengqing’s Longevity Wood Dojo to ensure no one would disturb his transformation into an Embodiment Nascent Soul.

“It should take about two or three years. During this period, we will try not to initiate any conflicts and hope that others will not provoke us either,” said Fu Zongjue with a sigh. Chen Mobai nodded in agreement.

What followed was a period of calm vigilance. They only had to wait for Zhou Shengqing to congeal his Embodiment Nascent Soul and leave seclusion; then the situation in the whole Eastern Wilderness could no longer be overturned.

Of course, the reason given to those below was that the sect needed to recuperate and gain strength after the annihilation of Liu Jia Mountain. The primary objectives would now be the development of the Eastern Desolation Plateau and the management of the Sand Sea.

Fu Zongjue positioned his strongest Purple Sun Puppet in front of Zhou Shengqing’s quarters to ensure secrecy. They did not even notify Mo Douguang.

Chen Mobai left seclusion as planned and began to handle the affairs of the sect.

However, after his guidance, Yue Zutao and others were all exceptionally dedicated, and since his word was law within the sect, these trivial matters hardly tied up his time anymore.

Chen Mobai paid special attention to the Eastern Desolation Plateau.

Based on the annual reports from the various countries’ Town Guards, he knew that the progress on the Mo River, within Sky Country, was slightly behind due to a shortage of manpower. Moreover, the water flow from Yun Meng Ze was so violent that there was significant soil erosion along the riverbanks, causing soil fertility to decline.

Furthermore, without meticulous attention, demonic beasts from Yun Meng Ze could enter via the river, greatly distracting Luo Xue’er and Zhou Wangshen.

These issues largely stemmed from inexperience, as carving such a vast river channel was unprecedented in the entire Eastern Wilderness.

With Zhou Wangshen’s assistance, Luo Xue’er had been steadily making amends. Zhuo Ming and others also went to help, discussing and finding solutions based on the actual problems encountered.

Compared to the Mo River, the White River had a smoother progress, especially with Luo Yixuan, a hidden Core Formation expert at their disposal. When cultivators encountered obstacles they couldn’t overcome, she could secretly use her External Incarnation to allow Elder Ming to wield the Moonlight Blade and carve through the mountains.

And, as for protecting against soil erosion, with the assistance of Zhuo Ming, the number one Spirit Plant Master of the Divine Wood Sect, and Yin Qingmei, who cultivated the Upstart Growth Technique, their work in tree planting and soil stabilization was done exceptionally well.

Now, a fifth of White River’s planned irrigation routes has been completed.

This is with the understanding that there was no practical experience in the early stages and they were progressing by trial and error. For the remaining four-fifths, Zhuo Ming is confident that it can all be finished within six years.

In the Eastern Desolation Plateau regions that White River irrigates, Qingluo Grass, as tall as a person, grows abundantly. With ample forage available, species such as local bred gazelles and yaks, under the herding of Spirit Beast Department’s disciples, have begun to breed and thrive in groups.

Although these cattle and sheep are merely Rank-1 Spirit Beasts, every part of them can be sold. Leather can be made into Taoist robes, boots, and so forth, while the meat, rich in Elemental Energy, is sold together with Spirit Rice to the nineteen countries of the Eastern Wilderness and is favored by those practicing Body Cultivation.

Last year alone, Divine Wood Sect’s Spirit Beast husbandry in Rock Country generated an income of a hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

These, compared to the grand scheme of the sect, are but a drop in the bucket and hardly worth mentioning. But Chen Mobai envisioned a vast future.

Once the White River is fully tapped and irrigates the entirety of Rock Country, and these pastoral industries expand to a much larger scale, they could easily increase by tenfold.

And the Eastern Desolation Plateau consists of much more than just Rock Country.

Apart from cattle and sheep, what’s even more precious are those Spirit Fields irrigated with Snow Mountain Water.

Farming is Zhuo Ming’s old line of work. In just two and a half years, she led disciples from the Divine Wood Sect and the Longevity Academy to cultivate ten thousand mu of Rank-1 Spirit Fields.

All of these are planted with Fire Spirit Rice, the easiest crop to survive and one that thrives in the high plateau climate and environment.

This ten-thousand-acre Fire Spirit Rice yields two harvests a year, each year bringing in three million catties. If all were sold, that would mean an income of three hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

If the thirty million acres of spirit fields in the Eastern Desolation Plateau were all developed, just by planting this Fire Spirit Rice, the Divine Wood Sect could reap crops valued at nine hundred million Spirit Stones annually.

Within the sect, far-sighted cultivators like Yue Zutao had already seen the terrifying potential in the first report on the Spirit Rice income after the complete development of the Eastern Desolation Plateau.

Thus, since the middle of last year, cultivators from the Three Halls and Twelve Divisions within Giant Tree Ridge had started undertaking the development of the Eastern Desolation Plateau more frequently and actively.

The disciples from the Spirit Beast Department went to graze animals, those from the Spirit Vein and Spirit Plant Department worked the fields, planting Spirit Rice or medicinal herbs, the Puppet Division’s disciples manufactured and repaired puppet farm machinery, while the Body Forging cultivators moved crops…

Even those who had no particular skills, who only knew spells, could accept tasks and live in thatched huts in the spirit fields to cultivate while guarding the spirit plants, preventing birds from the sky and pests from the ground from destroying the crops.

The reason for such enthusiasm was because, in addition to the Spirit Stones issued by the sect, Zhuo Ming had also implemented a policy of supplementing every disciple with Fire Spirit Rice every day.

The amount depended on their cultivation level: Qi Cultivation early-stage disciples received one catty per day, mid-stage received two catties, and late-stage received three catties.

Last year, when Chen Mobai was at the Immortal Gate waiting for the Return to the Sun Spirit Water, the Divine Wood Sect’s disciples experienced the happiness of eating Spirit Rice with an open heart for the first time!

Although the sect also distributed it monthly in the past, they had to eat frugally, even mixing it with some regular rice to cook, unlike now, where as long as you come to Rock Country, you can eat to your heart’s content, eat until you’re stuffed.

At first, it was only in Rock Country, but it attracted strong protests from Luo Xue’er and Zhou Wangshen because all the active forces within the sect were drawn to Rock Country, which made the progress at Mo River in Sky Country seem severely delayed by comparison.

If it were Luo Yixuan and Yin Qingmei handling the situation, they naturally would have ignored it, but Zhuo Ming, kindhearted and having been influenced by Chen Mobai for a long time, not only supported Sky Country with some Fire Spirit Rice but also went to Sky Country to personally guide the cultivation of Spirit Fields and planting of Spirit Rice.

Teaching someone to fish is better than giving them fish.

Even so, the golden sign of Xiao Nanshan still had a greater attraction, and disciples of the Divine Wood Sect still preferred to choose tasks in Rock Country when accepting them.

After knowing this, Chen Mobai also nodded in appreciation of Zhuo Ming’s actions.

Whether it was using Spirit Rice to subsidize and attract more disciples of the Divine Wood Sect to develop the Eastern Desolation Plateau, to prevent the prices from plummeting after a large amount of Spirit Rice entered the market, or assisting Sky Country, those were choices he would have made.

Indeed, he was a worthy successor, having inherited three parts of his breadth of vision and generosity.

Originally planning to visit the Eastern Desolation Plateau after leaving his retreat, Chen Mobai was now completely at ease.

The disciples who had once been under his protection were now capable of taking on great responsibilities.

After handling the sect affairs, Chen Mobai visited Xiao Nanshan again.

After all, without Zhuo Ming’s care, he was still somewhat worried about the Spirit Plants such as the Immortal Peach Tree planted there.

But in fact, he was overthinking it.

The three Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Spirit Plant Department treated Xiao Nanshan as a top priority and took good care of it. Although they lacked a Spirit Plant Master as remarkable as Zhuo Ming, quantity made up for quality.

With dozens of disciples looking after them day and night, all the spirit plants were growing very well.

Even the Enlightenment White Tea Tree successfully absorbed the essence of the Green Charm Spiritual Tree at the end of last year and upgraded to a Rank-2 superior grade.

This was half a year faster than what Chen Mobai had anticipated.

It might be due to the spirit vein in Xiao Nanshan upgrading to Rank-4.

As Chen Mobai listened to the Tea Tree using the Echoes in the Void, his eldest disciple, Liu Wenbo, got the news of his emergence from seclusion and came over with Song Huangdae.