Alliance (A 6,000-character chapter)

Yongan Island's size and location had both been strictly selected by Song Jingrun. Aside from possessing only a Second-Tier Spirit Vein, it had virtually no flaws.

Its terrain rose high in the center and lay flat on all four sides. At its heart stood a towering Spirit Peak, lush and brimming with life. A majestic waterfall plunged from the mountainside, forming a deep, secluded pool at the foot of the mountain.

From one corner of the pool flowed a stream several zhang wide, winding through a twisting valley for several li. As it burst from the valley mouth, a massive boulder split it into two branches, which flowed into the seas to the southeast.

Large swathes of Spirit Fields had been cultivated across the island, bearing clear signs of long-term farming. The absence of crops now likely meant that the Brocade Banner's people had harvested them in advance.

The buildings on the Spirit Peak, on the other hand, had not been damaged. They still had a little decency left in them.

"Patriarch, I found these on the main beam of the Main Hall." Song Jingyuan approached Song Changsheng with fury written across his face, two plump white grubs lying in his palm.

"Unicorn longhorn beetle larvae?" Song Changsheng raised an eyebrow slightly and looked toward Song Zhexuan. "Elder Zhexuan, is your clan skilled at raising these too, besides silkworms?"

Song Zhexuan looked somewhat embarrassed.

The unicorn longhorn beetle was no rare Spirit Insect. On the contrary, it was a scourge of the Cultivation World. Its larvae parasitized the Tree Trunks of spiritwood, silent and exceedingly difficult to detect. Any spiritwood infested by them would eventually be hollowed out from within and die.

Thus, all wooden structures underwent insect-proofing treatment beforehand. No matter how careless the Brocade Banner's craftsmen might be,