Next Steps

After Jiang Yun repaired the ley lines beneath the Spirit Bamboo Valley Dao Field, he used the Lesser Heavenly Cycle Stars Formation to draw in Star Spiritual Energy. Then, through a spiritual energy conversion formation, he infused the converted pure Innate Spiritual Qi underground, slowly nourishing the Spirit Vein and improving the environment of the Dao Field.

Once all that was done, he finally had time to settle down and think about his future development.

The battle between Hongjun and Luohou had ended long ago, and the age of the Sages preaching was about to arrive.

How could he cultivate in peace within the prehistoric world, where great calamities would arise one after another and mighty beings would be everywhere, without being disturbed by the outside world? That was the problem he needed to consider carefully next!

Being in the Western World was both Jiang Yun's fortune and his misfortune.

The Western World had been devastated by war, leaving its cultivation environment rather poor. As a result, the cultivation aptitude and speed of Western living beings were generally inferior to those of other regions. Under such circumstances, many of the top Western living beings wanted to migrate elsewhere in search of better cultivation environments. Thus, there was a shortage of top talents. A Golden Immortal cultivator like Jiang Yun was already enough to become an ancestor of a region, giving him considerable security for the time being. Moreover, even some of the great calamities later on would have little to do with the Western Land World.

On the other hand, the lack of cultivation resources would severely slow down individual cultivation. Cultivation emphasized wealth, companions, methods, and a suitable place; none of these could be lacking. Without exchanges with cultivators of the same realm, one also lacked the Dao Companions needed on the path of cultivation, and the impact was considerable. Consider the Western World in later generations: whenever it wanted something, it had to go to the East. Lacking talent, it would raid the Chan and Jie Sects. Lacking destiny, it had to rely on showing kindness to Yuanshi and Laozi before barely obtaining the chance to spread Buddhism eastward and accumulate destiny by preaching to the human race.

To cultivate in peace in the future, he would inevitably need to find someone to rely on. To be honest, he would not get very far on his own. At present, he was far too distant from the top primordial fiends of the prehistoric world. Whether in cultivation, Root Foundation, destiny, wisdom, or anything else, he was completely outmatched. The only thing he could rely on was his familiarity with certain plot points from later legends—and even those still needed to be verified.

Thus, he very sensibly left the Dao Field and hurried all the way to Mount Sumeru to seek a master and cling to a powerful backer. He believed that the two, who were eager for talent, would not refuse him.

It was precisely after he left that the combinations of formations he had built but paid little further attention to gradually began to display tremendous power as time passed.

With ample Star Spiritual Energy supporting it, the Spirit Vein formed above the ley lines continuously expanded along them and spread in every direction.

When it had first condensed, the Spirit Vein was only a few hundred meters long and three zhang thick. It did not even cover the entire area of the Spirit Bamboo Valley Dao Field. However, as time passed, the Spirit Vein rapidly grew with the Spirit Bamboo Valley at its center, nourishing the ley lines below.

Under its influence, the time needed for the ley lines to recover was greatly shortened, and they produced more spiritual energy. That spiritual energy further promoted the growth of the Spirit Vein. In this virtuous cycle, the original Spirit Bamboo Valley was gradually pushed upward by the expanding Spirit Vein as it grew.

Once the Spirit Vein reached a certain scale, the Spirit Bamboo Valley naturally transformed from the sunken valley it had once been into the towering mountain range it was today.

If Jiang Yun's personal energy had not been limited at the beginning, leaving him able to repair only the ley lines within a ten-thousand-li radius around the Dao Field, perhaps Spirit Bamboo Mountain would not have grown so tall even today.

Because the ley lines beyond ten thousand li were still obstructed, the Spirit Vein's outward expansion was hindered. Meanwhile, the conversion of spiritual energy continued without interruption. Under these circumstances, the Spirit Vein within ten thousand li could only shift from growing vertically to growing horizontally. The Spirit Vein became increasingly thick, and the mountain slopes grew steeper along with it.

After listening to Gao Shou and Ling Xi explain everything, Jiang Yun gained a clear understanding of how Spirit Bamboo Valley had become Spirit Bamboo Mountain.

Based on this understanding, he briefly summarized the information and problems he had collected so far.

First, the Dao Field was developing very well. Its cultivation environment had improved tremendously, and more and more living beings were gathering within the ten-thousand-li area surrounding it. This was an excellent phenomenon and would greatly benefit the Dao Field's future development. However, for now, these migrating living beings needed to be uniformly planned and managed.

Second, the development of the underground Spirit Vein was now constrained by the blockage of the external ley lines. If this continued, a massive amount of spiritual energy would become congested in those areas. It would be like silt blocking the Yellow River; once it reached a certain point, something major would happen. They needed to formulate a response as soon as possible, make concrete arrangements, and resolve the problem early.

In light of the current situation and the purpose of his return, Jiang Yun planned to follow the model of the Pengxuan Grotto-Heaven and immediately establish an identical system at Spirit Bamboo Mountain.

He had even given this system a name: the Western Teachings First Five-Year Plan Office. It was usually shortened to the Planning Office. The original halls would all come under the Planning Office, with him serving as its director.

When he had originally brought several people back from the Grotto-Heaven World, he had already taken this into consideration. He had intended to establish a local office of the Planning Office in Spirit Bamboo Valley.

According to his plans for the Pengxuan Grotto-Heaven, the personnel he had brought back would certainly not be enough when he first returned to Spirit Bamboo Valley, so he could begin by setting up the framework.

The ley lines within ten thousand li of the Dao Field had already been repaired by him. After developing for so long, they should gradually attract some living beings to settle here. When the time came, he could train personnel from among those who gathered here to prepare for future development.

However, he had not expected the area around the Dao Field to develop so rapidly. It had completely exceeded his expectations.

Next, Jiang Yun found a plot of land outside the Spirit Bamboo Mountain Dao Field and had the people from the Grotto-Heaven World build the main office hall of the office there.

Then he assigned positions to them. Chi Mei would oversee the Web of Arraignment, Yuan Tong would oversee the Mission Hall, Gao Shou would oversee the Enforcement Hall, Gui Sun would be in charge of the Exchange Hall, Xue Yu would be in charge of the Transmission Hall, and Ling Xi would be in charge of the Scripture Hall. The remaining people would be selected by the various Hall Masters themselves to serve as deputies and assistants.

Once the heads of the various halls had been decided, he had them leave the Dao Field and survey the area around it, first gathering intelligence and recording the geographical environment of each location, while also taking the opportunity to demonstrate the strength of the Spirit Bamboo Mountain office to their neighbors.

After they finished the survey, he worked with them to make plans.

Jiang Yun drafted a plan modeled after the First Five-Year Plan. As an initial step, he designated eight areas in the eight directions around Spirit Bamboo Mountain as key strongholds for the first stage of expansion. Based on the survey results, he would comprehensively consider the strength and destiny of the surrounding clans. Once the time was ripe, he would arrange for several clans to settle at each node and gradually expand the spiritual territory of Spirit Bamboo Mountain, this first-level node, outward...

After completing the plans, Jiang Yun decided to preach beneath Spirit Bamboo Mountain. He had already demonstrated his strength to the neighbors, so next he would give them some benefits. Strike them once, then offer them a date—he had already become quite skilled at this routine!