Taking Stock of Our Strength

Yue Yao was somewhat helpless. "Venerable, how do you intend to proceed?"

Yang Zhengshan rose to his feet, his gaze sweeping over everyone. "We're unfamiliar with both the Northern Region and the Southern Region, so we won't meddle blindly. The situation in the center is far too complicated, and we're too small to get involved!"

"So this venerable one's target is the Wanhua Mountain Range!"

"We'll establish a foundation belonging to White Jade Capital in the Wanhua Mountain Range and incorporate the Wanhua Mountain Range into White Jade Capital's territory!"

He wanted the Wanhua Mountain Range as well, because it had sufficient resources to support the Life Realm Immortal Palace.

"The Wanhua Mountain Range? We're going to oppose the Wuchang Ghost Sect?" Lin Xiqiu's expression changed as he spoke.

"That's right! The Wuchang Ghost Sect can be considered our old nemesis. It's time we settled our accounts with them!" A cold glint flashed through Yang Zhengshan's eyes.

His grudge with the Wuchang Ghost Sect went back a long way. From Mo Xuanyu to Zhang Mo, and then An Wusheng, he had usually gotten the better of them, but during the battle at True Sun Immortal City, the Spirit Source Land had paid a grievous price in casualties.

Yang Zhengshan had always kept this debt in his heart.

Lin Xiqiu was somewhat moved. His hatred for the Wuchang Ghost Sect ran deepest—a blood feud born of extermination, irreconcilable beneath the heavens.

However, he still retained his reason and said, "The Wuchang Ghost Sect is immensely powerful. I'm afraid we're no match for them!"

"That's right, we're no match for them. But it's not as though we're powerless to fight! Besides, we're not planning to immediately fight them to the death!" Yang Zhengshan said.

He had already looked into what had happened when the Wanhua Demon Court was destroyed.

At the time, both sides had been worn down in the Wanhua Mountain Range for several months. Only after the Wanhua Demon Emperor's Treant Army had been exhausted did the Wanhua Demon Court fall.

Although the Wuchang Ghost Sect had emerged victorious in that war of attrition, they had also paid a considerable price.

There was still a mountain of corpses in the Wanhua Mountain Range—or rather, it was not a mountain, but a Corpse Great Wall stretching over a thousand li.

The Corpse Great Wall had been piled together from the corpses of the Flower Soldier Tree People and the Yin Soldier Blood Puppets.

It stretched over a thousand li and stood over a thousand zhang high, made from corpses numbering in the hundreds of millions.

According to Yang Zhengshan's estimate, there were at least two hundred million corpses of Yin Soldier Blood Puppets there.

No matter how deep the Wuchang Ghost Sect's reserves were, it was impossible for them to suffer such terrifying casualties without taking any damage.

Adding in the Golden Core cultivators the Wuchang Ghost Sect had lost over the years, the Wuchang Ghost Sect was still powerful, but it should already be far weaker than before.

White Jade Capital might still be inferior to the Wuchang Ghost Sect, but the gap between them was no longer as vast as heaven and earth.

"Has the Wuchang Ghost Sect's Yin Soldier Army entered the southern part of the Wanhua Mountain Range?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

"They should have just entered. We still don't know exactly how far they've gone!" Xuan Zhen replied.

Yang Zhengshan chuckled. "Then we'll become a stumbling block. We'll stop them first and prevent them from occupying the entire Wanhua Mountain Range!"

White Jade Capital still could not clash head-on with the Wuchang Ghost Sect by deploying its formation and meeting them forcefully.

But if all they had to do was become a stumbling block, White Jade Capital could absolutely manage that.

His idea was simple: occupy a piece of territory in the southern part of the Wanhua Mountain Range, then block the Yin Soldier Army's advance southward.

By now, the Wuchang Ghost Sect had already occupied most of the Wanhua Mountain Range. They needed to build Giant Bone Pillars in various places, which would inevitably disperse the Yin Soldiers. On top of that, considering the casualties they had suffered during the war of attrition, the number of Yin Soldiers advancing south could not be very large.

The Wuchang Ghost Sect's occupation of most of the Wanhua Mountain Range was their victory, but it was also their greatest weakness.

The territory was too vast, and they needed to commit a great deal of strength to control it.

Don't assume that the Wanhua Demon Court's destruction meant there was no force left to resist in the Wanhua Mountain Range.

The Wanhua Mountain Range stretched nearly a hundred thousand li from north to south. It contained countless remote mountains and ancient forests and hidden places, concealing an incalculable number of Demonic Beasts and Strange Beasts, as well as many reclusive cultivators.

Although some members of the Demon Race had received news early and fled, most Demonic Beasts had not even learned what was happening and had remained in the Wanhua Mountain Range.

The Wuchang Ghost Sect's current occupation of the Wanhua Mountain Range only extended across the broad surface. They had not yet had time to clear out the remaining forces in the mountains.

"For now, let's take stock of the strength we can mobilize!"

Yang Zhengshan wanted to find out their family fortune. War was unavoidable in what lay ahead, and at the very least, he needed to know how much strength he could command.

"Xuan Zhen, start by telling us about the Divine Generals!"

"At present, we have eight thousand Divine Generals, and all eight thousand have cultivated the Golden Light Divine Curse!" Xuan Zhen grinned. "They're the greatest bane of the Yin Soldier Blood Puppets!"

Although the Divine Generals were few in number, they were immortal beings. As long as the Wuchang Ghost Sect did not invade the Spirit Source Land, the Divine Generals would not die in battle.

Even if they were slain outside, they could be reborn after twenty or thirty years.

Of course, they were not invincible.

Although they could be reborn, raising their strength still required considerable time and resources.

As for Xuan Zhen's claim that they were the bane of the Yin Soldier Blood Puppets, he was not boasting.

The Golden Light Divine Curse was the foundation of the Eight Divine Curses. Since the Divine Generals had cultivated the Golden Light Divine Curse, they could naturally cultivate the Purify Heaven and Earth Divine Curse as well.

Once they mastered the Purify Heaven and Earth Divine Curse, they would become the bane of the Yin Soldier Blood Puppets.

Compared with the hundreds of millions of Yin Soldier Blood Puppets, eight thousand Divine Generals could practically be ignored.

But the strength of the two sides could not be compared that way. First, the strength of a Divine General was equivalent to that of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, while a Blood Puppet was at most a Golden Body Realm Martial Artist. Among the Yin Soldier Army, the only ones truly capable of fighting the Divine Generals were the Yin Soldiers.

The Wuchang Ghost Sect did not actually possess as many Yin Soldiers as people imagined. Of the hundreds of millions of Yin Soldier Blood Puppets, the vast majority were Blood Puppets, while Yin Soldiers accounted for only one or two out of every thousand. In other words, an army of one hundred million Yin Soldier Blood Puppets contained only around one hundred thousand Yin Soldiers.

Although the numerical gap was still enormous, it was not large enough to make people despair.

Second, the Wuchang Ghost Sect's Yin Soldier Army had already been distributed throughout the Wanhua Mountain Range. Only a few million Yin Soldiers were advancing south.

The eight thousand Divine Generals were still no match for an army of several million Yin Soldiers, but they could wage guerrilla warfare against the Yin Soldier Army in the mountain forests.

Finally, and most importantly, as the Divine Generals began cultivating the Golden Light Divine Curse, their numbers were increasing at an extremely rapid pace.

After cultivating the Golden Light Divine Curse, the Divine Generals could also transform other Divine Souls into Divine Generals.

Previously, only Xuan Zhen could lead the disciples of the Wuzhen Dao Palace in transforming Divine Generals. It was time-consuming and laborious, and, most importantly, the speed was slow.

But now that they had eight thousand Divine Generals, they could cultivate the Golden Light Divine Curse while transforming Yin Souls into Divine Generals, increasing the transformation speed dozens of times over.

That was why the number of Divine Generals in the Spirit Source Land had risen from two thousand to eight thousand in just a little over a decade.

As time passed, the number of Divine Generals would continue to grow, and the speed of Divine General Transformation would become faster and faster.

If one Divine General spent a year transforming one Divine General, that meant their numbers could double every year.

Eight thousand, sixteen thousand, thirty-two thousand, sixty-four thousand, one hundred and twenty-eight thousand.

In just five years, the Spirit Source Land could possess an army of one hundred thousand Divine Generals.

Of course, this calculation was somewhat unreasonable. Some time would inevitably be wasted along the way, so it was impossible for their numbers to truly double every year.

But if five years was not enough, then ten years would be.

The Spirit Source Land could afford to wait ten years.

At present, the factor limiting the growth of the Divine Generals' numbers was not time, but the number of Yin Souls.

The Spirit Source Land currently possessed only three hundred thousand Yin Souls. Most of them were ordinary Yin Souls and had not reached the Ghost General level.

Based on the speed at which the Divine Soul Hall cultivated Ghost Generals, combined with the speed of Divine General Transformation, Xuan Zhen estimated that reaching one hundred thousand Divine Generals would take roughly ten years, while reaching three hundred thousand would take roughly twenty years.

As for exceeding three hundred thousand Divine Generals, that would depend on whether the Spirit Source Land could obtain more Yin Souls in the future.

Yin Souls were also a scarce resource.

Yang Zhengshan was already very satisfied with an army of eight thousand Divine Generals. After all, this was genuine combat strength.

"What about the Jade Capital Guard?" Yang Zhengshan looked toward Yang Minghao and Song Dashan.

The Jade Capital Guard was the army of the Spirit Source Land—and its only army.

Yang Minghao spoke up. "The Jade Capital Guard currently has fifty-eight thousand soldiers. We possess eighty-six Vermilion Bird Cloud Boats and three hundred and sixty-two Blazing Sun Flying Boats!"

The Jade Capital Guard was primarily made up of Golden Body Realm Martial Artists, supplemented by Qi Refining Stage Cultivators. The Qi Refining Stage Cultivators were mainly responsible for controlling the formations aboard the Flying Boats, while the Golden Body Realm Martial Artists were responsible for combat. They were all equipped with bows and arrows at the Second-tier Spirit Weapon level. They could use their bows for long-range attacks while also possessing a certain degree of close-combat ability.

Although they were far inferior to the Wuchang Ghost Sect's Yin Soldiers in strength, the formations aboard the Flying Boats protected them, allowing them to fight Yin Soldiers and even Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

The strength of Golden Body Realm Martial Artists was indeed far inferior to that of Foundation Establishment Cultivators, but that did not mean Martial Artists could not harm Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

With formation protection, Spirit Weapons to use, and their Military Formation, several dozen Golden Body Realm Martial Artists could completely contend with a single Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Moreover, when armies clashed, individual strength would be greatly restricted, while the power of the collective would instead be magnified without limit.

The Spirit Source Land's Flying Boat manufacturing industry had developed rapidly over the years. It not only met the Hengshan Sect's needs but also supplied the Jade Capital Guard with a large number of Flying Boats.

The Jade Capital Guard had not been idle over the years, either. They had been training continuously.

They familiarized themselves with the formations aboard the Flying Boats, improved their strength and equipment, and drilled various Military Formations.

It would be too much to claim they were overwhelmingly powerful, but they were absolutely the most elite Martial Artist Army in the entire Myriad Flower Domain.

"Besides, if necessary, the Jade Capital Guard can expand to one hundred thousand at any time. Quite a few people have left the Jade Capital Guard over the years, but as long as Venerable gives the order, I believe they'll be more than willing to return to the Jade Capital Guard and fight for Venerable!" Yang Minghao said excitedly.

The soldiers of the Jade Capital Guard had not remained unchanged. Over the years, batch after batch had been replaced. Some had left because they had grown too old, some because of job transfers, some because they wanted to focus on cultivation, and some because Yang Minghao and the others had deliberately arranged it that way.

Compared with the population of the Spirit Source Land, the Jade Capital Guard was not very large.

Every few years, Yang Minghao and the others would release some people from the Jade Capital Guard while recruiting another batch of newcomers.

The Jade Capital Guard was a great melting pot. Joining the Jade Capital Guard would not delay cultivation; one could even learn a great deal of military knowledge. Releasing veterans and training newcomers was precisely to make it easier for the Jade Capital Guard to expand.

By now, the Spirit Source Land's military recruitment had developed an established set of rules. If someone wanted to join the army, the process could generally be divided into four steps.

First, their cultivation had to reach the Innate Realm.

Second, they had to join the Garrison Army, receive the Garrison Army's training, become a soldier of the Garrison Army, and take responsibility for the Spirit Source Land's Public Order. Under normal circumstances, they could remain in the Garrison Army for three to ten years. If they stayed any longer, the Garrison Army would no longer keep them.

A maximum of ten years of service was a hard rule of the Garrison Army. Too many people wanted to join, so the Garrison Army allowed each soldier to remain in the army for only ten years.

Third, they had to leave the Garrison Army and cultivate diligently. Once their cultivation reached the Golden Body Realm, they could enter the Jade Capital Guard.

Fourth, they had to receive training in the Jade Capital Guard, also for ten years. After ten years, unless they had performed exceptionally well in some area, they could only leave the Jade Capital Guard as well.

In the past, the Spirit Source Land had not possessed so many Golden Body Realm Martial Artists, and many people had remained in the Jade Capital Guard for decades or even centuries. But as the number of Golden Body Realm Martial Artists in the Spirit Source Land continued to grow, ten years had become a limit.

When Yang Minghao said they could expand the army to one hundred thousand, he meant that one hundred thousand Golden Body Realm Martial Artists had received Military Training from the Jade Capital Guard and were capable of skillfully forming battle formations and fighting aboard Flying Boats.

Yang Zhengshan considered it for a moment before saying, "Then expand the army to one hundred thousand first. Make the preparations!"

The Jade Capital Guard might not necessarily be useful in the future, but there was certainly no harm in preparing ahead of time.

"Yes!" Yang Minghao replied.

"Anything else?" Yang Zhengshan looked toward the others.

Yang Zongyuan stepped forward and said, "Venerable, the Puppet Hall has more than three thousand Second-tier Puppets ready to Go to Battle at any time!"

"Puppets?" Yang Zhengshan's eyes lit up. "Your Puppet Army has taken shape?"

The Puppet industry and the Flying Boat industry were both industries heavily supported by the Spirit Source Land. Compared with the Flying Boat industry, however, the Puppet industry had developed somewhat slowly.

The reason was simple. Flying Boats could be sold to the Hengshan Sect and generate revenue, while Puppets could not be sold and could only sit in storage.

It was not that no one was willing to buy Puppets. Rather, the Spirit Source Land rarely conducted scattered business and had not specifically operated a Puppet business, making it difficult for the Puppet industry to generate revenue.

Yang Zongyuan scratched his head awkwardly. "It can't be called an army yet, but the Puppet Hall has stored quite a few Puppets. However, because the number of Puppet Masters is limited, only three thousand Puppets can currently be deployed!"

"I see! Being able to deploy three thousand Second-tier Puppets is already pretty good!" Yang Zhengshan nodded in satisfaction.

Three thousand was not a large number, but neither was it small. The greatest use of Puppets was not offense, but protection—guarding strongholds in coordination with formations.

They could be used for sentry duty, patrols, guarding, and other tasks.

"Anything else? Green Wolf King, how many Demonic Beasts does your Azure Wolf Clan have now?" Yang Zhengshan asked the Green Wolf King curiously.

The Green Wolf King shuddered when he heard Yang Zhengshan's question and hurriedly stepped forward to reply, "Venerable, my Azure Wolf Clan now has eighty-six Demonic Wolves!"

"Not bad!" Yang Zhengshan nodded. After more than a hundred years, the Azure Wolf Clan had over eighty Demonic Beasts. That counted as considerable progress.

"Then how many Demonic Beasts does our Spirit Source Land have now?"

The Green Wolf King said, "Including the Spirit Deer Clan, the Beast Hall has a total of more than sixteen hundred Demonic Beasts on its register. The Spirit Deer Clan accounts for more than twelve hundred of them!"

In other words, apart from the Spirit Deer Clan, the Spirit Source Land had only four hundred Demonic Beasts.

That number was not large, but neither was it small.

A hundred years ago, the Spirit Source Land had only a dozen or so Demonic Beasts, yet now it had more than four hundred.

Moreover, these Demonic Beasts did not belong to a single clan. They had been transformed from various Strange Beasts.

There were Azure Wolves, Golden Feather Fire Crows, Golden Feather Eagles, Cloud Tiger Colts, Sky Alligator Beasts, Golden Fire Flood Dragons, Illusion Moon Foxes, and so on—dozens of clans in all.

Many of the Strange Beasts had been bought back by Yang Zhengshan back then, and they had all since become Demonic Beasts.