After those Heavenly Dragon Gate members fled, Li Chen did not send troops in pursuit. He knew that news of his situation was bound to leak out.
They had arrived several days later than expected, giving him ample time to prepare. He had even grown a little impatient with the wait.
But Li Chen was confident that once his mechanical legion spread out and successfully excavated the Spirit Peak Root Vein, wealth would flow in without end.
By then, his strength would have grown tremendously. As long as the Centipede Daoist did not exceed the level expected of the Foundation Establishment Realm, he could not possibly be Li Chen's match.
Early morning, on the third day of the fifth month.
Dawn had barely broken when several Puppet Master Craftsmen rose early and led their subordinates to the worksite to continue the previous day's construction.
With war expected, they had greatly slowed work on the buildings aboveground, instead reinforcing the foundations of the magic arrays and strengthening the overall defenses.
Meanwhile, they laid out one Spirit-Gathering Formation after another, powered by the earth veins and drawing on the spiritual energy of the Spirit Peak Blessed Land. Once the market city was built, these would allow it to fully exploit the blessed land's advantages.
Suddenly, as Li Chen sat with his eyes closed in concentration, an alert from the Auxiliary Brain inside his skull roused him. An image as vivid as something seen with his own eyes appeared directly in his mind.
It was the view from a Worker Bee Puppet. The simulated map showed that they had already dug more than ten li underground. After they pierced a thick layer of rock, a mighty torrent of concentrated spirit spring water shot out, immediately turning into white, cloudlike mist in the air