Half a month later.
That day, just after the hour of the Dragon, Cheng Xinzhan noticed that the passage token the Thin Daoist had given him was glowing in the Void Realm. He took it out, and a voice immediately came from within.
"Strategist, come to the main hall to discuss matters."
Cheng Xinzhan answered, then rose, left his residence, and flew toward Star-Plucking Hall at the summit.
When he entered, the same people as last time were gathered in the hall, but joyful smiles shone on every face, including the Thin Daoist's. Everyone looked over as Cheng Xinzhan came in, their eyes filled with admiration, awe, envy, and more besides.
From their reaction, Cheng Xinzhan knew that the suggestions he had offered must have borne fruit.
"Sit."
The Thin Daoist spoke.
Cheng Xinzhan sat down in his former seat.
"You Jie, explain it to him."
The Thin Daoist addressed the first person on the right side of the hall.
Cheng Xinzhan followed his gaze. The man was middle-aged and rather thin, wreathed in yin energy, nothing like a living person. Judging by his aura, he was a corpse cultivator around the Third Wash. He turned his head and smiled at Cheng Xinzhan.
"Your brilliant plans worked, Strategist. Over these past days, we gathered materials and probed the waters around Red Rosy Cloud Island, fighting the crocodile demons and putting every one of your methods to use.
"We discovered that virtually all the methods you mentioned worked against Second Realm crocodile demons. The cheapest and most convenient was feeding them plant seeds. We tried over a dozen kinds, all said to seal the throat at the first touch of blood, and found the most suitable to be Jiao-Claw Vine from the Blood-Vine Cult in the Southern Borderlands.
"This vine craves