Qing Chen, whom Xu Jiuling and Gu Jianchun were discussing, was in a secluded valley deep within Hidden Spirit Island.
Mountains rose and fell around the valley, forming a natural barrier.
Lush woods covered the mountains, wreathed in mist.
Occasional low growls from Demon Beasts added a further measure of danger.
The place Qing Chen had chosen for his secluded cultivation was in this hidden valley.
He had a cave abode one li beneath the valley floor.
Moreover, a Mid-Grade Second Tier Small Five-Element Inverted Trapping Formation had been laid outside the cave abode, making it as impregnable as ramparts of metal and a moat of boiling water.
Few people ever came here; even the island's cultivators seldom set foot in the area.
The cultivators on Hidden Spirit Island usually lived in its Inner City or in the Hidden Spirit Market Ward, an area ten li across that Qing Chen had designated.
Those were the places with the richest spiritual energy on the entire island.
Over the years, Qing Chen had not only ordered Gao Yuliang, Deng Ziyue, and the others to expand Hidden Spirit Island vigorously.
He had also invited Spirit Vein Seekers from the Condensed Jade Sect to draw in spirit veins and absorb smaller islands.
The spirit stones spent came from several sources: allocations from Hidden Spirit Island's Island Lord's Mansion, supplies from the Inspector's Manor, and tribute from the various islands' factions.
Over these years, Qing Chen's influence had also grown steadily.
Hidden Spirit Island was now nearly two hundred li across, with a population exceeding a million.
Qing Chen had not only brought in people from his own jurisdiction but also traded for people from other jurisdictions, and the population had now reached a considerable scale.
The name Blood River Old Devil had also spread