Two New Feather Boats
On the Ancestral Spirit Mountain Peak, Kong Wenxuan lost all interest in continuing to forge swords and cultivate. He left the Ancestral Spirit Mountain Peak and came to the newly sculpted brazier.
He glanced at the Second Elder and the others who were still assembling and adjusting the "Alchemy Chamber," "Weapon Forging Workshop," and "Shipyard," but did not go forward to disturb them. Instead, he went to his eighth brother, Kong Wenmo, and asked:
"Eighth brother, was this 'fire vein' also obtained by our eldest uncle and the others when they were clearing the path?"
"Fifth Brother!" Kong Wenmo greeted him immediately upon hearing his inquiry and replied, "Yes, this is a second- Second Tier 'fire vein' that my uncle and his men discovered and extracted from underground when they were carving through a mountain range that was blocking their path, while they were opening up the road between ' Peacock County ' and ' Cuckoo Town '."
"With this Second Tier 'fire vein,' we finally have three 'fire veins,' enough to build this basic Second Tier 'fire basin.'"
"These past two years, I've been almost driven crazy by my thirteenth aunt and fourteenth uncle. They're just waiting for this 'fire basin' to be used for refining pills, crafting weapons, and forging the ' Feather Boat.'"
Kong Wenxuan, ranked fifth in the Lineage's generational naming system, and referred to as Fifth Brother by Kong Wenmo, nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this, then asked, "How is Uncle's road-building progressing? After two years, they should be close to the Demon-Suppressing Pass ' Cuckoo Town ' by now, right?"
Upon hearing this, Kong Wenmo immediately nodded and said, "That's about right. Anyway, when I went to relocate this 'fire vein,' the road they opened up was only about two hundred miles away from the Demon-Suppressing Pass ' Cuckoo Town.'"
"This area of over two hundred miles has been almost entirely plundered by the various cultivators and wild Bloodline Lineage who served at the Demon-Suppressing Pass. There are few Demon Beast blocking the way, and no resources left to mine or relocate."
"Even among the mountains, some well-developed roads have already been built."
"According to my uncle and the others, all we need to do is widen and connect these existing roads to the road they've already built."
"Good!" Kong Wenxuan nodded. As long as the road from "Peacock County" to "Cuckoo Town" is opened, then their Kong Household's "Peacock County" will not be isolated in the South Lake Mountains, with no connection to other counties and towns.
Most importantly, once the roads are open, trade routes can be established.
After all, only a few Lineage and forces are capable of using "Feather Boat" for transporting goods and operating trade routes.
Most caravans traveled on land, traversing mountains and valleys, using ground roads to travel between various settlements.
Moreover, only after the road is opened up can "Peacock County" attract more cultivators from all sides, either to settle in "Peacock County", to do business in the market of "Peacock County", or to continue south through "Peacock County" to hunt Demon Beast, search for resources, spiritual objects, spirit medicine and so on in the "South Lake Mountains".
Just like the "Demon-Suppressing Pass" in "Cuckoo County" back then, it was not only staffed by a group of servant Lineage of the Du Household, such as the Kong Household, Yan Household, Ma Household, and Lao Household, who were active there, surveying and searching for resources and spiritual objects within a range of hundreds of miles outside the pass.
It also attracted many cultivators from other backgrounds, who came here either to purchase resources and spiritual items, or to search for resources and spiritual items in the mountains beyond the pass.
It even attracted many wild Bloodline Lineage to settle outside "Demon-Suppressing Pass", thus relying on "Demon-Suppressing Pass" for survival, development and continuation.
Now, their Kong Household's "Peacock County" is even deeper into the "South Lake Mountains," naturally able to better replace the "Demon-Suppressing Pass" function of the original "Cuckoo County," attracting more cultivators, and even wild Bloodline Lineage, to come and rely on their "Peacock County" to continue exploring, developing, and collecting more and better resources and spiritual objects to the south.
All the Kong Household needs to do is open up the roads connecting "Peacock County" to the outside world, and these cultivators and Bloodline Lineage will naturally gather here gradually.
In that time, Peacock County will naturally prosper and grow stronger, benefiting the Kong Household and giving them more impetus to increase their strength and influence.
At this moment, Kong Wenxuan saw that the Second Elder and the others had finally completed the setup of the "Alchemy Chamber", "Weapon Forging Workshop" and "Shipyard", and were now gathered at the "Shipyard".
He then went with his eighth brother Kong Wenmo, to the newly set-up "dock".
Then they saw the Second Elder Kong Changlan, the Fourteenth Uncle Kong Yuyan, and several others taking out specially refined feathers, bird bones, and other materials from several special Storage Bag.
Kong Wenxuan looked at them and recognized them all. One pile contained the feathers and skeletons of the "Lightning Falcon" demon bird, while the other pile contained the feathers and skeletons of the "Cuckoo Demon Race".
Second Elder Kong Changlan and Fourteenth Uncle Kong Yuyan, along with a dozen or so Qi Refinement disciples, assembled the refined feathers and bones in the "shipyard." Soon, two new Second Tier "Feather Boat" gradually took shape: one was the "Lightning Falcon Feather Boat," and the other was the "Cuckoo Feather Boat."
The two semi-finished "Feather Boat" were assembled and placed on the "dock." The earth fire and spiritual fire from the "fire basin" were drawn in to refine the two "Feather Boat."
Kong Yuyan, the fourteenth uncle, led a dozen or so Qi Refining cultivators from the clan who were Qi Refinement in cultivation, research on weapon crafting, array formation, restrictions, and runes. They surrounded the two unfinished "Feather Boat," either embedding various weapon crafting restrictions, runes, and array patterns into the "Feather Boat" or carving them onto the "Feather Boat," continuing the final refinement and arrangement of the two "Feather Boat."
"Second Elder." Seeing that his fourteenth uncle was busy refining the two new "Feather Boat," Kong Wenxuan did not go forward to disturb him. Instead, he went to the Second Elder Kong Changlan, to pay his respects and then inquired:
"Are these the two new ' Feather Boat ' that the Lineage has been refining? When will the refining process be completed?"
"Wenxuan." Second Elder Kong Changlan nodded to him, then looked at the two "Feather Boat" that were being refined, his eyes shining as he said, "The refinement of these two ' Feather Boat ' by Yuyan and the others combines their Lineage's heritage with the inheritance from the ' Five Elements True Scripture,' choosing an 'assembly-style' refinement method."
"The various parts of the two ' Feather Boat ' have been almost completely refined over the past two years."
"Now all that's needed is to assemble these parts and complete the final overall refining and forging on this 'fire basin,' which should be finished within a year at most."
"The refining and casting should be completed before the taxes are paid to Bifang Commandery by the end of next year."
"At that time, we will be able to use this newly cast ' Feather Boat ' to transport the taxes, resources, and goods of Peacock County to ' Bifang Commandery City ' to complete the first tax payment and conduct transactions."
Upon hearing this, Kong Wenxuan nodded and exclaimed in amazement, "In just two years, Uncle Fourteen and the others have already refined these two ' Feather Boat,' and they're not even the more familiar ' Peacock Feather Boat.' They've truly worked hard."
As for why Uncle Fourteen, Kong Yuyan, and the others didn't use the more familiar Peacock spiritual materials to refine the "Peacock Feather Boat," it's naturally because the Kong Household currently lacks materials such as feathers and bones from Second Tier Peacock Spirit Bird.
After more than ten years of cultivation, development, and expansion, several of the Peacock Spirit Bird raised by the Lineage have now successfully advanced to the Second Tier tier.
However, the Kong Household couldn't possibly kill these Second Tier Peacock Spirit Bird had painstakingly raised just to refine the "Peacock Feather Boat".
The Kong Household also hoped to enlighten and train those Peacock Spirit Bird into "Peacock Dao Soldiers" to enhance the Lineage's strength.
Only after these Peacock Spirit Bird and Peacock Dao Soldiers die in battle, leaving behind their remains, can they be used to refine the familiar "Peacock Feather Boat".
Upon hearing this, the Second Elder Kong Changlan, smiled and said, "The prosperity and strength of a Lineage depends on each member playing a different role in their respective position."
"Yushuo and his group cleared away Demon Beast and opened up the road connecting to ' Cuckoo Town,' while Yuyan and his group refined and forged the new ' Feather Boat.' Yujin, Wen Mo, and their group also set up and developed the ' Peacock Secret Realm,' and relocated the 'Fire Vein' to set up the 'Fire Basin' spiritual land. They all worked very hard."
"However, the Lineage also cannot do without you, Wenxuan, as its leader."
"For the Lineage, your improvement in cultivation and strength is the greatest guarantee for the Lineage's prosperity, power, and development."