Chapter 738: Source of Income |
The sudden addition of over two thousand Third-tier Warriors
The sudden addition of over two thousand Third-tier Warriors to the Demon Suppression Army was undoubtedly a boon.
However, out of these two thousand plus individuals, only half received the equipment befitting Third-tier Warriors.
Those dispatched by Hu Jian managed to scrounge up this number in a short time, reaching out to Xu Lun and Chen Xiaofeng separately.
In fact, assembling equipment for over a thousand Third-tier Warriors at once was no small feat.
It should be noted that Third-tier Warriors possessed strength equivalent to Golden Core Cultivators, so naturally, the weapons they used couldn't be inferior to the magic weapons of Golden Core Cultivators.
As standard issue for the Demon Suppression Army, each person was to have at least one attack weapon, a set of armor, and some might even be equipped with defensive weapons.
Hence, over the years, most of Qizhou Island's income had been invested in the development of the military, which had contributed to its current strength.
Currently, the stable sources of income for the Great Chu Immortal Nation were only two.
However, since the development of Qizhou Island had been relatively short, the produced spiritual herbs were mostly of low tier, thus not highly valuable.
Many high-tier spiritual herbs had long maturation periods and were still in the investment tier, yet to yield outputs.
Only the fruit trees transplanted from the Space by Wang Hong and the Spirit Grain mutated multiple times within the Space were yielding decent income.
However, several years ago, Wang Hong had decided on a strategy of stockpiling strategic resources, so a large portion of the annual output was being hoarded and not sold.
As for the Wan Kui secret realm, it currently wasn't generating much profit. It was still undergoing significant development and required continuous investment; it would take at least several decades to see results.
Only the ore being mined on Crimson Flame Island was generating some income, but it was still far inferior to that of Qizhou Island.
The second source was the Ministry of Works led by Chen Xiaofeng, currently the largest source of income for the Great Chu Immortal Nation.
The total scale of the Ministry of Works now exceeded the number of military personnel, with workshops scattered all over the country.
Almost one-fifth of the population nationwide was employed by the Ministry of Works.
It acquired various raw materials through the commercial network spread across Fengwu Continent, transported them back to Qizhou Island, and processed them under the Ministry of Works.
Most of the items refined by the Ministry of Works, apart from being consumed domestically, were distributed through the commercial network.
In the Cultivation World, those with specialized skills were a minority, and they mostly engaged in solitary endeavors, resulting in limited production.
As a result, the profits contained within these refined products were considerable.
Although the Ministry of Works was a formidable organization, the quality of its refined products was not particularly outstanding, but they were reliable, which made them popular among major cultivators.
Especially for some sects and families, if they wanted to purchase large quantities, they would choose products from the Ministry of Works of the Great Chu Immortal Nation.
The current Ministry of Works had gained some renown across Fengwu Continent.
Wang Hong gazed at the Demon Suppression Army currently in training, among which over a thousand individuals had been promoted to Third-tier Warriors. However, they were still forced to use their previous second-tier weapons at the moment.
As the sovereign of a nation, despite having many subordinates to share the workload, there were still many matters that required his attention.
Especially in the current chaotic and complex situation, surviving amidst the pressures of various major powers was no easy task.
"Your Majesty, Elder Gu and Elder Yue from outside the camp seek an audience!"
At this moment, a soldier approached to report.
"Please let him in!"
Moments later, Elder Gu and Yue Chengxi arrived together.
"Fellow Daoist Wang, apologies for the disturbance."
"The Demon Suppression Army has undergone several major battles, and instead of weakening, it has grown stronger."
"If we have more teams like the Demon Suppression Army in our Human Clan, what fear do we have of the Demon Race, savage tribes, and other malevolent forces?"
The two approached Wang Hong warmly, expressing admiration for the formidable lineup of the Demon Suppression Army.
However, despite their admiration, their expressions betrayed an underlying anxiety.
Ever since Wang Hong's last battle with the Ao Clan Demon Cultivator, these two had been as loyal as could be, always following Wang Hong's lead.
"You both flatter me. I wonder, what brings you here today?" Wang Hong inquired.
"According to the message from the headquarters of the human-demon alliance, countless savage tribes are currently gathering towards Flying Fish Island, including ten members of the five-tier savage tribe, showing signs of attacking Flying Fish Island," said the Gu Clan Cultivator.
"What about the regulations of the human-demon alliance headquarters?" Since the message came from the human-demon alliance, there must be other stipulations.
"The human-demon alliance headquarters seems to be preparing to seize the opportunity to attack one of the savage tribe strongholds. They are currently unable to dispatch troops for support and require us at Flying Fish Island to attract the savage tribes with full force."
"But how can we, with our losses from the last battle and no reinforcement of troops, have the strength to attract the savage tribes?"
Currently, Flying Fish Island only had eight Soul Transformation Cultivators. The number of Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators below the Soul Transformation level was even more scarce. These were the backbone forces for combat. How could they withstand large-scale attacks from savage tribes?
In the past few months, savage tribes had attempted to attack Flying Fish Island, but the scale was not significant. They were repelled with the help of the island's formations and the Demon Suppression Army.
Upon hearing this, both Gu and Yue's expressions grew even more grim. "The human-demon alliance headquarters has forcibly ordered us to attract the main force of the savage tribes to Flying Fish Island, without any room for negotiation."
Whenever the alliance issued such commands, any faction must unconditionally obey. Any defiance would be severely punished later.
Although the human-demon alliance was currently facing challenges in its two-front war against the savage tribes and the Demon Race, it still had sufficient power to punish disobedient factions. Therefore, the human-demon alliance could still manage internal factions with a firm stance.
The so-called punishment wasn't just a matter of levying fines in Spirit Stones. Last time, a major faction had defied orders on the battlefield. Later, the enforcement team of the human-demon alliance extracted the Nascent Souls of the Soul Transformation ancestors of that faction as a warning to all.
"Inform the other elders and convene for discussion on the strategy to deal with this," Wang Hong said before leaving the Demon Suppression Army camp with Gu and Yue.
The buildings destroyed during Wang Hong's last battle with the Ao Clan Demon Cultivator had been rebuilt.
Upon Wang Hong's arrival, the five Soul Transformation cultivators of the Demon Clan were already waiting there.
Upon entering, Wang Hong took his seat without hesitation.
Since the last battle, he had been sitting in this manner during every discussion. Although the Demon Clan had five Soul Transformation cultivators, there seemed to be no objections to his posture.
"Fellow Daoists, I believe you are all aware of the current situation. We are all in the same boat now, and I hope you can let go of past grievances and cooperate," Wang Hong declared assertively from his seat.
Indeed, the current situation called for such cooperation. Everyone was in trouble together, and the wise knew it was time to join forces.
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