Chapter 110: The First Glimpse of Form (Request for Votes)

“After all, our disciples are few and weak. In the early stages, without the strength that other students possess, it’s difficult to fully establish the stalls throughout the Immortal Village,” Ye Mo explained as he led Kuang Zhen into the village.

“As long as you understand the situation and have confidence, I won’t say more. You’ve studied at the Immortal Academy for a year; your fundamentals are solid. You won’t make rookie mistakes,” Kuang Zhen nodded.

“The large-scale beast tide in the Aolai Sea is unlikely to truly form. Ordinary sea beasts usually only reach the peak of martial artists’ strength as they mature. Due to their species and bloodlines, only rarely does one or two break through their limits to become beasts comparable to cultivators. But for hundreds or thousands to simultaneously break their limits and become sea demon beasts? That will never happen.”

“The competition among the various Immortal Villages in the Aolai Archipelago is left untouched by the main Immortal City. But if you encounter a beast of the fourth rank or above and cannot handle it, request support from Qingyun Immortal City. With the teleportation array, aid from the city will arrive swiftly. Although it costs many spirit stones to request assistance, you must preserve your life; don’t lose the bigger picture over small matters.”

Kuang Zhen’s calm gaze lingered on Ye Mo for a moment before he smiled faintly. “Yes, disciple will follow the teacher’s guidance diligently.”

Ye Mo replied immediately.

One of the true purposes of the teleportation array was to safeguard the Immortal Village, allowing powerful high-rank cultivators from Qingyun Main Immortal City to provide rapid support.

Ye Mo accompanied Kuang Zhen and the accompanying cultivators into the Immortal Village, heading to the designated location for the teleportation array.

Though cultivators and martial artists within the village were busy with their tasks, upon seeing Kuang Zhen’s group, all paused respectfully. Golden Core and Foundation Establishment cultivators were still beings to be looked up to, unreachable for them.

Ye Mo did not need to handle the teleportation array’s construction himself. His task was merely to confirm its location; the rest was entrusted to Kuang Zhen and his group.

Kuang Zhen led over ten Foundation Establishment cultivators to a valley, took measurements, then stood before a solid stone cliff. With a wave of his hand, a sharp beam of sword light shot forth, hundreds of feet long.

Boom!

The stone wall instantly shattered, forming a massive cavern hundreds of feet wide. The flying sword then twisted, carving out a spacious stone chamber.

Watching from the side, Ye Mo was deeply shaken. A Golden Core cultivator could casually unleash power capable of devastating the heavens and earth—terrifying to lower-rank cultivators.

The other Foundation Establishment cultivators were accustomed to this. They began constructing a small teleportation array within the chamber, meticulously calculating directions, setting coordinates, laying down several slabs of hard blue stone, and engraving the mysterious and profound teleportation array diagram.

The blue stones held slots for spirit stones, each teleportation consuming one spirit stone.

Once completed:

“Old Kuang, the small teleportation array for Ye’s Immortal Village is functioning properly and ready for use,” a Foundation Establishment cultivator announced after testing it with a docile spirit rabbit beast. It was sent to Qingyun Immortal City and teleported back by the city’s guard cultivators.

“Good,” Kuang Zhen nodded in acknowledgment, then turned to Ye Mo.

“This teleportation array is the village’s core asset, crucial to its safety. You must protect it carefully to prevent sabotage. I will help you set a Golden Core-level sealing formation here to guard the array from malicious destruction. Cultivators below Golden Core cannot break this seal.

“However, this seal only lasts ten years. After that, it will be up to you to carefully guard the array. By then, I believe you will have the ability to set up reliable defenses here.

“Take this jade slip. It contains instructions for the array’s use and maintenance. I will visit other Immortal Villages now, then return to Qingyun Immortal Academy. If you have the chance to return to the academy, you may come find me. In recent years, I have been researching several spells there.”

“Respectful farewell to all the teachers,” Kuang Zhen said as he left Ye’s Immortal Village, returning with the cultivators to the sea vessel to visit other city lords’ Immortal Villages.

Ye Mo saw Kuang Zhen off, then picked up the jade slip and studied it intently.

After a while, he exhaled deeply. Using the teleportation array was not difficult. With it, their group now had a way to retreat.

“Five Guards, I entrust this place to your watch. I will arrange for Gao Jian to dispatch a squad to replace you soon. Remember, without my permission, no one may enter or leave the stone chamber or use the teleportation array,” Ye Mo ordered gravely.

“Yes, we obey,” the five guards, who often followed Ye Mo, stood straight and responded promptly.

The construction of Ye’s Immortal Village proceeded at a rapid pace.

Other city lords from Qingyun Immortal City had already arrived one after another in the Aolai Sea. Under the pressure of survival competition, cultivators and martial artists of Ye’s Village dared not slack even for a day.

As city lord, Ye Mo did not partake in manual labor but managed the village’s overall situation, deploying resources and coordinating progress to ensure every plan proceeded smoothly.

One day, Ye Mo and Yang You surveyed terrain within the valley, planning the streets, merchant pavilions, and market layout.

Except for a cluster of temporary wooden houses and a few functional buildings, Ye’s Immortal Village was still barren, lacking even a proper road.

The villagers focused mainly on constructing the spirit wood city walls, wooden stockade gates, and arrow towers at the valley’s mouth.

Fortunately, the spirit wood walls were nearing completion, ready to fend off external threats.

Construction soon shifted focus inward.

Ye Mo understood well that a qualified Immortal Village needed not only solid defenses but also comfortable living conditions to attract more cultivators and martial artists, fostering prosperity.

“Brother Ye, the valley is small. For now, only four streets can be planned, arranged in a grid pattern around the city lord’s mansion. The mansion sits at the center, with the refining workshop, pill workshop, poison workshop, and spirit fields each at one end. The rest is streets and residential areas.

“The only issue is the teleportation array lies inside the stone chamber on the innermost mountain wall, detached from the mansion. One guard squad cannot protect both the mansion and the array simultaneously. Two squads will be needed, which wastes manpower.

“If only we had built the teleportation array within the mansion itself,” Yang You said regretfully, showing Ye Mo a valley sketch.

Ye Mo entrusted Wang Hu and Yang You with village construction. Wang Hu supervised wall building with his crew, while Yang You planned the village layout.

“Expand the city lord’s mansion to include the stone chamber on the mountain wall, creating a large courtyard. Station the guards there so they can protect both the teleportation array and the mansion’s core. Keep the array closed for now; consider opening it once the guard force grows,” Ye Mo pondered, taking the sketch from Yang You and drawing bold lines connecting the mansion center to the teleportation array behind.

“So, the guards will live in this large mansion courtyard, eliminating the need for extra squads to guard separately,” Yang You exclaimed in surprise. He had earlier placed the guards’ quarters within the common residential area and hadn’t considered housing them behind the mansion.

The Immortal Village guards were always the strongest cultivator protectors. Their quarters were like barracks in secular armies, enabling rapid assembly in case of conflict.

“That’s the general plan. Handle the details as you see fit,” Ye Mo said.

This was effectively an official order.

At that moment, a martial artist dashed over, stopping a yard from Ye Mo, dropping to one knee and loudly reporting, “City Lord, I come under Master Wang’s orders to report: the valley entrance city walls are fully completed. Please inspect and accept them.”

In the Immortal Village, martial artists salute the city lord with great ceremony.

Ye Mo found it a bit awkward but accepted that all martial artists strictly followed this custom.

“So soon? Let’s go take a look,” Ye Mo said with delight, hurrying toward the valley entrance with Yang You.

Many martial artists still remained within Ye’s Immortal Village.

Cultivators were scarce and assigned to various tasks; most labor was done by martial artists.

At the narrow valley entrance stood a brand-new spirit wood wall, hundreds of feet long and ten feet high. At its center hung a large wooden gate over ten feet wide.

Above the gate, a plaque read “Ye’s Immortal Village.”

Six towering arrow towers, each fifteen feet tall, stood behind the wall, covering all firing angles.

On the rocky slopes flanking the valley, several artillery positions were being excavated, intended to mount bronze cannons far more powerful than arrow towers to strengthen gate defenses.

The bronze cannons had a range of two to three hundred feet, overlapping to cover the entire wall.

When Ye Mo arrived at the wall, about fifty martial artists were finishing the final task of hanging the plaque.

Wang Hu and Yang You each oversaw different buildings: Wang Hu the critical defenses, Yang You the internal village layout.

Built within a valley surrounded on three sides by mountains, the only real defense was the valley entrance, easing construction pressure.

In just over ten days, including felling spirit wood, they had swiftly built the solid spirit wood walls and defenses of Ye’s Immortal Village.

Even if beasts attacked immediately, the defenses could hold.

“The city wall, six arrow towers, and one gate have been completed after days of continuous effort. Please inspect,” Wang Hu bowed formally to Ye Mo, his expression unusually serious.

Ye Mo carefully examined the spirit wood walls, noting how the logs were tightly packed without a hint of a gap.

He mentally calculated the positions and firing ranges of the six arrow towers, finding no flaws. This was crucial for the village’s defensive capability—no errors allowed.

Finally, a smile appeared on Ye Mo’s face as he addressed Wang Hu and the martial artists. “Excellent, Wang Hu, and all brothers responsible for construction. You’ve labored day and night these past ten-plus days. Well done; I’ll record this as a merit for you.”

“No hardship, City Lord,” they replied humbly.

“City Lord, this is our duty,” one added.

“If not for your rescue, I would have long been a mining slave, life and death not my own. Serving you is our honor,” the martial artists declared passionately.

Those martial artists in Ye’s Village could receive vitality pills as long as they earned merit. Once they accumulated enough, they too could become cultivators.

With the foundations laid, the village’s future shone bright.