Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 1136 Taking Stock of the Family Assets
Yueyao asked helplessly, "Then how does Your Majesty intend to proceed?"

Yang Zhengshan stood up and glanced at everyone. "We're not familiar with the Northern and Southern Regions, so we won't get involved. The situation there is too complicated, and we're too small to get involved!"

"Therefore, my target is the Wanhua Mountain Range!"

"Establish a foundation for Baiyujing in the Wanhua Mountains and incorporate the Wanhua Mountains into Baiyujing's territory!"

He also wanted the Wanhua Mountains, because the Wanhua Mountains had enough resources to nourish the Immortal Palace.

"The Wanhua Mountains? We're going to fight against the Wuchang Ghost Sect?" Lin Qihe said, his expression changing.

“That’s right! The Impermanent Ghost Sect is also an old enemy of ours, and it’s time for us to settle accounts with them!” A cold glint flashed in Yang Zhengshan’s eyes.

His grudge against the Impermanent Ghost Sect has a long history. From Mo Xuanyu to Zhang Mo, and then to An Wusheng, although he usually came out on top, the Spirit Source Land suffered heavy casualties in the Battle of True Yang Immortal City.

Yang Zhengshan kept this debt in mind.

Lin Qihe was somewhat tempted. He had the deepest grudge against the Wuchang Ghost Sect, a blood feud that could not be forgiven.

However, he remained rational and said, "The Impermanent Ghost Sect is powerful; we are probably no match for them!"

“That’s right, we are no match for them, but we are not without the ability to fight back! Besides, we don’t want to fight them to the death right now!” Yang Zhengshan said.

He already knew the circumstances surrounding the destruction of the Wanhua Demon Court.

The two sides fought for several months in the Wanhua Mountains. The Wanhua Demon Emperor's treant army was exhausted before the Wanhua Demon Court was destroyed.

Although the Impermanent Ghost Sect won this war of attrition, they also paid a considerable price.

At this time, there was also a mountain of corpses in the Wanhua Mountains. No, it was not a mountain, but a Great Wall of corpses that stretched for thousands of miles.

The Great Wall of Corpses is made up of the corpses of the Flower Soldiers, Tree People, and Blood Puppets.

It stretched for thousands of miles and was thousands of feet high, containing hundreds of millions of corpses.

According to Yang Zhengshan's estimate, there are at least 200 million corpses of Yin soldiers and blood puppets there.

No matter how profound the foundation of the Impermanent Ghost Sect is, it is impossible for them to remain unscathed in the face of such terrifying casualties.

In addition, considering the Golden Core cultivators lost by the Impermanent Ghost Sect over the years, although the Impermanent Ghost Sect is still powerful, it is probably not as strong as before.

Baiyujing may still be inferior to Wuchang Guizong, but the gap between the two is no longer as vast as heaven and earth.

"Has the Yin army of the Impermanent Ghost Sect entered the southern part of the Wanhua Mountains?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

"They should have just entered, but we don't know exactly where they are!" Xuanzhen replied.

Yang Zhengshan chuckled, "Then we'll be a stumbling block, blocking them out so they can't take over the entire Wanhua Mountain Range!"

Bai Yujing is currently no match for the Wuchang Ghost Sect, and would directly confront them head-on.

However, if it's just about being a stumbling block, Bai Yujing can easily do that.

His idea was simple: occupy a piece of land in the southern part of the Wanhua Mountains and then block the southward advance of the Yin army.

At this time, the Impermanent Ghost Sect had already occupied most of the Wanhua Mountain Range. They wanted to build giant white bone pillars in various places, which would inevitably disperse the Yin soldiers to different locations. In addition, considering the casualties they suffered in the war of attrition, the number of Yin soldiers they sent south would not be too large.

The Impermanent Ghost Sect has occupied most of the Wanhua Mountain Range, which is a victory for them, but it is also their greatest weakness.

The territory is too vast; they would need to invest a great deal of effort to control it.

Don't assume that just because the Wanhua Demon Court has been destroyed, there is no resistance left in the Wanhua Mountains.

The Wanhua Mountains stretch for nearly 100,000 li from north to south, containing countless deep forests and hidden places, where countless demons and strange beasts are lurked, as well as many hermit cultivators.

Although some well-informed demons had escaped in advance, many more remained in the Wanhua Mountains, unaware of the situation.

The Wuchang Ghost Sect's current occupation of the Wanhua Mountains is only superficial; they haven't had time to eliminate the remaining forces within the mountains.

"Let's first take stock of the resources we can mobilize!"

Yang Zhengshan needed to assess his resources. War was inevitable, and he needed to know at least how much power he could mobilize.

"Xuanzhen, tell me about the divine general's situation first!"

"We currently possess eight thousand divine generals, and all eight thousand of them have already cultivated the Golden Light Divine Mantra!" Xuanzhen grinned. "They are the greatest nemesis of the Yin Soldier Blood Puppets!"

Although the number of divine generals is small, they are immortal beings. As long as the Impermanent Ghost Sect does not invade the Spirit Source Land, the divine generals will not die in battle.

Even if they are killed outside, they can be reborn in twenty or thirty years.

Of course, they are not invincible.

Although they can be reborn, it will take a lot of time and resources to improve their strength.

As for Xuanzhen saying that they are the nemesis of Yin soldiers and blood puppets, this is not Xuanzhen bragging.

The Golden Light Divine Mantra is the foundation of the Eight Great Divine Mantras. Since the divine general has cultivated the Golden Light Divine Mantra, he can naturally also cultivate the Purifying Heaven and Earth Divine Mantra.

Once they master the Purifying Heaven and Earth Divine Incantation, they will be the nemesis of the Yin Soldiers and Blood Puppets.

Compared to the hundreds of millions of Yin soldiers and blood puppets, the eight thousand divine generals are almost negligible.

However, the strength of the two sides cannot be compared in this way. First of all, the strength of the Divine General is equivalent to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, while the Blood Puppet is at most a Golden Body Realm martial artist. Among the Yin Army, only the Yin Soldiers can truly fight against the Divine General.

The number of Yin soldiers possessed by the Impermanent Ghost Sect is not actually that many. Of the hundreds of millions of Yin soldiers and blood puppets, the vast majority are actually blood puppets, with Yin soldiers making up only one or two thousand. In other words, out of an army of one hundred million Yin soldiers and blood puppets, there are probably only a few hundred thousand Yin soldiers.

Although the difference in numbers is still significant, it is not enough to cause despair.

Secondly, the Yin army of the Impermanent Ghost Sect has already been distributed throughout the Wanhua Mountains, and the Yin army heading south only numbers in the millions.

Although the eight thousand divine generals were still no match for the millions of ghost soldiers, they were able to wage guerrilla warfare against the ghost soldiers in the mountains and forests.

Finally, and most importantly, as the divine generals begin to cultivate the Golden Light Divine Mantra, their numbers are increasing at an extremely rapid pace.

After a deity cultivates the Golden Light Divine Mantra, he can also transform other divine souls into deities.

Previously, Xuanzhen could only lead the disciples of Wuzhen Dao Palace to transform into divine generals, which was not only time-consuming and laborious, but also slow.

But now that they have eight thousand divine generals, they can cultivate the Golden Light Divine Mantra while transforming Yin Souls into divine generals, increasing the transformation speed by dozens of times.

This is why the number of gods in the Land of Spiritual Origin jumped from two thousand to eight thousand in just over a decade.

As time goes by, the number of gods will increase, and the speed at which gods transform will also increase.

If a divine general takes a year to transform into another divine general, then the number of divine generals can double every year.

Eight thousand, sixteen thousand, thirty-two thousand, sixty-four thousand, one hundred and twenty-eight thousand.

In just five years, the Land of Spiritual Origin could have an army of 100,000 divine generals. Of course, this calculation is somewhat unreasonable, and there will still be some delays in between; it's impossible for it to truly double every year.

But if five years isn't enough, then ten years.

Ten years is a long time for the land of spiritual energy.

The factor limiting the increase in the number of divine generals is no longer time, but the number of ghosts.

Currently, the Spirit Source Land only has 300,000 Yin Souls, most of which are just ordinary Yin Souls and do not reach the level of Ghost Generals.

Based on the speed at which the Divine Soul Hall cultivates ghost generals, plus the conversion speed of divine generals, Xuanzhen estimates that it will take about ten years to reach 100,000 divine generals and about twenty years to reach 300,000.

As for the number of divine generals exceeding 300,000, that depends on whether the Spirit Source Land can obtain more Yin Souls in the future.

Ghosts are also a scarce resource.

Yang Zhengshan was already quite satisfied with the 8,000-strong army of divine generals, as this was a truly formidable fighting force.

"Where is the Jade Capital Guard?" Yang Zhengshan asked, looking at Yang Minghao and Song Dashan.

The Jade Capital Guard is the army of the Spirit Origin Land, and also the only army.

Yang Minghao said, "The Jade Capital Guard currently has 58,000 soldiers and possesses 86 Vermilion Bird Cloud Boats and 362 Blazing Sun Flying Boats!"

The Jade Capital Guard is mainly composed of Golden Body Realm warriors, supplemented by Qi Refining stage cultivators. The Qi Refining stage cultivators are primarily responsible for controlling the formations on the flying boats, while the Golden Body Realm warriors are responsible for combat. They are all equipped with second-tier spirit weapon level bows and arrows, which can be used for ranged attacks, and they also possess a certain degree of melee combat ability.

Although they are far inferior to the Yin Soldiers of the Impermanent Ghost Sect in terms of strength, with the protective array on the flying boat, they can still fight against the Yin Soldiers and even Foundation Establishment cultivators.

While a Golden Body Realm martial artist is indeed far weaker than a Foundation Establishment cultivator, this does not mean that a martial artist is incapable of harming a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

With protective formations, available spiritual weapons, and military formations, dozens of Golden Body Realm warriors can easily contend against a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Moreover, in large-scale battles, the strength of an individual will be greatly limited, while the power of the collective will be amplified infinitely.

The flying boat manufacturing industry in the Spirit Origin Land has developed rapidly in recent years, not only meeting the needs of the Hengshan Sect, but also providing a large number of flying boats for the Yujing Guard.

Meanwhile, the Yujing Guard has not been idle in recent years, and has been conducting training all along.

They familiarized themselves with the formations on the airships, improved their own strength and equipment, and were also practicing various military formations.

I wouldn't dare say how powerful they are, but they are definitely the most elite army of martial artists in the entire Wanhua Domain.

"Furthermore, if needed, the Jade Capital Guard can be expanded to 100,000 troops at any time. Many people have left the Jade Capital Guard in recent years, but as long as Your Majesty gives the order, I believe they will be very willing to return to the Jade Capital Guard and fight for Your Majesty!" Yang Minghao said excitedly.

The soldiers of Yujing Guard are not static. Over the years, the soldiers of Yujing Guard have changed batch after batch. Some are too old, some are transferred for work, some want to concentrate on cultivation, and some are deliberately done by Yang Minghao and others.

Compared to the population of the Spirit Origin Land, the number of Yujing Guards is not very large.

Every few years, Yang Minghao and his group would release some people from Yujing Guard and recruit a new batch of people.

Yujingwei is a melting pot. Entering Yujingwei will not only not delay your cultivation, but you can also learn a lot of military knowledge. Releasing veterans and training new people is to facilitate the expansion of Yujingwei.

The recruitment of soldiers in the Spirit Source Land has now formed a set of rules. If a person wants to join the army, it can generally be divided into four steps.

The first step is to reach the Innate Realm in cultivation.

The second step is to join the garrison, receive their training, and become a soldier responsible for maintaining order in the Spirit Source Land. Under normal circumstances, you can stay in the garrison for three to ten years. If you stay any longer, the garrison will no longer want you.

The maximum ten years of military service is a strict rule for the garrison, because too many people want to join the garrison, so the garrison only allows a soldier to stay in the army for ten years.

The third step is to leave the garrison and cultivate diligently. Once your cultivation reaches the Golden Body Realm, you can enter the Jade Capital Guard.

The fourth step is to receive training at the Yujing Guard for ten years. If you exceed ten years, you will have to leave the Yujing Guard unless you perform exceptionally well in a certain area.

Previously, there weren't many Golden Body Realm warriors in the Spirit Origin Land; many stayed in the Jade Capital Guard for decades, even centuries. But as the number of Golden Body Realm warriors in the Spirit Origin Land increased, ten years became a limitation.

When Yang Minghao said he could expand the army by 100,000, he meant that 100,000 Golden Body Realm warriors had received military training from the Jade Capital Guard and were skilled in forming battle formations on flying boats.

Yang Zhengshan considered it for a moment and said, "Then let's expand the army by 100,000 first, and start preparing!"

We may not need the Jade Capital Guard in the future, but it's always good to prepare in advance.

“Yes!” Yang Minghao replied.

"Anything else?" Yang Zhengshan asked, looking at the others.

Yang Zongyuan stepped forward and said, "Your Excellency, the Puppet Hall has over three thousand second-tier puppets ready to fight at any time!"

"Puppets?" Yang Zhengshan's eyes lit up. "Your puppet army is complete?"

Both the puppet industry and the flying boat industry are industries that the Land of Spirit Origin strongly supports. However, compared to the flying boat industry, the development of the puppet industry is somewhat slow.

The reason is simple: flying boats can be sold to the Hengshan Sect and generate revenue, but puppets cannot be sold and can only be stored in the warehouse.

It's not that no one wants to buy puppets, but rather that the Spirit Origin Land rarely engages in small-scale business, nor does it specifically focus on developing the puppet business, making it difficult for the puppet industry to generate revenue.

Yang Zongyuan scratched his head somewhat awkwardly, "It can't be called a large army yet, but the Puppet Hall does have a lot of puppets stored up. However, due to the limited number of puppeteers, we can only use three thousand puppets at the moment!"

"I see! Being able to command three thousand second-tier puppets is not bad!" Yang Zhengshan nodded in satisfaction.

Three thousand is not a large number, but it is not a small number either. The greatest use of puppets is not for attacking, but for defense, working with formations to protect the base.

They can be used for tasks such as guarding, patrolling, and protecting.

"Anything else? King of the Blue Wolf, how many demonic beasts does your Blue Wolf clan have now?" Yang Zhengshan asked the King of the Blue Wolf with curiosity.

Upon hearing Yang Zhengshan's question, the Blue Wolf King shuddered and hurriedly stepped forward to reply, "Your Excellency, my Blue Wolf Clan currently has eighty-six demon wolves!"

"Hmm, not bad!" Yang Zhengshan nodded. Over the past hundred years, the Azure Wolf Clan has grown to more than eighty demon beasts, which is quite an achievement.

"So how many demonic beasts are there in our Spirit Source Land now?"

The Azure Wolf King said, "Including the Spirit Deer Clan, the Beast Hall has a total of over 1,600 registered demon beasts, of which over 1,200 are from the Spirit Deer Clan!"

In other words, apart from the Spirit Deer Clan, there are only four hundred demonic beasts in the Spirit Source Land.

This number isn't large, but it's not small either.

A hundred years ago, there were only a dozen or so demonic beasts in the Spirit Source Land, but now there are more than four hundred.

Moreover, these monsters are not a single race, but rather transformed from various exotic beasts.

There are dozens of races, including the Azure Wolf, Golden-feathered Fire Crow, Golden-feathered Eagle, Cloud Tiger Steed, Sky Crocodile Beast, Golden Fire Dragon, and Illusion Moon Fox.

Many of the strange beasts were bought by Yang Zhengshan back then, and now they have all turned into monsters.

(End of this chapter)