Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 1137 Outpost
"Jizhen, how many Foundation Establishment cultivators are registered in the Immortal Hall?" Yang Zhengshan continued to ask.

“One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight!” Yang Jizhen said.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly; the number did not surprise him at all.

The 1,800+ Foundation Establishment cultivators are not even comparable to those of the White Cloud Immortal City back then. You should know that the White Cloud Immortal City was known to have 2,000 Foundation Establishment cultivators back then.

But in reality, at that time, Baiyun Immortal City only had a few hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators that it could truly command.

There are over 1,800 Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Spirit Source Land, and Yang Zhengshan can command these 1,800 Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The reason why there are so many Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Spirit Source Land is mainly because it absorbed a large number of cultivators last time. They were absorbed from Baiyun Immortal City, from the northeast of Yunxiao Mountain Range, and from Qingli Immortal City. In that one time alone, the Spirit Source Land absorbed more than 800 Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Decades have passed, and many new Foundation Establishment cultivators have emerged in the Land of Spiritual Origin.

Yang Zhengshan silently began to calculate in his mind.

With over 1,800 Foundation Establishment cultivators, over 1,600 demonic beasts, over 3,000 second-tier puppets, 8,000 divine generals, plus 100,000 Jade Capital Guards, this is the largest force that Baiyujing can mobilize.

Not to mention compared to the Impermanent Ghost Sect, it is far inferior even to the Myriad Flower Demon Court.

However, for now, these forces are sufficient.

"Kouta, Red Sleeves!"

"Your subordinates are here!" the two men replied, rising to their feet.

"You must immediately head to the southern part of the Wanhua Mountains and find a temporary base, set up formations and puppets there, and use it as our forward outpost in the Wanhua Mountains!" Yang Zhengshan ordered.

The outpost was a stumbling block he had prepared for the Impermanent Ghost Sect; it would take some time to entangle with the Yin army.

“Yes!” Kota replied.

Yang Zhengshan's gaze swept over the crowd, and he said again, "Xuanzhen! You will lead three thousand divine generals into the depths of the Wanhua Mountains to conduct guerrilla warfare!"

"Guerrilla warfare?" Xuanzhen asked, puzzled.

"When the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy camps, we harass; when the enemy is exhausted, we attack; when the enemy retreats, we pursue. We destroy the giant white bone pillars built by the Impermanent Ghost Sect, eliminate the Yin soldiers and blood puppets of the Impermanent Ghost Sect, and capture the Yin ghost generals of the Impermanent Ghost Sect! Do you understand?" Yang Zhengshan laughed.

Since the Spirit Source Land cannot confront the Impermanent Ghost Sect head-on, they can only resort to underhanded tactics.

Destroying the giant white bone pillar was to prevent the Impermanent Ghost Sect from altering the spiritual environment of the Wanhua Mountains; eliminating the Yin Soldiers and Blood Puppets was to deplete the power of the Impermanent Ghost Sect; and capturing Yin Soul Ghost Generals was to allow the Spirit Source Land to acquire more Divine Generals.

"I see, I understand now!" Xuanzhen chuckled.

Guerrilla warfare is a profound subject, but guerrilla warfare in this world is definitely different from the guerrilla warfare in Yang Zhengshan's memory. So how to operate it is up to Xuanzhen himself. Yang Zhengshan only briefly explained the essence of guerrilla warfare.

"Yueyao, why don't you go to the Wanhua Mountains too?" Yang Zhengshan said to Yueyao.

Yueyao was taken aback, then stood up and replied, "Your subordinate obeys!"

"Can you take three hundred demonic beasts and wage guerrilla warfare like Xuanzhen?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

"Yes!" Yueyao agreed readily.

Releasing Yueyao was a decision made after careful consideration by Yang Zhengshan.

If it's going to rain, or a mother is going to remarry, then if Yueyao has ulterior motives, Yang Zhengshan won't mind her leaving the Spirit Source Land. But if Yueyao tries to ruin his plans, then don't blame him for cleaning up his house.

This is a test, and the outcome depends on Yueyao's choice.

……

A month later.

In an unnamed canyon in the southern part of the Wanhua Mountains, hundreds of cultivators and martial artists built houses according to the canyon's layout and formation.

In just a few days, hundreds of houses were built in the canyon, and the foundation of the great formation was also completed.

Unlike Spring Sun Valley, Spring Sun Valley was just a temporary settlement, so the array was very simple, only capable of blocking spiritual senses from spying, and its protective power was very weak.

Yang Zhengshan plans to turn this place into a forward base, as it will be besieged by millions of Yin soldiers in the future, so the formation here must be powerful enough.

Ma Qiuyan and Ning Yun went out together, first investigating the earth veins and spiritual veins of the place, and then designing a third-order formation based on the earth veins and spiritual veins.

Setting up a third-order formation cannot be completed in just a few days. It requires constant adjustments and filling in any gaps, as well as the crafting of various different formation artifacts. It will take at least several months.

However, if it's just the basics of the formation, it can be completed in a few days.

This canyon should be the territory of a certain demon beast clan. It has a second-grade high-quality spiritual vein, and the earth's energy is very rich, making it a good blessed land.

It's estimated that the previous war forced this demon beast clan to move away from their territory, which benefited Bai Yujing.

Having such a blessed land is very beneficial for Baiyujing to establish an outpost base, saving a lot of time and resources.

The canyon runs north-south, is funnel-shaped, narrow in the south and wide in the north, with towering mountains on both sides, forming a natural barrier. As long as a wall is built at the northern opening, it will be a terrain that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

To enhance the defenses of this area, after discussion, the Lingyuan region decided to build a city here, taking advantage of the mountain terrain.

Of course, this is not an ordinary city, but a fortress-level city.

Not only must there be protective formations, but a large army must also be deployed to build a complete protective system. At the same time, the earth's veins and spiritual veins must be activated to provide the formations with sufficient spiritual energy.

The Spirit Source Land even plans to upgrade the spiritual veins of this place to the third rank. This would be a massive project that would take decades to complete.

However, there's no rush; we can take our time with the Spirit Source Land.

First, establish a basic defense system, then complete the construction of city walls and the arrangement of formations, and finally gradually upgrade the spiritual vein level.

Yang Zhengshan set up a cave entrance in the canyon, and the construction of the outpost base proceeded in an orderly manner. At this time, the Yin army of the Wuchang Ghost Sect was still more than 5,000 li away from the outpost base.

Five thousand miles may sound like a long distance, but given the sweeping speed of the Yin Army, they could reach the vicinity of the outpost base in at most three months.

In other words, the outpost base must be prepared to intercept the first wave of ghost soldiers within three months.

The peaks on the east side of the canyon are covered with snow, as if a hat has been put on this huge mountain range.

Ma Qiuyan stood atop the peak, looking down at the distant, layered mountains.

"Senior sister, what are you looking at?" Ning Yun came up behind Ma Qiuyan and asked softly.

Ma Qiuyan turned around and smiled, "Didn't you see anything?"

Ning Yun looked her up and down, then blinked. "Senior sister, you seem to have something on your mind!"

Ma Qiuyan looked somewhat uneasy. "No!"

"Tch, you think you can fool me? Look at my eyes!" Ning Yun pointed to her clear eyes. "I saw right through you!"

Ma Qiuyan was amused by her appearance. "You, you still seem like you haven't grown up!" "Master said that people should retain a childlike innocence, otherwise life will be too tiring!" Ning Yun said with a grin.

"Senior sister, what are you worried about?"

Ma Qiuyan tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "Sigh, I'm worried about my senior brother!"

"Senior brother? Isn't senior brother perfectly fine? What's there to worry about?" Ning Yun asked, somewhat surprised.

The senior brother they were talking about was naturally Yang Jizhen. Although Ma Qiuyan and Yang Jizhen had long been married, Ma Qiuyan still habitually called him senior brother.

“Senior brother is preparing to form his core!” Ma Qiuyan said.

Ning Yun suddenly realized, "This is a good thing, Senior Sister, there's no need to worry!"

Yang Jizhen is now 180 years old and his cultivation has reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment. Although he is still some distance away from Core Formation, it is time for him to prepare for it.

In fact, it's not just Yang Jizhen; people like Ma Qiuyan, Ning Yun, Cui Yang, and Zhang Hexuan can all start preparing for Core Formation now.

Li Jianing and Li Jianan are about twenty years younger than them, so they can wait a little longer.

Yang Zhengshan's group of disciples are all outstanding. Although their talents are not particularly outstanding, they have all grown rapidly due to the availability of ample resources, and none of them have fallen behind.

“There are risks involved in forming the Golden Core!” Ma Qiuyan said.

Ning Yun chuckled and said, "Senior Sister, instead of worrying about Senior Brother, you should worry about yourself!"

"Me?" Ma Qiuyan looked at her in confusion.

"Yes, it's you, not just you, but me too!" Ning Yun gave a bitter look. "You know Master is biased. When Senior Brother forms his Core, Master will definitely make thorough preparations, so Senior Brother will definitely be fine!"

"As for you and me, Master probably won't care about us!"

Ning Yun said with a wronged expression.

Ma Qiuyan was taken aback, but after thinking about it, she realized that Ning Yun was right.

Although Yang Zhengshan treated all his disciples similarly on a daily basis, providing them with the necessary resources and showing them care when needed, Yang Jizhen's status was different. He was the first immortal cultivator in the Yang family besides Yang Zhengshan, and was highly valued by Yang Zhengshan.

Yang Jizhen has always received the best resources and the most preferential treatment.

Everyone knew this, and of course, no one had any complaints. Their status was something that couldn't be changed, and Yang Zhengshan had never mistreated them.

"If that's the case, then I really should worry about myself!" Ma Qiuyan said with a smile.

Ning Yun's interruption eased her worries considerably.

Ning Yun laughed and said, "Hehe, I heard that Master has refined another Nine Cauldrons Divine Pill. When the time comes, let's go and ask Master to give us a Nine Cauldrons Divine Pill as a safety net!"

"With the Nine Cauldrons Divine Pill, even if we can't form a true core, we can at least form a fake one!"

Upon hearing this, Ma Qiuyan couldn't help but smile. "You really didn't expect that? Didn't you see that Second Master and Third Master are still waiting in line for the Nine Cauldrons Divine Pill? How could it be our turn?"

"That's not necessarily true. I've heard that Master Kou and Master Hong often go to the Great Void to collect star cores, as do Master Lin and Master Yunxiao! Maybe in a few decades, Master will be able to refine a lot of Nine Cauldrons Divine Pills," Ning Yun said with a smile.

"Your information network is quite impressive!" Ma Qiuyan said.

"Of course, there's nothing in the entire Immortal Palace that I don't know!" Ning Yun said smugly.

"Do you know how many spiritual herbs the Green Ox Demon King has?" Ma Qiuyan wanted to make things difficult for her.

Sure enough, Ning Yun's smug expression froze. "I really didn't know that. The Green Ox Demon King is hiding too well. Every time I go there, he avoids me, as if he's afraid I'll steal his spiritual medicine!"

Ning Yun has a lively personality and loves to visit others, so she is very popular in the Immortal Palace, and most people like to talk to her.

However, there were some people who didn't buy into her act, namely the Green Ox Demon King. The Green Ox Demon King only found her annoying, as she was always disturbing his cultivation.

With Qingniu's personality, he would rather no one ever come looking for him for the rest of his life.

After chatting and laughing for a while, the two continued setting up the formation.

Meanwhile, Xuanzhen had already led his three disciples, Changming, Changqing, and Changliang, to the deep mountains in the central region of the Wanhua Mountains.

However, they did not bring any divine generals with them, or rather, they did not bring any divine generals from Baiyujing.

Chang Ming, Chang Qing, and Chang Liang were all disciples personally taught by Xuan Zhen, and they all used the Divine General Chessboard as their natal magic weapon.

Bai Yujing is vigorously cultivating divine generals, and those who are close to the source naturally have the advantage of being able to prioritize cultivating their own divine generals.

An ordinary Divine General Chessboard can cultivate 361 Divine Generals. The four of them together have more than 1,400 Divine Generals, so there is no need to bring any other Divine Generals.

Just as Yang Zhengshan thought, although the Impermanent Ghost Sect occupied most of the Wanhua Mountain Range, their army of ghost soldiers could not cover the entire Wanhua Mountain Range.

At this time, the Impermanent Ghost Sect had already begun to arrange for Yin soldiers and blood puppets to build giant white bone pillars in the mountains. However, if they wanted to build enough giant white bone pillars, it would take them several decades to complete the task.

However, the demonic beasts in the mountains and forests have not been completely cleared out by the Yin soldiers and blood puppets, and demonic beasts and strange creatures can still be found roaming in the mountains and forests from time to time.

Xuanzhen and Changming stood on a cliff, watching a group of Yin soldiers and blood puppets below hunting down a group of demonic beasts and strange creatures.

The Howling Moon Wolf Clan is a relatively common demon clan in the Wanhua Mountains. They have many groups, distributed throughout the Wanhua Mountains.

The one in front of us probably didn't have time to escape and was tracked down by the Yin soldiers and blood puppets, who chased us here.

“Master, there are twelve Yin soldiers and three hundred and sixty-two blood puppets below! Should we make a move?” Chang Qing asked eagerly.

Xuanzhen's gaze swept across the jungle below. "You're wrong. There are four more Foundation Establishment cultivators over there!"

"Foundation Establishment cultivator! Where is he?" Chang Qing's gaze swept through the jungle inch by inch, but he found nothing unusual.

Chang Ming pointed to the jungle not far away, "There, there should be a concealment formation set up!"

Upon hearing this, Chang Qing's eyes flashed with golden light. He looked at the location Chang Ming pointed to and indeed found four cultivators dressed in black robes hiding in the formation.

"What are they?"

"Hehe, it must be to lure the snake out of its hole!" Chang Ming laughed.

"Luring the snake out of its hole!" Chang Qing suddenly realized. "These guys are really insidious!"

Those must be disciples of the Impermanent Ghost Sect. Their goal is naturally to hunt down more demonic beasts and strange creatures. The pack of Howling Moon Wolves in front of them is not powerful enough to warrant the Impermanent Ghost Sect sending four Foundation Establishment cultivators.

It should be noted that the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Impermanent Ghost Sect all enjoy group battles. They either command Yin soldiers and blood puppets or Yin ghost generals.

It's quite common for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to command hundreds of Yin soldiers and blood puppets.

The fact that the four Foundation Establishment cultivators are gathered together now is clearly not to deal with the pack of Howling Moon Wolves in front of them, but to lure and kill more demonic beasts and strange creatures.

(End of this chapter)