I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

As dawn slowly spread across the eastern horizon, an airship emerged from the mist and headed towards Chuyang City along the newly opened air route.

The expansion work progressed rapidly within two years, especially along the line from Chuyang City to the mount training base.

To facilitate travel and ensure that the Lin family members would not encounter any dangers when traveling back and forth, this air route was created.

A station is set up every few hundred miles to allow spirit ships to land at any time. Each section has an early warning array to notify passing spirit ships of potential dangers.

As the airship passed those stations, it could see small platforms shimmering with light below, like a string of points of light scattered between the ridges and valleys, arranged in sequence along the course of the flight path.

This inspection trip was not only to see the current state of the cultivation base, but also to check on the construction of the new city.

Lin Che stood at the bow of the boat, his gaze fixed on the terrain below that was rapidly receding. The wind swept past the sides of the bow, causing his clothes to flutter slightly and make a continuous, soft rustling sound.

Nearly two days have passed since we set off from the Lin family's mount training base. The terrain beneath our feet has gradually transitioned from dense forests and steep cliffs to undulating hills, and then from hills to a gradually opening, gentle valley.

The dense forest that once required hiking is now, from the airship's height, just a continuous stretch of dark green undulations, with the occasional glimpse of a stream's silvery reflection at the edge, like fine threads sewn into fabric.

When he arrived, Lin Che was directly teleported to the vicinity of the secret realm via the Azure Profound Realm Spirit.

During the two years that Lin Che was in seclusion, the Azure Profound Realm Spirit did not rest. It spent most of its time in the Mount Cultivation Secret Realm replicating the fifth-order spiritual veins within the secret realm.

He relied on his core supernatural power—Reflection of Myriad Realms.

When a Qingxuan Realm Spirit enters a suppressed or unclaimed secret realm, it can perfectly replicate its core elements and transform them into nourishment for its own secret realm.

Spatial Devouring: Devours the spatial structure of the target secret realm, directly expanding the scope of its own secret realm.

Spiritual Vein Fusion: Copy and superimpose the total amount of spiritual energy of the target secret realm's spiritual veins to promote the growth of one's own spiritual veins.

Rule Imprinting: Selectively copy 1-2 core rules of the target realm and add them to your own realm's "rule library", which can be called or combined at any time.

Having obtained the Secret Realm Token, Lin Che has become the master of the Secret Realm, allowing the Azure Profound Realm Spirit to replicate spiritual veins within it without restraint.

However, copying takes time, and a very long time, since the level of the spiritual vein is fundamental to a secret realm.

According to the Azure Profound Realm Spirit, it may take him another three years to completely complete the replication and transform the Azure Profound Secret Realm into a fifth-order secret realm.

The internal spiritual energy was sufficient for Lin Che, who was in the Nascent Soul stage, so he wasn't in a hurry. He let the Azure Profound Realm Spirit take its time and properly experience the feeling of replication.

"Master, the new city is just ahead." Lin Xinyao's voice came from behind.

Lin Che stopped thinking and looked in the direction he was looking.

On the distant horizon, the outline of a city wall, slowly taking shape, gradually becomes clear in the morning mist.

The outline extends upwards from the bottom of the mist, first the dark baseline that runs across the ground, then sections of walls being built, with scattered scaffolding protruding from the edges like a growing skeleton.

The city wall is built of bluish-gray stone and is about the same height as the city wall of Chuyang City, but the wall is significantly thicker and wider. The array patterns on the surface have not been fully carved, and in some sections, exposed bricks and stones and unfinished spiritual road grooves can still be seen.

When the flying boat landed outside the north gate of the new city, several cultivators wearing Dawn Army standard spirit armor were already lined up and waiting at the dock.

Their spirit armor was predominantly dark iron gray with crimson trim, and the shoulder armor had flame patterns on the edges. It gleamed with a dull luster in the morning light, contrasting with the orange-red spirit armor of the Chuyang City garrison.

Lin Xuanjing, who was at the head of the group, stepped forward, wearing the blue battle armor of a commander.

The armor plates were thicker than the standard ones, and a beast-head relief was cast on the shoulder armor, casting a short shadow in the morning light, extending along the curve of the shoulder line to the upper arm armor.

"Father, you've arrived."

Lin Che's gaze passed over his shoulder and landed on the city wall under construction: "How's the progress?"

"It's going more smoothly than expected." Lin Xuanjing turned to the side and pointed to the section of the wall that had already been completed on the north side. "The north wall is about 80% complete, while the south side is a little slower. The scaffolding for the city gate has already started. The first six months were basically spent laying the foundation and repairing the wall. The main structure is expected to be completed before winter. The craftsmen are divided into three shifts to work in shifts. They lay the walls during the day and lay the array pattern trenches at night. They have basically never stopped working."

Lin Che walked along the base of the city wall for a while, his feet on layers of soil that had been repeatedly compacted. Every few steps, he could see unused stones and spiritual materials piled up by the roadside.

The stones were mainly iron-gray Lingyan rock, with the edges still retaining the ridges left by the quarry. When piled together, they formed a low stone wall.

Several teams of craftsmen were busy on the western section of the wall. Some were laying bricks and stones, some were carving patterns and grooves, and some were adjusting the direction of the spiritual path inside the wall. The sound of hammers and chisels striking each other alternately spread across the wall in a steady rhythm.

"What is the current situation of the Dawn Army?"

"It has eight battalions under its command, with a full strength of 8,000 men, and is temporarily stationed inside the city wall. Two more battalions are undergoing training at the temporary training base at Qingfeng Pass, and are expected to be able to join the force in two months."

Currently, there are 123 members of the "Xin" generation undergoing military training, jointly led by Xin Yao and Xin Qing. The purpose is to familiarize them with the military so that they can lead troops immediately upon future needs.

Lin Xuanjing paused for a beat before continuing in the same rhythm: "Last month, another batch of rogue cultivators who withdrew from Burning Bone Pass voluntarily applied to join the Dawn Army. There are about four hundred of them, and most of them are at the early to mid-Foundation Establishment stage. The other vassal families are also gradually adding their own people, and they are basically selected according to the screening criteria we agreed on before."

Lin Che stood on a section of the completed city wall, his palms pressed against the stone surface of the wall.

A fine layer of grayish-white adhesive is embedded between the stones, maintaining a smooth feel under the palm. The grooves of the array pattern reveal a section of the cross-section that has not yet completely closed at the edge of his palm, and the direction of the edge presents a regular oblique arrangement under the sunlight.

As they walked, Lin Che asked, "How are these newly joined independent cultivators getting along?"

"Very good. Many of these people are former garrison troops from Burning Bone Pass." Lin Xuanjing stood beside him, his gaze also falling on the wall under construction. "The first half month was indeed not very smooth. After all, the training content was different, and the formation changes and spiritual power coordination needed to be practiced from scratch. However, they have now basically formed a sense of cooperation."

Those independent cultivators adapted much faster than we expected. Their combat experience on the Burning Bone Pass defense line proved invaluable here, and their reaction speed in the adversarial drills was about 20% to 30% faster than that of the cultivators recruited locally in Chuyang City.

This newly formed army, built in just two years, is no weaker than the previous garrison, and is even stronger.

Because half of the personnel were elites from the original Chuyang City garrison, and the strongest of them were selected.

The other half consisted of the original garrison troops of Burning Bone Pass and various independent cultivators who were attracted by the Lin family's merit system and chose to join the garrison.

Several of them even reached the Golden Core level, which greatly boosted the overall combat power of the Dawn Army. The army, which was originally mostly composed of Qi Refining cultivators, became a team almost entirely composed of Foundation Establishment cultivators, and their combat power was naturally incomparable.

Lin Che nodded, withdrew his hand, and turned to the urban area under construction inside the city wall.

Looking down from the city wall, the basic outlines of those buildings are rising inch by inch from the ground, with several arranged along the already paved street foundations, and the spacing between each building maintaining a fairly uniform degree.

"What about the city's planning?"

"Proceed according to the predetermined plan." Lin Xuanjing pointed to several directions within the city. "The east side is the reserve warehouse, the west side is the residential area, and the north and south directions are the shops and workshops. The city lord's mansion is located in the center."

Currently, 80% of the foundation work in the eastern area has been completed. Construction in the southern area has slowed down temporarily because the underground water seepage there is deeper than expected, requiring additional waterproofing layers. This is expected to take an extra one to two months.

"What's the progress of cultivating that sacred field?"

"The spiritual fields west of the new city were the first to be developed. The first batch of spiritual rice has already been planted in the first batch of leveled spiritual fields, and it is growing well. It is expected that the first harvest will be available before the end of the year."

Lin Xuanjing then led Lin Che down the city wall, through the main street under construction on the inner side, and towards the spirit field area under construction on the west side of the new city.

The road surface underfoot is composed of alternating layers of gravel and rammed earth. The foundations on both sides of the street have been treated, and the outlines of rows of house foundations can be seen. The fixed foundations are horizontal and vertical, like an unpainted chessboard.

After walking west along the new road for about fifteen minutes, the road surface underfoot began to transition from gravel to compacted soil. The smell of lime and dust in the air gradually weakened, and was replaced by a moist scent mixed with soil and spiritual plants. It was the unique smell of the spiritual fields, with a fresh scent of freshly tilled soil.

The view suddenly opens up, with vast stretches of spiritual fields arranged in neat squares, like a chessboard that has been divided countless times, extending from your feet all the way to the outline of the slowly forming city wall in the distance.

The ditches between the ridges have been dug, with fine spiritual sand at the bottom. Transparent spiritual liquid flows along the ditches, reflecting a shimmering light in the sunlight.

"These spirit fields have all been leveled." Lin Xuanjing stopped at a bend in the field ridge. "The ditch system and irrigation array have also been completed. Based on the current planting density, once the first batch of spirit rice is fully mature, it will be able to provide enough spirit rice to support Chuyang City for about half a year."

In the second half of the year, we plan to level the slope east of the new city as well. The soil there is slightly thinner than on the west side, but a branch of the spiritual vein passes through that area, so it should also be suitable for planting spiritual herbs.

Lin Che walked along the edge of the spirit field for a while, his gaze falling on the neat rows and ridges.

Although the spiritual field in front of us still bears the fresh marks of being newly cultivated, the ditches are clearly defined and the planning is clearly visible. Rows of newly sprouted spiritual shoots are neatly arranged on the ridges.

He crouched down, placed his palms close to the ground, and could feel that the temperature and humidity emanating from the soil were within the normal range.

The soil was a darker color than that around Chuyang City, and looked more fertile.

"This area is indeed suitable for being designated as a spiritual field." He straightened up, his gaze sweeping across the outline of the entire field.

Flat, very flat.

Looking around, it was much flatter than the area behind Chuyang City.

"This area can be transformed into a spirit field district in the future, and cultivators who want to settle down can move to other areas."

"Don't worry, Dad. We've discussed these matters many times." Lin Xuanjing's tone carried a hint of a smile. "We've designated these flat areas with spiritual veins as spiritual field planting areas, while the more rugged spiritual vein areas will be reserved as rewards."

He paused, then continued, "There's also the division of areas. In the future, the area west of the city will be the cultivator area, and the area east will be the area for the demon beast tribes. This will reduce the probability of conflicts. The spirit beast scouts are also arranged in this way. They are usually stationed in a separate camp twenty miles outside the east of the city and will not live with the cultivators."

Lin Che nodded and straightened up: "Good, good, good, I was too talkative. You did a good job, you were thorough and thought of all the problems." After he finished speaking, he turned his gaze to the direction of the military camp on the east side, "Alright, now it's time to go and see the Dawn Army's training."

The military camp was located on the east side of the new city, about twenty miles from the entrance of the city wall. The main gate was divided by two short stone pillars. The spirit lamps on the top of the pillars were not lit at the moment. The surface of the pillars was engraved with the emblem of the Dawn Army, which outlined the shape of a long spear pointing diagonally to the sky with neat lines.

The ground inside the camp was more compacted than outside the city, paved with hard, bluish-gray rocks, with virtually no loose soil visible. The camp was laid out longitudinally in a north-south direction, consisting of four rows of buildings with a mixed wood and stone structure. From the outside, the barracks, warehouses, and drill grounds were all spaced far apart, and the passageways between them were wide and flat.

The drill ground is located in the very center of the camp, and it is now filled with soldiers who are training. The square formations are spread out in an east-west direction, roughly occupying the entire open space, with nearly two thousand people lined up here.

Lin Che stopped at the edge of the training ground. The cultivators, dressed in uniform spirit armor and wielding long spears, stood in neat formation, their breathing and the rustling of their armor creating a deep, resonant sound in the air above the training ground.

The monks in the front row were performing a series of thrusting movements according to the commands. Their spears stretched forward, retracted, and stretched out again in neat rows under the sunlight, like a wave of metal that kept undulating.

While their movements are not yet fluid and graceful, they have already developed a stable rhythm that can be consistently executed.

Lin Che's gaze slowly swept over the array of soldiers who were training, his eyes falling on their grip on their guns, the spacing between them, and the rhythm of their breathing. He roughly judged that after a period of systematic training, the team had developed a basic sense of teamwork.

He stood at the edge of the training ground for about half an hour, watching them complete a full formation change process. Only after the formation was finally closed up for the last time did he look away and walk towards the camp gate.

"The training level is not bad." When Lin Che reached the camp gate, he paused by the gatepost, his gaze falling on the city wall stretching in the morning light in the distance. "Get ready, we will soon enter the pass and recapture Burning Bone Pass."

"Understood." Lin Xuanjing's voice came from behind him, crisp and decisive, without any unnecessary hesitation.