The news spread like wildfire through the Seven Blood Children, attracting the attention of countless Cultivators, both on the mountain and at the foot of the mountain.
Although high-level cultivators were the main force in a war, there were still many things on the battlefield that required Qi Condensation cultivators to carry out, such as setting up formations, logistics, transportation, and other war tasks.
Even the Sea Corpse Tribe would send Qi Condensation cultivators to fight. In that case, the disciples at the foot of the mountain would also have to fight.
After all, compared to the cultivators on the mountain, the disciples at the foot of the mountain had no right to refuse. Only when they reached the Foundation Establishment stage would they have the right to decide whether to fight or not.
Therefore, when the news spread, it quickly caused a commotion in the main city. However, Xu Qing was not surprised.
Whether it was the battle between the Seven Peak Masters and the Elders and the Sea Corpse Tribe, Huang Yan's two warnings, or Zhang San's plan in advance, it all pointed out that war was imminent.
Xu Qing originally did not have many thoughts about war. Previously, when he was on the mountain, Zhang Yunshi had said that the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Seven Blood Children had no obligation to fight. Therefore, war was mostly motivated by profit.
"Rebirth: The Great Time of Waves"
However, after cultivating the Fiendish Soul-Devouring Scripture, Xu Qing's thoughts changed. In fact, all Foundation Establishment cultivators who cultivated the Fiendish Soul-Devouring Scripture valued war.
This was because it was the easiest to devour souls in war. As long as they could survive, they would open many Dharma apertures.
After all, killing was extremely frequent on the battlefield, and it was easier to devour souls in a chaotic battle. The souls of the Sea Corpse Tribe had a miraculous effect on the Fiendish Soul-Devouring Scripture.
This made Xu Qing excited, especially after he tasted the sweetness of the Sea Corpse Tribe's souls … He had opened 20 Dharma apertures and was only 10 away from forming his first Life Fire. Xu Qing also calculated that if he used the Demonic Desire Crab and the Ammonite to attract sea beasts like last time, due to the increased demand for Dharma apertures, he estimated that it would take at least two years. Although occasionally encountering Foundation Establishment Ferocious Beasts could speed up the process, it was still extremely dangerous.
This did not include the return journey and whether the Demonic Desire Crab was enough. If these factors were taken into account, it would take more than three years. For such a long time, it would be dangerous for him to not be able to activate the Mysterious Brilliant State.
After all, when Qi Condensation cultivators went out to sea and met strong cultivators, they might feel that it was not worth killing them. However, if they met Foundation Establishment cultivators, they would not think so.
The value of killing Foundation Establishment cultivators was relatively higher.
In this way, although the war was dangerous, it was much more cost-effective.
When the news of the war spread through the sect, Zhang San was also very attentive to the three ports, and did not delay because of the war.
After spending a large amount of spirit stones, not only did they choose the area to open up, they even hired thousands of disciples from the foot of the Sixth Summit and tens of thousands of laborers to start the construction.
With so many people working on the construction, the new harbor changed with each passing day. At the same time, the planning for the new harbor's shops had also begun.
In addition, as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Transportation, Zhang San used his authority to build a large part of the Ministry of Transportation here to serve the new port.
It was the same for the captain. Although he wasn't in the sect, he had arranged for the Xuan Division to be moved to the new harbor as a branch of the Arresting Officers.
After Huang Yan heard that Xu Qing had shares in this place through some unknown channel, he also arranged for the Water Diversion Division to come over and build a branch here. Due to the spread of the news, Gu Muqing quietly bought a large shop here and prepared to open another medicine shop.
As for the shopkeeper from the Sixth Summit who had tried to extort Xu Qing, it was unknown whether it was arranged by the person behind him, but he immediately came and bought the shop to express his goodwill.
As people flooded in, the new harbor became lively. It became the hottest topic in the sect, aside from the war.
When Ding Xue learned about this, she naturally wanted to support it. Hence, she bought three shops and formed a triangle around Gu Muqing's medicine shop.
She seemed to have not decided what to do with them, but they were very imposing.
She even contacted her close friends and sisters from the other Summits, and most of them came to support her.
On the second day after Ding Xue bought the shops, Zhao Zhongheng quickly arranged for the Dispatching Officers to build a branch here … This made Zhang San feel proud. Naturally, he was the one who spread the news, but the one who made this move was the captain. Before the captain left, he told him that he must let Xu Qing participate. After all, a beautiful person was very useful.
Zhang San also began to mobilize his connections. Hence, very soon, people from the Third Summit, Fourth Summit, and Fifth Summit came one after another to buy shops, causing the new harbor to be extremely complete in terms of cultivation needs.
As for the gambling dens and brothels, they heard that this harbor was almost owned by the Detectives Department and also came.
They were the most numerous. Almost all such establishments in the main city had opened branches here.
The other shops moved in one after another. Another half a month passed. When Xu Qing received the Horseshoe Ghost from the Hundred Herbs House, the harbor also started to show signs of being ready for use after a month of intensive construction.
He also applied for a serial number from the Seventh Summit, and it was designated as the 176th harbor.
On the day the harbor was completed and opened for use, Xu Qing moved out of the mountain and found a remote berth in the 176th harbor to stay.
On the way here, he looked at the harbor that had started to operate. He lamented that Zhang San had indeed spared no effort in accelerating the construction in order to get the requisition fee from the sect.
As he moved back to the harbor from his cave abode, Xu Qing, who was sitting on the spiritual ship, listened to the sound of the waves and felt the slight rocking of the spiritual ship. This feeling made him feel as if he had returned to the state when he was condensing his Qi.
At this moment, he was meditating silently. He planned to slow down the time when he went out to sea.
Because during the construction of the 176th harbor, there was more and more news about the war. Every day, he could even see rainbows returning from the outside and heading straight for the Seven Summits.
This made Xu Qing realize that the war was approaching.
Another half a month passed. By the time Xu Qing had used his own life-enhancing incantation to whittle away ten percent of his twenty-first Dharma aperture, the bells of the seven blood children began to toll at the same time. It was a rare sight.
When the deafening sound of the bell echoed throughout the Seven Blood Caves, the expressions of everyone who heard it changed. Many disciples even walked out of their spiritual boats and looked up at the seven mountains.
There were many Foundation Establishment cultivators hiding there.
The same scene was happening in the entire Seven Blood Children's main city.
The Foundation Establishment cultivators living in the Seven Summits were the same. They all walked out of their cave abodes, and their eyes shone with a sharp light.
Soon, as the sound of the bells echoed, a vast and old voice suppressed the sound of the bells and spread throughout the Seven Blood Children.
"Disciples of the Seven Blood Children, I am Xue Lianzi. You can call me Ancestor. Today, I have something to tell you: war has come, and my sect has declared war on the Sea Corpse Clan.
"The Sea Corpse Clan's assets exceed 100 billion. This time, I have decided to take out half of the loot as your reward!"
Almost at the same time that the old voice echoed, countless blood lines shot up from the Seven Blood Children's Seven Summits. These blood lines were densely packed together like countless worms. At this moment, they all rolled up into the sky, forming a vast cloud that covered the entire sky above the Seven Blood Children.
It could be seen that this cloud was completely formed by red lines. They gathered in the sky and swam rapidly. Finally, they formed the outline of a huge face.
The face belonged to an old man, and it was a ghastly sight. Thunder rumbled in the sky at that moment, and even the seven Blood Children were dyed the color of blood. There was a vague resemblance to Yan Li, whom Xu Qing had met that day.
From afar, it was as if this part of the world had turned into a demonic realm.
At the same time, a monstrous sword aura suddenly burst out from the Seven Blood Children's First Summit. It shot into the sky and turned into a blood-red sword.
This sword was formed by countless bolts of red lightning. It looked frightening, as if any one of the bolts of lightning could destroy a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
A red-faced old man stood on the sword. It was the First Summit's Summit Master. He stood there with an imposing aura. His killing intent was monstrous, as if he could slaughter gods.
"We obey the Ancestor's decree!"
Almost at the instant he appeared, a roar came from the Second Summit. A huge pill furnace rose into the sky, and a graceful middle-aged woman sat cross-legged on it. Her entire body was filled with the fragrance of pills, and she was enveloped in a magnificent light.
This was especially true of the pill furnace beneath her.
Inside, a pill that looked like the sun was being refined. The fluctuations it emitted were terrifying to the extreme.
"We obey the Ancestor's decree!"
Next was the Third Summit. A middle-aged man who looked like a scholar walked out. There was a yellow fog under his feet, and as the fog churned, it gave off a shocking and strange aura. Countless illusory figures flickered in and out of existence around him like ghosts.
Any one of them caused Xu Qing's heart to tremble. The feeling they gave him was very similar to that of the white-robed, faceless woman in the slums, as if they were of the same origin.
All of them were bizarre!
"We obey the Ancestor's decree!" said the middle-aged scholar. Next, a person walked out from the Fourth Summit.
He was a burly man, and as soon as he appeared, it was possible to see a chain wrapped around his body. One end of the chain was attached to his hand, and the other end was attached to a gigantic eyeball.
As soon as the eyeball appeared, a holy will exploded out. Although it didn't give Xu Qing the same feeling as Ji Ying, it was still a creature of divinity.
As for the Fifth and Sixth Summits, no one appeared!
Finally, it was the Seventh Summit.
Rumbling could be heard from the Seventh Summit as Lord Seven walked out. He looked extremely ordinary as he walked up into the sky. Of all the people in the Heavens, he looked the least imposing.
From a distance, he looked like an ordinary person, with not even the slightest ripple emanating off of him. However, as soon as he appeared, all of the other Summit Lords, with the exception of the First Summit's Peak Lord, bowed their heads in respect.
"We obey the Ancestor's decree!" said Lord Seven, clasping hands and bowing to Patriarch Sky-Heaven.
Up in the sky, Patriarch Xue Lianzi's gaze came to rest on Lord Seven. A look of astonishment appeared on his face, and then he began to laugh.
"Little Seven, you've been quiet, but your Dao Aura is rising! You're on the verge of a breakthrough!