Sun Xiaoshan followed the mine tunnel. The deeper he went, the more abundant the spiritual energy became. All of it was devoured by the black hole behind him, and Sun Xiaoshan's cultivation slowly increased with the black hole's absorption.
"If all the spirit stones mined from this spirit mine were devoured, to what level would my cultivation reach? A mighty figure? Or perhaps the Star Realm?"
For Ye Yun's current reincarnation, with the Hongmeng Fentian Jue and the Da Ji Mie Jue as a foundation, coupled with his own experience and memories, Sun Xiaoshan in this reincarnation only needed to absorb enough spiritual energy to break through various realms without any obstacles. In fact, his breakthrough would not even be sensed by heavenly tribulations.
Sun Xiaoshan walked step by step towards the depths of the mine. The mine tunnel wound and slanted downwards. After walking more than ten kilometers, Sun Xiaoshan finally saw the characteristic halos of spirit stones within the tunnel.
Sun Xiaoshan sped up slightly, his divine sense constantly probing the surroundings of the mine.
Even Ye Yun had to admit that whoever discovered this spirit mine was a genius.
This spirit mine was located more than five thousand meters underground. With the divine sense of cultivators in this world, it was impossible to detect such depths. This meant that the discoverer must have been digging for something else and accidentally stumbled upon this spirit mine.
The area of the spirit mine containing spirit stones was not very large, and the spirit stones were relatively sparsely distributed within the mine. Based on the divine sense feedback, the estimated volume of spirit stones was about fifteen thousand cubic meters. Although it seemed large, the spirit stones that could be excavated were likely less than ten thousand, meaning less than one spirit stone per cubic meter on average.
Sun Xiaoshan paused for a moment and then turned to walk back out.
This kind of ore vein was a complete low-quality vein, consuming a lot of labor and time, with very low output.
Even so, it was enough to drive the sects of this world into a frenzy. The beings in this world were unaware that this universe was just beginning its "pioneering" stage, and their so-called history and initial knowledge were bestowed by the Heavenly Dao during this "pioneering" period. Therefore, this world had not yet reached its peak, and all heavenly treasures were still slowly appearing.
Sometimes, Ye Yun felt that whether it was the Ten Directions Universe or the current Eleventh Universe, it was like a program created by humans in a computer, or like the game of the Heavenly Dao, all predetermined.
Just like the current Eleventh Universe, its time flow, and all its existing things and perceptions were unknown to all beings within it. If Ye Yun's divine sense had not reached the sixth realm, it was likely that no one in the entire Ten Directions Universe could have discovered it.
After waiting for a quarter of an hour outside the mine, Wuming finally arrived with a group of inner and core disciples. Under Wuming's command, the forty true disciples who arrived later directly entered the mine to prepare for forceful excavation.
There was no other way; the human race was currently at war on all fronts, not only against the Kui Mei Clan but also the Lei Clan and the Tu Ling Clan. Therefore, they could not afford to waste too much time here.
Moreover, Sun Xiaoshan had killed the sect leaders and elders of nearly twenty sects from the Tu Ling Clan, Lei Clan, and Kui Mei Clan. This was bound to provoke higher-level disciples from these forces to take action, not to mention the various kingdoms under their jurisdiction.
Therefore, after consulting with Dongfang Dao and others, Sun Xiaoshan decided that after this matter, the true disciples and elders would use spirit stones to break through as quickly as possible. Then, they would form a cultivator army with the core disciples and inner disciples to clear out all surrounding sects.
As for Sun Xiaoshan, he would act alone, killing all sects of Rank Seven and above in the vicinity.
However, all plans were disrupted by a piece of news on the fifth day. Before the spirit mine was even fully excavated, all disciples, under the command of Sun Xiaoshan and Wuming, quickly returned to the sect.
Because the disciples of the Bei Kui Sect had already entered the Northern Territory North, with their target directly at the Qingyue Sect!
The Northern Territory was vast, and the distance between the Bei Kui Sect and the Qingyue Sect was hundreds of thousands of kilometers! Even if the outer and inner disciples of the Bei Kui Sect had the cultivation of the Spirit Refining and Golden Core realms, it would still take more than half a month of continuous travel to arrive.
This meant that the Bei Kui Sect had sent its disciples to conquer the Qingyue Sect before Sun Xiaoshan even came out of seclusion!
The Bei Kui Sect was a Rank Five sect! It was the most important branch sect of the Rank One Kui Mei Sect in the Northern Territory. It was also the largest clan sect in the Northern Territory, and with the prestige of the Rank One sect behind it, it had a substantial control over the Northern Territory.
"Xiaoshan, the Bei Kui Sect has brought thirty thousand outer disciples and fifty thousand inner disciples this time. According to the intelligence from our people, they will be able to enter the borders of the Tianyu Kingdom within two days."
In the main hall of the Qingyue Sect, Dongfang Dao pointed to the map of the Tianyu Kingdom on the stone table and said to Sun Xiaoshan.
Sun Xiaoshan fell silent as he looked at the various markings on the map.
The Tianyu Kingdom at this moment was truly facing enemies from all sides. Not only were there wars on the four cardinal directions, but there were also other voices within the imperial court due to the numerous battlefronts.
And now, the empire had only six legions, each with no more than a million soldiers. Most importantly, the general combat power of these soldiers, within the martial cultivator system, barely reached the threshold of a martial artist.
"There's still not enough time!" Sun Xiaoshan sighed as he looked at the massive mountain occupying over several hundred square kilometers in the center of the Tianyu Kingdom map.
This was the territory of the Qingyue Sect. If the Bei Kui Sect's target was indeed the Qingyue Sect, they would certainly sweep through the Southern Legion once they entered the empire.
"Let the Southern Legion stop at Tianxia! Our human race does not have a large population, and too much territory would be a disadvantage for us at the moment," Sun Xiaoshan said after a long pause.
With the help of the Qingyue Sect's outer and inner disciples, the kingdom had caught the surrounding countries off guard, and its territory had more than doubled. On average, more than half a county was incorporated into the kingdom's territory each day.
"Yes, that's what I wanted to say too. The area is too large, and we can't defend it," Dongfang Dao said with a smile.
"Sect Master, why don't we elders and true disciples go and intercept the Bei Kui Sect's disciples?" Lan Yue asked, looking at the map.
"Yes, let's fifty-something Dao Integration and Enlightenment realm cultivators take action and kill as many as we can," Wuming also nodded.
"You don't need to get involved in this. The strength of a sect requires not only the strength of its disciples but also high-end combat power. Core disciples, true disciples, and elders will all go into seclusion for a month starting tomorrow, using spirit stones!"
"After a month, I hope you can all achieve some breakthroughs!" Sun Xiaoshan put away the map and said coldly, then walked out of the hall.
"Sect Master, are you..."
"I'm going to annihilate those Bei Kui Sect fellows!" Sun Xiaoshan replied without looking back.
"Don't you think our Sect Master's killing intent is a bit too strong?" Wuming said leisurely, watching Sun Xiaoshan's departing figure.
"What do you mean?"
"When we went to the Lei Jian Sect, we heard on the way that our Sect Master killed all the disciples and elders of the Lei Jian Sect. He even wiped out hundreds of thousands of disciples from the Kui Jian Sect who wanted to obtain spirit stones." Wuming explained.
"Isn't that normal? The Sect Master's strength is at the mid-stage Mahayana realm! His combat power is comparable to a Heavenly Venerate."
"I know, but what's circulating outside is that the Sect Master killed hundreds of thousands of disciples with just one move, something called 'Heavenly Thunder Hooking Earth Fire.' And when we arrived, there was indeed the smell of burnt things in the air," Wuming said speechlessly.
Killing hundreds of thousands of disciples with a single move, such strength was not achievable even by a perfected Heavenly Venerate, let alone a Mahayana realm cultivator!
"There's no choice. In terms of numbers and strength, our human race is the weakest among the thirteen races. While the Sect Master's killing intent seems strong, isn't it also a means of deterrence? Only by killing powerfully will they fear us, and only when they fear us will they not dare to enter our human activity areas at will."
"The Sect Master often says, 'Those who are not of our race will have different intentions.' Only by stopping killing with killing can our human race survive longer in this world."
Dongfang Dao burst into laughter upon hearing Wuming's words.
The world of cultivators was inherently cruel. Whose rise to power was not paved with the flesh and blood of enemies?
"Grand Elder, Wuming means that he is worried that if the Sect Master causes too much bloodshed, the heavenly tribulation when he breaks through to the Heavenly Venerate realm will become too powerful because of it," Lan Yue said to Dongfang Dao earnestly.
"Someone has to sacrifice for this world. And with the Sect Master's innate talent, there shouldn't be any problem. Go into seclusion. What we can do is to improve our strength as much as possible and not be a burden."
"Wuming, according to the old rules, all the cultivation methods collected from the Lei Jian Sect, from Yellow Grade mid-low grade, will be printed and opened to all citizens of the empire. Yellow Grade high-grade ones will be collected and distributed to the various legions of the empire."
"Also, expedite the establishment of the three major academies mentioned by the Sect Master before. In the future, the disciples recruited by our Qingyue Sect will also be changed from three years to one year, as the Sect Master intended, with students from the cultivator academies as the main focus!"
After speaking, Dongfang Dao went directly to his cave dwelling.
Sun Xiaoshan's intention was simple: for the human race to rise quickly, the Qingyue Sect would establish three major academies for the empire, namely the Cultivator Academy, the Martial Dao Academy, and the Military Academy. These academies would not only provide a large number of talented disciples for the Qingyue Sect but also train a large number of talents for the Tianyu Empire.
Below the academies, Sun Xiaoshan also instructed that introductory classes for the three major academies be opened across the country. However, this would be handled by the Tianyu Empire itself, as Sun Xiaoshan's primary focus was on the three major academies.
"You guys say, under the leadership of the Sect Master, will humanity become strong in ten years?" Suddenly, a true disciple spoke.
After ten years of secluded mountain gates, the disciples of the entire Qingyue Sect had improved by a full level. Previously, reaching the Void Returning realm was enough to be a true disciple of the sect, but now, all true disciples were at the Dao Integration realm, and only those at the Enlightenment realm were elders.
"Ten years? The Sect Master has already said that within three years at most, our entire human race's overall strength will at least double! Our sect's overall strength will reach at least Rank One!"
"Hoo hoo, Rank One sect! It feels great just thinking about it. Senior Brother, you still need to work hard. Don't let the junior brothers catch up to you. I heard that several new junior brothers were recruited this time, and their talent is not low."
After the dozen or so elders left, several true disciples gathered together and slowly headed towards their respective cave dwellings. According to Sun Xiaoshan's instructions, they had to break through one level within a month.
This time, 14,000 spirit stones were collected from the Lei Jian Sect. Each elder received three, and each true disciple received two. The core disciples did not receive any directly. Instead, based on Ye Yun's memories, Sun Xiaoshan used spirit stones as the foundation to set up a spirit gathering array in the cultivation grounds of all core disciples, open 24 hours a day.
Of course, Sun Xiaoshan did not neglect the inner disciples either. A spirit gathering array was also set up in their cultivation grounds.
The spirit gathering array not only gathered the spiritual energy in the air but also released the spiritual energy from the spirit stones. This meant that whether it was a core disciple or an inner disciple, they were all sharing the spiritual energy of over a dozen spirit stones.
Even so, this amount of spiritual energy was enough for these disciples to absorb for a week. After a week, elders would come to replenish the spirit stones.
However, according to Sun Xiaoshan's estimation, because the inner and outer disciples had not cultivated the Da Ji Mie Jue, those dozen or so spirit stones would be enough for them to consume for a month.
Before leaving the Qingyue Sect, Sun Xiaoshan returned home and gave Sun Dashan ten spirit stones. He then imparted the Da Ji Mie Jue to him again and, after a few instructions, directly headed towards the southern border.
After all, they were his parents in this world, and Sun Xiaoshan still had some personal feelings.
At this time, in the south of the Tianyu Kingdom, about ten thousand kilometers from the border, in a huge valley, figures were moving towards the Tianyu Empire.
"Master, we've brought nearly half of the inner disciples out this time. Will Elder He Ling and Elder Xiao impeach the Sect Master at the main sect if they find out?" On a mountaintop, five figures watched the large group of people moving through the valley indifferently. One of them couldn't help but ask.
"We have been managing this Northern Territory for two hundred years. There are many secrets here that cannot fall into the hands of others. Even if Elder He and Elder Xiao impeach the Sect Master, we will have to erase those secrets, otherwise, our entire Bei Kui Sect will become a lingering soul for the main sect."
Elder Du looked into the distance, his face solemn.
"Master, is it that we can't extricate ourselves now? Or can we directly go to those sects and erase those traces?"
"Extricate ourselves? We have been managing for a hundred years, how can we extricate ourselves? As for erasing those traces, even if we agree, what about the other elders? What about those sects? Will they agree?"
"The only way to hide these things as quickly as possible now is to destroy the Qingyue Sect, this troublemaker. This way, the entire situation in the Northern Territory North will return to peace, the Holy Land will not focus its attention here, and we can continue to enjoy those resources."
Holy Land, this was a heavy stone pressing on them.
"Oh? So you have secrets? Tell me, perhaps if I'm in a good mood, I might leave you with a whole corpse."
Suddenly, a voice echoed throughout the valley.