Within the Twilight Cicada Secret Realm, there were actually three specialties: twilight cicadas, earth spirit trees, and mystic sun ginseng.
[Earth Spirit Tree] was the spirit wood that produced earth spirit sap. [Earth Spirit Sap]'s uses were extensive, serving as a primary auxiliary material for concocting talisman ink and formulating formation inks for arrays and prohibitions.
However, after tens of thousands of years, earth spirit trees had been widely cultivated in the outside world, making them worthless.
[Mystic Sun Ginseng] was one of the three main ingredients for refining Foundation Establishment Pills. Most sects cultivated this in their spiritual fields, so despite its value, it wasn't particularly precious.
Only the [Twilight Cicada] could be considered a specialty of the Twilight Cicada Secret Realm.
Twilight cicadas were spirit insects with extremely short lifespans, rumored to be born at dawn and die by dusk.
In reality, twilight cicadas shed their shells once daily, rather than dying; their shed carapaces were auxiliary materials for refining [Longevity Pills].
As the name suggests, [Longevity Pills] were treasures whose value could not be measured by spirit stones.
At least, even with Yang Hong's considerable influence and his attendance at several auctions, he had yet to encounter a vendor selling [Longevity Pills]!
Consequently, [Twilight Cicadas] became increasingly scarce. So much so that the immortal and Buddhist sects had an agreement: cultivators entering the [Twilight Cicada Secret Realm] were now forbidden from capturing twilight cicadas.
However, twilight cicadas were not an essential ingredient for refining [Longevity Pills], so the control was quite lenient.
Thus, those who wished to capture them did so stealthily, merely avoiding overt actions.
The group of cultivators who ventured into the adventure failed to notice that as twilight cicadas dwindled, some inconspicuous creatures had become increasingly numerous.
These were the [Gold-Devouring Ants], a non-specialty specialty of the [Twilight Cicada Secret Realm].
They were bred within the Twilight Cicada Secret Realm as food for the twilight cicadas.
Furthermore, this time, someone had intentionally brought out a few queens, along with a batch of male and soldier ants.
Twilight cicadas died relatively quickly after leaving the [Twilight Cicada Secret Realm] and could not reproduce in the outside world.
Without their natural predators, the Gold-Devouring Ants could spread terrifyingly.
...
Upon returning to Clear Wind Manor, Yang Hong did not blame Lu Yan for the death of his twelve disciples. After all, bringing back six-tenths of his disciples from a secret realm with a seventy percent death rate was already commendable.
Yang Hong was even more pleased after witnessing Lu Yan and the other disciples demonstrate their battle formations in practice.
"Good, good. Applying what you learn is the most crucial aspect; it is true learning."
"It seems we need to strengthen the disciples' practical combat experience."
"Thus, Ran Boren, go and search the Yu Rou Plains, or even throughout the Eastern Li Prefecture, for any opportunities for combat. We will gradually assign disciples to venture out for combat experience."
Hearing Yang Hong's words, Ran Boren's eyes widened. Why was the Sect Master acting on impulse again?
He quickly advised:
"Sect Master, the immortal and Buddhist sects have basically divided up the territories. Furthermore, both major alliances are focused on development and do not have many conflicts, nor that many battles."
"Ran Boren, do you lack brains? If you can't fight against humans, can't you arrange for disciples to fight against demonic beasts? Can't you search for various secret realms?"
Yang Hong grew increasingly annoyed watching Ran Boren and directly sent him flying with a True Essence palm strike.
This deputy hall master of the Battle God Hall lacked fighting spirit; perhaps he should be replaced.
"Sect Master, forgive my offense. I will go and search immediately and report back to the Sect Master before sunset."
Seeing Yang Hong's genuine anger, Ran Boren nearly wet himself. He quickly made a promise and then flew off to find suitable training grounds.
As for those grounds being claimed by other sects?
If they could be utilized, do so. If not, offer some spirit stones to grease the wheels.
If there were those who completely ignored Clear Wind Manor, then simply bypass them. While cultivators in the immortal cultivation world might not be numerous, demonic beasts certainly were!
The only truly difficult aspect was secret realms, as they were remnants of ancient and primeval eras, and their numbers were limited.
Moreover, secret realms required a long interval before they could be entered.
"Fewer is fine.
You may begin gradually arranging for disciples to undergo training."
"Sect Master, all disciples? Or only some?"
"Of course, only disciples at the Foundation Establishment realm or above need training. Do you want to send Qi Condensation disciples to their deaths?
Disciples who enjoy various immortal cultivation arts like artifact refining and talisman crafting, and indeed possess talent, do not need to go out for training unless they voluntarily request it.
The rest must all go out and train."
"Yes, I understand."
With clear instructions, Ran Boren's efficiency was quite high. Within that month, hundreds of disciples departed to hunt demonic beasts for training.
Clear Wind Manor, which had always favored farming, finally began to display its military might externally.
It also allowed the immortal cultivation world of the Yu Rou Plains to truly understand that a first-rank sect was rising on the other side of Purple Kun Mountain.
Unfortunately, as the immortal and Buddhist sects had largely divided their territories, consolidated their subordinates, and were all focusing on development and cultivation, the entire immortal cultivation world entered a peculiar state of peace. Even bandits seemed to have vanished, greatly disappointing Ran Boren and the disciples of Clear Wind Manor who were eager to find cultivators to battle.
Since there were no more conflicts, and the general environment was one of development and cultivation, Clear Wind Manor, which excelled at farming, had no choice but to lie low and focus on its farming.
However, this did not stump Yang Hong. He sealed the fourth Seven-Colored Plain, [Jiu Yan], with formations, raising various types of demonic beasts and allowing disciples to enter periodically for training.
This also provided an additional source of meat.
...
Time seemed to flow slowly in this quiet period. Over sixty years, Yang Hong established spiritual plant teleportation formations across a hundred-million-li expanse of the Li Fire Desert and cultivated six more Seven-Colored Plains, each spanning ten-million-li.
However, in sixty years, Yang Hong had not managed to research a method that could both ensure the normal operation of the spiritual plant teleportation formations and block wood escape techniques.
He even discovered that using earth escape techniques could easily approach the underground of the spiritual plant teleportation formations, thus allowing for their destruction!
Stubbornly, Yang Hong spent the sixty years primarily researching spiritual plant teleportation formations and how to use them safely.
This resulted in Clear Wind Manor only cultivating a hundred-million-li expanse of plains in sixty years.
If Yang Hong had focused on cultivation, he could have easily tenfolded this output in sixty years.
However, sixty years passed quickly. Yang Hong's cultivation had advanced to the eighth-tier Tribulation Crossing third level through continuous spiritual plant cultivation.
As for his actual combat strength?
Slaughtering ninth-tier Mahayana cultivators was effortless. While he might be outmatched against immortals, using the [Red Lotus Karmic Fire], even killing true immortals was likely not an issue.
For sixty years, the entire immortal cultivation world remained eerily quiet and peaceful.
It was said that during these sixty years, not a single battle involving over a hundred people had occurred across the entire Tai Yuan Continent.
However, this peace and quiet was shattered by a small insect.
One day, while Yang Hong was still engrossed in his research on spiritual plant teleportation formations, Zhong Chengfeng pulled him towards a teleportation array.
"Sect Master, the Morning Sun Sect, as representatives of the [Immortal Alliance], has requested our aid, hoping we can quickly research a pill or spiritual plant to kill [Gold-Devouring Ants]."
"Gold-Devouring Ants? What are Gold-Devouring Ants?"
Hearing about the [Gold-Devouring Ants], Yang Hong was unfamiliar with them and directly inquired.
"They are a type of demonic insect discovered in the last two years. They can devour all metal ores, making them extremely dangerous demonic insects.
It is said they originated in Xi Qu Prefecture and have been spreading from there."
Yang Hong perked up and asked, "Can the excretions or corpses of Gold-Devouring Ants be used for artifact refining?"
Hearing Yang Hong's question, Zhong Chengfeng was surprised. "Ah ~ Sect Master, you know about Gold-Devouring Ants?"
"What is the highest tier of Gold-Devouring Ants? Have the immortal and Buddhist sects not made a concerted effort to eradicate them?"
"Uh ~ The highest tier is fourth. The immortal and Buddhist alliances have indeed not exerted great effort in their eradication."
"Then it's fine.
If you have free time, go and research them. If you have other tasks, don't get involved."
"Yes, I understand."
Zhong Chengfeng, having cultivated to the Integration stage, was no fool. He immediately grasped the underlying implications and abandoned the foolish idea of "providing aid."
Yang Hong didn't even feel the need to concern himself further.
However, neither of them realized the true terror of the Gold-Devouring Ants.