"Alright, I understand. From now on, I will hand over all the flying boats in the sect to you and fill them with spirit stones. You can go to the Yu Rou Plains to pick up people."
"Ah~ Sect Master, we still need to recruit disciples? There's no need, right?"
Hearing Yang Hong's sudden change of topic, Zhong Chengfeng was stunned and expressed his opposition. Currently, Qingfeng Mountain Villa had few disciples, but the resources were relatively abundant.
For example, as an alchemist, the spirit herbs and medicinal herbs allocated to him each year were two to three times more than when he was in Deyuan Sect.
If disciples were continuously increased, his resources would inevitably be diluted.
"If you don't want to go, let Zhang Zhengyan go.
Don't intentionally recruit; just bring anyone who is willing to come. And you can only arrange places outside the existing five mountains."
"Alright, I'll go tell Zhang Zhengyan. I'll leave this matter to him."
Seeing that Yang Hong had made up his mind, Zhong Chengfeng no longer objected and decided to let Zhang Zhengyan find people.
"Don't leave yet, I'll give you your reward for this insect tide battle."
"Thank you~"
Before Zhong Chengfeng could finish thanking him, Yang Hong pointed a finger at his forehead, and numerous alchemy classics and formulas were directly transmitted into Zhong Chengfeng's mind.
Zhong Chengfeng's face gradually turned flushed. There was no reward more suitable for an alchemist than this alchemy knowledge.
"Thank you, Sect Master, for your cultivation. This disciple will now go into seclusion to comprehend."
"Hmm~ Go ahead."
Yang Hong understood Zhong Chengfeng's urgency, just as he himself was impatient to go into seclusion and study after obtaining the formation jade slips in the Ten Thousand Demon Sea Region.
After sending Zhong Chengfeng away, Yang Hong found Zhang Zhengyan and told him his intentions, asking him to pick up people. He could pick up anyone, as long as they weren't arranged on the five peaks within the Four Spirits Guardian Formation.
...
Since both the immortal and Buddhist sects had come to deal with the Li Huo Flying Locusts, Yang Hong no longer concerned himself with them in the Zikun Mountain Range but focused on planting spirit plants.
According to the memories of the residual soul of Elder Yi from the Tianji Sect, a thousand years later, after the Taiyuan Continent stabilized under the Buddhist realm, a terrifying great war would erupt on the Taiyuan Continent.
And at least the immortal, Buddhist, demon, and devil realms, as well as upper-realm celestials and demons, would participate.
In other words, the Taiyuan Continent might just be a battle platform sought by the Buddhist Lords of the Buddhist realm.
The strong and overbearing display of the Buddhist sect during this insect tide event, coupled with the forbearance of the immortal sect, gave a sense of impending doom.
It seemed the great war in the upper realm would break out early!
It was precisely because of this information that Yang Hong was eager to summon the souls of Li Lizhi and the others, and to find their reincarnated bodies.
Once the war between immortals and demons erupted on the Taiyuan Continent, let alone the reincarnated Li Lizhi and the others, Yang Hong himself would have a high chance of perishing.
Therefore, he had to cultivate quickly, quickly remove the cultivation seal imposed by Puji, and ascend to the immortal realm.
He didn't want to be cannon fodder.
He informed Zhu Yuyan and the other two of his thoughts. They were a little surprised, but with their trust in Yang Hong, they did not raise any doubts. They only proposed that Yang Hong cultivate with them.
This time, Yang Hong did not make any more excuses and diligently cultivated with them, rapidly improving their cultivation.
"Ding~ You have channeled 900 days of cultivation into the Grade Three High-grade Iron Thorn Grass, obtaining a hundredfold cultivation return, and gaining 90,000 days of cultivation."
"Ding~ The energy stored by the Grade Three High-grade Iron Thorn Grass has reached the standard for evolution. It is beginning to evolve into Grade Four Low-grade Iron Thorn Grass."
After three months of cultivation, Yang Hong had cultivated the Grade One Iron Thorn Grass to Grade Four.
At the same time, its innate tendency, which had been suppressed and prevented from flowering, could no longer be suppressed. After completing its evolution, the Iron Thorn Grass immediately bloomed with small pale yellow flowers all over its body.
The fourth-tier Iron Thorn Grass was only three feet tall and still resembled bamboo in appearance. However, its stalks and leaves were covered with dense small thorns. These thorns also carried a strange and potent poison. Even Yang Hong's powerful physique, upon contact, would experience a persistent itching for half a day!
Because of these thorns, the two types of bees and two types of butterflies that Yang Hong had specifically asked his disciples to introduce could not pollinate the Iron Thorn Grass. In the end, Yang Hong had to use his powerful divine sense to artificially pollinate it.
The pale yellow flowers were only the size of soybeans but bloomed all over the Iron Thorn Grass, making it very beautiful. From a distance, it looked like a golden sword with its tip pointing towards the sky.
With Yang Hong's further channeling, the Iron Thorn Grass produced small, thumb-sized fiery red fruits within a day. The Iron Thorn Grass rapidly withered at a visible speed.
The withered yellow branches and bright red fruits looked like a pot of scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
It possessed a strangely beautiful aesthetic.
After bearing fruit, the Iron Thorn Grass directly withered and died, with all its vitality flowing into the Iron Thorn Fruits.
"This is also very similar to bamboo; it dies once it flowers and bears fruit."
Looking at the twenty withered Iron Thorn Grass plants, he sighed and then cast the "Sweet Dew Technique" again, injecting spiritual energy into the dead Iron Thorn Grass. It could still channel the injected spiritual energy into the red Iron Thorn Fruits.
"What a great plant; it sacrifices itself for its offspring."
Under the spiritual energy guided by the [Sweet Dew Technique], the Iron Thorn Fruits began to fall.
"Strange spirit plant, it has matured so quickly, and it doesn't bear fruit for a long time."
Although he was puzzled, Yang Hong still collected these Iron Thorn Fruits. He dared not touch them directly, only using his divine sense to grab them in the air. Then, he used his divine sense to peel and remove the flesh in mid-air, directly extracting the seeds.
Suddenly, his gaze sharpened.
When the red juice dripped onto the black soil, the originally dark soil showed tiny green dots.
With a thought, Yang Hong separated these small dots. Indeed, they were Lihuo Flying Locust eggs of various sizes.
The size difference between these eggs was enormous, the smallest being smaller than a sesame seed, while the largest was as big as a fist. Moreover, the appearance of the eggs was even more bizarre; they were not perfectly round. No wonder ordinary cultivators, even if they found the eggs, wouldn't be sure.
And even if you threw out the Lihuo Flying Locust eggs, you might not be able to destroy them!
The hardness and durability of the eggs were consistent with the rank of their mother body, which was troublesome.
"Fortunately, I have now cultivated Grade Four Iron Thorn Grass. By sprinkling the juice of these Iron Thorn Fruits, I can distinguish the eggs, making it much easier to eliminate them next."
With the first step's success, Yang Hong was already very satisfied. He was now eagerly anticipating the Iron Thorn Grass cultivating to the point where it could transform into a demon.
However, just as Yang Hong wanted to cultivate in peace, some people did not want him to have peace.
"Sect Master, the Chaoyang Sect has summoned all cultivators to engage in a decisive battle with the Lihuo Flying Locusts, requiring cultivators on both sides of the Zikun Mountain Range to participate."
Ye Yudong was speaking to Yang Hong as a special envoy from the [Shengyu Sect], but he did not dare to speak loudly to Yang Hong, only daring to answer with a cautious bow.
"Is that the command of those bald donkeys? They still haven't figured out the nest of the Lihuo Flying Locusts, and they want a decisive battle?
How ridiculous?"
Yang Hong didn't even have the mood to look up, continuing to busy himself with planting Iron Thorn Grass, and said,
"Go back and tell those bald donkeys that if they want Qingfeng Mountain Villa to fight, they must first settle their karma with Qingfeng Mountain Villa, and then we will fight."
Ye Yudong smiled wryly and said helplessly, "This time, the Buddhist sect has invited three Arhats to descend, and eliminating the Lihuo Flying Locusts is probably just a side task. Conquering the Taiyuan Continent is their real goal."
"You're saying, Arhats descending?"
"Yes! Arhats descending!"
Hearing that the Buddhist realm had actually dispatched Arhats to descend again, Yang Hong was genuinely surprised and also got a headache.