Rise of the Wang Clan: Starting with a Portable Farm

Chapter 188: Ten-Year Development Plan

“Junior Sister!”

Another cultivator from the Qingyuan Sect approached. Wang Hao looked over and recognized Chen Qing.

Chen Qing shot Wang Hao a subtle glance. Wang Hao caught the hint immediately and feigned ignorance of their prior acquaintance.

“Junior Sister Mu,” Chen Qing said, stepping between them. “I am just as heartbroken over Senior Brother He’s death. But the dead cannot be brought back to life. The Sect is overwhelmed with affairs right now; we need unity, not infighting. Our enemy is the Blazing Heaven Sect, not the vassal families who came to bleed for us!”

She gestured toward Wang Hao’s group. “These cultivators answered the Sect’s call to reinforce us. How can you accuse them without proof? Do you want to chill the hearts of our allies?”

With Chen Qing mediating, the female cultivator finally relented. She asked for the location of Elder He’s demise, and after Wang Hao pointed out the direction, she flew off with red-rimmed eyes to recover the body.

“Alas,” Chen Qing sighed, looking apologetically at the group. “Junior Sister Mu and Senior Brother He were about to become Dao Companions. That is why she lost control upon hearing the news. Please, do not take it to heart.”

“Not at all, not at all,” Qian Jiatao said hurriedly, wiping sweat from his brow.

Chen Qing turned her gaze to Wang Hao and switched to voice transmission. “Brother Wang, I assume you are here to tally your contribution points?”

Wang Hao nodded imperceptibly. “We intercepted several cultivators from the Blazing Heaven Sect and the Infinite Palace. We also recovered the bodies and Storage Bags of many fallen allies along the way. We were hoping to ask how the Sect handles these matters.”

“You should submit a report detailing the battles and present the bodies as evidence. Once verified, the Sect will record the contribution points,” Chen Qing explained via transmission, her tone weary. “However… the Sect has suffered catastrophic losses. We are functionally bankrupt in the short term. Points cannot be exchanged for resources right now.”

She paused, then added a word of caution. “As for when exchanges will resume, even I don’t know. My advice? Keep the spoils for yourselves. If you hand those Storage Bags over to the Sect now, they will likely be requisitioned for emergency funds and never returned to the families of the fallen.”

Wang Hao had anticipated this. The Qingyuan Sect was currently a black hole for supplies. It seemed this debt was destined to go unpaid.

Wang Hao relayed the situation to Qian Jiatao and the others. The four quickly reached a consensus: they would report the battle and submit the enemy corpses for merit verification, but they would keep the loot. They would split the spoils equally.

During the initial breakout, Wang Hao had killed several enemies alone, but he hadn’t had time to collect the bodies. Without corpses as proof, trying to claim those kills would be like throwing meat buns at a dog—gone forever. The Qingyuan Sect wouldn’t recognize claims without hard evidence, and Wang Hao wasn’t foolish enough to press the issue. He would just have to swallow that minor loss.

Even so, their harvest was massive. After dividing the spoils, each person walked away with at least 150,000 Spirit Stones worth of assets.

The cleanup operation on the mountain was swift. The Qingyuan Sect disciples hunted down the remaining stragglers from the invading sects. In the final moments, True Monarch Jin Heng personally intervened, dragging the last few fish that had slipped through the net out of hiding.

Jin Heng had already dressed Du Guangchao’s body in fresh robes. The late Headmaster’s remains now lay in state on a high platform overlooking the main plaza.

Jin Heng stood before thousands of assembled disciples. He waved his hand coldly.

Several Qingyuan disciples dragged over a dozen battered captives from the Blazing Heaven Sect onto the stage.

Thud! Thud!

Heavy kicks to the back of the knees forced the captives to kneel before Du Guangchao’s corpse. Behind each captive stood a Qingyuan executioner, holding a heavy, broad-bladed cleaver.

“Today, we use your blood to pay tribute to Senior Brother Du,” Jin Heng announced, his voice echoing across the silent square. “In the future, I swear I shall personally storm the Blazing Heaven Sect and level your mountain gate!”

He raised his hand and slashed it down.

“Execute!”

Schlock!

Over a dozen heads hit the stone floor simultaneously. Blood sprayed out, dyeing the plaza crimson.

Jin Heng led the disciples in a deep bow to Du Guangchao’s remains. Wang Hao and the gathered allies hurriedly followed suit.

After the ritual, Jin Heng swept his gaze across the crowd.

“Hear my command! In five days, Qingyuan Mountain will be sealed for ten years! No one is permitted to enter or leave. All family disciples and Rogue Cultivators must depart immediately and return to their respective Spirit Mountains. All tributes remain unchanged!”

He turned to look at Master Canghai, who was standing quietly to the side.

Master Canghai nodded solemnly. “All matters shall follow Fellow Daoist Jin’s command. I am merely a guest here; I will not interfere in the administration of the Qingyuan Sect.”

Canghai was a peak Golden Core cultivator with a genuine shot at the Nascent Soul realm. No one dared ignore his presence. Seeing that he had no desire to seize power, Jin Heng breathed a sigh of relief. If this outsider had tried to take control, the Qingyuan Sect would have fallen into civil war.

“We obey!” thousands of disciples shouted in unison.

“Go,” Jin Heng waved his hand wearily. “Clean up the mountain gate. Prepare for the sealing.”

Immediately, the plaza erupted into motion. Disciples mounted their flying swords, Magical Artifacts, and spirit beasts, dispersing to their posts to begin the long recovery.

Wang Hao and his companions exchanged glances, then quickly took to the air, flying down the mountain.

The order to seal the mountain was a necessity. The Qingyuan Sect needed time to lick its wounds. The casualties among the management layer were severe, requiring a complete restructuring of the hierarchy. Furthermore, the loss of so many disciples had hollowed out their combat power; they needed a decade to train a new generation of blood.

Ten years was neither long nor short. It was just enough time for the Qingyuan Sect to stabilize.

The Qingyuan Market, located outside the main mountain, would remain open. As the transportation hub of the Leizhou Peninsula, closing it would be economic suicide. It housed hundreds of thousands of Rogue Cultivators; shutting it down would not only cost the Sect a fortune in tax revenue but also invite chaos.

However, without the steady supply of goods from the Sect, the market’s prosperity would inevitably plummet over the next decade. That, however, was not Wang Hao’s problem.

The only direct impact on Wang Hao was the secret exploration mission Chen Qing had invited him to. It had already been delayed by the war; now, with the mountain sealed, it would have to be postponed indefinitely.

With the war over, the geopolitical landscape began to reset.

The territories the Blazing Heaven Sect had seized would naturally be returned. The Blazing Heaven Sect was now crippled—one heavily injured Golden Core patriarch and a leaderless spirit beast. If their vassal families were foolish enough to squat on Qingyuan territory, they would be annihilated. Most would retreat the moment they heard the news.

Technically, the war hadn’t ended. But if the Qingyuan Sect didn’t have the energy to reclaim the land immediately, the local families—previously bullied by the invaders—would gladly do the dirty work for them.

Of course, the families that had been wiped out during the invasion were gone forever. But in the cultivation world, a vacuum never lasted long.

The region was teeming with ambitious Rogue Cultivators. Many would happily pay the Qingyuan Sect for the rights to occupy those empty Spirit Mountains and establish new clans. Give it a few centuries, and the area would be bustling once more.

These ten years were crucial for the Wang Clan as well.

Wang Hao’s “Encouraged Childbirth Policy” had yielded explosive results. The Wen generation was growing rapidly. Unlike the older Yan generation—many of whom had given up on cultivation—the younger generation still had drive.

Speaking of the Yan generation, there were currently 39 members. However, after the incentives were announced, one particular Long generation grand-uncle had become a legend.

This grand-uncle was 90 years old. He had spent nine decades achieving absolutely nothing in cultivation, and his previous descendants were mediocre at best. But when the new policy dropped, he caught the “east wind” of opportunity.

At the ripe age of 90, he took over 20 concubines. In just a few years, he fathered over 70 children. Miraculously, six of them possessed spiritual roots, and two even had Three Spiritual Roots.

He had effectively single-handedly boosted the clan’s statistics.

Thanks to efforts like his, the Wen generation finally broke the 70-member mark, reaching 74 cultivators—39 of whom were born post-policy.

As for the Wu generation, they already numbered over 50. Wang Wenxin was the MVP of this bracket. He alone had fathered six children with spiritual roots. Unlike the 90-year-old grand-uncle who won by quantity, Wang Wenxin won by quality. He only had five wives, yet he produced magical offspring with frightening consistency.

It wasn’t just the cultivators working hard. The clan had also increased support for mortal pregnant women, providing them with Spirit Rice and other nutritional aids. The results were undeniable: the birth rate of children with spiritual roots in the mortal cities had spiked.

In the past, the mortal cities produced one cultivator every few years. Now, they were producing one or two every year. Of the 50-plus members of the Wu generation, 13 hailed from the mortal cities.