After the court meeting, all the administrative institutions of Tai Cang began to operate at full capacity.
Although Tai Cang was small, it had a complete system built over two hundred years of development. Despite many fields being limited by resources and not growing, the country had formed a relatively complete infrastructure.
By noon, the Tai City government had already posted a notice, calling upon the able-bodied citizens of Tai Cang to work as laborers. Those with even a little cultivation, even just at the first or second level, were prioritized.
Meanwhile, the Cang Guard began to travel to the nearby mountains and desolate deserts, filled with massive stones, to gather materials. Large quantities of stored wood were also transported from the Tai City government to a sparsely populated area in the northern part of the city, chosen after much discussion among officials.
This location was not far from the Ha Xiu River, and although it was not an entirely empty space, many citizens of Tai City still lived there. Building homes in this area would also give the people of the Jian Gu Mountain tribe the opportunity to interact with the locals, preventing any divisions from forming due to isolation.
After the court meeting, Ji Xia returned to his palace.
It had been a long time since they had last met, and Jing Ye had broken through to the eighth level of cultivation. His body had grown increasingly robust from his constant training.
"The effect of the Pulse-building Crystal Stone is far better than the Body-Cleansing Crystal Stone," Ji Xia thought to himself. "This is almost the most cost-effective product of the divine tree. 1,200 spirit seeds have created two thousand seven-layered celestial soldiers and four thousand six-layered celestial soldiers. Many generals who had been stuck at the seven or eight layers of heaven have also broken through."
"Moreover, it greatly improves the cultivation talent of those who consume it. Those who are a bit more intelligent can break through heavenly obstacles more easily with continued use of the Body-Cleansing Crystal Stone."
He had already formulated many plans for Tai Cang's development and had many ideas in mind.
"I wish there were no Day of Silence. The two months of Day of Silence will severely hinder Tai Cang's progress."
Having traveled through the boundless wilderness for a long time, Ji Xia would soon face his first Day of Silence. Most of his memories of the Day of Silence were harsh. Continuous snowstorms and cold air swept through all the nations.
For two months, it would be pitch dark, with the candles Tai Cang produced only enough to supply the administrative agencies. Many citizens got lost and couldn't find their way home, and many froze to death in the city.
Fortunately, the food issue had been solved, and the possibility of starving to death seemed unlikely.
"If I can fully understand the secret strategies of the Spirit Court, many problems will be solved," Ji Xia thought. "I have a large amount of spirit crystals and talisman jade. I could even build a relatively workable system to prevent the Day of Silence."
"I must accelerate the construction of the Talisman Pavilion. Yesterday, I ordered the Tai City government, Po Xian, and Zuo Ce to seek out literate individuals from the military, Tai Cang Academy, and the people. They should have good cultivation talent and intelligence."
"If we teach them talisman techniques from scratch, without aiming for deep learning, just focusing on the simple and useful techniques, we might see results in two or three years."
He ordered Jing Ye and Guan Xi to wait outside and entered the Forbidden Decay Divine Tree.
Ji Xia had long wanted to enter the Forbidden Decay Divine Tree and check how many spirit seeds had accumulated, but he had been holding back, fearing he might spend them on new divine items.
After all, the Divine Human Secret Fruit he had been eyeing required 12,000 spirit seeds for exchange. If he kept spending all the spirit seeds, it might be ages before he could exchange for the Divine Human Fruit and see the divine human in person.
He stood before the tree. The divine tree was as magnificent as ever, with its golden crown emitting a vast, overwhelming aura.
"Perhaps the phrase 'nearly Dao' is the best description for the Forbidden Decay Divine Tree," Ji Xia thought, and a stream of information flowed into his mind.
[Spirit Seed Quantity of Forbidden Decay Divine Tree: 17,807 points]
Ji Xia was stunned. "So many?"
He couldn't believe it and transmitted another command to the divine tree.
[Spirit Seed Quantity of Forbidden Decay Divine Tree: 17,807 points]
"Over 17,000 spirit seeds?" Ji Xia's face lit up, and he quickly opened the spirit seed acquisition record.
[Gained 3,160 spirit seeds from 315,897 Tai Cang citizens' emotion: 'Adoration'].
[Gained 201 spirit seeds from 10,563 Tai Cang soldiers' emotion: 'Respect'].
[Slayed 2 Divine Powers at the 4th level, gained 600 spirit seeds.]
[Devoured 112,980 'Unconscious' Evil Spirits, gained 6,490 spirit seeds.]
[Devoured 1 'Primary Consciousness' Evil Spirit, gained 1,000 spirit seeds.]
[Gained 100 spirit seeds from the emotions of the Great Talisman Prince: 'Respect'].
[Gained 500 spirit seeds from the emotions of the Great Talisman Talisman Summoner: 'Heartfelt Gratitude'].
[Gained 2,300 spirit seeds from the emotions of all the Priests of the Shrine: 'Pleasure After Killing'].
[…]
Dozens of messages appeared before Ji Xia's eyes, and his joy deepened.
"These sacrificial spirits are a great boon to me. Not only can they evolve the Great Sun Spirit Furnace, but they also provide such a large number of spirit seeds!"
He thought to himself: "Spending 5,000 spirit seeds to exchange for the Great Sun Spirit Furnace was definitely the best decision. Even though I'll have to invest a lot of effort to upgrade it, the rewards it generates are tens of times greater than what I've spent!"
He also remembered the Fortune Fruit he had consumed when he exchanged for the furnace: "Without that Fortune Fruit, maybe my luck wouldn't have been so good, and I wouldn't have encountered the Great Sun Spirit Furnace. The short-term improvement of my fortune attribute played a significant role."
He carefully examined the record template, stroking his chin and analyzing it in his mind.
"It might be because of the astonishing effects of the Pulse-building Crystal Stone. The Tai Cang soldiers' emotions towards me have mostly turned to 'Respect,' which is a higher tier than 'Adoration.'"
"The ratio of acquiring spirit seeds from recognition and adoration is 1:100, while respect is 1:50."
"If all Tai Cang citizens' emotions become respect, I would gain an additional 10,000 spirit seeds."
Then he saw the section about the priests.
"The Dark Priests must know about the stolen treasury by now!"
"There are only around twenty Priests, yet they contributed over two thousand spirit seeds. Indeed, the stronger the living beings, the more valuable their emotions are. If Tai Cang soldiers reach the Divine Power realm and feel emotions towards me, my gains will skyrocket!"
Ji Xia smiled inwardly: "I wonder how much these people will hate me. Two thousand spirit seeds… If my own citizens contributed that much, it would take over 200,000 of them to have the same emotional contribution."
"With over 17,000 spirit seeds, I can exchange for many things!"
He kept thinking about the Divine Human Fruit.
"12,000 spirit seeds should be enough to exchange for a divine human at the Spirit Master realm, right?"
If there were such a powerful individual in the country, perhaps many things wouldn't be so passive anymore.