Chapter 166: Kong Zhonghai's Astonishment

Within the Immortal Village of the Ye Clan, several hundred acres of spiritual fields had already been reclaimed and sown with spiritual grain seeds. Every day, cultivators tended to these spiritual fields.

Unlike ordinary crops, spiritual grain possessed strong adaptability and could be sown at any time throughout the four seasons. As long as cultivators tended to them daily and cast Spirit Rain Spells to keep the spiritual energy within the fields abundant, they would thrive.

With the matters of the spiritual fields arranged, Mo Ling concentrated most of her energy on the cultivation of spiritual herbs. Unlike spiritual grains, which had a one-year growth cycle, nurturing spiritual herbs that required decades or more of growth was far more complex.

Spiritual herbs with different characteristics had distinct requirements for the soil and environment of the spiritual fields, making their care exceptionally cumbersome.

Ye Mo went to the spiritual herb garden and found Mo Ling in a plot fully planted with spiritual ginseng, intending to inform her that Zhang Pengju wanted to take on a female disciple. After all, the person was being requested from her Spirit Planting Workshop.

Mo Ling was somewhat displeased, looking puffed up with indignation.

One of the spirit planting apprentices she had cultivated was being taken away by Zhang Pengju.

However, the Spirit Eagle Pavilion was too crucial, so she had no choice but to let the person go.

As for the cultivation of spiritual grains and herbs, Ye Mo had the ancient scroll immortal village to guarantee their production and did not place excessive importance on them; beast taming, on the other hand, was far more vital.

Although A-Shui was also studying the art of beast taming, her focus leaned primarily toward combat roles. The daily affairs of the Spirit Eagle Pavilion required a cultivator to manage them. Although personnel had been assigned previously, since Zhang Pengju had taken a fancy to that female cultivator surnamed Lin, she might as well come to help at the Spirit Eagle Pavilion.

Through their interactions over this period, Ye Mo could ascertain that although Zhang Pengju was somewhat unreliable in other aspects, he was genuinely proficient in beast taming and possessed unique insights.

Stepping out of the spiritual herb garden, Ye Mo breathed a sigh of relief and, accompanied by A-Tu who was traveling with him, crossed the newly constructed outer village toward the pier.

Chang Fei was waiting for him aboard a sea vessel.

Shortly thereafter, the three of them boarded a light-armored sea vessel and headed toward the Immortal Island of the Kong Clan.

On the boat, after listening to Ye Mo's plan, Chang Fei could not help but reveal a look of utter shock.

"City Lord, are you saying you want to raise fifty spiritual eagles? Fifty spiritual eagles would require eighteen hundred thousand catties of spiritual grain a year, which translates to one hundred eighty thousand spiritual stones. This... isn't this burden far too heavy? Purchasing the spiritual eagles will exhaust all our savings. Given the immortal village's current monthly income, it is simply impossible to support such a massive number of spiritual eagles."

The mere thought of one hundred eighty thousand spiritual stones a year made Chang Fei’s scalp tingle.

One had to know that the monthly spiritual stone income of the Ye Clan's Immortal Village was still less than one thousand spiritual stones. Mobilizing the entire strength of the village to raise these spiritual eagles would subject the Ye Clan's Immortal Village to immense pressure.

Furthermore, the Ye Clan's Immortal Village did not have enough manpower to reclaim so many spiritual fields.

Currently, the largest sum of spiritual stones held by the Ye Clan's Immortal Village was the ransom previously provided by the Ten-Village Alliance.

"Depending solely on our immortal village is definitely not enough; we must acquire some from other immortal villages. When purchasing spiritual grain in large quantities, the price cannot be calculated based on the retail price of one spiritual stone per catty; it should be much cheaper," Ye Mo said with a smile. "You don't need to be nervous. This is merely my preliminary projection; it is impossible to reach this scale in the short term."

Ye Mo primarily relied on the ancient scroll to raise the golden eagles, only intending to acquire a portion from the outside world as a cover to make people think he was buying spiritual grain to feed them. As for the true accounts, if he didn't mention them, who would ever know?

Hearing Ye Mo say that such a massive scale would not be implemented immediately, Chang Fei finally felt a little more at ease.

Ye Mo was also pondering how to use the ancient scroll immortal village to raise spiritual eagles while perfectly concealing the existence of the ancient scroll—a task that was far from easy.

He was actually feeling fortunate now; such a massive quantity of spiritual eagles could not be assembled in a short period. Otherwise, even if he could afford to feed them, he would have no way to explain it to others.

A-Tu came inside to report that they had arrived at the pier of the Kong Clan's Immortal Island, pulling the two men back to their senses.

Ye Mo walked out of the cabin.

"City Lord, this can be considered your official visit to the Kong Clan's Immortal Village; it would be better for it to be more formal. The strength of the Kong Clan's Immortal Village is far inferior to ours. How about I go ahead and liaise with them first, and only when Kong Zhonghai personally comes to the pier to welcome you, you step out?" Chang Fei said hurriedly.

Ye Mo frowned slightly and shook his head, saying, "There is no need for that. Kong Zhonghai and I are allies, and we have shared hardships together. Having him wait to welcome me from the boat would only make the City Lord of Kong feel alienated."

Ever since becoming the steward of the City Lord's Mansion, Chang Fei constantly sought ways to enhance his majesty.

Ye Mo knew this was out of good intentions.

Steward Chang was very competent; although sometimes rigid, he was very earnest in his work. It was thanks to his assistance that Ye Mo had so much spare time.

Seeing that Ye Mo did not agree, Chang Fei pressed the matter no further.

Ye Mo led his accompanying cultivators off the sea vessel and headed toward the Kong Clan's Immortal Village.

At the fortress gates of the Kong Clan's Immortal Village, an immortal guard learned that the City Lord of the Ye Clan's Immortal Village had come to visit City Lord Kong and hastily hurried back to report.

Another immortal guard led them to stroll around the Kong Clan's Immortal Village.

"The Kong Clan's Immortal Village also looks quite bustling and prosperous, not much worse than our Ye Clan's Immortal Village," Chang Fei said, following closely behind Ye Mo while looking at the streets lined with shops and bustling with people, sounding somewhat emotional.

Ever since joining forces with the Ye Village last time and obtaining nine branch islands, the Kong Clan's Immortal Village had also acquired abundant resources, beginning to grow and expand rapidly while attracting many rogue cultivators to settle.

Among the dozen or so large and small immortal villages within a radius of a thousand miles, besides the Ye Clan's Immortal Village which was the strongest, the Kong Clan's Immortal Village ranked second, possessing considerable strength.

"The Kong Clan's Immortal Village is our ally; for them to develop well is also beneficial to our Ye Village," Ye Mo observed the Kong Clan's Immortal Village with a faint smile.

He did not mind the Kong Clan's Immortal Village developing. To gain a foothold in this Aolai Sea Area, which was crowded with immortal villages, one always needed a few capable allies. In case other immortal villages attacked, they could also lend a hand.

Chang Fei nodded gently, silently adding a proviso in his heart: provided they did not surpass the spiritual village of the Ye Clan.

The immortal guard of the Kong Clan's Immortal Village who was guiding and explaining things to Ye Mo also revealed a smile upon hearing these words.

Before long, Kong Zhonghai led several trusted core cultivators to hurry out from the City Lord's Mansion. Seeing Ye Mo and the others strolling about, he laughed heartily and strode up to them. "Brother Ye, welcome to my humble immortal village! Brother Ye possesses extraordinary capability in village development; I wonder if there are any areas where you can offer me some guidance? If you spot any shortcomings in my Kong Village, you must point them out!"

Ye Mo smiled faintly and said, "Guidance is out of the question. However, my visit this time is indeed to discuss an important matter with you..."

Talking and chatting along the way, Ye Mo and Kong Zhonghai headed toward the City Lord's Mansion.

On the way to the City Lord's Mansion, Ye Mo recounted his observations and experiences from his previous travels in the central region of the Aolai Sea Area.

At first, Kong Zhonghai did not pay much attention, assuming Ye Mo was just sharing some interesting anecdotes from his travels.

However, upon hearing that immortal villages such as the Lou Clan and the Bai Clan had already built a massive battle fleet and possessed a large number of alchemists, causing their strength to surge rapidly, his expression instantly changed.

When they arrived at the reception hall of the City Lord's Mansion, there was no trace of a smile left on Kong Zhonghai's face, and his complexion had turned pale.

His accompanying trusted aides also wore solemn expressions one and by one.

He had originally thought that within this thousand-mile sea area, the Kong Clan's Immortal Village was second only in strength to the Ye Clan's Immortal Village and held a very bright future. However, he had not expected that in more distant waters, other immortal villages had grown even more terrifying than the Ye Clan's Immortal Village.

After the host and guests took their seats:

"I never expected that village lords like Lou Junjie and Bai Xijun would have developed to such an extent. And this is only the central region; the situations in the northern, southern, and western districts remain unclear, and the eastern district likely harbors other powerful immortal villages as well!

"Over this period, I have been complacent, thinking that I ranked among the top tier across the entire Aolai Sea Area. If Brother Ye had not personally come to warn me, and I only reacted when they slaughtered their way to our doorstep, the consequences would have been unimaginable!"

At this point, cold sweat was already seeping from Kong Zhonghai's forehead.

A simple deduction was enough to realize that even Ye Mo was awestruck by the battle fleet of the Lou Clan's Immortal Village, feeling inferior to them.

In a year or a year and a half, once the Lou Clan's Immortal Village expanded its strength aggressively and reached the eastern periphery of the Aolai Sea Area, the Kong Clan's Immortal Village would be completely suppressed, its resource-rich branch islands seized, and the immortal village would find it utterly impossible to grow. By then, everything would be over. His immortal village could forget about ever ascending to the rank of an immortal town.

"Then what are Brother Ye's plans? We must absolutely not sit and wait for our doom; we must prepare early." Kong Zhonghai could not help feeling a chill run down his spine.

"When I witnessed that battle fleet with my own eyes, the shock I received was even greater than yours. After pondering for a long time, I have decided to form an aerial cavalry unit of thirty to fifty spiritual eagles to seize the aerial advantage and neutralize the naval advantage of the Lou Clan's Immortal Village. However, the spiritual grain production in my village certainly cannot keep up. I wonder if Brother Ye- younger brother Kong is interested in cultivating spiritual grain and providing me with a long-term supply?" Ye Mo smiled bitterly and said.

He did not conceal his eagle cavalry plan from Kong Zhonghai; raising a large flock of spiritual eagles and purchasing vast quantities of spiritual grain was something that could simply not be hidden from the eyes and ears of other immortal villages.

Moreover, Ye Mo's true hidden trump card was the ancient scroll immortal village, which could sustain an eagle cavalry unit at a very low cost rather than relying solely on the surface-level forces. This was an advantage that other city lords did not possess.

"Oh? Brother Ye intends to form an eagle cavalry unit? This is definitely no easy task; purchasing and feeding spiritual eagles incurs an astronomical expenditure of spiritual stones!" Kong Zhonghai was astonished.

"I am aware of this. Didn't we obtain a ransom from the Nine-Village Alliance some time ago? We can just use that to buy the spiritual eagles. As for the grain they eat, we can only figure it out ourselves. That's why I came to you to buy spiritual grain!" Ye Mo laughed.

Kong Zhonghai was also somewhat tempted, wanting to follow Ye Mo's example in forming a spiritual eagle aerial cavalry to gain the aerial advantage.

He quickly calculated in his mind.

Based on the market price of three thousand spiritual stones for a single third-tier spiritual eagle, purchasing thirty spiritual eagles would cost a staggering one hundred thousand spiritual stones. The monthly consumption of spiritual grain to feed these spiritual eagles would also approach ten thousand catties.

As these figures flashed through Kong Zhonghai's mind, he almost bit his tongue and hurriedly dismissed this "insane" idea.

This was simply not something the current financial strength of the Kong Clan's Immortal Village could afford.

They couldn't afford to buy them; even if someone gave them away for free, sustaining such a massive eagle cavalry unit would drive the Kong Clan's Immortal Village to complete bankruptcy in a matter of days—even selling their trousers wouldn't be enough to feed these spiritual eagles.

Once they couldn't feed these spiritual eagles, everything would be over. These purchased spiritual eagles were not like cultivators who could endure a lack of food; if they weren't fed to their satisfaction, their loyalty would plummet, and they would angrily abandon their master and leave.

The gaze Kong Zhonghai cast toward Ye Mo was filled with reverence and admiration.

This plan was simply too insane!

For Ye Mo to invest a huge sum of one to two hundred thousand spiritual stones into a spiritual eagle aerial cavalry, preparing to contend with powerful villages like the Lou Clan and fight for hegemony over the Aolai Sea Area, was nothing short of a high-stakes gamble, wagering the entire future and destiny of the Ye Clan's Immortal Village.

Either a complete victory—crushing all powerful rival immortal villages and soaring through the skies of the tens of thousands of miles of the Aolai archipelago—or a complete defeat, exhausting all the financial resources and assets of the immortal village with zero possibility of ever staging a comeback.