Black Domain

Chapter 117 Black Domain

Moon stars are rare.

A chilling wind howled in the dark night.

Shen Yi gazed thoughtfully at the group of people practicing on the Blood Fiend Wooden Dummy in the courtyard.

His understanding of this world is only the tip of the iceberg.

The practice of cultivation was created by humans to combat spirits and monsters.

The Wild Bull Kung Fu lineage possessed by Black Mountain Village is a martial arts lineage among the many cultivation methods.

Martial artists primarily cultivate their qi and blood, as well as their physical strength, emphasizing using force to overcome techniques.

The stronger one's Qi and blood, the stronger one's ability to suppress spirits and monsters, and the more effective one's body is against all forms of magic.

Furthermore, through Mo Guanhai's recounting of his experiences, Shen Yi learned that there were also lineages of paper-crafted cultivators and wooden puppet cultivators in this world—

They don't focus on cultivating their qi and blood, but rather on cultivating so-called magical power!

It draws a certain energy from heaven and earth, refines its own essence and assimilates it, thus condensing it into the magical power within the body.

Unlike warriors who can only fight monsters in close combat, they can use all sorts of wondrous spells to attack their targets.

However, frequent use of magic power will lead to a significant depletion of the body's vital energy and potential, so most magic power practitioners do not have a very robust physique.

Most practitioners of magical powers also cultivate martial arts techniques to compensate for their deficiencies.

This allows them to cast spells more freely.

Correspondingly, the time spent on cultivation will be spread out considerably.

Therefore, many practitioners of Qi and Blood cultivation have come up with clever ideas.

Since cultivating magic also requires a strong physique as support, why not just choose the path of a martial artist from the beginning?

At least in the Southern Wilderness City, which had a population of over a million, martial artists were the dominant group of cultivators.

Other practitioners are very rare.

Mo Guanhai only encountered that treacherous paper-mache cultivator in the black market.

"If a powerful magical cultivator were to appear and prepare to attack my territory, how should I respond?"

A question suddenly flashed through Shen Yi's mind.

He slowly turned his gaze to every corner of the courtyard.

The territory now has basic defensive fortifications, including walls, arrow towers, and barricades.

But their level is not even 4.

With a strength of level 1 or 2, the wall can effectively block first-tier high-level monsters.

The characteristic of an arrow tower having only one field of vision is sufficient for the tower's defenders to see everything within a 300-meter radius.

Shen Yi has not upgraded the Yin Wood Arrow Tower since it was built so long ago.

To enable the territory to undergo its first qualitative transformation, a sufficient amount of Yin Soul Wood is required.

Where does the Yin Soul Wood come from?

Shen Yi lifted his foot and arrived in front of the six carts of Yin Soul Wood sent by Pucao Village, his eyes flashing slightly.

These ghost trees are just as plentiful as those in Yanling Village!

It's at least 30,000.

"If only I could get people from other villages to send the collected spirit wood to me—"

Shen Yi suddenly had a thought.

He realized something.

If his territory could have a trade system as complete as Jiangchuan Town, would it attract more people to trade?

His territory will become the regional center of this area.

But the most important problem is that they are located in a remote area. Even the nearest village, Pucao, takes most of the day to transport a batch of goods here.

"It seems there's only one solution: build a road."

If transportation is convenient, then everything is not a problem.

Shen Yi took a deep breath.

Building roads to other areas was also a very difficult issue for him.

They haven't even developed their own area properly, yet they're already thinking about building roads.

Moreover, at night, monsters would crawl all over the earth, and the repaired roads would soon be destroyed by them.

Unless we find a way to protect the road.

"Or perhaps, I can unlock a special blueprint for road construction!"

Shen Yi suppressed his increasingly burgeoning thoughts and stopped pondering the problem, instead focusing his attention on the Yin Soul Wood.

He made up his mind.

collect!

As all six cartloads of Yin Soul Wood were collected, Shen Yi saw a line of golden characters flashing before his eyes.

[Materials collected: 52457 Shadow Wood!]

Good guy!

The people of Pucao Village delivered more than 38,000 pieces of Yin Soul Wood!

Adding to the original 14245 Yin Soul Wood, his current Yin Soul Wood reserves have exceeded 50,000!

"However, 50,000 Yin Soul Wood is actually not much; it can only be used to upgrade a level 7 wooden puppet soldier."

Shen Yi thought to himself.

Once he breaks through the shackles of the Qi and Blood Realm, he can try to upgrade the wooden puppet soldier.

It won't take long.

Wang Rui strode in from outside, stopped behind him, and said respectfully, "Village Chief, I just received news that the three people from the Chen family have gone out."

They went out?

Shen Yi looked up at the pitch-black night sky. What were these three people looking for?

Could it be that they also came for the Great Coffin Mountain?

"Okay, got it."

Shen Yi nodded, then turned around to look at Wang Rui, who was standing behind him with a respectful expression.

After looking him over for a moment, he suddenly said, "Xiao Rui, you're about to break through to the fifth level of the Qi and Blood Realm, aren't you?"

Among the people in the hunting team, Shen Yi observed that Wang Rui's cultivation speed was actually not slow at all, only slightly slower than Liao Ning's.

Even Huang Dahu couldn't match Wang Rui's cultivation speed, which shows that he has excellent comprehension.

When Wang Rui went from being an unknown farmer's son to becoming one of the four members of the hunting team, everyone started to pay attention to him.

Wang Rui's parents are still alive and have worked on Mo Guanhai's farm for many years.

Who would have thought that their son had a special talent for cultivation? When the village was in turmoil, the boy was thinking about the safety of his family and secretly mastered the Three Styles of the Wild Bull.

"The village chief has a good eye. I reckon he'll be able to reach the fifth level of the Qi and Blood Realm in the next couple of days."

Wang Rui quickly replied, his gaze towards Shen Yi filled with the same respect as always, a respect that even contained a hint of fanaticism.

Shen Yi smiled upon hearing this.

What he lacks is talent like this.

Or rather, all human factions are lacking in talent.

He possesses the Blood Fiend Wooden Dummy, which can accelerate cultivation, allowing him to cultivate talent more quickly and maximize their value.

Talented individuals are more useful in his hands than in other factions.

"Practice hard, I have high hopes for you."

Upon hearing Shen Yi's praise, Wang Rui was overwhelmed with excitement.

His gaze toward Shen Yi became even more intense.

What others didn't know was that he had unintentionally mastered the Three Forms of the Wild Bull so quickly that he almost depleted his vital energy.

If it weren't for the monster meat soup that Shen Yi later arranged for the villagers to nourish them, his vital energy probably wouldn't have been able to be replenished in time.

At that time, not only will the foundation be damaged, making cultivation impossible, but it will also endanger one's life.

Therefore, for Wang Rui, Shen Yi can be said to be his benefactor who gave him a second chance at life, and he will never forget this great kindness.

During this period, Wang Rui even regarded the other party as a spiritual belief.

It even led to a near-fanatical worship in their hearts.

"Thank you for your recognition, Village Chief! Wang Rui will definitely work hard in his cultivation and will not let you down!"

Wang Rui said excitedly.

He felt as if he had seen a glimmer of hope.

If he continues to work hard, he might just be able to become Shen Yi's capable subordinate, just like Liao Ning and Huang Dahu!

His voice even reached the ears of others.

Immediately, Shen Kun strode over, looking at Wang Rui with an unfriendly expression.

"Why are you shouting so excitedly so late at night?"

He could tell that Wang Rui had a strange kind of admiration for his older brother.

This made Shen Kun very unhappy.

I always felt that this kid was challenging his position.

"It's nothing. I just saw that Xiao Rui is making great progress, so I gave him a word of encouragement."

Shen Yi explained with a smile.

"So that's how it is."

Shen Kun seemed to be deep in thought, and then quickly said, "Big brother, I'm about to break through to the eighth level of the Qi and Blood Realm."

He looked at Shen Yi expectantly.

She also seemed to be hoping for encouragement from her older brother.

"Very good. Once you and your little sister break through to the ninth level of the Qi and Blood Realm, you can start working on breaking through the shackles of the Qi and Blood Realm."

Shen Yi let out a long breath.

He urgently needs his younger siblings to grow up and have the combat power of the Solidifying Yuan Realm so that he can obtain more materials.

Moreover, once they all reach the Solidification Realm, they can try to make a trip to Jiangchuan Town.

He needs more wooden dummy sculptures, as well as other folk artifacts.

The territory has been operating smoothly for some time now, and everyone's cultivation talent has been fully demonstrated during this period.

It's time to take it a step further and focus on developing members with outstanding talent.

Shen Yi thought of Li Wu and the others, and instructed the two of them, "Come with me to the reception area."

"Okay!" Shen Kun and Wang Rui immediately agreed.

Only after watching them leave quickly did the group of people in the courtyard snap out of their training.

Liao Ning silently watched Shen Yi's retreating figure, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

Then his gaze shifted and landed on Guan Yue, who was not far away.

She recalled the scene from before, where Guan Yue and Shen Yi were actually so intimate.

What is their relationship now?

As if sensing something, Guan Yue turned around and found Liao Ning looking at her, and gave her a smile.

Liao Ning immediately gave an awkward smile and looked away.

Li Wu and others moved into a large courtyard.

Looking at the house in front of them, they couldn't help but sigh, "Captain, you know what, even though there are fewer people in Black Mountain Village now, this place is really nice."

"Did you see the layout of their village? It's so orderly, not messy at all."

"I noticed it as soon as I came in; they were still building roads. At first, I thought I had entered a town; it was built up to look like a town."

Everyone was very excited.

Many of them were reluctant to come; they had been forcibly summoned by Li Wu.

However, upon seeing Heishan Village, everyone's eyes lit up, just like villagers visiting the city, finding everything quite novel.

I never expected Heishan Village to be so well developed.

Compared to their Pucao Village, Heishan Village has much better facilities.

This small area has several wells.

Moreover, Heishan Village is not yet completed. Once it is finished, it may even look more beautiful than Jiangchuan Town.

Li Wu sat down on a stone bench in the courtyard, smiling without saying a word.

In fact, he was also shocked by the development of Heishan Village.

"Have you noticed? It seems like no spirits or monsters have come to Black Mountain Village. We haven't heard a sound at all!"

Someone suddenly asked in confusion.

Only then did everyone realize how incongruous it felt.

No wonder something felt off.

It turned out that they hadn't heard the monster approaching.

In their village of Pucao, it's become commonplace to hear all sorts of strange and supernatural occurrences every night.

Now, however, Heishan Village is eerily quiet, a quietness that makes them feel somewhat uneasy.

I'm not used to it at all.

"The village chief of Black Mountain Village is a wooden puppet cultivator. He probably cleared out all the monsters in the surrounding area during this time, which is why this place is so quiet."

Li Wu pondered for a moment before speaking.

"Very likely. I've heard that wooden puppet cultivators are quite powerful. There's one in Jiangchuan Town who is devoutly supported by the Ye family, one of the three major families."

Perhaps because they had eaten too much monster meat today, the people of Pucao Village were full of energy and started chatting enthusiastically again.

"Brother Li Wu."

A voice suddenly called out from the doorway.

Li Wu immediately looked up and saw that Shen Yi had brought two people to the gate of the compound.

He quickly got up to greet him, smiling and saying, "Village Chief Shen, what brings you here? Please come in."

"I'm sorry to bother you."

Shen Yi sat down in the courtyard, and everyone in Pucao Village consciously stopped making noise.

"Village Chief Shen, is there something you need?"

"I see. You live closer to Jiangchuan Town, so you should have been to the town before?"

"Actually, it's not that close. It's more than a hundred miles away. If you want to get to the town, you have to stay overnight in a village along the way."

Li Wu pondered for a moment and said.

Shen Yi then requested, "May I borrow a map of your Pucao Village?"

"sure."

Li Wu agreed and took out a map.

Shen Yi took a look and immediately saw that many villages were marked on it. The one in the very center was Jiangchuan Town, and there were thirty to fifty villages of varying sizes scattered around it.

Heishan Village is not marked on this map.

As shown on the map, Pucao Village is the farthest village in the southwest of Jiangchuan Town.

"We bought this map in the city. It shows all the villages that are already registered in the Jiangchuan Town household register. Village Chief Shen, please feel free to take it and don't be shy."

"Thank you very much, Brother Li Wu."

The moment Shen Yi saw the map, he noticed a long mountain range marked to the north of Jiangchuan Town.

[The Fourth Line of Defense in the Southern Theater - Cangyang Dragon Armor Wall]

"Battlefield, defense line?"

My gaze fell on the top part of the map, which was completely black and had no villages marked on it.

Black Domain No. 5.

Jiangchuan Town has actually built such a long defensive line. Is it to defend against the monsters in the No. 5 Black Domain?

Moreover, the term "Southern War Zone" refers to the armed forces of a certain force distributed in this area.

Or does it refer to the entire region?

Shen Yi stared at the dark area on the map, his expression gradually becoming serious.

Because it's not just the area north of Jiangchuan Town that's marked with black zone number five.

At the very bottom of the map, not far from their Black Mountain Village, it was also pitch black.

It is marked as Black Zone No. 3.