After exerting tremendous effort, he finally felled the first Fusang Wood tree. Seizing the opportunity while the Fusang Wood's Spirit Qi had yet to recover, he split open the tree and extracted its wooden core.
The main trunk of this Fusang Wood was thick enough for two or three people to embrace, and its wooden core was as thick as a water bucket and a yard long.
The most essential part of this entire Fusang Divine Wood lay within its wooden core.
Wang Hong intended to use this wooden core for the refinement of a Lifebound Magical Treasure.
After extracting the wooden core, he skillfully decomposed the remaining branches, sealed and packaged them separately before storing them away. He didn't even leave a single leaf behind, collecting them all.
Previously, just a small piece the size of a finger had caused a fierce competition among Demonic Beasts, even attracting a Tier-Four Demonic Beast.
Thus, every part of the Fusang Wood was invaluable.
It took him several months of continuous work within his Space just to break down this single tree.
He decided to start by refining this wooden core into a Flying Sword and deal with the other Flying Swords later. Despite reaching the mid-Golden Core stage in his cultivation, he still lacked a Lifebound Magical Treasure, which was quite unfortunate among Golden Core Cultivators.
Now, the process of refining the Fusang Wood into a magical weapon presented numerous challenges. He had combed through the refining tool books of the Qingxu Sect in the past but had never come across a method for refining Fusang Wood.
The greatest difficulty in refining Fusang Wood was that it naturally produced powerful flames. With his current strength, he had no flame capable of subduing the Fusang Wood.
During his thirty years of seclusion, his focus was not solely on cultivation. He had also spent time devising various methods for refining Fusang Wood.
Now, he would experiment with these several methods one by one.
After a year of trials and experimenting with numerous methods, he selected the most optimal method for refinement.
He began by soaking the wooden core in spiritual water, mixing it with various materials, and leaving it to soften in the Space for over a hundred years. He then repeatedly extracted the wooden core, subjected it to rigorous forging, and formed the preliminary shape of a Flying Sword. Next, he used Spirit Fire to gently nurture it, shaping it according to his desired form with the assistance of his Divine Sense.
While nurturing it, he carefully engraved formations onto the surface. In refining tools, whether they were Spiritual Weapons or Magical Weapons, the carving of formations was essential, as it formed the basis for all manipulation.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to establish a mental connection with the cultivator. Additionally, there were some formations that could enhance the functions of the treasure, such as sharpness, defense, and flight.
After another year's effort, he finally completed the first Flying Sword through refinement.
Once the sword was forged, he used his essence blood to consecrate it, establishing a connection with his mind. Only then could it be considered a Lifebound Magical Treasure.
He held the one-foot-long Flying Sword in his hand, radiating a red glow all over with a hint of crimson mist swirling around it.
With a thought, the Flying Sword floated in mid-air, circling and dancing around him before shooting forward and embedding itself into the stone wall of his cave mansion.
The Flying Sword navigated within the rock, moving as smoothly and naturally as if it were in the air, completely unhindered.
However powerful this Flying Sword may be, it consumed Spiritual Power at an alarming rate.
His Golden Core was more than ten times larger than that of an ordinary cultivator, and with his mid-Golden Core stage strength, he could only sustain it for about a quarter of an hour.
In other words, even an average Golden Core Cultivator would likely struggle to wield it.
After scrutinizing the Flying Sword in his hand and finding no issues, he opened his mouth, and the Flying Sword transformed into a point of light, flying into his mouth.
Inside his dantian, the Flying Sword paused beside his Golden Core, slowly revolving around it.
Wang Hong opened the doors of his secluded cave mansion, and the Yunxia Mountain had undergone significant changes.
Over the past thirty years, they had dispatched teams to roam outside, specializing in hunting Demonic Beasts and extracting Spirit Veins to nurture Yunxia Mountain.
Currently, Yunxia Mountain had gathered more than twenty medium-sized Spirit Veins, and a mist of Spirit Qi had appeared at the peak of Yunxia Mountain.
Spirit Qi spread outward from Yunxia Mountain, enveloping several nearby peaks, and even the mortal villages in the vicinity were covered by Spirit Qi. In recent years, the proportion of people born with Spiritual Roots had greatly increased.
On the mountain's peak, extensive third-tier spirit fields had appeared, planted with third-tier Spiritual Herbs and fruits. When these Spiritual Herbs matured, the consumption of third-tier Spiritual Herbs at the Golden Core Stage could become self-sufficient.
From the mountainside to the base of the mountain, there were all second-tier spirit fields, and from the mountain's base to the surrounding mortal settlements, this entire area had been cultivated into first-tier spirit fields.
Currently, the planting of first-tier Spiritual Herbs was completely self-sustaining, with surplus.
Thirty years was a long time for mortals, enough for two generations to be born.
The mortals in the vicinity received their protection, and their population rapidly increased. Some with outstanding Spiritual Root aptitude were recruited by Xu Lun.
The rest, with poorer aptitude, were taught cultivation methods to practice locally.
If one counted the villagers' squads from various villages, he wasn't quite sure how many people he had under his command, but it was estimated to be around fifteen to sixteen thousand.
However, he did keep track of the number of Golden Core Cultivators under his command, with a hundred and three stationed in Yunxia Mountain.
Liu Changsheng's Immortal Way Trading Company had a hundred and fifty Golden Core Cultivators.
On the Immortal Way Trading Company's side, due to the lack of Spirit Veins as excellent as Yunxia Mountain's and the need for long-term travels to gather information, Wang Hong had provided significant resources, contributing to his current strength.
He now had more than two hundred Golden Core Cultivators in total, which would have been an unprecedented power in the past, even surpassing the six major Sects.
However, he also had many shortcomings. Firstly, they lacked Nascent Soul stage cultivators, which meant that they could only resort to sacrificing lives when facing Tier-Four Demonic Beasts.
Secondly, all of his Golden Core Cultivators were newly promoted, with the majority still in the early Golden Core stage. Only a few had reached the mid-Golden Core stage.
Most importantly, a significant portion of his Golden Core Cultivators did not possess Magic Weapons, essentially making them unarmed in battles.
This was where their deficiency lay. In the previous major battle, even when the six major Sects were on the brink of destruction, they could still unleash formidable combat power.
For instance, the main Talisman employed by Qingxu Sect could engage in combat with Tier-Four Demonic Beasts and inflict damage upon them.
Taihao Sword Sect could also unite several Golden Core Cultivators to confront a single Tier-Four Demonic Beast.
Right now, they not only lacked accumulation but also were insufficient in numbers.
Fortunately, Little Peng and Sloppy Old Daoist had managed to procure a considerable amount of materials from the Demon Clan, which helped to alleviate the situation slightly.
However, this pace was too slow. Wang Hong believed that with their improved strength, they could afford to take more proactive measures now.
[Read at /shanefreak, and heartfelt thankyou for your support!]