Chapter 434 Migration Strategy

After listening to the old patriarch's proposal, Eldrin deliberated for a long while.

He picked up a chess piece and placed it on the board, speaking calmly, "Transplanting an Enlightenment Tea Tree is no simple feat. Uprooting it to the 100-1000-Mile Untamed Wilds would likely shatter its very roots and bones. It would require a full century of recuperation to recover."

"However, after we transplant it, if we infuse 3 additional wisps of Primordial Purple Qi, it should not only help it break through the shackles of advancement but also repair the damage from transplantation."

"I share the same thought." The old clan elder smiled as he placed his piece, then sighed while gazing toward Pingyang City. "It's a pity the spiritual vein beneath Pingyang City was nurtured by the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root (Spiritual Root)."

Once the spirit root is transplanted to the 100 1000 Li Great Barrens, the spiritual energy here will gradually diminish, ultimately falling below a fourth-grade spiritual vein.

Hearing this, Eldrin smiled faintly and said, "This was within expectations, and it is only fitting that it should be so."

The old clan leader also nodded. Within the small Yu County alone, there already existed the Pingyang City, Verdant Chariot Mountain (Location), and Spirit Isle Lake (Location) – all fourth-order spirit veins.

Normally, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root (Spiritual Root) could still convert terrestrial energy, transforming it into spiritual energy to form spirit veins. Yet without the existence of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root (Spiritual Root), cultivating high-grade spirit veins would become exceedingly difficult.

Because a fourth-order spirit vein's Spirit Gathering Formation (Formation) would draw most of the spiritual energy from within a radius of 1 100 1000 li into the spirit vein.

In this world, spiritual veins abound. Within a single prefecture, the number of spiritual veins—ranging from low to high grade—often reaches several 100. Aside from those formed by unique environments and terrain, there exists another type: artificially cultivated spiritual veins.

These artificially cultivated spirit veins were all established with Spirit Gathering Formations (Formation) to draw upon the spiritual energy from the surrounding world, which resulted in the notably thin concentration of spiritual energy throughout the Great Wilderness.

A first-grade, low-tier spirit vein possesses a spiritual energy concentration dozens of times greater than that of the ambient heaven and earth.

This is also why, beyond the major spiritual veins, the ambient spiritual energy in the outside world has become so thin it can scarcely sustain cultivation.

Even a cultivator with a Heavenly Spiritual Root (Spiritual Root), without the spiritual energy provided by a spirit vein and relying solely on the thin ambient energy between heaven and earth, would likely never break through to the Foundation Establishment realm in their entire lifetime.

Of course, there were numerous locations across the heavens and earth where spiritual energy converged, with such sites typically emerging every few 100 miles.

Those places were either atop towering mountains, hidden within subterranean undercurrents, or nestled deep within secluded valleys.

These terrains either gathered spiritual energy, prevented its dissipation, or even gradually formed new spirit veins—all were rare and precious cultivation sites for rogue cultivators.

To return to our story, the old clan leader knew full well that if the Enlightening Ancient Tea Tree were to be transplanted, Pingyang City would no longer be suitable for advancing to a fourth-order spirit vein.

It was merely 3 1000 li from Verdant Chariot Mountain (Location), even bordering the spiritual energy coverage of Verdant Chariot Mountain (Location).

Once a fourth-rank Spirit Gathering Formation (Formation) is deployed, it would likely drain a significant amount of spiritual energy from both Verdant Chariot Mountain (Location) and Spirit Isle Lake (Location) in an instant.

This was essentially a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, and it would even lead to some of the spiritual energy dissipating—truly a case of the gains not outweighing the losses.

With this thought in mind, the old clan leader smiled and said, "From now on, the spiritual vein of Pingyang City shall be maintained at the third rank, upper grade."

"After all, this place remains 1 of the clan's dragon-rising grounds. We must retain a considerable number of clansmen here."

"Agreed." Eldrin nodded, then inquired further, "How many people are planned for relocation this time?"

The old clan leader had a thorough understanding of the family's circumstances.

He picked up a chess piece and said with a smile, "The mortal population of Pingyang City under our family's jurisdiction has now exceeded 40,000,000."

Beyond that, over the past 60 years, we have gradually relocated 3,000,000 people to the 100-1000-Mile Great Wasteland. Their population has since multiplied and now exceeds 10,000,000.

"This time, I plan to leave 10 million in Pingyang City and relocate 30 million to the 100 1000 Li Great Wilderness. Henceforth, Pingyang City's population shall not exceed 30 million."

Eldrin took a sip of tea, pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Relocating 30 million people is no small task. Can the family's treasure ships manage it?"

The old clan leader also revealed a bitter smile. To relocate 10 million mortals a 100 1000 li away in 1 go—this was far more than just "no small task."

If they were to make the journey on foot, they would likely perish in droves long before reaching the 100,000-li expanse of the Great Wilderness.

Fortunately, the Chen Clan possessed treasure ships, including even a fourth-tier war treasure ship. These vessels could transport a minimum of several 100 people, with the largest capable of carrying up to 10,000 individuals.

With the transportation provided by these treasure ships, the clansmen could be swiftly relocated to the 100-1000-li expanse of the Great Wasteland: "Currently, between our clan and the Tianxu Sect, we possess 4 war treasure ships and a total of 30-7 third-tier treasure ships."

"If we pack them tightly, a single fourth-tier treasure ship can transport 30,000 mortals. With 4 ships working together, we can carry 120,000 people."

Third-grade treasure ships had much lower transport capacity. All 30-7 vessels combined could only carry 80,000-odd people per trip, whereas the total fleet could transport approximately 200,000 individuals in a single voyage.

"2 100 1000 each time? That means I'd have to make a 100 and 50 round trips?"

Eldrin frowned. Even if each round trip took an average of 1 month, it would still take 14 to 15 years to completely relocate all 30,000,000 people.

Moreover, activating these treasure ships required consuming vast amounts of spiritual energy. Measured in spirit stones, a single round trip of several dozen third- and fourth-tier treasure ships to the 100-1000-li Great Wasteland would consume over 100,000 spirit stones.

This was the minimum consumption for flight alone, without activating any offensive or defensive formations.

By that calculation, the spiritual energy required for the migration would amount to over 10,000,000 spirit stones.

Fortunately, the treasure ship could be charged using the spiritual energy from the ley lines, which was several times cheaper than directly consuming spirit stones, thus significantly reducing the overall expenditure.

The old clan leader noticed Eldrin’s expression and smiled faintly. “I’ve made up my mind,” he said. “The spiritual vein of Pingyang City will fade sooner or later. Rather than waste it, we might as well make full use of it to energize the treasure ark.”

"In that case, this should resolve over half of the spirit vessel's consumption issues."

"So be it."

Eldrin nodded slightly. A grand undertaking of this magnitude—relocating an entire clan of mortals—was truly no simple feat.

Such a massive undertaking, even with the entire Chen clan mobilizing all their resources, would require immense costs and the deployment of tremendous manpower and materials to complete.

Yet this was an unavoidable circumstance. While Yu Prefecture's terrain was relatively flat compared to neighboring regions, it remained a land dominated by mountains with scarce plains.

The mountains of this realm were unlike those of his past life, often soaring thousands of zhang high. To cultivators, they were nothing remarkable, but to mortals, they stood as insurmountable chasms piercing the heavens.

Moreover, in such terrain, truly arable land was scarce. A plain like the Vast Yang Ancient Plains, stretching over a 1000 miles, was already an exceedingly rare sight in the entire realm.

Without sufficient arable land, it would be difficult to sustain more mortals, limiting the future potential of the Chen Immortal Clan (Organization).

Golden Core clans might manage, but when it comes to Nascent Soul clans, insufficient population inevitably leads to a generational gap in talent cultivation.