[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-dragon-lies-hidden":3,"chapter-the-dragon-lies-hidden-the-dragon-lies-hidden-chapter-953":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Dragon Lies Hidden",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2290251,4477,"Chapter 953","the-dragon-lies-hidden-chapter-953",953,"\u003Cp>In the first month of Hongjing Year Two, a sturdy fortress rose in the Mountain Folk’s territory, already housing two thousand cultivators laboring day and night; the mining zones were producing large quantities of iron, copper, lead, and tin, with accompanying spiritual ores yielding a thousand catties daily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The workshop district within the fortress had taken preliminary shape, with smelting furnaces blazing skyward and forging machines roaring day and night; a dedicated energy zone had also been established. Over a hundred newly elevated Moonlight Tianlan Foundation Establishment cultivators were reassigned here, divided into three shifts to ensure two teams continuously stabilized their foundations within the arrays, simultaneously powering the entire fortress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Moonlight Tianlan Foundation Establishment cultivation was easy to practice, it generated Taiyin Moonlight energy, which had extremely broad applications. First, as an energy source, it was far more stable and enduring than Fire-element Foundation Establishment cultivators. Second, it proved useful in weapon forging, fertilizer production, talismans, and array construction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, the large airship Qingming was currently developing would use Moonlight cultivators as its primary power source.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the large-scale emergence of Moonlight Tianlan cultivators, after repeated research by Qingming’s Hundred Industries Academy academicians, it was decided to overhaul Qingming’s existing systems of measurement and units. The new system aligned more closely with the outside world while incorporating Qingming’s practical realities, aiming for standardization and greater usability and clarity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, horsepower was redefined: no longer based on the maximum output of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, but on the average output of the most numerous Moonlight Tianlan cultivators. Thus, the fortress’s total power output was now rated at one hundred horsepower, with an additional fifty in reserve for rotation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before long, it was mid-February of Hongjing Year Two—the designated inspection point for the fortress’s construction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On this day, Xiang Weiyuan departed Qingming early, crossed the secret realm, and arrived at the fortress via the teleportation array.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stepped out of the teleportation hall with a smile, but the space before him was empty—no grand reception awaited him as he had expected; only two beautiful female disciples waited outside the hall’s entrance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two beautiful female disciples bowed to Xiang Weiyuan and said: “Lord of the Realm, our Master ordered us to wait here and accompany you in inspecting the fortress’s construction progress.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though the two disciples were young and beautiful, with excellent cultivation potential and distinctive attire—one lively and sprightly, the other pure and serene—each suited someone’s taste… yet Xiang Weiyuan felt he did not care about such things; he furrowed his brows slightly and asked gently: “Who are your Masters?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One disciple was under Sun Yu’s tutelage—no surprise. But the pure one turned out to be a tea garden disciple of Chuhe the Old Daoist, prompting Xiang Weiyuan to silently scold the seemingly honest old man several times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All cultivators were currently occupied with their own tasks, overwhelmed and too busy to appear; everyone regarded the inspection as mere formalities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiang Weiyuan had no choice but to patiently endure the detailed explanations of the two beautiful female attendants, finally gaining a full understanding of the fortress’s current status. Progress across all aspects far exceeded the original plan and was remarkably efficient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiang Weiyuan then reviewed the fortress’s internal work logs, which recorded what each cultivator had done, what they planned to do, and the primary reasoning behind key decisions. After reading the logs, he found that cultivators regularly communicated and coordinated, preemptively aligning progress to avoid delays caused by waiting for prior stages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For instance, True Person Chuhe needed specialized tools for developing the Mountain Folk’s medicinal garden, all provided by Yu Zhizhuo. The Mountain Folk territory had unique diseases; Sun Yu, while developing cures, required special elixirs sourced from Xu Henshui, who in turn needed Chuhe to first supply wild medicinal herbs and later ongoing cultivated ones. With Sun Yu’s clinic, miners, horsepower units, and cultivators could work at full capacity with guaranteed safety.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, the Mountain Folk territory’s unique climate and environment made a medical facility capable of treating large numbers of patients a prerequisite for relocating commoners.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the source of commoners, the top choice was Xiang Xiaoyu’s Yong’an City, which was vast and housed numerous cultivation halls and academies; countless commoners had completed body forging and those who had finished one year of enlightenment were innumerable. Now, thousands who had completed three years of academy study and nearly perfected their body forging were about to graduate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second source was Bao Yun’s Ding’an City. Ding’an City was initially designed as a defensive hub, but after repelling the Witch Clan, it now lay nearly two thousand li from the border and had become a major inland city. Backed by forests, its spiritual timber groves had gradually matured and begun mass-producing spiritual wood, spurring related industries; its settled population now exceeded one million.\u003C\u002Fp>",809,"2026-06-20T03:38:38.899Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","478d58518d5703e05dc2085f28bd0e1e967c329e117630941a73d1bc72c23cb2","the-dragon-lies-hidden-chapter-954","the-dragon-lies-hidden-chapter-952",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-dragon-lies-hidden-cover.jpg"]