Chapter 375: Snow Island Construction

The Dragon People priest sensed the surroundings and said, 'The Dao Marks remaining here.... probably still number over ten thousand!'

Over ten thousand?!

Yan Buji's face changed: 'Retreat!'

Without a word, the two hastily retreated from the place.

Fortunately they weren't left there after rashly entering Lingyu; perhaps the master of Lingyu is still asleep, or perhaps they simply didn't intend to act against them.

But no matter what, they must proceed with caution.

The Dragon People priest looked at Yan Buji and said, 'Your Majesty, I still suggest sealing this Lingyu and waiting until we are stronger to explore it. Here.... it probably isn't just the legacy of a mere Spirit Void expert.'

Or perhaps even higher?

That is indeed too dangerous.

Yan Buji nodded: 'Thank you for the trouble, priest.'

The Dragon People priest nodded and resealed the entrance.

Since Lingyu cannot be explored, Yan Buji could only go into the sea first to see if there is stone ore underwater.

Fortune was favorable; not far beneath this sea island there are many underwater stone mountains, enough for them to quarry stone.

Moreover, Yan Buji also found a spiritual vein nearby and told the priest he intended to use some method of transferring the vein to bring it onto the island; thus this Snow Island officially entered the development stage.

First, Yan Buji mobilized nearly thirty thousand Dragon People to quarry stone as the foundation material for the city.

Then he personally surveyed the geological structure of various parts of the Snowy Path, discovering that this place is connected to the earth's veins, not far from the oceanic veins, and won't drift everywhere due to water flow; a slight stabilization with a formation would allow direct construction to begin.

As for other matters, they can be set aside for now; Yan Buji had the Dragon People priest oversee city construction while he went to explore more resources in the surroundings.

To let the Dragon People develop, early-stage resource investment is huge; relying solely on the few Spiritual Stone mines in the Boundless Sea Trench is insufficient for anything.

Fortunately, underwater resources are abundant, food is not lacking, and occasionally a few water veins bring up some Spiritual Stone, leading Yan Buji to suspect there may indeed be a sizable Spiritual Stone mine nearby.

After a long search, Yan Buji finally discovered a Spiritual Stone mine hidden beneath the seabed rock layers three kilometers north of Snow Island!

Thus, this place needs to be sent people to occupy first, then develop.

However, regarding this, the Dragon People priest gave a different suggestion:

'Your Majesty, I mean we shouldn't expand that far. Not to mention there's no place for Dragon People to settle there; even if we set up another mining point underwater, it would bring many inconveniences. Although we can live in water, your goal is still mainly on land, right?'

Yan Buji raised his eyebrows: 'If we choose to take this Snow Island as the core and simultaneously build cities and defenses on sea surface and seabed, how long would it take?'

'This is exactly what I wanted to tell Your Majesty; relying solely on Dragon People labor, it's impossible to finish in a few years. In that case, my suggestion is to dig an underground tunnel beneath the Snowy Path to that Spiritual Stone mine—this would be more covert and safe.'

Yan Buji pinched his chin: 'Then we'd need to mobilize several ten thousand more people.'

'No need, five thousand is enough. Since Your Majesty trusts me, let me handle these arrangements.'

Yan Buji looked at him and nodded: 'Then thank you for the trouble, priest.'

'That's only proper.' The Dragon People priest laughed: 'Moreover I've noticed that these days of construction have likely drawn the attention of the Shark People; it's time we paid them a visit.'

'Hmm.' Yan Buji pondered: 'If the Shark People regard the Dragon People as enemies, what then?'

'That shouldn't be the case; Shark People are naturally peaceful, otherwise they wouldn't have stayed in the Golden Light Coral Realm all this time.'

'Then since they won't target us over this, but the Dragon People's emergence still needs a period of development. Can just the priest alone hold up the front?'

The Dragon People priest stared: 'What does Your Majesty mean?'

'I fear the Shark People may have other ideas; if we end up being manipulated by them, wouldn't we lose our sovereignty?' Yan Buji pondered for a moment.

Mainly it's due to a lack of high-level combat power; the Dragon People now only have the priest at Nascent Soul, while Golden Core are Yan Buji and Wang Man; even if the Dragon People have great talent, they still need time to mature.

'Then we shouldn't go for now?'

'No, I'll go alone.' Yan Buji said calmly: 'First let me see what attitude these Shark People have.'

The Dragon People priest nodded.

After all, being neighbors with the Shark People, the Dragon People's future development will inevitably involve interaction with them, so a meeting is necessary.

But for now it's not advisable to let the Shark People gauge the Dragon People's true strength; if they learn the Dragon People only have a Nascent Soul priest, who knows what might happen.

In a good scenario they might merely suppress us to prevent role reversal; in a bad scenario I fear the Shark People would report to the Snow People, bringing a Dao Union elder of the Snow People to forcibly enroll us into the Outsiders Alliance, after which the Dragon People would have no chance to rise.

Thus Yan Buji must see what they need, strive to establish a friendly, mutually beneficial relationship between the two peoples, while quickly boosting the Dragon People's overall combat power.

The best case would be if the Dragon People priest breaks through to Spirit Void; then, looking across the Five Domains, the Dragon People would count as a somewhat larger power.

'Priest, prepare a few gifts for me.'

'Yes.'

Thinking, Yan Buji stood on the iceberg watching the Dragon People continuously hauling stone materials at the dock, each face beaming with excited smiles; it seemed after leaving the Boundless Sea Trench, their enthusiasm had been fully ignited.

Perhaps also because they felt the beauty of a new life and future, each person worked hard to build a city for their Dragon People.

And Yan Buji, his considerations grew even more.

Whether it's the Dragon People's future development or his own cultivation, they are closely related.

At least for now, he must set aside cultivation and focus on handling the Dragon People's internal affairs.

Only after everything stabilizes will he resume cultivation.

Not long after, Yan Buji received the few gifts prepared by the priest and asked, 'What are these gifts?'

'There is a Fivefold Transformation Monster Pill, a treasure, plus a piece of Pure Thin Gauze.'

'Pure Thin Gauze? Is that a specialty of the Boundless Sea Trench?'

'Yes, it's something left behind after a monster beast dies; we've collected quite a bit. But I don't know what it's used for; I'll just send it as a specialty to the Shark People to see if they know how to use it.'

'In other words, this thing is quite special?'

'Exactly, the Pure Thin Gauze has Dao Marks flowing through it, clearly not ordinary Spiritual Material; but the key is it cannot be refined, so even now I don't know what property it has.'

Even the priest cannot refine it; it's probably truly something very special.

Yan Buji nodded; if the Shark People recognize its value, it could be put to use.