According to Qi Zhongdao, the area where the Purple Pole Sword Sect was located was not seriously affected by the flood yet.
After all, ordinary floods were common occurrences in the Great Qian Dynasty every year.
The disaster victims before their eyes were not enough to make the court and the Cultivators at a loss.
The real trouble was the southeast coast where the febrile typhoon was savaging.
When the febrile typhoon passed through, it affected the three states, the nine counties, and seventy prefectures. Countless towns and villages were destroyed. Incessant forest fires were also triggered, burning up countless forests, farmlands, and towns. Too many disaster victims had lost their homes. Their number was a hundred times greater than the disaster victims before their eyes.
The disaster victims themselves were not a problem. They posed no threat to the Cultivators.
The problem was that the disaster victims did not have enough clothes to cover their bodies, food to fill their stomachs, and medicine to treat them. Many of them had been burned by the febrile typhoon and were on the verge of death. If they were soaked in the dirty water, they would most likely die.
Their deaths could be classified into good and bad.
If they died of old age without any disease, their souls would be relatively stable. It would be easy for them to disperse and reach paradise.
If they were starved for days in the febrile typhoon and the flood, or died of overeating after eating too much bark and grass, or died miserably after being burnt by the febrile typhoon due to their rotten wounds, the immense brutality and hatred inside their souls could easily be transformed into ferocious ghosts and threaten the reign of the Cultivators when they were made use of by Mother White Lotus and the others.
According to the experience of previous years, plagues would come after the cataclysm. In the middle of the plagues, the army of ghouls would be on a rampage. The ghostly fire, like white lotuses, would blossom everywhere in the prosperous land of the southeast at a thunderous speed.
"An overwhelming army of ghouls has appeared in East Peace County. They have the fire of white lotuses above their heads. They are bold enough to show up on the main roads even in broad daylight, trying to block the communication between East Peace County and the outside world and assassinate the scouts and Cultivators who fly out of East Peace County. They are obviously preparing for the ghouls' attack."
"The ten or so towns to the south of the East Peace County were the most seriously affected places when the febrile typhoon passed by. Countless civilians were killed or wounded. However, when the Cultivators of the nearby sects went to investigate, they only found lifeless bodies everywhere. They did not find any remaining souls. It is obvious that all the remaining souls have been taken away by Mother White Lotus Wan Mingzhu and refined into ghouls.
"This time, the White Lotus ghouls are marching in the same direction as the febrile typhoon and the flood. It is very likely that the entire southeast will be affected.
"The southeast of the Great Qian Dynasty is the most important production area for spiritual rice and spiritual wheat in the world of Cultivators. It supplies almost half of the Jade Crystal Pellets in the world of Cultivators.
"Before, there was still a lot of fertile land in the northeast that could be developed into farmlands. But right now, the main roads leading to the northeast have been blocked by the Dragon Wolf Cavalry of Ghost Qin. It is impossible for us to develop the land on a large scale for the time being.
"The southeast cannot be lost. Should the White Lotus ghoul army trample all the farmlands, the price of rice and grains in the world of Cultivators will certainly soar next year. Even among the Cultivators, there will be starvation. Then, the competition and internal strife among the sects will only get fiercer and fiercer. All the rules of the world of Cultivators will be gone."
With a gloomy face, Qi Zhongdao explained why he had come to this place after such a long journey to eliminate the White Lotus Cult.
Qi Zhongdao was not a benevolent monk like Master Bitter Cicada. Everything he did was in the interests of the world of Cultivators.
He would not bat an eyelid even if thousands of disaster victims were killed. However, it was possible that those disaster victims would turn into ferocious demons and destroy the spiritual farmlands in the southeast under the command of Mother White Lotus. That was something that he could not tolerate at all.
There were thousands of training techniques in the Ancient Sages Sector, but according to the legends, there was one fundamental law of training that was the source of all the arts. It was the universal, unbreakable truth.
As the saying went, "Man is iron, and food is steel. One will be hungry if he misses a meal."
Cultivators boasted extraordinary abilities. Their cells, nerves, and muscles functioned at a speed ten times higher than that of ordinary people. In order to keep their cells active, they had to swallow astronomical amounts of food every day. Otherwise, it would be very easy for them to starve themselves to death.
The regular food, pork, beef, and mutton were not enough to fill their stomachs even if they ate a hundred kilograms of it. Also, the best they could do was maintain their current level and prevent their level from plummeting.
If they wanted to make further progress, they would have to eat the meat of animals that contained tremendous spiritual energy, or the rice and grains such as the Jade Crystal Pellets.
Spirit beasts and demon beasts had to be hunted, which was not something that low-level Cultivators could enjoy every day. Only the spirit rice and spirit wheat grown in the spirit fields were the foundation of both the cultivation of Cultivators and the foundation of the existence of a Cultivation sect.
Half of the farmlands in the world were in the southeast, which boasted the most spiritual energy and was of the best quality.
If the farmlands in the southeast were destroyed by the White Lotus ghoul army, there would certainly be a 'food crisis' in the world of Cultivators in the second half of the year before the next.
Qi Zhongdao unfolded a map of the Great Qian Dynasty that was drawn on parchment.
Mystic rays vaguely popped up, forming an uneven sand table with mountains, rivers, and towns on it.
He pointed at the sand table and said, "Right now, the five camps of the court are marching to the southeast at night. However, as you all know, the soldiers of the court are mostly made of ordinary people. It will be barely possible for them to move forward in the flooding and roaring rivers. It will take them at least ten days to reach East Peace County before they drag their feet to the area around them.
"In the next half a month, it will be up to the Cultivators to stabilize the situation.
"We have three tasks in total. Firstly, we will stabilize the disaster victims and prevent them from freezing or starving to death and turning into ghosts full of aggression and hatred. Secondly, we will protect the farmlands from the scourge of the ghouls. Thirdly, if there is a chance, we will find 'Mother White Lotus' Wan Mingzhu and execute the mother of all ghosts in the world."
"Amitabha. With the help of all the benefactors, the people in the southeast will finally have a chance to keep their lives. Benefactors, you are truly a great benefactor."
Master Bitter Cicada, who had come after hearing the news, bowed deeply to Qi Zhongdao. "I wonder, where will the food for the homeless disaster victims in the next half a month come from?"
Qi Zhongdao slashed his hands hard. "The Grand Mystery Sect, the Purple Pole Sword Sect, Thunderstorm Valley, Flying Spirit Island, the Gold Armor Clan, the Monster Taming Pavilion, and all the other major sects in the world have all mobilized a large batch of emergency food. They will be delivered here in a few days."
It was the first time that Li Yao had heard that the Purple Pole Sword Sect had sent a large batch of food to the disaster area. After a brief daze, he somehow had a better impression of the Cultivation sects.
Whatever the purpose of the Cultivation sects was, providing precious food to the disaster area would save a lot of disaster victims. It was indeed a great deed.
Li Yao couldn't help but glance at Dan Fengzi, leader of the Purple Pole Sword Sect.
He noticed that Dan Fengzi's vague smile was somewhat weird.
Sensing Li Yao's gaze, he scratched his nose and turned his face away.
Master Bitter Cicada took a breath in relief. Thinking for a moment, he asked again, "Then, what should the disaster victims eat in the next few days?"
After hearing the question, Qi Zhongdao's face was even more gloomy. His cheeks twitching, he said coldly, "Then, we can only ask the local sects in the southeast to provide food. This is a matter of the southeast in the first place. It is not reasonable for the foreign sects to work hard while the local sects simply stand by and watch."
After hearing Qi Zhongdao's explanation, Li Yao finally realized that not every place suffered from the febrile typhoon and the flood. There were still some paradises.
They were the headquarters of the local sects in the southeast.
It was needless to mention East Peace County, which was a splendid city where dozens of sects were gathered.
Even the local sects were often built on mountains. They were magnificent, with high walls and deep pits, making them impregnable.
Defense rune arrays, illusion arrays, and barriers were everywhere. Neither the flood, the febrile typhoon, nor any other natural disasters could invade them.
Even if they were to be destroyed, the headquarters of the Cultivation sects were often the last stronghold of the local area to be destroyed.
Therefore, when natural disasters struck, most Cultivators would harvest the rice and store the assets in advance before they escaped to the headquarters and set up a chain of fortresses. They would not come out again until the natural disasters were over.
When the Sorcerers' River turned into a swamp, and the southeast coast was devastated, the headquarters of the Cultivation sects became lone islands that stored tremendous resources.
However, it was certainly not an easy task to open the lone islands.
"Three hundred and fifty kilometers away from here is the headquarters of Roaring Tiger Hall."
Pointing at the edge of a high mountain in the southeast on the Mountain River Map, Qi Zhongdao said, "Roaring Tiger Hall is one of the most famous sects in the southeast. Two-thirds of the farmlands in the West River State belong to Roaring Tiger Hall. Roaring Tiger Hall started with the farmlands and monopolized the shipping in the lower reaches of the Sorcerers' River. They accumulated tremendous wealth and spent twenty years emptying half of Heavenly Tiger Mountain to build Roaring Tiger City.
Roaring Tiger City was built next to the mountain. It was quite splendid. On the day the city was built, an enormous Tiger Apparitions Array was established below the ground. More than a hundred Crouching Tiger Cannons and Fiery Crow Ballistae were also built in the critical parts of the city. It was almost an impenetrable iron fortress.
The Roaring Tiger Hall has two Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and ten Gold Core Stage Cultivators. Known as the Two Tigers and Ten Biao, it dominates the West River State and runs amok in the southeast region.
When they learned that the febrile typhoon and the flood were coming, they looted all the assets and hid in Roaring Tiger City.
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