Chapter 393: The Elite Team

Wang Hong gave some brief instructions to his subordinates and then retreated into his seclusion chamber.

After much contemplation, he believed he had identified the cause of his previous failure. He began selecting materials once again and started refining the Spirit Energy Cannon.

Over a dozen days later, another loud explosion resounded through the camp. Despite the mishap from the previous incident, nobody dared to let their guard down. Everyone rushed to the scene, wielding their magical weapons.

Upon arriving at the scene, they saw Wang Hong conjure a defensive shield while standing in front of a large crater in the ground.

Seeing this scene, everyone had already guessed what had happened. They were all furious – after all, they were busy with their own tasks.

"I'm truly sorry! I've caused trouble once again. I promise to be more careful in the future," Wang Hong apologized to the crowd with a remorseful expression.

As the saying goes, you shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you, especially when East Zhou Trading Company's influence was not to be underestimated.

Although anger simmered within them, they ultimately let it go. After all, Wang Hong possessed power and resources.

After this incident, Wang Hong learned a valuable lesson. Some things should not be repeated, and there is a limit to how many times one can make mistakes. If he were to repeat such an incident, it might provoke the resident cultivators in this area.

After two consecutive failures, he couldn't guarantee success next time. Often, when he was confident and believed success was certain, there were hidden flaws that he couldn't see, lurking in the shadows.

He returned to his cultivation room and decided to make some modifications to it. He planned to conduct his experiments inside the cultivation room from now on.

He then brought out a large quantity of materials and began arranging various formations in the cultivation room, including defensive, soundproofing, and shock-absorbing formations. He layered them more than ten times.

Now, even if two Foundation Building cultivators engaged in a fierce battle within the cultivation room, no one outside would notice a thing.

Satisfied with his preparations, he once again entered his space to contemplate and analyze the reasons for his past failures while focused on refining the Spirit Energy Cannon.

Meanwhile, high-ranking members of the Qingxu Sect were studying the demon-hunting tree and the Pill Recipe for the Essence Core Pill that Wang Hong had provided.

The Pill Recipe was only a second-tier recipe and not overly complex, but their primary focus was on researching the reproduction of the demon-hunting tree.

The biggest bottleneck they faced was the severe shortage of demon-hunting trees. In front of the third defense line, countless Demonic Beasts fell in battle every day. If they were to convert and absorb all of them using demon-hunting trees, an enormous quantity would be required.

Currently, the sect's leaders were organizing cultivators skilled in Spirit Plant cultivation to expedite the breeding of demon-hunting trees.

A small portion of Essence Core Pills had already been refined and was being tested by a select few individuals.

The potent effects of the Essence Core Pill left the participants in the trials highly satisfied.

Many of the Golden Core Elders believed that acquiring a large number of demon-hunting trees at this time could be a crucial turning point in the war.

Although they had managed to cultivate several demon-hunting tree saplings during this period, it would be a while before these saplings could have any significant impact.

In the end, after extensive discussions among the high-ranking members of the Qingxu Sect, they decided to take a risk. Although they had only one demon-hunting tree in their possession, there were many more within a secret realm.

They planned to send an elite team to open the secret realm and transplant the demon-hunting trees from there. Despite the danger posed by the Demon Clan's encirclement, they realized that without additional resources, even if they managed to hold the third defense line temporarily, the Human Clan would eventually decline.

With a sufficient number of demon-hunting trees, they could turn the Demon Clan into a resource for the Human Clan, providing a continuous supply of resources.

Currently, they could refine some pills from demon cores, such as the pills sold by the East Zhou caravan, aside from the Essence Core Pill, all other pills were produced through refining demon cores obtained through purchases.

However, demon cores were only found in second-tier Demonic Beasts, and just like the Human Clan, the majority of the Demon Clan consisted of low-tier first-tier Demonic Beasts. These low-tier Demonic Beasts did not possess demon cores, and their bodies didn't contain valuable materials. Their flesh was also not necessarily edible.

Yet, these low-tier Demonic Beasts formed the cannon fodder in the Beast Tide, and the Demon Clan often relied on them to deplete the Human Clan's resources and manpower.

The team sent on this mission was small, but its members were elite. They needed to break through the siege of Demonic Beasts and navigate through areas teeming with them.

One day in Wang Hong's area, a large Flying Boat appeared in the sky, capturing the attention of numerous resident cultivators. When the Flying Boat reached the sky above, a Golden Core cultivator, none other than Wang Hong's master, Gu Qingyang, emerged from it.

This time, since Wang Hong had provided the demon-hunting tree, the higher-ups had unanimously decided to have him participate in this mission to expedite the search for the demon-hunting tree.

Although Gu Qingyang was not in favor of risking his disciple's participation in this dangerous mission, his objections were futile.

As the Flying Boat arrived, it had already alerted the two Golden Core cultivators stationed here, Gu Yuan and Sloppy Old Daoist. They swiftly flew out of their cave mansions to welcome Gu Qingyang.

"Senior Brother Chu! Junior Brother Gu!"

"Valley kid!"

Gu Yuan and Sloppy Old Daoist ushered Gu Qingyang into the reception hall, and they discussed the purpose of his visit.

At this moment, Wang Hong was in his cultivation room, standing in front of a newly refined Spirit Energy Cannon. This was already the twenty-first Spirit Energy Cannon he had refined. The previous twenty had all been scrapped for various reasons.

Just as he was about to test the new one, a Transmission Talisman flew in from outside. He caught it with a wave of his hand.

"Wang Hong, my disciple, I'm waiting for you in the reception hall."

Wang Hong was surprised to hear Gu Qingyang's voice coming from the Transmission Talisman. He hadn't seen his master in a long time.

Without testing the Spirit Energy Cannon, he stored it in his storage bag and quickly left his room.

In the reception hall, he saw Gu Qingyang, Gu Yuan, and Sloppy Old Daoist engaged in conversation.

"Disciple Wang Hong pays respects to Master!"

Upon entering, Wang Hong greeted Gu Qingyang with a bow.

"Wang Hong, my disciple, I have heard of your recent achievements. I am greatly pleased," Gu Qingyang said with a smile.

"I have come to find you because I hope you will join us in a mission."

Wang Hong was a bit surprised and didn't know what the mission entailed, requiring Gu Qingyang to come all this way to find him.

"Do you know what this mission entails, Master?" Wang Hong inquired.

"This time, we have assembled an elite team to break through and reach a secret realm," Gu Qingyang explained. By now, Wang Hong had a rough idea that they wanted him to lead the team to transplant demon-hunting trees.

Considering the current situation, he realized he would likely have to agree.

"Very well, when do we depart?"

"In that case, I will give you one hour. We will depart in one hour."

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay