Chapter 924: Chapter 38: Expansion! Strength! The Foundation of the Wang Family’s Prosperity and Growth

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Shouzhe Pass, completely cast from foreign cement, stands tall and majestic, like a winding giant dragon sprawling between Xin’an Town and the Outer Domain. Viewed from afar, it looks immensely powerful and spectacular.

This ten-mile long pass is both the gateway for humans entering the Outer Domain and the frontline defense against the fierce beasts from beyond.

With it here, the people within the pass can live in peace.

With it here, the common folk feel secure.

Shouzhe Pass is wider than typical city passes, with soldiers stationed and patrolling the walls year-round. These soldiers include the government soldiers from Xin’an Town’s Guardian’s Mansion, the Wang Family Generals, and some hired civilian brawlers, who are specifically responsible for cleaning, organizing, cooking, and maintenance jobs.

The soldiers and generals who can ascend the city walls are well-trained elites, all vigorous and sharp-eyed, clearly tough individuals.

Yet, the brightest stars on the walls of Shouzhe Pass are not them, but the Divine Power Cannons that resemble ferocious giant beasts.

On the entirety of Shouzhe Pass, there is a Divine Power Cannon every three zhang apart.

The pass stretches ten miles, and the Divine Power Cannons are spread across those ten miles. They resemble iron giants, guarding the vast territory opened up by the Wang Family.

Though they cannot defend against fierce birds or other flying fierce beasts, they can block most land-based fierce beasts, ensuring long-term peace within the pass.

Furthermore, near naturally isolating mountain ranges, there is a watchtower set on high ground every few miles.

These watchtowers are small three-story fortresses cast in place with reinforced concrete, and shelters and other facilities have been dug underground.

Each watchtower is standardly equipped with one Black Tortoise Cultivator at the Qi Refining Realm and four ordinary clan soldiers, forming an independent sentinel team of five.

They need to patrol their area, keeping watch against beasts and fierce beasts crossing mountains and ridges.

They must also observe whether powerful fierce birds are flying across the sky; if anomalies occur, they must immediately launch a signal fireworks rocket.

Different scales and colors of fireworks rockets represent different levels of danger.

Green fireworks represent Tier One and Tier Two Ferocious Beasts, orange represents Tier Three and Four, red represents Tier Five and Six. As for purple... that naturally represents Tier Seven and Eight fierce beasts.

On the border of Xin’an Town except for Shouzhe Pass, over several decades there has been one red appearance, more than twenty orange appearances, and over a thousand green occurrences.

Purple has never appeared so far.

When it does occur, it will be a disaster for the entire Xin’an Town.

The Wang Family’s border camps established every few dozen miles respond according to the danger levels and handle the crisis. Once red appears, the signal cannon akin to the Divine Power Cannon immediately activates.

At that moment, a Celestial Human Realm Elder stationed rotationally by the Wang Family or other family at Xin’an Town swiftly arrives, either eliminating or containing the fierce beasts.

Even if luck is bad and a purple alert appears, the Wang Family has countermeasures, though massive losses would be inevitable.

Fortunately, fierce beasts above Tier Five possess considerable intelligence and won’t randomly intrude into human territories. As for Tier Seven Great Demons, they know well the consequences they would face after wreaking havoc in human lands.

Opening new habitats for humans is fraught with danger.

Within lies infinite opportunities for wealth development, yet also endless peril. This applies to the Wang Family, to the civilians and noble families joining them in the exploration.

All the above constitute Xin’an Town’s internal defense mechanisms, which have been perfected over decades, gradually entering a stable phase.

The frequency of beast and fierce beast invasions has steadily decreased. In recent years, beast tides have rarely appeared.

Beyond Shouzhe Pass lies the broader Outer Domain.

Yet, due to decades of exploration, eradication, and other operations outside Shouzhe Pass by loose cultivators, noble families, and the official army of Xin’an Town, fierce beasts within a five-hundred-mile radius of Shouzhe Pass are almost extinct, rendering it relatively safe.

This area, including the vast waters of Deep Taihu Lake, is the focus of development for the alliance of noble families led by the Wang Family. It’s a resource-rich environment of fertile water and soil.

Once developed, it would become a land of abundance, overflowing with grain, fisheries, and silk crops, capable of easily supporting a population of a million.

This day.

A convoy bearing the Wang Family emblem slowly emerged from Shouzhe Pass.

The convoy consisted of more than ten animal-drawn carts; apart from the leading two lightweight carriages, the rest were all super-heavy buffalo carts pulled by Tier Three Rhino Horn Spiritual Oxen.

These super-heavy buffalo carts, with shafts, wheels, load-bearing dragon bones made of Spirit Wood or steel, can carry about ten tons of goods at once. The cargo on the carts is covered with oil cloth, revealing only the outlines suggesting they are large pot-like items.

The wagon wheels pressed into the compacted earth roads of the Outer Domain, leaving deep ruts.

Surrounding the convoy were the fully armed Wang Family Generals and clan soldiers.

As they progressed, many loose cultivators hoping to seize opportunities from the Wang Family’s reclamation efforts hurriedly avoided the convoy, knowing who truly holds power in this land.

On the person-carrying lightweight carriage sat some young individuals.

Among them was Sun Xiaole.

Stepping beyond Shouzhe Pass for the first time, he felt both nervous and excited.