Chapter 1771 – Underground Base
Zhao Hai sat inside the s.p.a.ce and looked at the screen. There were special construction troops shown on the monitor. These troops were from the bug race. They were currently on the refining base digging holes in all directions. The walls were also covered with bug saliva to block the intrusion of spiritual force.
Zhao Hai chose the Inferno Valley for the location of the base because it has a source of power. The refining base would be transformed into a giant underground base filled with defensive formations. Since the formations needed energy to power them, the Inferno Valley became a perfect choice.
Although Zhao Hai took FireG.o.d City, there was still a heart of earth fire left in the valley. Moreover, the heart of earth fire was only at its growing phase. Therefore, Zhao Hai wasn’t worried that there would be a lack of energy to use.
Zhao Hai plans to turn the entire underground base into an enormous three-dimensional formation. When the time comes, the base would be able to attack and defend.
Zhao Hai already thought where to place the control room of the formation, and that was under the magma river, in the s.p.a.ce where FireG.o.d City used to be.
There was a large amount of work to do. Although the blueprints of the base have been made inside the s.p.a.ce, building the base wasn’t easy. If Zhao Hai didn’t use the bug race, then he would need a large number of materials that could block spiritual force. The number of materials needed would bankrupt the Black Tiger Gang.
In the beginning, Zhao Hai was worried about what materials to use. However, Julie reminded him that he could use the bug race to create the base. Zhao Hai hadn’t seen the bug race create tunnels before, he didn’t think that they were actually so good.
The bug race were able to dig tunnels at speeds that Zhao Hai had never seen before. In addition to the bug race, Zhao Hai also used a lot of Undead to carve formation runes on the walls of the base. These runes wouldn’t do much. But when it came to battle, as long as the control room under the magma river existed, the base could be controlled using the runes as veins. The runes could also allow the controller to monitor everything that happens in the base. The runes could even be used against the enemy.
Once the runes are activated, the magma would slowly penetrate through the entire base, becoming the strongest defense of the base.
The refining base was in the center of the Inferno Valley, which took cover from both sides. But because the terrain was flat, Zhao Hai could only place his planned base underground.
And on the Black Tiger Gang’s side of the Inferno Valley were multiple extinct volcanoes. These volcanoes have huge craters. Zhao Hai plans to use these craters as entry and exit points for large artifacts.
Because of the scale of the project, Zhao Hai had to use a lot of bugs, Undead, and even some beasts.
Zhao Hai had the design of an enormous base. The main tunnels of the base could allow multiple large artifacts to go through them and it wouldn’t seem crowded. The other tunnels could also allow large artifacts to fly through them.
The countless large and small tunnels made the base a huge underground city. Naturally, if one didn’t know the layout of the base, it would become a huge underground labyrinth.
Due to the nature of the project, in order to decrease the pressure on himself, Zhao Hai a.s.signed the bug race to Julie and the Undead to Cai’er. Basically, he doesn’t need to worry much about anything.
It has been a month since Zhao Hai returned to the Black Tiger Gang. In this month, the Black Tiger Gang prepared for a war. The Myriad Demons Sect also delivered Zhao Hai’s rewards during this time. But because Zhao Hai’s ranking wasn’t high, his rewards were quite small.
By this point, the Black Tiger Gang didn’t care about the reward. The sect was now secretly preparing for war. Who was in the mood to discuss the reward of the Heavenly Demon Trial? The Black Tiger Gang were busy collecting strategic materials through various channels. At the same time, their exports of pills and artifacts dropped. They were stockpiling.
The success of the Black Tiger Gang’s secret preparation was thanks to the Myriad Demon Sect. Since the Myriad Demons Sect was economically suppressing the Black Tiger Gang, the sales of the sect suffered a huge blow. Therefore, it was understandable for the Black Tiger Gang to have huge stockpiles of pills and artifacts. Which in turn were transformed into strategic stockpiles.
Naturally, pills and artifacts weren’t enough. The sect also needs a huge source of spirit stones and medicinal herbs. The Black Tiger Gang has turned into an old miser. It only took in and never let go of anything. They were desperately moving materials into the sect.
If the other sects get a clear view of the Black Tiger Gang’s actions, they would certainly be startled. This was because a preparation of this size could only mean that the sect was going to make a large move.
However, Tie Zhantian also took Zhao Hai’s words seriously. Although Zhao Hai’s time in the Black Tiger Gang was short, his merits were quite substantial. Moreover, he was chosen by Supreme Elder Hu Shan. Also, Zhao Hai’s performance during the war was proof of his strength.
At the same time, what Zhao Hai said was right. Even if the Heavenly Demons didn’t attack them, they still needed to prepare. There was still the Myriad Demons Realm that needed to be dealt with.
The Myriad Demons Sect already conducted two suppressions towards the Black Tiger Gang. Although it didn’t cause the sect to collapse, the Black Tiger Gang suffered losses. In this case, the Black Tiger Gang needed to prepare for the next move of the Myriad Demons Sect.
Tie Zhantian and Hu Liangchen knew clearly that if the Myriad Demons Sect wanted to deal with a sect, then they would suppress them to the point where they could hardly breath. Then they would look for an excuse to destroy the sect.
Although it was still unknown whether the Myriad Demons Sect wanted to destroy the Black Tiger Gang, Tie Zhantian and the others didn’t want to lower their guard. They didn’t want to see the sect scramble for resources if a stronger sect attacked them.
Because of this, Tie Zhantian decided to hand the construction of the base to Zhao Hai. This was also Tie Zhantian’s test to see Zhao Hai’s abilities.
Tie Zhantian always felt that Zhao Hai had a lot of secrets. Although these secrets wouldn’t necessarily cause him any harm, Tie Zhantian still feels headaches whenever he has someone with unknown capabilities working under him. Therefore, he wanted to know Zhao Hai’s limits. So he gave him the task to construct the base.
Although Zhao Hai stayed inside the s.p.a.ce in this one month, he still cared about the matters of the Black Tiger Gang. At the same time, he was paying attention to the Heavenly Demon Realm. This was also the reason why he wanted to build the base. The Heavenly Demon Realm was truly preparing something.
The Heavenly Demons were making preparations with all their strength. Despite this, the nine super sects of the Great World of Cultivation didn’t discover something wrong. In other words, the nine super sects simply didn’t detect any of the Heavenly Demon Realm’s movements. Perhaps this was because the Heavenly Demons were always chasing Zhao Hai and the others down.
In the beginning, Zhao Hai thought that the Black Tiger Gang was excluded by the Myriad Demons Sect from being informed. But before long, Zhao Hai knew that this wasn’t the case. The nine super sects truly have no idea of the Heavenly Demon Realm’s actions. This was because the price of the strategic materials that the Black Tiger Gang bought haven’t increased at all.
If the nine super sects did indeed inform the other sects about the incoming attack, then these strategic materials should be flying off the shelves, which would cause the prices to soar.
However, nothing changed. Although the Black Tiger Gang wasn’t poor, it was nothing compared to the entire Great World of Cultivation. If the Black Tiger Gang’s money was thrown into the huge market of the realm, it wouldn’t be able to cause even a ripple. Therefore, the prices of strategic materials stayed the same, which saved the Black Tiger Gang a lot of money.
Zhao Hai has been monitoring the situation of the Heavenly Demon Realm. He calculated that in roughly a year, the Heavenly Demons would finish their preparations. Then they could begin their attack on the Great World of Cultivation.
Although a year wasn’t short, it wasn’t a long time for cultivators. In the Great World of Cultivation, Immortal Experts have lived tens of thousands of years. A year to them was merely a blink of an eye.
After a month of construction, Zhao Hai finally finished the underground base. There were only a few small jobs that remained to be finished. However, Zhao Hai didn’t relax. These small jobs were also important for the base’s operation.
Since the underground base was very large, Zhao Hai arranged a few medicinal gardens all around the base. Although it might not make the Black Tiger Gang self-sufficient, it can alleviate some of the sect’s needs.
If the Heavenly Demons did indeed attack, then the war wouldn’t end in a short time. When the time comes, the consumption of resources would be astonis.h.i.+ng. It was necessary to make ample preparations.
Days pa.s.sed and it was now two months since Zhao Hai returned to the Black Tiger Gang. The underground base was basically complete and could be occupied at any time. The control room on the s.p.a.ce under the magma river has also been completed. Then at this time, something happened.
When the Myriad Demons Sect set a bounty on the disciples of the Black Tiger Gang, the sect was able to survive because of their frantic counter-attack. This bounty could be considered as a failure. However, this caused the Black Tiger Gang to form an enmity on its surrounding sects. It became more difficult for the Black Tiger Gang to gather information. Now, the sects around the Black Tiger Gang secretly gathered troops as if they wanted to do something. Their target would most likely be the Black Tiger Gang.