Chen Wentian acted decisively, not just in Glacier Province but in all of the other provinces he controlled. In addition to Dragon Flower Province and Glacier Province, these included Divine Blazing Province, Red Bamboo Province, and Cloudy Mountain Province. This was too much land mass to cover for an ordinary immortal but Chen Wentian had more than a few tricks.
He was prepared to mobilize all of his disciples and utilize all available souls for the effort of rooting out demons. He wasn't sure what the result would be but he was interested in finding out. He wanted to see just how many evil demons were hiding out among the human population. Even if it ended up being a dud, it was still a good exercise for his disciples, something that broke up the monotony of day-to-day cultivation.
Divine Blazing Province was the first one to get the news. He went there directly to give out instructions to Li Yuechan, Song Wushuang, and Xu Lanyi. The other three members of the ice sisters were currently here cultivating the flame portion of Summer and Winter's Eternal Sutra. There was no better place to practice flame arts than atop the volcano of Divine Blazing Mountain.
There was no particular reason the sisters were separated in two provinces but Chen Wentian preferred it this way. Five women together in a flock were much more difficult to satisfy than two or three.
His orders for the fiery province were the same as Glacier Province. Use of the teleportation array was restricted. Outsiders were blocked. Residents could only go to Glacier Province or Dragon Flower Province. Ordinary people and strong disciples could go about their daily lives but the weakest disciples of Divine Blazing Mountain were sequestered within the sect.
Moving on to the other provinces, Red Bamboo Province was assigned to Zhou Ziyun. The Zhou Clan already had a large presence there after the events of the monster invasion. Millions of gold taels had been invested and it was widely accepted that this was her province.
Lin Qingcheng was sent to Cloudy Mountain Province to join Wu Qianyu. It was nominally a combined effort but Wu Qianyu was off in the wilderness doing her own thing. He did not ask her to return and let Lin Qingcheng do whatever she wanted within the human populated sections, starting with Black Rock City. It was sure to annoy the dregs of the Zhou Clan assigned there but it wasn't a big deal.
Chen Wentian allowed his three top disciples to go about the mission without his personal supervision as they all his souls by their sides. Lin Qingcheng had the brand-new Golden Serpent Robe with the morphling ability. Zhou Ziyun had her Insightful Swallow once again; the saber having been reforged into an exact replica by the original weaponsmith. Wu Qianyu still had the trusty Purple Jade Sword.
They would be fine. Not even a Spirit Lord demon could cause them trouble. And as for a Spirit King demon, something like that simply couldn't exist in this subcontinent without the various human Spirit Kings knowing.
Dragon Flower Province, the home of Ten Thousand Flower Valley, would be covered by the remaining disciples and the various branch sects. Jasmine was unreliable and too busy sleeping but she was still powerful. Bei Yingluo was still weak but she was eager to help. Long Yifei was busy studying for upcoming school year at the Virtuous Order of Chunzhen but even she volunteered some of her precious time.
He also had countless shadow anchors pooped out by Chen Mo over the past year, a growing nest of void bees, and a vast network of human informants that consisted of the House of Paradise, the Zhou Clan, and the Bright Moon Kingdom.
Out of all the provinces, his home province had the highest level of protection. It was the safest province, a place where no demon would be able to hide for long.
---
Lin Qingcheng emerged from the teleportation array and was met with a blast of freezing wind. She let out a gasp and countered with a wave of her own spiritual energy. It wasn't effective as she hoped and icy cold penetrated through the Golden Serpent Robe and made her shiver.
"Cold!"
"I should have worn more clothes!"
"Hug me, sister!"
Cries of complaint came from behind her. The teleportation array flashed continuously as more and more women appeared. Clad in colorful array of dresses and woefully unprepared for the frigid temperature, they huddled together like beautiful tropical birds lost in a snow storm.
Soon, they numbered over a hundred and spilled down the teleportation platform. The black-robed guards around the city square and people passing by all gawked at the new arrivals. Many of them had never seen women so beautiful and so many gathered in one spot. It was as if spring had blossomed in the city of endless winter.
"Welcome to Black Rock City, Mistress Lin!" The guards saluted smartly.
"Ah, thank you. Please rise." Lin Qingcheng said.
She then tiptoed and peered over the guards' heads, looking around expectantly and little lost. She had been to Black Rock City many times but she had already forgotten much about the place.
"Mistress Lin! This way! You're building is behind you."
The guards led Lin Qingcheng to the other side of the city square to the entrance of a prominent blackstone building that was three stories tall and covered an entire city square. It used to belong to the Nalan merchant family but now it belonged to Lin Qingcheng and the House of Paradise. She had only asked very politely but the Nalan Family gave up their prime location without any struggle. After Wu Qianyu's recent outburst, nobody wanted to mess with the disciple of an immortal.
"Governor Zhou Guanyu has already handled the transfer of ownership." One of the guards explained, "The interior decorations are a bit sparse at the moment but the basic necessities are already prepared. Zhou Clan members will arrive soon to receive and carry out any requests you may have."
"Excellent!" Lin Qingcheng said and clapped her hands to get the attention of the chattering flock of women, "Disciples! Disciples! This is the brand-new location for the House of Paradise within Cloudy Mountain Province. We must get it up and running as quickly as possible and expand outward into the province!"
"Understood, sect master!"
"Let's go!" She said and quickly scampered inside the building.
---
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