The first sect anniversary celebration of Qingfeng Mountain Villa concluded successfully, with the consumption of one thousand catties of fourth-grade spiritual fruits, one hundred catties of fifth-grade spiritual fruits, and one thousand catties of fourth-grade spiritual wine.
Following this, a large quantity of surplus and even discardable goods were sold, recouping 964 million spirit stones.
It was just a little short of one billion spirit stones.
Therefore, this celebration was truly a great success, and Yang Hong planned to hold one every ten years.
It should be known that even a ninth-grade sect like Chaoyang Gate, which controlled a mature and vast immortal cultivation world, could not guarantee earning one billion spirit stones within a hundred years.
After all, a large family has large expenses. For a ninth-grade sect, an annual surplus of tens of millions of spirit stones would be considered a well-managed super sect.
Although Yang Hong understood this, he still looked forward to the next sect celebration.
To this end, he specifically formulated a ten-year development plan for the sect.
Firstly, recruit another 2,000 disciples, increasing the total number of disciples to 20,000.
Secondly, cultivate an additional ten million li square area of plains. Although Yang Hong dared not use the [System] carelessly, each spiritual plant he cultivated returned a faint spiritual energy to him. With a large number of plants, the returned spiritual energy was even greater than when he had the system.
Although cultivation advanced slowly, it became more solid.
Thirdly, cultivate at least 10,000 alchemists, with at least one hundred fourth-grade alchemists!
Qingfeng Mountain Villa planted such a large area of plains. Apart from one-third planted with Iron Thorn Grass, the rest were planted with various spiritual herbs. Fourth-grade and below spiritual herbs were so abundant that they could be fed to spirit beasts, so they should be utilized effectively.
Fourthly, cultivate at least one thousand spirit chefs. This was also because too many spiritual plants were grown and could not be sold, so they were directly consumed to avoid waste.
Spiritual plants processed by spirit chefs not only tasted better, but their spiritual energy, after being adjusted, was easier to absorb, contributing to the disciples' cultivation advancement.
Finally, cultivate disciples in auxiliary professions such as artifact refining, talisman crafting, array formations, and puppet making, with one thousand disciples in each category.
In short, each disciple must learn at least one auxiliary immortal cultivation skill, rather than just meditating day after day. They must develop comprehensively in "morality, intelligence, physique, aesthetics, and labor."
While disciples of other sects focused on improving their cultivation, at Qingfeng Mountain Villa, there were too many conditions and benefits for cultivation advancement. Instead, there was a need to focus on solidifying their foundation, and auxiliary professions were one of the best methods.
Another method was combat.
Unfortunately, due to the havoc caused by Buddhism and the locust plague of the Li Fire Flying Locusts, not only did the cultivators in the Zikun Mountain Range become more cautious in their cultivation, but the Li Fire Desert was also devoid of life.
Therefore, the best way for Qingfeng Mountain Villa disciples to solidify their cultivation was still to cultivate auxiliary professions.
Of course, the ultimate goal this time was to continuously strengthen Qingfeng Mountain Villa and attract more people to survive and develop in Qingfeng Mountain and the Li Fire Plains, in order to find the four reincarnated individuals and one demon of Li Lizhi as soon as possible.
"The Sect Master has twenty-six first-grade sects, seven second-grade sects, and four third-grade sects, and has begun the migration of mortals. They have not requested our assistance. Should we deploy our flying ships to help the mortals?"
Two years later, Yang Hong was irrigating spiritual plants with [Sweet Dew Shower] as usual when Zhang Zhengyan came to inquire.
"Help those who are relocating entirely, but not those establishing branches."
"Disciple understands."
After speaking, Zhang Zhengyan did not leave and waited nearby.
Yang Hong’s hand technique did not dissipate, and he asked indifferently, "Is there anything else?"
"Yes, nine first-grade sects wish to merge into Qingfeng Mountain Villa..."
"No, Qingfeng Mountain Villa is not a dump. We don't accept everyone. From now on, reject all future applications to join. Only through the sect opening ceremony, held once every three years, can one enter."
Before Zhang Zhengyan could finish, Yang Hong directly interrupted.
He didn't care about the cultivation of the disciples he wanted, but only their destiny. Disciples without destiny, even with heavenly spiritual roots, would not be accepted. He did not want to make an exception for such unsolicited overtures.
"Disciple understands. Disciple will take his leave first."
Upon hearing Yang Hong's words, Zhang Zhengyan understood his meaning and returned to handle sect affairs.
"Having a capable disciple manage the sect makes things so much easier."
Yang Hong nodded in satisfaction as he watched Zhang Zhengyan depart. Although Zhang Zhengyan was still an outer sect manager, he had been managing the sect diligently and without complaint, which Yang Hong was very pleased with.
The inner sect head disciple, who was not as worry-free, Ke Jiimei, also came afterwards.
"Sect Master, you need to find me more helpers. Now that there are more disciples, even with the sect points as a threshold, a large number of disciples come to ask me about cultivation problems every day. I'm so busy I don't even have time to eat!"
Ke Jiimei, who was already at the seventh-tier Integration stage, had become much younger after her breakthrough. She had also taken the youth-preserving pill rewarded by Yang Hong.
Now, Ke Jiimei's appearance was stunning, and her aura was noble. Even if disciples had nothing else to do, they would want to look at this senior disciple sister of the inner sect.
Moreover, Ke Jiimei was the elder of Dharma Transmission, with the responsibility of teaching and answering questions. Disciples would naturally flock to Ke Jiimei, asking questions even if they didn't have any they didn't understand.
"Are you stupid? What is your position now?"
"Uh~ Disciple is currently the head of the Dharma Transmission Hall. Precisely because Disciple is the head of the Dharma Transmission Hall, Disciple must work harder to answer disciples' questions."
Hearing Yang Hong's question, Ke Jiimei's expression turned bitter. After the inner sect disciples' promotion ceremony, Yang Hong established two departments and three halls within the sect.
The two departments were: Internal Affairs Department and Arts Department.
The Internal Affairs Department was responsible for the sect's resource allocation, miscellaneous matters, task issuance, and reward distribution, headed by Gu Boji, with Zhang Zhengyan as the deputy minister.
The Arts Department was responsible for the hundred arts of immortal cultivation, including alchemy, artifact refining, and talisman crafting, headed by Zhong Chengfeng.
The three halls were: Dharma Transmission Hall, Law Enforcement Hall, and War God Hall.
The Dharma Transmission Hall was responsible for transmitting Dharma and answering questions for disciples, as well as collecting and researching cultivation techniques and scriptures, headed by Ke Jiimei.
The Law Enforcement Hall handled internal enforcement, rewards, and punishments, headed by Qiu Kun.
The War God Hall's main responsibility was external warfare, including exploration of secret realms and dangerous places, attacking enemies, and foreign trade, headed by Ran Boren, who was at the late stage of the sixth-tier Separation stage.
Of course, these were large departments, with many branch halls and groups below them, which were to be established by the hall masters.
Therefore, when he heard Ke Jiimei complain about being busy, he called her stupid.
"For the Dharma Transmission Hall, you can divide it into the Sutra Repository, the Dharma Transmission Pavilion, and the Dharma Research Pavilion. The Dharma Transmission Pavilion can be further divided into multiple smaller pavilions for different cultivation stages such as Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Fusion, and the workload can be distributed. Don't be too foolish, and don't be too greedy."
"Disciple~ Disciple truly dares not be greedy, just a little, a little clumsy."
Hearing Yang Hong's veiled warning, Ke Jiimei's face turned pale.
It was precisely because she did not want to delegate power and wanted to establish an image of diligence to earn extra points in front of Yang Hong that she worked so hard.
Otherwise, an old monster who had lived for over 800 years would not know how to slack off?
"Get back to work. Get the branch halls and pavilions set up. I will have Zhang Zhengyan issue an announcement that from now on, disciples seeking guidance on cultivation techniques will be tiered. As the hall master, you will primarily be responsible for disciples above the Nascent Soul stage."
"Yes~ Disciple knows her mistake. Disciple will return immediately to rectify it."
Seeing that Yang Hong was about to get angry, Ke Jiimei quickly admitted her mistake and left.
"Short-sighted fellow, if you cultivate immortal arts, you should aim for longevity, or at least for improving your cultivation! Instead, you're vying for power and profit. You might as well be an emperor in the mortal world!"
Shaking his head with some disappointment, Yang Hong once again devoted himself to planting spiritual plants. His goal was not just his own ascension to immortality!