PCJ – Chapter 763 The Battle Hall

Wen Xiaoqun waved his hand, gathering his friends close before whispering quietly, “This is our opportunity. That Sect Master Zhang is a senior expert in the Spirit Refinement – Return to Void stage. If we can earn his appreciation, our path of cultivation might have a turning point. Sect Master Zhang’s ambition isn’t limited to this Abandoned Land — he aims to reach the Xianyuan Continent. Others may not care much about this mining exploration, but we must treat it as a major matter. If we do this well, we might win Sect Master Zhang’s recognition, and in the future, we’ll have a foothold in the Meishan Sect.”

“Brother Wen, we trust you. Just tell us what to do, and we’ll follow your lead.”

“Right! We’ll follow you!”

Wen Xiaoqun nodded. “Good. Quickly gather everyone you can. Even if you have to search every mountain around Yanguicheng, find all the ores in the surrounding area. The rarer the mineral, the more valuable it is. Don’t miss anything.”

“Got it!”

Although Zhang Jiaohua attached great importance to finding minerals and had assigned plenty of manpower to the task, most of the cultivators who joined the Meishan Sect weren’t really dedicated to it. They had joined mainly to gain access to sect resources, not because they wanted to contribute. Moreover, their understanding of artifact refinement was shallow — they were still viewing it with outdated eyes.

Aside from the Yuan family, who took Luo Tianwang’s mining task seriously, only Wen Xiaoqun’s group was earnestly searching for minerals.

The Yuan family had just emerged from the remote edges of the Abandoned Land and had very limited power — far less than the group Wen Xiaoqun had gathered.

In less than a week, Wen Xiaoqun’s people began delivering all kinds of minerals to Zhang Jiaohua. Using precision analysis instruments, Zhang Jiaohua found that most of the minerals were common on Earth — but among them were substances that had never existed there. Through a series of physical and chemical analyses, Zhang Jiaohua confirmed that these new materials might play an important role in artifact refinement.

“You’ve done very well. I’ll refine a batch of mining spiritual tools soon. You’ll be in charge of organizing and assigning miners.” Zhang Jiaohua immediately appointed Wen Xiaoqun as the Elder of Mining in the Artifact Refinement Hall, granting him over a dozen deacon positions to distribute as he saw fit.

Wen Xiaoqun was overjoyed. This promotion placed him directly into the Meishan Sect’s core ranks, and he could finally give his friends a satisfactory explanation. Even better, Zhang Jiaohua wasn’t giving empty promises — he clearly stated he would equip Wen with a batch of mining spiritual tools. Though these were auxiliary tools, Wen Xiaoqun knew how scarce such items were in the Abandoned Land. Even the City Lord of Yanguicheng possessed only a handful of spiritual artifacts.

Zhang Jiaohua quickly began refining simple tools from the minerals Wen had supplied. Mining didn’t require high-grade spiritual tools — low-grade ones were sufficient since most of the ore veins in the Abandoned Land were surface deposits and easy to mine.

The only truly valuable mineral in the Abandoned Land was spirit stone ore, produced by spirit veins. Those resources had long been divided among the great families. Zhang Jiaohua had obtained some spirit stones from the Yuan family, which allowed him to refine a batch of flying devices for transporting minerals, greatly increasing logistical efficiency.

As Zhang Jiaohua built his artifact-refining setup, he simultaneously refined mining and transport tools for Wen Xiaoqun. Over time, the refining platform was completed, and Wen Xiaoqun received a large number of mining and transport tools, speeding up ore transportation from all around Yanguicheng to the Meishan Sect’s refining base.

During the process of refining these lower-tier mining and transport artifacts, Zhang Jiaohua gradually trained a team of assistants who could lend him a hand. The efficiency of the refining base rose rapidly. Tons of ore came in and were immediately processed — crudely refined first, then purified to obtain high-quality materials for artifact crafting.

At that point, Zhang Jiaohua no longer limited himself to producing low-grade tools — he began crafting offensive and defensive spiritual artifacts as well. His ultimate goal was still to advance toward the Spirit Beast Mountains, which required improving the Meishan Sect’s overall combat strength. The best training was real combat, but Zhang Jiaohua didn’t intend to send his disciples to die. He wanted them to improve their combat skills and also collect valuable resources from the mountain range — especially spirit stones, which he desperately needed.

Thanks to his achievements, Wen Xiaoqun finally attracted even more attention.

“Wen Xiaoqun,” Zhang Jiaohua said, “would you be willing to explore the Spirit Beast Mountains for me? You don’t need to go deep — just scout the outskirts for now. The Meishan Sect will soon establish a Battle Hall, and I need a capable and loyal team. You’ve done well lately, so I want you to form this core group.”

Wen Xiaoqun was thrilled but remained cautious. “But my strength is limited. I fear I might not live up to your expectations, Sect Master.”

“Combat strength doesn’t depend solely on cultivation,” Zhang Jiaohua said. “It also relies on spiritual tools and talismans. What I need are people who know how to use them effectively and how to coordinate in battle. And above all — I need courage and loyalty.”

“Spiritual tools?” Wen Xiaoqun’s eyes lit up.

“Come with me.”

Zhang Jiaohua led Wen Xiaoqun into the armory of the Artifact Refinement Hall. Inside were all kinds of spiritual artifacts Zhang had personally refined — defensive gear and various weapons.

Wen Xiaoqun stared wide-eyed, barely able to speak in excitement. “These… these… may I really use them freely?”

“You can take them all to equip your men. I only want to see a Battle Hall with real combat power!”

The reason Zhang Jiaohua didn’t rely on the Law Enforcement Hall families was that their recent behavior had disappointed him deeply. So he decided to bypass them entirely and form a separate, independent division — with Wen Xiaoqun, the standout performer, as its leader.

Though Wen Xiaoqun’s cultivation was low and he was looked down upon in Yanguicheng, he possessed a quality Zhang Jiaohua valued — a keen sense of timing.

Zhang Jiaohua didn’t need blind loyalty — as long as both sides could cooperate on fair terms of mutual benefit, that was enough. But since the sect’s founding, it had already attracted too many opportunists — cultivators eager for power but unwilling to take responsibility. Naturally, someone like Wen Xiaoqun became the best choice.