Chapter 104: Development and Expansion of the Taoist Sect 1

The wheel of time turns steadily. In the Black Gate, it has been six years and three months since the beginning of the New Era. In the desolate wilderness in the southern part of the continent, spring has arrived with blossoming flowers. However, in regions without a cold winter, it can be difficult to distinguish the seasons, and one can only rely on the blooms in the fields to determine the arrival of spring.
Unfortunately, it seems that there are no rapeseed crops in the surrounding area, so I cannot experience the vast yellow sea of flowers. I also don't know if there are such crops in the Panda People's land, which is blocked by mist. Maybe I can try using radar to explore that continent, but there is no time for it now. Zhang Weidao needs to take the first step in the Northern Expedition against the Orcs.
The ever-changing Western Wilderness has left the goblin merchants who frequently travel through it wide-eyed and speechless.
The mining site, which was originally expanding, is now mostly completed. The five layers of circular structures that are dozens of meters tall make the mountain look like terraced fields. However, these terraced fields are used for building cities, and Zhang Weidao thinks they should be called ladder cities.
Of course, this is impossible. Cultured spellcasters would never allow him to name it so casually.
Because all spellcasters objected, Zhang Weidao could only think hard for a long time to come up with a name. In the end, Zhang Weidao became impatient and glanced at the sparkling mountain top, unable to help but blurt out.
"How about calling it Golden Peak City?"
The spellcasters' eyes lit up as they looked at the palace with its golden roof on the mountain top. The name indeed seemed very fitting! They agreed immediately to use the name Golden Peak. They didn't even wait for Zhang Weidao to change his mind; they were afraid he might change his mind.
Actually, Zhang Wei seems to have some regretful thoughts, after all, this is plagiarizing the palace landscapes of those famous mountains. But anyway, people in this world don't know about these things, so it's fine to settle for this. They don't even know about Wudang's Golden Summit or Emei's Golden Summit, I know for sure that they don't know either, so it's okay to plagiarize like this.
Like this, the city transformed from the mine will be named Jin Ding. At this time, the construction of houses is beginning on the concentric belts of Jin Ding City. The houses all have a distinct Chinese style, with white walls and black tiles, flying eaves, and neatly arranged scales.
Thanks to Wu Ping's journey on Gris's merchant ship to the South China Sea, he was able to recruit a large number of personnel from the South China Sea islands to work, including many professional architects. The style of houses they built perfectly matches Zhang Wei's taste, and now all houses are constructed under their guidance.
The temple complex on the mountaintop is also partially completed, with the main hall, known as the Three Pure Ones Hall, being the first to be constructed. The statues of the Three Pure Ones have been invited and placed inside the temple. The roof of the temple is built with the highest specifications, which means the entire roof is covered in copper and gold plating, thus giving it the name "Golden Roof".
Once these temple complexes start to be built, Zhang Wei will no longer keep changing places, which means he will finally settle down. He has moved houses several times from the Elwynn Forest to the Western Wilderness, but this time it is impossible to relocate again.
The port on the west side of Gold Crown City has also been excavated almost completely. At this point, the kobolds and gnolls have already switched jobs to mine the cave, leaving only the murlocs inside to do the final touch-ups. The only thing left to do is to dig through and let seawater flow in, but that can only happen once the two colossal structures being constructed inside the port are finished.
This port has also served as a shipyard, where two super battleships measuring over 260 meters long and over 30 meters wide are currently being constructed in an organized and efficient manner.
On the wooden hulls of the battleships, iron armor plates are being applied. Due to the temporary shortage in steel production to meet the appetite of these two steel monsters, the method of combining steel and wood, as employed by the shaman priests in transforming ironwood hammers for the barbarian soldiers, is being used to conserve materials.
If it is completely made of steel, the displacement of 40,000 tons will be 40,000 tons of steel!
Zhang Weidao's original intention of building a ship was to transport some troops to the north for battle, and it is impossible to use so much steel for extravagance.
Although the use of a magma pool now allows for the smelting of thousands of tons of steel every day, it is not feasible to use the entire production of several months to build ships. The underground spaces of Gold Peak City require a large amount of steel for renovation. Just the track leading to the foundry area magma pool has already consumed a lot of steel, not to mention several drilling platforms built in the shallow waters off Long Beach.
Building weapons and equipment doesn't cost much, so we won't consider that. However, the construction of mechanical puppets by engineering technicians is enormously expensive and cannot be stopped. Otherwise, there won't be enough farmland to cultivate.
Currently, the battleship is being covered with armor plates, which are being manufactured as the demand for steel has eased. After the assembly of the armor plates is completed, the caster performs a fusion, resulting in an incredibly strong effect. The steel joints are as smooth as mirrors.
This warship can deploy hundreds or even thousands of spellcasters, a feat only achievable by Zhang Wei Dao. The strongest naval power on the seas, Kul Tiras, only seeks the blessings of Tide-Sages to minimize the effects of storms on their completed warships.
Building these two warships is the current main task, and the spellcasters are full of enthusiasm. They quickly surround a piece of iron armor and process it, but the speed of forging cannot keep up with their fusion speed.
The reason why the spellcasters are so passionate about their work is mainly because they want to practice and cultivate at the sacred place created by Zhang Wei. That is a treasure land that can increase the speed of mana accumulation several times!
The sacred place of practice is actually an enhanced version of the Gather Spirit Talisman, which requires the use of gems to embed a one-meter-square pattern of the Gather Spirit Talisman, and then Zhang Wei Dao infuses true energy to activate it. Ever since this new usage was discovered, there is no need to waste precious leaves of the World Tree anymore, and more life-saving Gold Armor Talismans can be drawn.
Many assassins have accumulated a large number of points, waiting to exchange for this life-saving talisman.
Zhang Wei controls many mines, and gemstones are really abundant. He even turned the soul-summoning flag into a formation version, so he doesn't have to pay attention to it anymore. The spirits in the soul-summoning flag have sufficient soul power and are constantly wandering around, causing the shaman priests to come and check all the time.
It's fortunate that shamans are not the kind of evil individuals like warlocks. They are just curious about how spirits can exist for a long time, so they carefully observe and satisfy their curiosity before letting the spirits leave.
Oil drilling platforms built in shallow seas have begun producing oil. Every day, merfolk pass by to bring the oil to the port, where goblin technicians send people to retrieve it and refine it into energy blocks. Now, engineering in this field can be self-sufficient. Of course, trade with goblins is still necessary as there are many areas that need to be filled with trade. After all, the western wilderness focuses on food and heavy industries.
Zhang Wei walked down from the mountaintop, and the upper and lower ring areas are connected by a relatively gentle slope. Although it is called a slope, the incline is actually very small. Even if you fall to the ground, you won't roll all the way down, just like the ramp of an overpass.
Considering safety, the ramps connecting the different levels are staggered to prevent enemies from easily reaching the summit. However, as per Zhang Weidao's request, the ramps are not too far apart, as there is no need to excessively pursue defensive effectiveness. Offense is the best defense.
When standing on top of the port and watching the construction of the giant ship, it feels impressive. However, when you come to the bottom of the port, it's a completely different experience. The hull, reaching as high as twenty stories of a building, gives a feeling of being overwhelmed by a mountain. The spellcasters clinging on it appear like tiny insects. These skilled and daring mages and shamans don't seem to be bothered by the height, just like construction workers on Earth, working leisurely.
However, the construction workers have safety ropes to protect them, and they are also fearless. These spellcasters are impossible to fall to their deaths, unless they are first knocked unconscious and then thrown down.
Just now, a werewolf mage used levitation magic, and with his claws he climbed up to the higher level of the scaffolding in a swift motion, just like an assassin. The differences between different races and professions are truly significant – if it were a human mage, they would not have such nimble movements. Underneath the ship's shadow, there are fishman spellcasters in charge of handling things. As long as they don't expose themselves to the sun for too long, they can endure for a long time. If they are low on water, they just jump into a big water barrel to replenish themselves.