166: Sycamore tree

"What position are you planning to promote Zhang Hong to?"

Zhang Xile spread his hands: "Currently, the highest position in the Tianfu Army within the base is Captain of a thirty-person squad. After all, there are only so many people. Any higher and it would be me. So my plan is to first let Zhang Hong serve as Captain. After a period of time, and a thorough evaluation, if he proves capable, we can allocate some C-grade experience stones from the treasury to cultivate him to Level 3."

The treasury, naturally, refers to Zhang Xile's level five shelter. Currently, Zhang Xile is also the head manager of the base, overseeing the base's treasury, which contains items like immortal grass, contribution points currency, and ordinary extraordinary weapons and tools.

Tang Ping nodded: "Remember to also properly cultivate Zhang Hong's daughter."

"Also," Tang Ping's eyes gleamed, "it's time to put the matters of the Heavenly Mansion Pavilion on the agenda."

"Brother Tang, you're finally going to establish it!" Hearing about the Heavenly Mansion Pavilion, Zhang Xile immediately became so excited that he was teary-eyed.

"Do you have any candidates in mind yet?"

"Elder Hai, who previously helped me manage the base, is excellent. His abilities are very strong, and his identity before the apocalypse was definitely not ordinary. I was able to manage seven or eight hundred people thanks to his help," Zhang Xile said solemnly.

Tang Ping nodded: "Then he'll be one for now. Also your grandfather will be one. And that kid Meng Ziyi, though a bit young, should also be included to participate in base affairs as soon as possible. We don't expect him to achieve anything significant right now, just to gain more experience."

"When do you plan to establish it, Brother Tang?"

"No rush. The base's population is still not very large, so the management pressure isn't too great yet."

"Still not many?" Zhang Xile immediately looked distressed. "Brother, you just keep working me. If you work me to death, where will you find such a loyal little fanboy!"

"The capable do more!"

"I can't."

"You can." Tang Ping narrowed his eyes and smiled.

"Okay, okay, I can! Is that enough!" Zhang Xile conceded.

The Heavenly Mansion Pavilion is an organization Tang Ping created, combining future and present considerations, specifically to serve the base.

It's somewhat similar to the Grand Secretariat of an ancient dynasty, but with significant differences.

Because in Tang Ping's vision, the identities of the people in the Heavenly Mansion Pavilion must be absolutely confidential, even from each other. Once someone's identity is exposed, they will immediately be expelled from the Heavenly Mansion Pavilion.

Their task is solely to handle the affairs of the Tianfu Base and to make the most reasonable plans for the base.

As for identity confidentiality, Tang Ping has many ways to achieve it, such as a certain Shelter facility, the Council Hall, which is a very good item.

It only requires binding a person to a chair, and when a council meeting is needed, that person's consciousness can directly descend to participate in the meeting.

Tang Ping has been keeping an eye on this facility in the trading zone these past few days; it's not a very difficult item to acquire.

After leaving that place, Tang Ping returned to the mountaintop. The peach tree had grown quite a bit taller. However, Tang Ping controlled the peach tree, temporarily choosing not to continue expanding its territory outwards to acquire uncontaminated soil. The current base was already sufficient; too much would only drag the base down. Once enough accumulation is achieved in the future, it would be more convenient to directly construct the second ring.

Opening the Five Poisons Nest, he checked the condition of the Heavenly Calamity Moth Gu. A layer of pupal casing had already shed, but the Heavenly Calamity Moth Gu was still inside the pupa.

"It seems this Infected Mother Queen embryo is good," Tang Ping thought to himself.

Several Gu Worms appeared in his palm.

"Tomorrow, I'll go into the mountains to collect some materials for refining Ghost Spider Gu, Golden Ring Wasp Gu Worm, and Red Heart Ant Gu."

...Boundary of Handong Province

In the center of a dilapidated small town, a wutong tree, seven or eight meters tall, suddenly burst into flames!

As the fierce flames burned, the wutong tree not only wasn't ignited but grew even more vigorously! At the same time, the persistent gray shadow shrouding its trunk rapidly faded under the flames.

Moreover, even the surrounding vegetation also grew under these fierce flames. Wherever the flames passed, the land and water sources returned to cleanliness. The range eventually covered the entire small town before slowly ceasing.

And this wutong tree had already grown from seven or eight meters tall to over thirty meters.

Suddenly, the fierce flames rolled back, finally retracting into the trunk. There, something like a heart began to beat.

Inside, it seemed something was gestating. As the beating sound grew louder and louder, a sudden shattering sound rang out!

A special life form, shaped like an infant and composed entirely of flames, was born.

This special life form looked towards the Forbidden Zone North Ridge, in the direction of the Thunder Realm.

Then it turned and swallowed; the thirty-meter tall wutong tree shrank to the size of a walnut and was devoured by the flame life form. Subsequently, this floating mass of flame transformed into a streak of light and headed towards the Thunder Realm.

As for this small town, the plants in the town had undergone some kind of transformation under that special flame, and were surprisingly able to resist the erosion of Corruption... Deep within the Forbidden Zone North Ridge

Taoyuan Lake

The sacred spirit peach tree, now over a hundred meters tall, bloomed with perennial peach blossoms. Petals drifted down, and countless plants, birds, and beasts transformed because of them.

And the entire valley where Taoyuan Lake was located remained completely unaffected by the contamination.

One side of the mountains in this valley was shrouded in a hazy gray, while the other side was like spring all year round, with blooming flowers and lush green vegetation—truly two extremes.

And in this mountain lived a group of people. This group of people lived alongside various wild beasts, and surprisingly, those wild beasts all had exceptionally lively eyes, completely unlike ordinary, ignorant wild beasts.

Under the peach tree, Tao Yumian opened her eyes and smiled: "What's wrong? Why are you suddenly so happy?"

The peach tree swayed, and its pleasure was clearly discernible.

Tao Yumian's eyes showed a hint of surprise: "Are you saying that one of your companions also succeeded?"

The peach tree continued to sway, scattering petals across the sky, seemingly celebrating for its good friend.

"Then congratulations to you. Perhaps there will be a chance for you to meet your good friend in the future."

Peach petals flew, the sacred spirit peach tree celebrated for its friend, petals drifted into the distance, and countless birds, beasts, insects, and fish cheered, joining this grand feast.

"The Sacred Tree seems very happy tonight." An elder in the mountain village looked towards the lake.

"Perhaps something good has happened again." An old woman nearby gently fanned a cattail leaf fan, chasing away the fireflies.

"Many wild beasts outside the mountain have already been Corrupted. I wonder what the world will become like," the old man suddenly sighed.

"Who knows? It's enough for us to protect this place," the old woman said casually.

"You old hag, your mentality is still so good."

"There's no other way if it's not good, is there?"

"Talking to you can infuriate a person to death."

"You're so old and you haven't died yet."

"..."

"This is bad, this is bad!" A middle-aged man ran over from not far away.

"Grandpa Jiang, Grandma Shangguan, another Corrupted Beast has broken in from outside!"

"It's just this small matter, why are you making such a fuss?" Old Man Jiang said displeased, stood up and patted his clothes, "Let's go. Disturbing my sleep, I'll slap these things to death."

He glared at the middle-aged man again: "It's all you useless lot. If any of you were capable and learned even a little bit from me, I wouldn't have to run around every day."

"Yes, yes, Grandpa Jiang is right." The middle-aged man flattered with a smile, but inwardly he complained that he did want to learn, but he also had to consider what era he was born in. What could he possibly learn back then?

Then, like a little follower, he went out with Old Man Jiang.