Chapter 592 - 372: Comprehending the Nascent Burning Steel Soul Domain (Part 2)

Chapter 592: Chapter 372: Comprehending the Nascent Burning Steel Soul Domain (Part 2)

However... before any of that, the most important thing was to transform the habitat.

In the Withered Desert, beside a large oasis known as Green Tears.

This was one of the few large oases within the Withered Desert. The people decided to build the Tri-Race Alliance’s first city right here, next to it.

The colossal Grey rested beside the oasis’s vast lake.

Meanwhile, over a hundred kilometers away in the Gobi Desert, a construction team of Low Level Beastmasters from Yunlan Space was starting a fire to cook a meal. Several elderly men and women, whose Spiritual Power progressed at a crawl, had also joined the group.

"Mee~ mee~ da-da~"

An adorable, rabbit-shaped Soul Beast stood before a massive wok. It wore a white apron around its belly, a surgical mask on its face, and even a helmet on its head. With surprising ease, it wielded a giant spatula—one that would normally require a strong adult man using both hands—and focused on stir-frying a huge, fragrant pan of egg fried rice.

A circle of elderly men and women had gathered around to watch, along with a gaggle of children. The kids were especially fascinated by the big, chore-doing rabbit. A few tried to get closer but were held back by their parents.

Several years ago, Han Ning had rescued a large number of humans from the Broken Insect Continent. Among them were elders in their seventies and eighties, as well as a few newborn infants.

After living comfortably in Yunlan Space for a few years, the older folks had learned the Spiritual Meditation Technique. They formed contracts with a few functional Soul Beasts of relatively average Talent, which helped slow the aging process.

The infants had grown into children who could run and jump, and they remained curious about everything around them. These children were the first generation of humans native to this Otherworld.

"Grandpa, is... is that a Soul Beast too? I’ve never seen a Soul Beast that can cook before!"

"It’s a big rabbit! And it knows how to cook!"

"You know, Old John, I have to admit, the rice this big, fluffy cat is making smells amazing."

An old man with a shovel over his shoulder sniffed the air, his nose twitching at the aroma wafting from the wok. He couldn’t help but swallow as he spoke to an even older gentleman next to him.

"It’s not a cat or a rabbit. I just looked it up on the app. It’s called a Sosha Doll, a very rare type of Demon Spirit Attribute Soul Beast."

The man they called Old John, wearing a pair of reading glasses, squinted as he scrolled through his phone and read the information aloud.

"Sosha Doll, Demon Spirit Attribute Soul Beast... Inhabits lush, vibrant forests..."

Before Old John could finish, the other old man exclaimed boisterously:

"Quick, look! It’s Han Ning! You almost never see him around."

Old John looked in the direction the other man was pointing.

He saw Han Ning standing at the foot of a cliff, holding a blueprint. He was directing the majestic, crimson-scaled Giant Dragon as it effortlessly lifted a massive boulder—weighing hundreds of tons at least—and tossed it into a corner, out of the way.

"...That’s... that’s like something out of a legend, Moving Mountains and parting seas."

The old men gasped in awe, quickly raising their phones to record the sight of Egg Pancake moving the boulder.

Not far away, in a relatively secluded corner, several fragrant dishes sat on a square metal table.

"Come on, Xiaohan, have a taste of what our chefs made! I’m telling you, the masters cooking today are all award-winners from national culinary competitions. Their food is fast, delicious, and smells incredible. Go on, try some!"

A middle-aged man in dusty gray work clothes said with a hearty laugh as he poured Han Ning a glass of the tasty fruit juice produced in Yunlan Space.

The man’s name was Zhao Gu. He was one of the transmigrators who had arrived with Liu Mengting and had been a key technical expert in a national construction department back home. He was considered a veteran member of the Tri-Race Alliance.

After arriving on the Insect Continent, he had developed a passion exclusively for Earth Type Soul Beasts. He now had contracts with four of them, all Earth Type, and had devoted himself completely to the work of environmental transformation.

The housing layouts and structural designs in Yunlan Space, as well as the town planning for the Deep Sea Valley, were all his handiwork.

This time, Dean Wu had entrusted Old Zhao with a major responsibility: to transform the terrain in the southern region of the future city. His job was to make the landscape more suitable for construction, farming, and providing a habitat for weaker Soul Beasts of various Attributes.

"I can get it myself, Brother Zhao. You and the other gentlemen just go ahead and eat."

Han Ning accepted the cup from Old Zhao with a flattered expression. He took a sip of the iced fruit juice, then picked up his chopsticks, grabbed a bite of fish-fragrant shredded pork, and popped it in his mouth.

It was tangy, spicy, and delicious, with a perfect balance of salty and sweet that made him want another bite immediately. The seasoning was so well-balanced that even he, someone who wasn’t used to spicy food, found it perfectly acceptable.

"Not bad at all. It’s delicious."

He nodded in satisfaction, set down his chopsticks, cleared his throat, and asked:

"Brother Zhao, just tell me what you need me to do later. I don’t know the first thing about terraforming, so I’m just here to provide the muscle."

’That’s right.’ With Fei Lin in a state of Cultivation, Han Ning had found himself with some free time, so Dean Wu had assigned him to help Old Zhao deal with some of the more difficult terrain.

After all, only a massive Soul Beast like Egg Pancake had the power to shift mountain ranges and excavate the desert.

Old Zhao looked away from the construction site and cordially refilled Han Ning’s glass. "Well," he began.

"According to the plan, we’ll first transform ten thousand square kilometers of this gobi into plains. Then we’ll plant a massive amount of greenery to attract large numbers of Wood and Water Type Soul Beasts."

Old Zhao explained, recalling the transformation plan they had decided on in their meetings.

"Wood Type Soul Beasts are the foundation of any forest. Once we introduce a group of them, they’ll quickly expand the forest’s boundaries, gradually changing the local ecosystem. The ’breathing’ of the forest will induce rainfall, which in turn will improve the arid desert conditions."

"Transforming an environment isn’t as simple as just having a powerful Soul Beast unleash a few elemental Soul Techniques. We have to ensure that life can actually survive and thrive here. Otherwise... it’s all just a lifeless facade, a dead zone."

"Only the activity of life can bring true vitality!"

Old Zhao took a sip of his drink, his eyes glinting with a bright light. His expression was filled with anticipation for the future.

...

After a quick meal, while the construction team was still moving equipment into place, Han Ning had Egg Pancake fly him to the gobi in the northern part of the transformation zone to survey the area.

Of course, professional surveyors had already scouted the environment. The chosen location was deemed highly suitable for the construction of a city.

They were in the northern part of the conservation area.

Below them stretched a vast, rolling gobi. Taller vegetation was almost nonexistent; there were only sparse clumps of shrubs and the classic weathered rock formations typical of a desert.

For the next half hour, Han Ning remained on Egg Pancake’s back, flying over the transformation zone and committing the general lay of the land to memory.

He took a deep breath of the hot desert air, then had Egg Pancake fly him back to their starting point.

"Xiaohan, you’re back. We’re all set. Let me tell you what we need you to do."

Old Zhao was an efficient man. Once he was in work mode, he was like a different person—no wasted words. He pointed north, toward the source of the ceaseless, gusting winds.

"First, I need your Giant Dragon to go five hundred kilometers north and create a continuous range of rock mountains tall enough to block these gales. The constant wind is seriously hampering our progress. The mountains will also trap the moist air blowing in from the sea on the other side. By concentrating the water vapor in front of the range, we can gradually increase rainfall in this area, raise the humidity, and lower the temperature."

"After that... unleash its Fire Attribute Soul Techniques. Hmm... start by incinerating everything within a six-hundred-kilometer radius to level the terrain into a plain."

"Once those two steps are done, we’ll need to cool the soil. The Water Type Soul Beasts will douse it with plenty of water, and then the Earth Type Soul Beasts will move in to compact the ground."

"That’s pretty much the task list for today. By tomorrow, I want to see these unsightly cliffs gone, replaced by a vast, endless plain!"