The Gourmet Hunters were all dispatched to search the surroundings.
All hands were mobilized.
To speed things up, Zhang Wei directly hired the three major armies of the Nolan Empire to act as his accomplices and guides.
These guides were quite enthusiastic towards the countries that already had grievances with them.
And things proceeded smoothly. Ten days later, when Zhang Wei arrived at two human nations, everyone from the monarchs down came out to welcome him, showing him immense respect!
The local monarch said, "I have spies in the Nolan Empire, and I've heard about what you're doing. Rest assured, we can do anything the Nolan Empire can do, and we'll strive to do what they can't!"
"Don't worry, you don't need to bother yourself with domestic resources. I've already dispatched my subordinates to various parts of the country to help you collect all the necessary materials."
"According to my spies, you need elixirs, spiritual medicines, spirit beasts, cultivation methods, various classics, mid-grade and high-grade spirit stones, formations, and qi cultivation related items. Rest assured, anything related to these has been collected for you."
"Cultivators are undisciplined, and my control over the country is limited, so I can only collect about forty percent of the resources. I will also compile a list of the resources controlled by various major powers that I cannot obtain and give it to you."
"Additionally, the imperial capital has many treasures, no less than the Tongtian Spirit Treasures of the Nolan Empire. You can take them all if you are interested."
Zhang Wei was stunned.
Damn it!
This one is even more cooperative!
He had considered every aspect and acted in advance.
Zhang Wei guessed that perhaps this emperor genuinely had weak control over the empire and the sects were too strong. If he weakened them himself, he would never be able to control the borders, which was why he proactively offered this, and incidentally, weakened the various sects!
After the transaction, it was exactly as Zhang Wei had expected!
The resources in the imperial capital were less than 5 billion spirit stones, only a quarter of that of the Nolan Empire, and the collected resources from various places amounted to only 3 billion spirit stones. Meanwhile, the major sects controlled a staggering 18 billion spirit stones!
What a brilliant calculation!
However, since this guy was so cooperative, Zhang Wei decided to use him as an example. He immediately gave him more ingredients than the Nolan Empire and presented him with two portions of the Holy Bronze.
The Nolan Emperor, upon hearing this news, would likely be so angry he couldn't sleep at night.
The third country...
So it was!
The fourth country...
So it was!
The twelfth country, still the same!
Zhang Wei could hardly believe that these cultivation powers were so obedient!
On the Floating City, Zhang Wei calculated the amount of spirit stones to be replicated. He had replicated two kilograms of spirit essence in the Nolan Empire.
The second country, three and a half pounds...
The third country, one pound and four ounces...
...
In total, it was only twenty-five kilograms, still a rather small amount.
At this moment, representatives from the twelve empires arrived in succession, presenting Zhang Wei with the locations of the largest spirit stone mines in this world!
The imperial representatives said in unison, "This map records the habitats of all spirit beasts and demonic beasts in this world, as well as the distribution of mineral resources in these habitats!"
These maps were painstakingly obtained by explorers and spies from various empires, or by intelligence bought from demonic beasts.
Relatively speaking, demonic beasts far surpassed cultivators in the same tier and had longer lifespans. However, without the civilization of alchemy and artifact refining, their advancement was difficult.
Furthermore, the cultivation speed of demonic beasts was very slow, often requiring three times the time for a cultivator!
Zhang Wei looked at the maps and the borderlines on them.
"These demonic beasts seem to be outside of their territories..."
"Not controlled by humans..."
"Could it be that demonic beasts also form social civilizations?"
In this world, demonic beasts were also divided into ranks. Rank one corresponded to Qi Refining, ranks two, three, and four to Foundation Establishment, ranks five, six, and seven to Core Formation, and ranks eight, nine, and ten to Nascent Soul.
Demonic beasts above rank ten generally did not exist in this world, or they were in hiding, preparing to ascend to the Spirit Realm at any time.
"Spirit Realm... it should be like the Gourmet World, a higher-level resource world. However, based on the comparison between the mortal world and the cultivation world, the level of the Spirit Realm should be inferior to the Gourmet World!"
"The legendary Immortal Realm, where people are immortal and have infinite lifespans, is equivalent to cosmic-level beings, far more powerful than the Olympians. They should be at level 10,000 or higher."
Thinking of this, Zhang Wei's desire to travel through time became even stronger!
It took about three months to collect resources from the human empires. The Great Wilderness, ruled by demonic beasts, would take a bit longer, but if he hired soldiers from the human empires, it would be on a pay-as-you-go basis, and it shouldn't take too long either.
Collecting resources from the basic world was like lighting up an album; Zhang Wei found it quite interesting.
At Zhang Wei's call, 1.2 million Core Formation cultivators and 8,000 Nascent Soul cultivators were gathered from the various empires, an unprecedented planetary-level alliance!
It was a unity that the human empires had never seen before!
...
Zhang Wei looked at the pitiful young maiden before him, feeling a bit confused.
"Can this thing really be eaten?"
"Wouldn't eating something like this cause psychological trauma?"
"Why did the Treasure Bag give a notification sound for this thing."
Not only this beautiful deer-like maiden, but the first batch of samples sent back consisted of thousands of them, and this was only the result of raiding a small city.
One hundred and twenty million Core Formation cultivators fighting against thousands of demonic beasts of the same level... there was no room for escape. It only took fifteen minutes for a city to be destroyed. Many demonic beasts hadn't even realized what was happening before they became lambs to the slaughter.
Zhang Wei licked his lips and said, "The difference between Gourmet Cells and spiritual energy is this: Gourmet Cells grant invincible power, while spiritual energy offers infinite possibilities."
"Wild beasts that survived for many years by accumulating a large amount of spiritual energy gained the ability to further develop their brains under the nourishment of spiritual energy."
"This also allowed these demonic beasts to transform into human form and possess intelligence."
"However... roasting and eating something like this, it sounds horrifying no matter how you think about it."
One of the leaders of the rented army, the Prime Minister of the Nolan Empire, walked into the room and was about to report good news to Zhang Wei when he saw Zhang Wei looking troubled.
He couldn't help but ask, "My Lord City Lord, why do you look so dispirited?"
"It's nothing, it's just that I captured these things, intending to use them as ingredients for dishes, but their appearance makes me hesitant to start. Even if I forcibly cooked them and made them into dishes, their forms are too terrifying, making me lose my appetite."
The Prime Minister was taken aback.
He hadn't expected this omnipotent City Lord to be troubled by such a trivial matter.