Xiao Fei now controlled five cities through his conquests, with a total population of over 4,000 people under his rule.
If not for the significant losses sustained during the conflict with the black dogs, the population should have been over 5,000.
Since Xiao Fei had promised to distribute land to everyone and ensure they all had enough to eat, he could not break his word. This was the foundation for his long-term ability to win over hearts and minds.
To inspire people to fight for him, he had to make sacrifices himself.
Simply using words to deceive, without offering any tangible benefits, might work for a short period. However, over time, even fools would realize the need to eat and fill their stomachs.
For any living creature, eating and surviving were paramount.
For the past few days, Xiao Fei had been overwhelmed, working tirelessly to allocate land to the giants.
While he could rely on these giants to charge into battle for him, distributing land required counting and involved a great deal of mathematical calculation.
He searched all five cities, among the more than 4,000 people, but could barely find a few who could count.
Someone like Han Yi, who could count to one or two hundred and master basic addition and subtraction, was already considered a renowned scholar in the entire city.
Such individuals could walk with their chests puffed out.
With such mathematical skills, asking them to distribute land would be deliberately making things difficult for them.
In his desperation, Xiao Fei had to once again display some divine miracles, showcasing his astonishing mathematical talent.
He performed addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with ease, without even needing to count on his fingers or toes, calculating numerous complex problems in mere moments.
These were problems that the wisest elders among the giants had struggled with, racking their brains without finding solutions.
If Xiao Fei's earlier displays of strength had inspired fear, his current exhibition of superhuman talent made all the giants prostrate themselves in admiration.
Fortunately, there were only five cities and a population of over 4,000, so the calculations were not overly difficult.
Moreover, since the giants were illiterate, any minor errors or flaws he might have made would be inconsequential.
After toiling for over a month, Xiao Fei finally completed the land distribution.
Now, the more than 4,000 giants under his command had each received their corresponding share of land based on their population.
Since receiving their land, these giants spent their days guarding their plots, chuckling happily.
Of course, while distributing land to all the giants, Xiao Fei never forgot his original intention.
His primary goal upon arriving in the giant world was to make money, to advance his cultivation through wealth. This was his true purpose.
One must not forget their roots, and he was not one to do so.
Therefore, before distributing the land, he had already established a rule.
Each time the giants harvested, they needed to pay a fixed tax to Xiao Fei.
The remaining grain would belong to them.
All the giants had no objections to this requirement.
Paying a small tax was insignificant compared to receiving a piece of land for free.
However, collecting taxes was a gradual process with no immediate returns.
Xiao Fei rather wished he could collect taxes for the next thousand years all at once.
But the more than 4,000 people under his command were all poor wretches who could barely afford to eat. Having just received land, they had no surplus to offer, making them impossible to exploit.
One had to fatten the sheep before slaughtering them.
Currently, to earn significant money in the short term, the only option was to plunder the wealthy households of other cities.
Concurrently, several bandit groups operating in the giant realm also caught Xiao Fei's attention.
He preferred robbing bandits, as such actions were generally welcomed by the populace. He could act under the guise of eliminating harm to the people, and most importantly, bandits were more lucrative targets.
After distributing the land, Xiao Fei had been having people search for the whereabouts of the "One-Eared Bandits."
At the same time, he recruited 100 strong young giants in each city and trained them rigorously every day.
Now, the training matters no longer required Xiao Fei's personal attention; he could entrust it to Han Yi, who was capable of handling the task.
Xiao Fei finally had some free time. He set up a large iron pot in his space, tossed in several large chunks of black dog meat, filled it with spiritual spring water, and began simmering it over a high flame.
Dog meat, also known as fragrant meat, was not easily made to release its aroma.
The initial stages of simmering dog meat were similar to simmering ordinary chicken, duck, or pork; the fragrance would not be too intense. However, once it reached a critical point, the meat's aroma would suddenly erupt.
Xiao Fei burned some spiritual wood, brought the water in the pot to a boil, and then simmered it slowly over a low flame.
He continued to simmer it over a low flame until the forty-ninth day, when suddenly a rich, meaty aroma burst forth, permeating the entire space.
Finally, it was complete!
The flying fish, sleeping at the bottom of the lake, could not resist. It poked its head out of the water, sniffed, and immediately flew out, transforming into human form and approaching the large pot, looking on expectantly.
Xiao Fei scooped a large piece of meat from the pot, took a big bite, and was filled with fragrance, the juices overflowing.
"So delicious!"
Seeing this, Fei Yu also reached out, grabbed a large chunk, and began to chew and swallow it greedily.
Perhaps it was a psychological effect, but both felt that the taste of this celestial dog was extraordinary, more delicious than any delicacy they had ever eaten.
However, after only a few bites, the dog meat began to emit a rich celestial energy within Xiao Fei's body...
"Not good!"
Xiao Fei exclaimed, "Not good!" He immediately threw away the dog meat in his hand, daring not to eat any more.
At this moment, streams of celestial energy were automatically refined by his body into vast amounts of spiritual power. Xiao Fei's cultivation was rapidly increasing, and he could not stop it.
"Ah!"
He went mad, desperately unleashing various spiritual power-consuming divine abilities, hoping to deplete some of the spiritual power and prevent his cultivation from breaking through to the Integration stage.
However, the growth of his spiritual power did not cease, and the breakthrough in his realm was unstoppable.
"Boom!"
Finally, a muffled roar erupted within his body, and his realm completely broke through to the Integration stage.
The so-called Integration stage was when the soul and the physical body completely merged.
After he passed the critical point, he felt his body lighten, and his soul began to merge with his physical body.
Simultaneously, the Jade Disc within Xiao Fei's body began to stir again, drawing his spiritual power into him.
Xiao Fei had just broken through, and the meager spiritual power he had painstakingly accumulated was instantly depleted by the Jade Disc.
It was as if when he didn't want spiritual power, it was forced upon him.
Now, when he desperately needed a large amount of spiritual power, it was insufficient.
Xiao Fei opened several wooden chests filled with spirit stones in his space and reached his hand into them.
His hand instantly generated a powerful suction force, and the spiritual energy from the spirit stones surged into Xiao Fei's body. The spirit stones in the wooden chests all turned into white powder.
Then, he opened chest after chest of spirit stones, absorbing all the spiritual energy.
But this was far from enough; he needed more spiritual energy.
In this short period, he had already lost a considerable amount of weight. If he could not find more spiritual energy to replenish himself, he would be drained dry.