With the human race suffering one defeat after another on the battlefield and the demon-monster alliance pressing forward relentlessly, human territory dwindled, and the remaining population was squeezed together.
At this time, let alone cultivating immortal herbs or absorbing immortal energy, people would be content with just a place to stand.
The only remaining Jun Tian Realm was already overcrowded, with people packed shoulder to shoulder everywhere.
A casual fart in any corner could stink up a dozen people.
At this juncture, Zhang Yi fulfilled his promise, opening the entrance to the Jian Mu World and relocating a large number of people into it to alleviate the population pressure on Jun Tian Realm.
Any personnel who fought on the front lines had their relatives prioritized for entry into the Creation Jade Disk.
His Creation Jade Disk possessed rich spiritual energy and immortal power, making it the object of everyone's desire among the human race.
Moreover, thanks to the copious amounts of blood that had irrigated it, the Jian Mu World was constantly growing, its area expanding day by day, becoming ever more vast.
Upon entering the Jian Mu World, one would find a good living environment and be allocated a piece of land.
Now, not only were rogue immortals scrambling to enter the Jian Mu World, but even disciples from Yu Xu Palace and Qian Kun Palace were sending their relatives into Xiao Fei's space.
Xiao Fei did not object to this; he was now in the same boat as the entire human race, sharing in their prosperity and suffering their losses.
As long as everyone migrated their relatives into the Creation Jade Disk, from then on, even for their own self-interest, they would have to fight desperately to protect Xiao Fei and the safety of the Creation Jade Disk.
The more people entered the Creation Jade Disk, the safer Xiao Fei himself would be.
One day, Zhang Yi brought some tonics to visit the Yu Xu Palace Master, who was recovering from a severe injury.
"Disciple greets Master. Today, I have brought some ten-thousand-year-old healing immortal herbs, hoping they will be of some help to you."
The Yu Xu Palace Master, his complexion somewhat pale, joyfully accepted the large box of immortal herbs.
Although Golden Immortals could regenerate from severe injuries, each death incurred a significant cost, leading to a substantial decline in their strength.
They required a large amount of nourishing substances and a long period of recuperation to recover.
However, the human race now had little territory, and after fighting the demon-monster alliance for so many years, their resources were heavily depleted. Many treasures accumulated over the years had long since been exhausted.
The large box of ten-thousand-year-old immortal herbs that Zhang Yi presented was truly a timely gift.
"No good deed goes unpunished. You must have something else on your mind, boy. Speak up!"
The Yu Xu Palace Master smiled as he observed Zhang Yi.
He felt that taking Zhang Yi as his disciple was the wisest decision he had ever made.
"I need all the immortal stones of Yu Xu Palace."
The smile on the Yu Xu Palace Master's face froze.
"I cannot accept these immortal herbs. You should take them back!"
Zhang Yi's appetite was too great. Even as the Yu Xu Palace Master, he could not act arbitrarily and hand over all of Yu Xu Palace's immortal stones to Zhang Yi.
"These immortal herbs are merely a token of my filial piety to you, Master. Please accept them with peace of mind."
Xiao Fei quickly pushed the immortal herbs back.
"As for the immortal stones, I certainly won't take them for free. I will naturally ensure that everyone in Yu Xu Palace is convinced and willing."
"I am willing to exchange them at a price of one Earth Essence Pill for each immortal stone."
Xiao Fei confidently presented his bargaining chip, believing no one could refuse such an offer.
"Are you sure you want to use this price? You must know that one Earth Essence Pill now costs at least five immortal stones."
"I am certain. No matter how many immortal stones are exchanged, the transaction can be made at this price."
Xiao Fei nodded with absolute certainty.
His goal was to replace immortal stones with Earth Essence Pills, making them the new currency in the immortal realm.
Earth Essence Pills were low-grade elixirs that even Earth Immortals could consume, making them widely applicable and highly circulated.
Before the great war between the human race and the demon-monster alliance, the price of such pills was four immortal stones each. Now, due to material shortages, it had risen to five or six immortal stones.
The primary reason Xiao Fei chose to use this elixir was the massive surplus he had accumulated in his space.
For the newly generated Jian Mu Worlds, he had sown various immortal herb seeds to avoid waste, which naturally included a large quantity of materials for Earth Essence Pills.
If he possessed sufficient power and controlled the entire human race, he could forcibly decree that everyone hand over their immortal stones in exchange for Earth Essence Pills.
Lacking such absolute power now, he could only use benefits to entice everyone into voluntary exchange.
"Very well! As long as you can produce such a large quantity of Earth Essence Pills, Yu Xu Palace will exchange all its immortal stones with you."
The Yu Xu Palace Master immediately agreed to the transaction.
Subsequently, the Yu Xu Palace Master discussed Zhang Yi's plan with several major Immortal Lords within the palace, and it received unanimous approval.
These Immortal Lords then conveyed the plan to all disciples in the palace, garnering their support.
The exchange officially commenced, starting with large-scale transactions.
Yu Xu Palace had several large treasure vaults, containing immortal stones accumulated over the years.
This time, all the immortal stones from the treasure vaults were emptied, not a single one remaining, all exchanged for Earth Essence Pills.
These pills, with their wide range of uses, could completely serve as a hard currency, as precious as grain during wartime.
After exchanging the immortal stones in the vaults, it was the turn of each disciple's personal collection of immortal stones. Everyone lined up to make the exchange.
During this period, some individuals did not want Earth Essence Pills and wished to exchange them for other immortal elixirs or herbs. Xiao Fei satisfied all their requests.
He also promised everyone that in the future, they could use Earth Essence Pills as currency to purchase any goods from the merchant caravans managed by Xiao Youyi.
The exchange in Yu Xu Palace proceeded smoothly. It took Xiao Fei only one month to acquire all of Yu Xu Palace's immortal stones.
With this precedent set, subsequent negotiations with other human forces proceeded smoothly.
After all, it was a beneficial exchange, and everyone was happy to participate.
A few months later, immortal stones were no longer circulated among any human forces; instead, Earth Essence Pills took their place.
When people went out to purchase supplies, they exclusively used Earth Essence Pills for transactions.
Initially, some merchants refused to accept Earth Essence Pills due to the sheer volume they held.
However, Xiao Youyi was well-prepared and had already stocked a large amount of supplies to cope.
Anyone could use Earth Essence Pills to purchase the necessary supplies from his merchant caravans.
While the outside world was in full swing, Xiao Fei sat in his space, counting the immortal stones.
This time, he had exchanged all the human race's immortal stones, totaling just over seventy million.
Before the war, the quantity would have been much larger, but years of continuous warfare had resulted in immense consumption, coupled with repeated defeats, leading to significant losses.
This resulted in the current collection of only this much.
Xiao Fei estimated that to break through from the Immortal Lord realm to the Golden Immortal realm, he would need to prepare at least one hundred million immortal stones.
For safety, it would be best to have two hundred million.
What he had now was merely a fraction of that.
If all the immortal stones in the immortal realm were collected, it should be sufficient, but most of them were currently held by the demon-monster alliance.