Qingzhou, by the Firefly Sea.
At noon, a vast construction site was bustling with activity.
The scorching sun baked the nine-foot-high platform, leaving dark brown sweat stains on the ground. A million laborers toiled under the heat.
A huge banner hung above the construction site, with slogans like "Work for Relief" and "Free Grain Distribution" written on it.
Most of these laborers were refugees fleeing Qingzhou. After being taken in by Ghost Ridge Palace, they were sent to this construction site.
Since Ghost Ridge Palace provided food and lodging, and paid wages — quite substantial ones — it not only attracted refugees but also many local Qingzhou people eagerly joined the construction teams.
However, though there were many laborers, they could only perform the simplest tasks on the outskirts of the construction site.
Those truly involved in the core construction were the cultivators.
