Chapter 46: Heavenly Garment Workshop (2)

[Congratulations. You have met the employment needs of 8,156 people. You have received 8,156 points.]

[Congratulations. You have established a yellow-grade Heavenly Garment Workshop. You have received 5,000 points.]

Zhaoge now had a registered population of 11,580 citizens, and Chi Yixuan had basically arranged for all of them to fill various positions. Those who could do physical labor had all gone to build city walls and houses. Those with slightly less strength made furniture, wove mats, and so on. Even the weaker ones had work like washing dishes and vegetables. Even so, he still had not managed to receive points that matched the population count.

But Chi Yixuan was already quite satisfied. After all, they had to subtract over a thousand early residents, then subtract those who were too young, too old, or too physically weak. This labor participation rate was already very high.

He went into the Heavenly Garment Workshop and strolled around.

The Heavenly Garment Workshop had been built beside the Artifact Refining Workshop, relatively close to the warehouse. Its floor space, however, was larger than the Artifact Refining Workshop and Medical Workshop combined. It included seven functional areas: the silkworm room, the silk-reeling room, the weaving room, the dye house, the embroidery room, the finished-clothing exhibition area, and the main hall. Each functional area was about twenty square meters, like a small studio that had everything it needed.

Naturally, the unlock requirements for the Heavenly Garment Workshop were higher than those for the Artifact Refining Workshop and the Medical Workshop. The spirit stones alone had increased fivefold, and the required yellow-grade materials were several times more than for the previous two workshops. Fortunately, Chi Yixuan had previously dug away the entire Half-Moon Gorge. He was not short on yellow-grade materials now, so he smoothly built the Heavenly Garment Workshop.

Ma Hongxuan and Fan Huilan were following beside him at this moment, their faces also filled with curiosity and amazement toward the Heavenly Garment Workshop.

Ma Hongxuan said, “The Heavenly Garment Workshop will need at least one shopkeeper and two assistants. In addition, there should be at least two embroidery workers, weavers, silk reelers, silkworm keepers, and dyers. That makes thirteen people.”

Chi Yixuan thought, Thirteen people isn’t many at all. It would be best if even more came, so we could solve more people’s employment. After all, our Zhaoge is supposed to achieve the great goal of a hundred thousand people before the New Year!

But seeing the two of them looking as if they were carefully calculating every coin, Chi Yixuan silently closed his mouth.

Fan Huilan loved the silkworm room so much she could barely put it down. “This is perfect. The ice silkworms we bought before can finally be moved in!”

Chi Yixuan felt quite proud of this. After all, this was a game product, and his game had undergone local improvements. The silkworm room it produced could satisfy the silkworm babies’ living needs to the greatest extent.

For example, ice silkworms required meticulous care. Otherwise, they would not spin silk, form cocoons, or lay eggs. They had requirements for the humidity, temperature, spiritual qi, and even lighting of their environment. In this silkworm room, a skylight had been opened in the center to provide light. It came with a small magic artifact that maintained a constant temperature, though it consumed one spirit stone each month. There was also a mulberry tree in the courtyard specifically meant as food for the ice silkworms. For ice silkworms, it was a very comfortable environment.

Mentioning this reminded Chi Yixuan of something. “Right, how is that little girl?”

Fan Huilan smiled. “Don’t worry, boss. She has already arrived.”

…

Xingchun carried large bundles and small bundles on her back. Following that miraculous fragrant-grass road, she stumbled and struggled all the way until she finally reached Zhaoge.

Normally, she would never have dared set foot in the Nameless Desert. But today, she had gotten up very early and crouched by the city gate, waiting until she found a team of practitioners heading to Zhaoge. Then she followed closely behind them step by step.

That team of practitioners were all women. After discovering that Xingchun was following them, they merely glanced at her and paid no more attention. They neither spoke to her nor drove her away. But this behavior itself was a form of silent care.

So when they stopped to rest at noon, Xingchun took out several talisman papers and used stones to weigh them down, arranging them in a circle around the group.

The desert was scorching hot, but once the talisman papers were laid out, they brought a trace of coolness.

Only then did the team of practitioners finally look at her properly and ask what she was carrying on her back, for it was such a huge bundle.

Xingchun’s bundle was very, very large. She was small as well, so when she walked along the road, she looked like a giant bundle that had turned into a spirit and grown two extra legs, or like a tortoise carrying an enormous shell. Just looking at her made the journey seem difficult.

Xingchun took the initiative to untie the bundle and show them. Inside were clothes, bedding, and some wrapped-up pots, bowls, ladles, and basins. Embarrassed, she said, “My family is poor, and I couldn’t bear to throw anything away, so I had to bring it all.” Hope appeared on her face. “I heard that Zhaoge is short of people, and as long as I register as a household, I can settle there. Then I won’t have to buy these things again.”

The women saw that she was pitiful, so whenever they encountered yao beasts along the way, they would stand in front and help her deal with them.

Xingchun, in turn, stuffed them with a pile of her unsold talisman papers.

“How strange. There are far fewer yao beasts in the desert than before.”

“I heard Zhaoge’s Xuanyuan Guards come out every day to patrol and hunt. Maybe they cleared them out!”

As they chatted, they picked up speed in the afternoon. When they saw that Xingchun was panting and could no longer keep up, one of them lifted her up together with the enormous bundle.

The woman said impatiently, “You little bean sprout, you’ve got some nerve. You don’t have a few ounces of flesh on you, yet you dared come into the desert. Move faster. If we still haven’t reached Zhaoge by nightfall, the sandworms could suck you into a dried skin.”

Xingchun was somewhat frightened. She hugged the woman’s arm tightly and loudly promised, “Sister, I will definitely repay you in the future.”

That person did not care. Holding Xingchun and her pile of belongings, she ran forward. Xingchun knew the woman did not care, and she did not know whether she would have the ability to repay her in the future. But whether or not she could do it, verbal gratitude could absolutely not be lacking. This was the upbringing her mother had given her.

It was very easy to lose one’s direction in the desert.

However, the single winding green road across this yellow land was the best marker. Along the way, they encountered many other people also heading to Zhaoge. Some were walking, some rode horses or camels, some traveled alone, some in groups, and some dragged their families with them. Guided by this fragrant-grass road, not a single person lost their way. All of them arrived at Zhaoge before evening.

Yet after reaching the place, no one showed joy or relief. Everyone frowned, their expressions not very good. Xingchun was put down. She lifted her head and looked at the tall wall before her, revealing a bewildered expression.

At the end of the fragrant-grass road was a very, very tall wall, even taller than Silver City’s city wall.

“What’s going on? When did another wall appear here? It wasn’t here the last time I came!”

“Wasn’t Zhaoge supposed to be in a valley? Where’s the valley?”

“Could it be that Zhaoge no longer lets people in? Did we come all this way for nothing?”

“What are we supposed to do?”

Xingchun followed everyone blankly, struggling along with her huge bundle on her back as she squeezed into the ever-growing crowd. Suddenly, she heard someone shout, “There’s no wall on this side!”

So the crowd surged toward that place.

“So Zhaoge no longer allows outside practitioners to freeload spiritual qi. They’re planning to build a city and enclose the oasis.”

“That’s fine too. We were originally planning to register as residents of Zhaoge anyway. I just don’t know what conditions there are for registering in Zhaoge now.”

Listening to the discussions around her, Xingchun felt her little heart tighten.

Zhaoge was indeed building city walls. Almost all the residents in the valley had thrown themselves into this endeavor with great enthusiasm. Part of the main materials used to build the city wall were stone purchased from merchants, while the other part was stone Chi Yixuan had brought out from Half-Moon Gorge. The latter was mainly used for key places such as the city gate and watchtowers.

The two sisters, Tie Di and Gang Qin, were currently being led around the construction site by Qiu Ping’an.

Qiu Ping’an introduced, “The width of the city wall was calculated long ago. This is the first wall. The top of the wall must be able to fit three horses running side by side. In the future, when we build further outward, every wall will add one more horse.”

The two sisters were very surprised. “You’re building it that wide? Then couldn’t you build houses on top of the city wall?”

Qiu Ping’an laughed. “The thicker the city wall, the harder it is for enemies to break in. Isn’t that good? And I heard Fengcheng’s city walls are also very thick!”

Tie Di thought that without the protection of an array, no matter how thick a city wall was, it could not block a single strike from a cultivator. Then she thought of how this place was that senior’s territory. It was impossible that he had not made preparations. So she did not think further.

The two of them did not know that there was also an intention here to increase the workload and provide employment for more people. They only assumed this was the mortal world, and that Senior Chi wanted to follow local customs.

Qiu Ping’an also took the two sisters to look at the stone materials. Unlike the ordinary stone piled around the construction site, these stone materials were surrounded by tall fencing, and people were guarding them. At a glance, the two sisters could tell that these stones emitted a faint spiritual light. They were all yellow-grade materials!

Yellow-grade materials were not precious and were very common in the Immortal Continent markets, but for there to be so many of them, and for them to be used on a city wall, that was a huge expense!

The two sisters did not know that this had come from hollowing out the entire Half-Moon Gorge, then processing it again in the Artifact Refining Workshop. The two of them quietly murmured a few words.

“Senior Chi really is wealthy and imposing!”

“And he’s actually willing to use them on a city wall. Perhaps to him, these are just ordinary rocks by the roadside!”

“This is good too. Since we are relying on the senior’s protection, at least we don’t have to worry about cultivation resources.”

Their occasional whispers fell into Qiu Ping’an’s eyes. On the surface, Qiu Ping’an smiled cheerfully, but in his heart, he actually felt somewhat hostile toward these two sisters.

Before they came, the person with the highest cultivation in Zhaoge had been Brother Guo at the fourth level of Qi Refining. Next were Fan Huilan, Ma Hongxuan, and the others at the third level of Qi Refining. Everyone was one of their own, so naturally they were all of one heart, working together warmly and closely.

Before Tie Di’s group arrived, they had all hoped to raise their cultivation as soon as possible to make it easier to work for the boss. They had also urgently hoped that someone in the Xuanyuan Guards would reach the sixth level of Qi Refining or above. But they had never imagined that Zhaoge’s strongest practitioners would actually be the Tie Di sisters, who had joined halfway through!

This pair of sisters, who were not even nineteen, were both at the sixth level of Qi Refining! And among their younger sisters and brothers, many were at the second or third level of Qi Refining. That fifteen-year-old boy who was often running around was actually at the fourth level of Qi Refining too!

Just where had the boss found so many favored sons and daughters of heaven? Could they be from the Immortal Continent?

Once this group arrived, the Xuanyuan Guards’ combat strength simply became unwatchable. Recently, even Guo Qianshan had silently increased his cultivation time.

Qiu Ping’an felt even more anxious. After all, he himself was a true mortal who had not yet entered the Dao and had no life-bound artifact. Guo Qianshan and the others could at least work hard at cultivation, but he had no cultivation to work at whatsoever. So he could only desperately do his tasks every day, hoping that he would not be pushed down by others.

Qiu Ping’an brought them to the planned city gate location and cupped his hands. “Recently, there have been too many practitioners trying to enter Zhaoge. I fear they will be difficult to manage, so I can only trouble you both.”

Tie Di smiled. “We are all colleagues. Head Steward Qiu, there is no need to be so courteous.”

Gang Qin said, “Don’t worry. If anyone dares to cause trouble, I’ll use my zither strings to sever his neck.”

Qiu Ping’an jumped in fright and hurriedly said, “There’s no need to go that far. Our boss does not like killing. Just severing their hands and feet as a warning will be enough.”

The two sisters naturally nodded with smiles. Even after Qiu Ping’an had walked far away, he still felt a chill crawling over his body. He thought, Brother Guo, Brother Ma, Sister Fan… you all had better work harder and surpass them soon. Otherwise, the position of favored person at the boss’s side is going to be snatched away by these two sisters!

On the other side, the two Tie Di sisters had tied blue cloth strips around their arms and stood at the entrance, staring at the practitioners waiting in line. Whenever the practitioners were swept by their gazes, they all involuntarily clenched their buttocks.

They had just heard those words about severing necks and severing hands and feet. So the practitioners who had been constantly cursing because of the line also quieted down. At such a young age, they were already at the sixth level of Qi Refining. No one wanted to offend them.

Under the supervision of the two Tie Di sisters, the order of the line became even better than before.

Tao Dacheng, who was in charge of document registration today, let out a sigh of relief.

After Zhaoge’s reputation spread, more and more practitioners wanted to enter Zhaoge. Among them, there was no shortage of those at the fourth and fifth levels of Qi Refining. The new recruits within the Xuanyuan Guards were only at the first or second level of Qi Refining and simply could not hold the scene down.

…

“You all know you can’t hold the scene down!”

On the drill ground inside the valley, Wan Tianyou was training the new recruits. “You, you, and you! What do you look like, hunching your chest and bowing your back like that? Forget those practitioners. Even some rotten little child wouldn’t be afraid after seeing you like this!”

“It doesn’t matter if your cultivation is low. When you encounter powerful practitioners, there is no need to be afraid either. You must remember, we are Zhaoge’s Xuanyuan Guards. We are guards under a Perfected One. People all say that even the doorkeepers of a prime minister rank as third-grade officials, and a prime minister isn’t even qualified to meet our boss. Are you telling me you aren’t even as good as a prime minister’s gatekeeper?”

“Bring out your presence! Don’t be afraid when things happen! Don’t be afraid even if you get beaten! The boss will back us up! No matter how powerful those practitioners are, can they be more powerful than our boss?”

“All of you, raise your heads and straighten your chests! Now tell me, are you afraid when you encounter high-level practitioners?”

“We’re not afraid!” the new recruits answered in unison.

Wan Tianyou walked up to a slightly short new recruit and loudly asked her, “Next time you encounter someone at the third level of Qi Refining, will you still be afraid?”

The little soldier at the first level of Qi Refining clenched her fists and shouted, “I won’t be afraid!”

…

“Next!”

Xingchun gripped the straps of her bundle tightly. Her palms were covered in sweat. She had lined up for a very long time, and only when night fell did she finally become second in line.

Standing in front of her was a broad-shouldered, thick-waisted man. The man claimed to be a practitioner at the second level of Qi Refining and wanted to enter Zhaoge to work.

The people of Zhaoge asked him some questions.

The big man’s voice rang out like a great bell as he said that he sincerely wanted to work for Zhaoge and was not doing it because Zhaoge had a spiritual vein that made cultivation convenient.

The person from Zhaoge waved his hand. “Go back for now! Come again in three days for selection.”

Someone nearby laughed. “You’re done for. That means you weren’t selected!”

The big man refused to accept it and said, “There’ll be another selection in three days! How do you know I won’t be selected?”

Someone answered him, “That’s exactly how I was screened out. Three days, then another three days. Who knows when I’ll be selected?”

“It was one thing not to be selected before. At worst, we could pitch a tent nearby and still freeload a little spiritual qi for cultivation. But now Zhaoge has enclosed the whole surrounding area. What meaning is there in staying here?”

“It’s only one spiritual vein. There are plenty in the Immortal Continent. I’m going to the Immortal Continent. Who cares about this place?”

Some people watched the show, some gossiped idly, and some grumbled and cursed in anger. But without exception, no one dared to make a move.

Xingchun pressed her lips together. Her dejection was visible to the naked eye. Even a second-level practitioner could not get in. What hope could I possibly have?

The big man in front left. Sitting behind the desk, Tao Dacheng saw her. The firelight of the torches flickered over the little girl’s face, making that small face look especially downcast.

Without much hope, she introduced herself. “I can clean, wash dishes, wipe floors, and cook. I can also serve people as a little maid… If I can enter Zhaoge, I will definitely work hard, do my tasks properly, and promise not to cause trouble…” The more she spoke, the more she felt she had no strengths at all.

Then she heard the young man say very gently, “Little girl, how old are you? What is your name?”

Xingchun thought blankly, He didn’t ask the person before me his name or age. Instinctively, she said, “Twelve. My name is Xingchun.”

When Tao Dacheng heard this, his pen paused. Surprised, he said, “So it’s you!”

Xingchun looked at him in confusion.

Tao Dacheng said to a teenage boy behind him, “This is her. Take her to the Heavenly Garment Workshop!”

The boy answered and signaled for Xingchun to follow.

Under the gazes of the surrounding people, some admiring, some confused, and some jealous, Xingchun carried her huge bundle and followed behind the boy.

The place where they had registered was beside the city wall. It was a construction site, messy and noisy. After they walked forward for a very long time, Xingchun finally saw a valley entrance. Beneath the bright lanterns, the two large words “Zhaoge” hung above it.

Walking further inside, the road paved with stone slabs was like a straight river, with countless branches splitting off on both sides and extending in different directions. At the ends of those branches were neat houses, bright shops, and lively lamplight.

There were women carrying baskets of vegetables home, children running past with kites and laughing merrily, men hurrying along with hoes on their shoulders, and elderly people stopping and walking with canes…

There were no stars visible in the sky. Perhaps they had all fallen into this place that made one yearn for it.

Xingchun could not look away. To be honest, this place was not more prosperous than Qingyun Street in Silver City, but it had a feeling that Qingyun Street could not compare to at all. Xingchun could not describe it. She only felt that it was very lively, and also very peaceful.

As the boy walked, he spoke to her. “My name is Jiujin. I’m an assistant at the Heavenly Garment Workshop now. The Heavenly Garment Workshop hasn’t started work yet, so these past few days I’ve been helping receive people at the entrance. You’re lucky. You got work as soon as you came in. A lot of people like you can only run errands everywhere and do odd jobs.”

Xingchun’s mouth was not clumsy, but at this moment, she did not dare speak, because she felt somewhat frightened in her heart. This pie that had fallen from the sky was so big it was choking her.

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