Chapter 41: Population Passes Ten Thousand

Easternmost Continent, Zhaoge, inside a small residence.

Once Chi Yixuan had some free time to review things, he realized his life-bound artifact really did have a temper. It might always lavish him with praise, but when he thought about it carefully, it only did so when it was comforting him or when he had truly handled something well. At other times, when it offered him suggestions, whether he refused them or accepted them, the life-bound artifact always seemed very calm, as though it were steady and composed.

But it could talk back. It was also very good at making barbed remarks.

Thinking about it more closely, when it got sarcastic with him, it was either because he had been distracted and had not properly listened to it, or because he had deliberately teased it for fun.

“Sheesh, at first I thought you were just a praise machine!”

It had so much personality that he was almost too embarrassed to tease it again. Chi Yixuan deeply reflected on himself for a while, then cheerfully tossed the matter to the back of his mind.

He began studying the map and getting down to business.

First was the population. At present, Zhaoge had a total of 11,580 subjects. Last month, the average happiness level in Zhaoge had been above 90 points, allowing him to obtain a reward of more than a thousand points. This month, Zhaoge had added ten thousand new subjects, and the residents’ happiness level had consequently fallen to 60 points.

“When we hold the meeting this afternoon, I need to note this down. We have to make arrangements for the new residents as soon as possible, and also solve their employment problem. Otherwise, the happiness level won’t rise, and I won’t get the points reward next month.”

The points reward for residents’ average happiness level was tied to the number of people. For every resident whose happiness level passed, he could receive one point, and the passing score was above 80 points.

“That’s more than ten thousand points. I absolutely can’t let it slip by.”

Chi Yixuan decided that when they held the meeting in the afternoon, he would hand this problem over to his subordinates. As a qualified boss, he had to have confidence in his employees!

Second was Zhaoge’s income.

At present, Zhaoge’s revenue mainly relied on the Medical Workshop and the Artifact Refining Workshop. Both of these were yellow-grade workshops. The artifact-refining furnace could improve the quality of materials and magic artifacts with maximum efficiency, but it was limited to the yellow grade. The pill-refining furnace could refine pills far beyond the quality available on the market, but it was likewise limited to the yellow grade.

Yellow-grade pills were useful to both practitioners and cultivators, but yellow-grade armor was something cultivators looked down on. After all, it was not even as useful as protective spiritual light.

“The grade is too low. It’s fine for earning gold and silver circulated among mortals, but it can’t earn cultivators’ spirit stones.”

Although gold and silver were useful too, if Chi Yixuan wanted his cultivation to rise quickly, he had to keep expanding the population. And if he wanted to support such a large population and obtain the points reward from residents’ happiness level, he needed a great deal of money. If he wanted to get rich in a short time, he still had to look to those wealthy cultivator clans.

“If I could properly support one million subjects right now, I’d get one million points every month just from the reward...”

The abacus in Chi Yixuan’s heart clacked loudly, and his eyes immediately began to shine.

“Then I’d only need forty years to get five hundred million points! I’d easily become a great boss at the Dao Integration stage, and from then on I’d punch the Three Great Sects and kick the Nine Immortal Gates...”

Your Majesty, you currently have only ten thousand subjects.

“Sheesh! What’s that matter?”

Chi Yixuan did not take it seriously.

“I’ll set a small goal first. Before the new year, I’ll reach a population of one hundred thousand.”

Of course Chi Yixuan knew about the rumors outside that Zhaoge’s master was a Golden Core Perfected One. At first, he had not understood how the rumor had come about. After all, he had never told outsiders his cultivation level. Later, he learned that only a Golden Core Perfected One could suppress a Sea of Suffering Path.

Mortals could not see through how the Sea of Suffering Path here had been suppressed, but cultivators could. Otherwise, Song Dianlai would not have come swaggering right up to his door back then.

Chi Yixuan decided to tacitly accept this rumor and advance to Golden Core before next year. He also had to go to the immortal continent and look at the Sea of Suffering Paths suppressed by Golden Core experts to see how they did it, then hurry up and learn how to plug the loopholes.

Otherwise, it would be bad if someone discovered that “sealing” the Sea of Suffering Path was related to his life-bound artifact. Chi Yixuan was certain that his life-bound artifact was absolutely the strangest one in this world. He firmly could not draw the attention of powerful cultivators. He firmly could not let anyone snatch his life-bound artifact away.

He told the life-bound artifact this thought. The life-bound artifact was silent for a moment, then said, I am honored to have won Your Majesty’s favor.

Chi Yixuan: ???

The life-bound artifact offered a suggestion. The exit of the Sea of Suffering Path is still exposed. It needs something capable of blocking divine sense to cover it. I believe there is something in the sewer system that can help you.

Chi Yixuan first nodded. Only then did he let out an “ah.” What had the life-bound artifact said? The sewer system?

…

After two days and two nights of rain stopped, a stretch of lush green vines grew around Nameless Valley. The vines covered the slopes, encircling all of Zhaoge like a green ribbon. The twenty li of land nearby had also completely changed its appearance. The originally gray, sandy soil had become moist land covered in green grass and fresh flowers, and a few small trees had sprung up like bamboo shoots after rain. They were already as tall as an adult’s knees.

More than that, a sizable lake had appeared near the valley. Once the sun came out, the surface of the water glittered, making it exceedingly beautiful.

The residents in the valley all ran out to look, praising Zhaoge’s transformation as though they were admiring a miracle. When they had stayed in Zhaoge back then, none of them could have imagined this place would become a blessed land of excellent feng shui. Even the inner reaches of Luoxia Mountain did not have such fine scenery.

However, beautiful scenery drew admiration, and it also drew covetous eyes.

It was at this moment that two practitioners, both above the fifth level of Qi Refining, arrived at Zhaoge.

The Nameless Desert was no good place. Practitioners rarely came here. Those who managed to make their way here either had urgent business or were merchant caravans hoping to take a shortcut.

These two, however, had come specifically for Zhaoge. Originally, they were practitioners who traveled between Silver City and Luoxia Mountain. By day, they entered the mountain to temper themselves, and by night, they adjusted their breathing and cultivated in the city. From time to time, they took on commissions like gathering herbs or escorting people to earn some spirit stones, gold, and silver.

After reaching the seventh level of Qi Refining, they would head to the immortal continent, where they would seek an opportunity to break through to Foundation Establishment. If everything went smoothly, they could enter an immortal gate and continue cultivating.

This was the path most practitioners in Easternmost Continent would take, and also the steadiest path. Not everyone could reach Foundation Establishment in a barren place like Easternmost Continent. They could only head to the immortal continent early to seek opportunities.

These two had always been pragmatic. The Nameless Desert had nothing but sand and insects, and its spiritual qi was so thin it was practically nonexistent. Although a place called Zhaoge had recently made something of a name for itself, with the Sea of Suffering Path at its side, they had not had the slightest desire to investigate.

That lasted until yesterday, when that rain and that road appeared. They observed for an entire night, then walked into the Nameless Desert at dawn.

These two were brothers. The elder brother was a tall, thin middle-aged man with a small wisp of beard. His name was Wei Huo. The second brother was a fair-skinned fatty named Wei Hai.

Along the way, the two of them tacitly avoided stepping on that “Fragrant Grass Road.” Instead, they followed along beside the road, which had already attracted butterflies, all the way to Zhaoge.

Once they truly arrived at Zhaoge, the two broadened their horizons. Especially as they drew closer, the feeling of active spiritual qi grew stronger. The brothers exchanged a look, and both were ecstatic.

So the transformation in the Nameless Desert had actually happened because a spiritual vein had appeared!

“Not only that. For the change here to be so great, this spiritual vein must be extraordinary. The feeling is even more obvious than when I went to Fengcheng back then.”

“They say Fengcheng has a yellow-grade spiritual vein. Could this one be the legendary mystic grade?”

The brothers exchanged their guesses. Their breathing quickened, and desire and greed could not help showing in their eyes.

What practitioner did not yearn for spiritual qi? Who did not covet advancement?

So long as one sincerely sought the Dao and longevity, one would never miss such a blessed place.

The two quickly approached. With every step, they inhaled deeply, as though every extra breath, every harder breath, was a huge profit. Their behavior naturally attracted the attention of the Xuanyuan Guard.

Zhaoge’s population had expanded too quickly, and the number of Xuanyuan Guard had also expanded from the original ten to fifty. They had all been selected from residents who had summoned life-bound artifacts.

There were men and women among them. Each wore the same standard blue, narrow-sleeved martial outfit, with a vest of protective armor over it, and held a long spear in hand. They looked somewhat imposing. Seeing these two oddly behaving practitioners, their faces turned stern, and they shouted, “What are you doing?”

Wei Huo and Wei Hai swept them with a glance and discovered that these Zhaoge guards were all merely at the first level of Qi Refining. At first, they looked down on them a little. But in the next moment, they noticed that these people were all quite young, most of them around twenty, with a few still carrying a touch of childishness and clearly not yet adults. They could not help being startled.

Easternmost Continent’s spiritual qi was barren, and because of that, it was far inferior to the immortal continent when it came to summoning life-bound artifacts. The vast majority of people only possessed their own life-bound artifact after reaching adulthood. But that did not mean one could summon a life-bound artifact simply by becoming an adult. Some people worked hard their entire lives, only summoning their life-bound artifact when they were old and frail. Some exhausted tremendous effort and only finally managed to enter the Dao in middle age. Others, before death, had only one hope: to see what their own life-bound artifact looked like.

Someone who could summon a life-bound artifact as soon as they reached adulthood could already be considered quite talented. Such a person would most likely be able to reach the seventh level of Qi Refining before middle age and head to the immortal continent. Wei Huo and Wei Hai were exactly this kind of person. They were not yet thirty-five, and their cultivation was already close to the sixth level of Qi Refining. They had always been proud of this.

They had not imagined that Zhaoge’s guards would all be young practitioners. Thinking of the master behind Zhaoge, and thinking of these guards’ futures, they put away the contempt in their eyes and said politely, “May I ask, is this Zhaoge?”

The captain of this Xuanyuan Guard squad was a young woman named Xia Youxin. In truth, she had only been selected into the Xuanyuan Guard a few days ago. But Zhaoge’s affairs had been extremely busy these two days, so she had been appointed squad captain and was leading a group of new soldiers, who had also only just taken up their posts, on patrol around the valley. Their main task was to maintain order and prevent outside practitioners from secretly uprooting Zhaoge’s flowers, plants, and trees.

Hearing the question, Xia Youxin lowered her long spear and said proudly, “Besides Zhaoge, what other place could build an oasis in the desert?”

Wei Huo then said, “We heard that Zhaoge is short of manpower, so we brothers wished to come seek a position.”

When he said this, the two of them lifted their chins slightly, their faces carrying a trace of arrogance. After all, they were formidable figures at the fifth level of Qi Refining. As for the stewards Zhaoge had handling affairs outside, they had heard none of them were even at the fourth level of Qi Refining. With talents like them arriving, would the current people in charge of Zhaoge not joyfully welcome them inside?

The two brothers had already discussed it. They had not truly come to Zhaoge to work. They simply wanted to use this chance to mooch off Zhaoge’s spiritual qi for cultivation. They did not even want positions that were too high. Ideally, they would get jobs with little work and many spirit stones, allowing them more free time to raise their own cultivation.

However, what they had not expected was that Xia Youxin’s squad’s average level was too low. She could not see through their cultivation at all. Hearing this, she calmly pointed toward a spot not far away.

“Oh, you’re here to apply for work. Go line up over there! We in Zhaoge aren’t short of people anymore. We’re only taking ten. Compete for the posts!”

With that, they continued their patrol without looking back, leaving the Wei brothers with ashen faces as they stared at the long queue of several hundred people not far away.

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