Matters involving two great powers are always like this. The negotiations alone took four years, and it will still take a long ti before the compensation is received. In the end, the majority of the compensation went into the hands of Cloud Ridge Prefecture City.
Only a very small portion was allocated to Jade Spirit, and that was rely because Wang Yu was directly involved. Had he not been quick-witted and sought assistance in ti, he would not even have made it to this stage.
The greater likelihood was that the Yellow Spring Monastery had long slipped away.
As for the purpose of Daoist Dizang, perhaps elder Xuan Yan knew, but Wang Yu had not been inford. It seed to involve so secret regarding the land of Cloud Ridge Prefecture.
Though he did not know, he could still guess.
The opponent’s attempt to seize the sect offerings was rely to lure him out of the city, to capture Wang Yu alive, and thereby seize control of Jade Spirit’s secrets.
Therefore, this matter must be connected to Jade Spirit. What could possibly be nearby? Only the Ancient Ruins: Eastern Extre Capital.
He suspected that during the previous battle over the Spirit Transformation inheritance, Daoist Dizang had discovered so hidden secret. After the cession of territory and the loss of a city, the border expanded toward Secluded Prefecture.
Further east, several cities originally belonging to the Yellow Spring Monastery had appeared. This caused Jade Spirit’s uniqueness to be gradually diminished, as cultivators seeking to explore ancient ruins now had more choices.
Staying away from the center of the storm might not be a bad thing.
After all, the geographical advantage still remained. Whatever happened in the Eastern Extre Capital Ruins would never escape Wang Yu’s eyes and ears.
Of course, all this was only his speculation.
If his guess was wrong, Daoist Dizang would certainly not give up after a single failure and would continue plotting against Jade Spirit in the future.
At that ti, it would serve as a good chance to verify Wang Yu’s suspicions.
For now, there was little need for concern. The negotiations had just concluded, and it was a sensitive period. The Blood Reversal Sect’s surveillance of the Yellow Spring Temple would only increase.
It would be a rare mont of peace.
Such an excellent opportunity.
Wang Yu placed the long-prepared plan for the Jade Spirit Market at the top of his agenda. Choosing an auspicious day, he gathered all the allied forces of shared interest and declared the market open.
He reorganized Jade Spirit’s entire industrial layout. The central district would no longer house mortals but would instead be fully converted for cultivators, including the City Lord’s Mansion itself.
He constructed twenty third-rank cave dwellings, three hundred second-rank dwellings, and one thousand eight hundred first-rank dwellings, distributed across the inner, middle, and outer rings.
This would mark the beginning of his Cave Dwelling Rental Business.
The eastern, western, and southern districts were once controlled by the three Jade Spirit clans. After the Bai Clan perished, their properties were divided between the Guan and Jiang families, but their influence could hardly cover an entire district.
Scattered shops, even those in pri locations, were of little value. The opening of Jade Spirit Market was inevitable, and separating cultivator and mortal managent was even more so.
Only through concentration could population flow be gathered. The reconstructed central district perfectly fulfilled this function. The convergence of shops there greatly increased the value of the land.
Formation setups, residence construction, spirit-gathering formations, and relocation all proceeded simultaneously.
Many of the smaller factions from the northern district were also moving toward the center. In particular, the Cloud Dream Pavilion’s business, from which Wang Yu received generous tribute each year, was given a pri location.
Although Madam Chaoyun had gone to Sanmao City to ambush Luo Chen, Xiangxiang still remained. She was a Foundation Establishnt cultivator, capable enough to maintain the basic operations of Cloud Dream Pavilion.
The Blood Saber Gang had completely beco his secret hand. With the Blood Saber Master gone, only a few underlings were left, and he had settled them properly.
As for the Violet Golden rchant Chamber, it had been fully absorbed by the City Lord’s Mansion. Wang Yu assigned Daoist Qingyang to oversee it temporarily, maintaining business connections with the Yanluo Ghost Market. Even if it ant losses, that network had to remain.
The forr northern district was transford into a massive workshop base. Alchemy rooms, crafting workshops, talisman paper tanning, monster hide processing, the Guan family’s inkstone and writing tool factories, spirit stone polishing, and formation flag production—there were too many workshops to count.
Among them, the alchemy and artifact workshops were the most nurous, and they were open for leasing to independent cultivators.
The Jade Spirit Market would beco the main source of spirit stone inco in the future.
Wang Yu also invested heavily in formation arrays. Labor was cheap, as the city guards had been repurposed into a construction team, which at least justified the salaries he paid them.
If the spirit stones were not enough, then working harder would suffice.
Having been the city lord for years, he was gradually learning the proper ways to direct subordinates effectively.
Taking advantage of the market’s grand opening, Wang Yu conducted a full census of the city’s cultivator population: over one hundred twenty thousand in total. Qi Refining cultivators accounted for 99 percent, mostly at the early stage.
Among them, only about half actually owned residences in Jade Spirit, mostly ancestral hos. The rest were transient residents.
For various reasons, these cultivators had settled temporarily in Jade Spirit, staying from a few months to several years, so even over a decade.
With the opening of the market, they all ca to join the festivities, gathering the restless ones together.
This, in fact, made managent easier and reduced patrol expenses. It also allowed Wang Yu to dismiss so of the early-recruited wandering cultivators and promote the loyal ones.
However, the sheer number of transient cultivators exceeded his expectations.
He imdiately ordered the continued construction of first-rank cave dwellings, estimating that at least ten thousand more would be needed to et basic demand. If the central district lacked space, then they would build upward.
It was still not enough, so they decided to build downward into the ground. At worst, those living in basents could have part of their spirit stone rent reduced.
These people also qualified to operate shops within the marketplace.
For temporary stalls, Wang Yu had specially planned three streets reserved for them. The daily rent only cost a few spirit stones, yet it still added up to a considerable inco.
There was another advantage to placing the entire marketplace under unified administration: no matter how small a transaction was, it could not escape the eyes of the City Lord’s Mansion—all of them had to pay taxes.
Before the marketplace even officially opened, most of the fixed shops had already been sold, making City Lord Wang imnsely wealthy. His reserve of spirit stones skyrocketed, and the entire central district remained firmly under his control.
Not only did the loose cultivators have to pay taxes, but the mbers of his alliance of interests were no exception. However, since this was the key direction for the developnt of Jade Spirit City, the alliance mbers willingly gave up their own district shops.
They chose to fully cooperate with him, though naturally, he had to offer them significant discounts. The eastern, western, and southern districts had now completely beco residential zones for mortals. Every year, they rely needed to conduct the spiritual root testing ceremony.
Through this round of land sales alone, Wang Yu amassed a total of five million spirit stones in a single sweep. This success was closely tied to his prior managent efforts.
The duel between Golden Abundance Tower and Heaven Treasure Pavilion, his own policy of smaller profit margins, and the surge of outside funds brought by the exploration craze in the Eastern Extre Capital—all of these made Jade Spirit City far wealthier than before.
Harvesting profits at this ti was simply too comfortable. And this was even with him trying to restrain himself.
From the day Jade Spirit Market opened, it was bustling with prosperity. Various discount promotions lasted for an entire month. Heaven Treasure Pavilion also cooperated with Wang Yu’s operations. The future looked bright for everyone.
……
……
The thirty-first year of his service as Deacon, third month.
That day.
Wang Yu was within his Niwan Palace, condensing the thirty-third Soul-Gouging Evil Boat. This soul-searching secret art, relying on his powerful divine sense, had already reached the Minor Mastery stage, capable of searching souls and seizing mories.
This technique had faintly ford a resonance with the Heavenly Soul One Qi secret art, as though the two naturally complented one another. His progress in cultivating it was unexpectedly fast.
“City Lord, there is an esteed guest who has arrived. Please proceed to the Yingsong Hall for a eting.”
“An esteed guest? Could it be a ssenger from the Yellow Spring Monastery?”
Wang Yu ceased his cultivation and opened the door.
Outside stood Xu Ruozhou. As a rare dual spiritual root cultivator, supported by the City Lord’s Mansion’s resources, he had now reached the peak of the eighth layer of Qi Refining.
He was expected to attempt breaking through to Foundation Establishnt within ten years. Once successful, he would beco the first Foundation Establishnt cultivator truly belonging to the City Lord’s Mansion. By then, Wang Yu would be able to supply him with higher-level resources suitable for the Qi Refining stage.
Resources for Foundation Establishnt, including the Foundation Establishnt Pill, were not sothing an ordinary official stipend could cover.
He would have to rely on himself, or give more effort, to earn higher-grade resources from Wang Yu. Simply running errands would not suffice.
Facing the question, Xu Ruozhou shook his head and said,
“It is not soone from the Yellow Spring Monastery, but rather a female cultivator with an unfamiliar aura. Her cultivation is at the early Core Formation stage.”
“Oh?”
Now Wang Yu was truly puzzled. He could only go to Yingsong Hall and see for himself.
Before long, a veiled woman appeared in his sight. Her grooming was exquisite, her eyes a glistening crimson that seed to hold countless unspoken words. Her hair was a mix of black and white, and her robes—black with silver patterns, tightly fitted around her waist and wrists—gave her a capable appearance. Her chest was full and her fair collarbone faintly visible.
Though her aura was unfamiliar, Wang Yu imdiately sensed a surge of familiar killing intent emanating from her. His Taiyin Nether Eyes silently activated, revealing a thick crimson mist within which a spark of spiritual light stood firm, protected by the Spirit Platform.
Wang Yu smiled.
“Fellow Daoist Jin, it has been a long ti.”
Indeed, the visitor was none other than Jin Miaoshan, whom he had not seen in years. The last eting felt like a lifeti ago.
Their relationship could not be called friendly, yet they had long laid aside their life-and-death enmity. After the incident involving the Heavenly Soul Sect’s inheritance exchange, Wang Yu had unilaterally acknowledged their “friendship,” intending to extract more benefits from her.
Unfortunately, Jin Miaoshan had been plagued by troubles, spending long periods in seclusion, and even suffered another round of sches from Jin Lin.
Compared to before, the once proud and commanding aura around Jin Miaoshan had greatly diminished. Up close, one could even sll a faint trace of blood on her.
Her expression was calm, devoid of joy or sorrow—a complete change in temperant.
The influence of the Asura Slaughter Scripture made Wang Yu extrely cautious. A Divine Transformation inheritance was indeed terrifying.
Fortunately, his own Lesser Asura Killing Fist was not nearly as extre, nor was it a pure spiritual-path divine ability. It was derived from the killing intent stone slate and contained both restraint and limited release of emotion.
This likely had much to do with the self-binding state of the Asura Venerable when he left behind his inheritance.
When Jin Miaoshan heard him address her, she remained silent for a long mont before sighing softly.
“In just a dozen short years, it feels to as if I have lived an entire lifeti. I still have not thanked you for what you did regarding Master Tianshui.”
Wang Yu’s smile was gentle. His handso face radiated warmth.
“No need to be polite, Fellow Daoist Jin. Ruozhou.”
“Your subordinate is here.”
Xu Ruozhou quickly presented a recording jade, then retreated and closed all the hall doors behind him.
“This is…”
“Fellow Daoist Jin will understand after watching it.”
Inside the projection was the scene of Tianshui using the Thunder Tribulation Pellets to destroy the central district—followed by the ruins.
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