I can bless thousands of magical powers.

boom! boom! boom!
With a series of muffled cracking sounds, huge sprays of water instantly erupted on the surging river surface.

The crashing waves churned up thousands of piles of snow, which then fell heavily on the burly, strong men.

These bare-chested warriors, revealing their bulging muscles, stood on both banks of the river, each holding a thick, black iron chain in their hands.

These iron chains extend into the depths of the river, securing large rocks.

"rise!"

A burly man with a thick beard roared angrily and pulled the iron chain in his hand first.

The remaining hundreds of strongmen echoed in unison, pulling the iron chains straight, the creaking and groaning of the chains rubbing together.

Their faces flushed red, beads of sweat the size of beans appeared on their foreheads, and the veins beneath their skin twisted, instantly unleashing the full power of their bodies.

collapse!collapse!collapse!
With the full force of these strongmen pulling, the reefs whose foundations had just been blasted apart crumbled and fell apart.

It sank to the bottom of the river with a loud rumble.

Immediately afterwards, dozens more martial artists leaped into the swift-flowing river to carry out the next phase of their work.

On a rock a hundred paces from the riverbank, Wu Ziyu smiled and said to Zhang Yuan, "Senior brother, once this section of the river is cleared, the Nutao River waterway will be basically dredged successfully."

"At that time, our Wu family's merchant ships will sail upstream to Xiyuan, which will increase our business by at least 1.5 million taels of silver a year!"

The eldest son of the Wu family was full of vigor, his young face radiating confidence and joy.

Over the past two months, the hundreds of strongmen sent by Shang Jingtian and the martial artists of the Wu family have worked together, and with the sect providing mountain-opening talismans for blasting reefs, the problem of the Nutao River waterway that had plagued Xiyuan and Heyuan has been completely solved.

The biggest beneficiary was undoubtedly the Wu family of Heyuan.

At that time, the Wu family's fleet will travel between the two places, transporting specialties from the Western Regions to the prosperous areas of Daqian on one hand, and selling Daqian's goods to merchants from the Western Regions on the other.

Not only does it save a lot of costs, but it can also increase business volume by at least several times.

Even Wu Ziyu's own words were quite conservative.

The benefits this golden shipping route will bring to the Wu family will only become more and more substantial in the future!

Nishihara City will not suffer any losses.

As the central hub for transactions between the two parties, Xiyuan City's annual commercial tax revenue will inevitably double.

Furthermore, as the business grows, it attracts even more customers, and the potential profits are astonishing!
The Wu family, through Wu Ziyu, indicated to Zhang Yuan that as long as the latter held the position of General of Xiyuan Road, he would receive half a percent of the business profits every year.

Don't underestimate the mere half-digit profit share; the Wu family's annual trade volume with the Western Regions is extremely high, resulting in exceptionally high profits.

Moreover, the Wu family also had to pay a portion of the profits to Shang Jingtian, plus other expenses, so the dividends given to Zhang Yuan were really generous, even quite generous.

Most importantly, Zhang Yuan doesn't need to do anything; he can simply sit back and enjoy the fruits of others' labor!
In contrast to Wu Ziyu's excitement and agitation, Zhang Yuan was much more composed.

He smiled and gently touched the half-arm guard he was wearing on his right arm with his left hand.

This arm guard is black and gold in color, with a metallic matte finish. Upon closer inspection, it appears to be covered with countless runes, densely packed and intricately intertwined.

A lifelike dark red python is hidden within, as if it could burst out of the wall at any moment!

This arm guard was the Manglong Armor that the Wu family gifted to Zhang Yuan.

The Wu family acted with great magnanimity; after obtaining the giant python's corpse, they did not completely possess it.

They first took a portion of the python meat and shared it with everyone present to make soup.

Then, from among the many python scales, the best quality ones were selected, and through personal connections, the master craftsman of Shangjingtian was commissioned to forge this high-grade Xuan Armor as a reward for Zhang Yuan!
After obtaining the Manglong Armor, Zhang Yuan spent more than a month refining it completely.

Compared to the Dragon Carp Armor he previously possessed, the Wild Dragon Armor was much heavier and its defensive capabilities were several levels stronger. Its water control abilities were by no means inferior, making it a true treasure. Therefore, Zhang Yuan specifically dispatched some of his Dao soldiers to join the clearing and expansion work of the Liping Mountain waterway on the Nutao River.

In fact, Zhang Yuan could do the same job all by himself without needing a single soldier.

And it's fast and good.

However, since the Wu family had made all the necessary arrangements, he naturally didn't need to overstep his bounds.

To avoid exposing their secrets.

After all these events, Zhang Yuan's relationship with the Wu family became much closer.

They have even become a community of shared interests in some sense!

But Zhang Yuan had a vague feeling that he might not be able to stay in his position as the General of Xiyuan for much longer.

The Wu family's wishful thinking may fall through.

Of course, Zhang Yuan wouldn't tell Wu Ziyu about such speculation—there was no need to be a spoilsport.

And as it turned out, Zhang Yuan's intuition was correct.

A month later.

A fleet of dozens of merchant ships of various sizes sailed upstream along the dredged Nutao River to a tributary near Xiyuan City.

A dock had already been built here, and there was also a road leading directly to the city.

The arrival of this fleet flying the Wu family flag caused a huge sensation in Xiyuan City.

Countless people from both inside and outside the city rushed over to see the spectacle.

This also included many merchants from the Western Regions.

Everyone knows that with the opening of the waterway trade route, Xiyuan City will usher in a new period of development.

I can't even imagine the future!

But at this moment, as the de facto ruler of Xiyuan Dao City, Zhang Yuan was receiving a visitor from a sect in the Dao camp.

The other party was someone he knew—Mo Huai'an!
"Senior Brother Zhang, I have good news and bad news."

The true disciple of Lingyue Peak sighed and said to Zhang Yuan, "Which one would you like to hear first?"

Zhang Yuan laughed and said, "Let's hear the bad news first."

"The bad news is that you have to leave Nishihara."

Mo Huai'an looked quite helpless: "My ancestor told me to tell you that there are people in the sect who don't like you and don't want you to stay in the position of Xiyuan Dao General!"

Zhang Yuan hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Fei Hongming?"

Mo Huai'an was stunned for a moment, then gave him a thumbs up: "Absolutely right."

Zhang Yuan smiled faintly.

In fact, he never let his guard down around this Taoist priest, even though the man had been hiding in the Taoist office like a turtle for a long time, without making any moves or showing any signs of causing trouble.

Zhang Yuan's intuition told him that Fei Hongming couldn't keep putting up with this forever!

Sure enough, after he laid a solid foundation for Xiyuan, this old fox secretly made his move, using his connections within the sect to undermine its foundation. (End of Chapter)