Yefutidaolu

Chapter 288 Crops
To be honest, looking at all this, Gao Jian was actually a little tempted.

It can be said that the Liangzhou aristocratic families indeed possessed the ability to construct permanent fortifications in the Yongning area.

So Gao Jian said, "Lord Jin, this... has indeed broadened my horizons. But may I take a look at these tools? You see, I am, after all, a martial artist..."

Gao Jian showed great interest and took the initiative to ask Jin Dafu for a reward.

Upon hearing this, Jin Dafu's face immediately broke into a smile, his expression one of genuine joy.

Clearly, it's not that we're afraid of insightful opinions having a demand, but rather that we're afraid of insightful opinions having no desire or demand.

Besides, that was precisely why he sought out Gao Jian.
For practitioners of other lineages, these ingenious techniques are of little use; they can simply learn the corresponding spells to accomplish what they need to do.

If you want to dig the ground or move mountains, learn Qimen Dunjia and the art of moving mountains. Why bother building an excavator?

But for martial artists, this temptation must be considerable, and Gao Jian would certainly want it after seeing it.

This torrential rain, this thunder and lightning! These are things that even martial artists cannot do. It's perfectly normal for Gao Jian, as a martial artist, to have covetous thoughts upon seeing them.

Thus, once something is desired, coupled with the established practice of 'accepting good advice,' it becomes a natural thing to seize the banner of insightful opinions.

In this way, the profits earned would far exceed a million gold.
Leaving aside the direct profit of several million gold, cooperating with Youmingdi to harvest flesh and blood spiritual materials and sell them to other parts of the Divine Dynasty would bring in another huge sum of money. Even after deducting bribes and distributions to high-ranking officials, at least seven or eight million gold would still end up in their pockets. If they were ruthless, they could even make tens of millions of gold.

It's not certain that we can get all that cash, but many powerful forces will use magical treasures, spiritual materials, or even cultivation techniques to pay for it. This will definitely become part of the family's wealth.

The imperial college student came, his resume was approved, his task was completed, and he even received benefits from the local powerful families.

He made a lot of money under the cover of darkness and also expanded his sales channels.

The local families have gained more influence and maintained their relationship with the Great Immortal Sect, so they can continue to cooperate in similar situations in the future.

It's a win-win situation for everyone.

Jin Dafu immediately said, "Of course. Since Mr. Gao wants it, how can we keep it to ourselves? Let's go into the city and examine it at our leisure."

“Of course, but before that, I’d like to check on the people from the Netherworld. They should have arrived by now, right?” Gao Jian suddenly brought it up.

Jin Dafu looked stern. It seemed... this young master was going to take a bite out of the underworld too.

But... it doesn't matter, it's only human nature, and I'm not going to take advantage of him.

So he immediately said with a smile, "Of course, of course, I will introduce you to the elder from the Netherworld!"

The expert nodded in approval.

Afterwards, the group walked into the city, and the atmosphere was very pleasant.

------------

At that very moment, inside Liangzhou City, Huang Chengshi finished watching the play, bid farewell to Yinmiao, the leader of the Taotie tribe who had accompanied him, and quickly returned to a mountain villa in Liangzhou.

In the back hall of the villa, in front of the screen, there is a large mirror.

Huang Chengshi stood in front of the mirror for a while, admiring himself. He was full of energy, with straight bones and supple muscles, his body flowing smoothly through his veins, his pores tight, and his beautiful physique, broad shoulders, and strong muscles. Paired with a set of the finest silk robe, he was truly a handsome man.

The back hall was not large, but its furnishings were exquisite. It was clear that the furniture was fine and the living environment was comfortable. The tables and chairs were antique, and there were landscape paintings by famous people hanging on the walls. An ancient bronze incense burner was placed on the incense table. To the left was a white jade vase with brocade decorations, and to the right was an agate and coral tree. The arrangement was unique and exquisite, but not overly luxurious.

Ancient words cannot be used casually. Things like "ancient bronze" and "ancient gold" are actually materials created in the ancient times when the gods still existed, using the divine power of the gods. At that time, forging gold and iron required sacrifices to the gods and blessings from them before the metal could be produced. Therefore, it is impossible to reproduce them today. Every piece can only be repeatedly melted down and recast. There are only so many left in the world, and only archaeologists can dig some out of graves.

It's clear that the person living here is someone who values ​​the enjoyment of life and is quite wealthy.

Indeed, every night, Huang Chengshi liked to sit in that large chair carved from the Seven Realms Golden Silk Wood, smoke a cigarette, and close his eyes to rest.

In this way, he can put those unpleasant things behind him, vaguely review the day that has passed, think about the plans for the next day, and then go to sleep.

Today was no different. He opened his pipe, tapped the ash inside, and then put in some fine tobacco.

The tobacco, named "Qingmeng" (清梦), can kill nightmares. It is made from nine spiritual ingredients. If a person's dreams are not clear, their spirit, in harmony with the hundred energies, seeks to lurk between my spirit and my mind. Whenever one has a bad dream, burning a coin's worth of it can ward off evil spirits and inauspicious energy, bringing peace to the soul and ensuring good fortune.

Huang Chengshi is an elder of the Netherworld.

The term "Youmingdi" means that their mountain gate is located at the border between the underworld and the real world, a blessed land formed by the mixture of humans, ghosts, yin and yang.

Ordinary people, based on hearsay, always think that cultivators in the netherworld are all ghostly and eerie, but in reality, they are completely wrong.

Looking at Huang Chengshi's robust physique, one can understand the true nature of the Netherworld. Just like the previous Blood Sea Lord, whose entire body was brimming with yang energy.

This force is essentially skilled in cultivating the divine and spiritual realms. The methods they use, such as refining human bodies into spiritual materials or transforming vengeful ghosts into spiritual materials, are mainly based on these two aspects.

They are skilled at both refining others and strengthening their own physical bodies.

The essence of a person's body and the soul after death, refined to the extreme, can transform a mortal with no cultivation into a first, second, or even third-realm evil spirit after being tortured to death. There are very few deals like this in the world.

It's really a good deal, isn't it? During a famine, you can buy a mortal for just a few dozen coins, which is a fraction of a coin. After processing, a first-realm mortal can be sold for over ten coins, a second-realm mortal for around one hundred coins, and a third-realm mortal for seven or eight hundred coins.

It started at a fraction of a percent and then grew to over ten!
Profits of tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of times!

With a population of 100 million, even if only a portion of them succeed, the majority will be wasted, reduced to the lowest level of ghosts and consumed. How much money will that amount to?

If there are 100 million ghosts, then there are billions of gold!
So much money, not even many families could come up with the cash. The bulk of the trade was all done through barter. How many spiritual materials, cultivation techniques, and magic treasures did the Netherworld exchange for?
This is the foundation of a top-tier immortal sect in the Divine Dynasty, not to mention that Youmingdi is also among the most wealthy immortal sects.

Huang Chengshi pondered the specifics, muttering to himself, "This time, maybe we can get the True Dragon's method for controlling flesh and blood. These scaled insects, putting aside everything else, are indeed very powerful in terms of physical strength... but the price they ask for is too high. It's too difficult to make money just from these spiritual materials below the third realm..." "This time, using almost half the population of Liangzhou for this project is barely enough to succeed, but as for the aftermath... relying on sheer numbers won't work. This is already the most we've ever done, using a fraction of the Divine Dynasty's population... the things we've obtained are probably close to our bottom line."

Huang Chengshi pondered the current situation.

The cultivation techniques of the Netherworld are currently facing a problem. If this problem is overcome, the Netherworld will likely produce an additional Earth Immortal immediately, and... the difficulty of producing Earth Immortals in the future will be much lower.

But the solution to this problem may very well lie with the true dragon.

It's uncertain, but even this possibility is enough for Youming to take a gamble. A Supreme Elder at the Twelfth Realm could directly break through to the Earth Immortal realm if he could decipher this secret...

However, the price Zhenlong asked for was too high, and he needed too many things. This trip to Liangzhou was to raise funds for this matter.

but……

It was a bit unexpected.

The person who did this has a brilliant idea.

Among the hundreds of students from the Imperial Academy, some were experienced senior students, while others were students who had studied at the Imperial Academy for four or five years and had already reached the seventh realm. These students were of noble birth and possessed both wisdom and courage, but the Divine Dynasty did not select any of them.

The imperial court chose this... a freshman who had just enrolled. Although he had already gained fame, it was through his involvement in the underworld and his blocking of the Imperial Academy's gates.

Has the Divine Dynasty sensed something? Are they unwilling to cooperate with the True Dragon? Or are they trying to put pressure on the Netherworld?

But if that's really the case, why go to all this trouble? A simple imperial edict would be enough to stop the underworld from making any move.

While a new Earth Immortal is certainly important, if the imperial court issues an edict, both existing Earth Immortal Ancestors in the Netherworld and the Brightworld must personally travel to the center of the Purple Palace Enclosure and carefully kowtow to the supreme Emperor.

The lower the people are, the more they feel that the Divine Dynasty's control is insufficient. They feel that the Divine Dynasty can't manage this or that, and in the end, it gives a lot of convenience to the aristocratic families and immortal sects, allowing them to act recklessly. The grassroots level has almost no control, and it's like a tyrannical emperor who doesn't care about anything except collecting taxes.

But the higher one climbs, the more one can sense the terror of the Divine Dynasty.

It's none of our business! Of course not, it's just crops. Why worry about so many crops? As long as they ripen and can be harvested, that's enough.

Anyway, the land belongs to the Divine Dynasty, and the immortal sects like Youming Land are just 'tenants' of the imperial court.

Managing the grassroots?
Why should we manage the grassroots level?
In a secular dynasty, the weakening of control over the grassroots is a sign of its demise. This is because, like landlords, secular dynasties rely on the grassroots. The source of rule for all secular dynasties is the support of ordinary people, who form the foundation of the dynasty. Therefore, the loss of control over the lower classes signifies the dynasty's demise.

But for the Divine Dynasty, it was not like that at all.

Ordinary people are just crops, the Divine Dynasty is the landlord, relying on the Temple of Heaven to exercise complete control over the land, while aristocratic families are the servants of the Divine Dynasty, and immortal sects are the tenant farmers of the Divine Dynasty.

In this system, there is no place for ordinary people; ordinary people are merely a type of resource.

Huang Chengshi continued to mutter to himself, "Not necessarily. Even if Gao Jian interferes, as long as things get going... Jin Youzhai should be able to take in a considerable amount of goods on the spot. They accept all comers, and they have plenty of cash and goods reserves."

Jin You Zhai is a large merchant guild that is spread throughout the Divine Dynasty, but it is not quite the same as the merchant guilds in the Netherworld.

Merchants affiliated with the Youming Land or other forces generally have their own 'core business' and production capabilities; in other words, they can achieve 'direct sales from the factory'.

But Jinyouzhai is different. Jinyouzhai is a very pure money exchange and goods exchange. Money and goods circulate in its hands, but it does not produce anything itself.

If I had to say, it would be that Jin Youzhai's communication and escape techniques are the best in the Divine Dynasty, which is the foundation of their existence.

Jin Youzhai's escape technique is many, many times faster than the fastest high-speed flying boat. Under extreme circumstances, it can even circle the Divine Dynasty in just a quarter of an hour.

Jinyouzhai possesses an extremely strong advantage when escorting certain key items and transmitting messages.

“There shouldn’t be any problems at Jinyouzhai… So, the problem is, where did Xuehaijun go…” At this moment, Huang Chengshi voiced his biggest question.

Xuehaijun... went to see Gaojian before, and then disappeared without a trace, never to be seen again.

If nothing unexpected happens, Blood Sea Lord should already be dead.

Was it Gao Jian who killed him?
It's unlikely. Gao Jian doesn't have that ability. Xue Haijun is considered one of the best among the Seven Realms. The Seven Realms Ghost King he keeps is not something an ordinary Seven Realms cultivator can handle. Add to that Gao Jian himself, who is only at the Sixth Realm. No matter how talented he is, he can't possibly match him. Not to mention... Xue Haijun died suddenly.

For Xue Haijun, who is already at the seventh realm and specializes in the divine realm, and is at the second level of the elite realm, even if he is no match for him, he should be able to easily drag the battle into a protracted war. Even in the end, he can buy time by self-destructing the Ghost King. With the Ghost King risking his life, almost no one at the seventh realm can hurt him. He can definitely hold out until I come to his aid in this desperate situation.

But the truth is that Blood Sea Lord suddenly died, and Ghost King also died. The two died instantly, without even having time to send a message.

The person who made the move... must be a Grandmaster of the Two Gates, otherwise, their methods would not have been so clean.

Gao Jian came from a poor family and was only at the sixth realm, so it was impossible for him to kill Xue Haijun instantly.

There are others behind it.

He may not necessarily be in cahoots with Gao Jian, but he certainly doesn't want to see a new Earth Immortal appear in the Netherworld.

Sigh... When it comes to hundreds of millions of gold, all sorts of weirdos and monsters come out, it's really annoying.

Huang Chengshi rubbed his temples.

Just then, someone came from outside to report.

"Elder! Jin Dafu and Gao Jian are outside requesting an audience!"

(End of this chapter)