Chapter 290

Chapter 290: Living in Yunzhou is Not Easy

Huang Tongliang was extremely proud, showing off as he said, “This Heart Transformation, huh? It seems similar to the Path of Inquiry, a bit like asking for wisdom. I’m not good at Strategy since it involves mutual cooperation and calculations; it’s about not being sold out while helping others count their money. Hahaha! Battling is my strong point—one defeat for one opponent, two defeats for two. As for Treasure Gathering, even my uncle couldn’t find out much; it seems quite mysterious.”

Li Hui traveled alongside Huang Tongliang, flying for a day and a night, and this kid exclaimed, “Hey, are you made of iron? Handsome, even if you don’t rest, your crane needs to take a break!”

“There’s an urgent matter; I can’t afford to delay,” Li Hui replied with a clasped fist. “So then, let’s part ways here. We will meet again when the Haotu Sect opens its doors for recruitment.”

“Go ahead and take care of your business. Remember my words: If you go early, there are advantages. You can find like-minded brothers to connect with and also take a chance at Longmen Mountain.”

“Understood.” Li Hui waved goodbye, slightly changing direction as he flew toward the center of Yunzhou.

The Haotu Sect was not located in the heart of Yunzhou, but at the center stood a large city called Nanxun, which was the second richest place after the Dalong imperial city.

Regardless of its rank, the city was certainly not small, and it had the resources that Li Hui urgently needed. Right now, he didn’t have even a bit of Miao Jade, and his treasure cabinet was almost empty; collecting Miao Jade had become an urgent matter. Additionally, numerous overseas goods had been piled up in Bamboo Boxes, and once the Formation Disk broke, there would be no place to store them. He needed to handle them quickly.

As for purchasing artifact fragments to improve the success rate for creating talismans, that went without saying. Every location he arrived at was a chance to earn a profit by turning over prices to build up his foundation.

Three days later, Li Hui stood under the giant sign of Nanxun City, looking up with a sense of awe. What an immense city without end! The atmosphere of Yunzhou was completely different from Haofu—rich, fertile, confident, and powerful, resembling two different kingdoms. No wonder Dalong could stand strong; Yunzhou was the Stabilizing Needle of the Sea; chaos doesn’t invade Yunzhou, and the world remains well!

Entering the city had no gate fee; Nanxun City didn’t mind a few coins.

This city was alive every night, enriched with luxury, leaving gates open as people did not lock their doors at night. Whether during day or night, the city was bustling with countless travelers and merchants, while practitioners worked up a sweat.

When Li Hui went to the money exchange to inquire about land prices, he realized he had underestimated the situation.

There were no large plots of land for sale around Nanxun City. Occasionally, a few acres might be available, but they fought fiercely to secure land, often leaving injuries behind. Many areas could cultivate spiritual rice and spiritual wheat, treasures passed down to future generations—who wouldn’t want them?

Many people couldn’t enter the Gather Spirit stage; in Nanxun City, they had to toil in the dirt, relying on their Spirit Motion cultivation to live off farming. As farmers, they keenly watched their land, and they were very exclusive in their connections.

Well then! Unable to buy land, Li Hui thought about purchasing a large mansion in the city to find work for everyone. However, the money exchange informed him that there simply wasn’t any available.

Even if you were a practitioner at the Condense Essence or Bosa stage, you couldn’t buy a mansion big enough to accommodate two thousand people because of government restrictions. They wouldn’t approve such a large residence unless you purchased an imperial palace from the Dalong Emperor.

Not being able to settle down in Nanxun City, surely there would be areas nearby, right?

The money exchange clerk smiled ruefully; Yunzhou was not the kind of place like Zhuozhou where one could simply occupy land. Each plot of land, pond, and hill had ownership, all registered with spirit lures. Trying to bring so many people in, even at the borders, was challenging.

Li Hui felt quite depressed; Yunzhou was overpopulated, water couldn’t penetrate, and as he saw a crack form in the Formation Disk, he released Huo Qiniang.

“Qiniang! Lease a warehouse immediately and start moving goods! Afterward, buy land sixty miles east of Nanxun City in Maple Leaf Valley at ten times the price. I’ve checked; due to geographical conditions, Maple Leaf Valley has the cheapest land. With some modifications, we can settle down.”

Huo Qiniang saw Li Hui’s determination and knew the situation was indeed urgent. She quickly called people to help, realizing one person could not handle everything alone.

Around a hundred people eagerly started working; after two days of busy activity, they began to unload goods. A large number of seafood flooded the market. Even ingredients purchased in Giant Shell City could be sold at several times the price, let alone the minerals and local products bought from the Grand Xuan Dynasty; everything was settled with Miao Jade, and Li Hui’s pockets began to fill.

While purchasing artifact fragments and gathering talisman ink and paper was going on simultaneously, Li Hui worked with full force, quickly flooding the market with the spirit talismans he created.

Wanting to buy the land in Maple Leaf Valley at ten times the price depended on whether the sellers were willing. Ultimately, this deal fell through because the offered price was unacceptable. As the saying goes, if it doesn’t shine in the east, perhaps it will shine in the west. After Qiniang connected with big merchants in Nanxun City, the news spread easily.

“So expensive! Damn, it’s so ridiculously high! Turns out that land speculation is the most profitable business,” Li Hui thought, biting his teeth in pain. There were indeed large lands for sale around Nanxun City, but the big merchants were stockpiling and creating a scarcity; who could blame them when Yunzhou was the safest place for Dalong? Traveling from Haofu to Yunzhou felt like entering a celestial palace from hell; to settle down, one had to spend a lot of money.

“The government-set price is twenty-six times the regular rate; these shameless merchants dare to ask for that!” Li Hui examined the map for a while and finally decided, “Fine, if it’s twenty-six times, then it’s twenty-six times! Jimai Mountain is good; it has over five hundred acres of spiritual fields, along with spirit springs on the mountain, close to Nanxun City, making it sustainable for generations. Hmph! Once I bury the Nurturing Turtle Jade and the talisman formation, let’s see how I can expand these five hundred acres of spiritual fields to five thousand acres. No, it still doesn’t feel worth it; I want it expanded to two hundred hectares…”

Spiritual fields were precious, and the adjacent lands were not cheap either.

According to Li Hui’s requirements, he needed to secure three hundred hectares of land, which was thirty thousand acres. He also needed to add in streams, lotus ponds, and hills; it couldn’t just be limited to Jimai Mountain. While expanding outward, it would also touch Yantai Mountain.

The area was indeed good. Li Hui thought about building a residence on Yantai Mountain, putting up a memorial temple to house the spirit tablets of those old brothers from the battlefield.

How could those expenses be small?

According to the official land price, medium-quality spiritual fields were priced at two taels and five coins of dragon scale gold per acre. Five hundred acres would cost around one thousand three hundred taels, with some fields approaching high-quality, actually reaching one thousand five hundred taels. The premium was not for frost silver but for dragon scale gold. Multiplying that by twenty-six brought the total to nearly forty thousand taels.

Ordinary fields were priced at four taels of frost silver; thirty thousand acres would amount to one hundred twenty thousand taels. This figure would still need to multiply, not as exaggerated as twenty-six times, but it would still need to be ten times. Adding up all the little costs for fruit trees and ponds, they would need to come up with one hundred fifty thousand taels—a frightening number.

But it didn’t end there! Jimai Mountain and Yantai Mountain were additional expenses.

Huo Qiniang began to count their assets, leaving not a single silver or money symbol, fully clearing out the dragon scale gold brought back from overseas. She kept five thousand taels of frost silver for household use and emptied the rest. Additionally, they brought in tens of thousands of pounds of Sea-Patterned Stone, Water Belly Stone, and sinking gold, along with hundreds of varieties of overseas local products, barely gathering up the funds.

However, building a residence also required money! They could only take another hit financially, while the news of overseas wealthy merchants settling in Nanxun City spread rapidly!