Chapter 381: To Swank, To Build the Sea-calming Palace
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Peace descended onto Zhou Bao’s Wuyang Region ever since the Bigwheel Temple gifted Zhou Bao with three Pure Yang Celestial Devices.
Of course, the peace referred to was the peace among the leaders of the Divine Wind Palace, the Immortal Palace, the Bigwheel Temple, the Tian Long Taoism and the Mingyi School. During this period, they did not harass Wuyang Region. Similarly, Zhou Bao did not stir up any trouble either.
He looked as if he were really focused on cultivating his skills and starting to oversee his own territory.
Within a short period of time, a set of rules and regulations had been issued by the Lord Mansion. Backed by Zhou Bao’s huge financial resources and powerful background, the whole Wuyang Region once again became the main focus of the world, and also became the most prosperous place in the northwest.
Yes, it was indeed the most prosperous place now.
Because Zhou Bao suddenly broadcasted some news which made every Barbarian Tribe clench their teeth in fury: Black Demon Chama in the Blacktail Plain had surrendered to him, and was now his subordinate; the tumultuous Wolf Lord from the northwest prairie was also his subordinate; no one was allowed to touch them, as it would seem that they were going against him as well. When will all this end?
The mere thought of this gave the people a massive headache.
It was overbearing!
Too overbearing indeed!
As soon as the news was announced, the lords of several large territories, who had been preparing their experts for battle against Black Demon Chama, had to give up their plans with a lot of sighings and headshaking. They called him all sorts of names secretly, but no one dared to even mutter dissent publicly.
Sealing off the Blacktail Plain with Black Demon Chama forced the surrounding Barbarian Tribes to turn to Wuyang Region. Everything from personnel, materials and horses, had been procured from Wuyang Region. In this way, it was hard for Wuyang Region not to prosper.
Earlier, Wuyang Region was in an unstable condition because of Bigwheel Temple. Many people built a few small territories around Wuyang Region to use as transit points, leaving the cargo, personnel and so on in these small territories. This however was extremely inconvenient and wasted a lot of unnecessary resources. Now that Wuyang Region was safe, the situation had changed. All the equipment and materials were routed to Wuyang Region and it was now the transit point.
On the other hand, having gained experience in Jiang City, Jiang Xiao and others were very adept in this business. In just two to three months, Wuyang Region had flourished and gaining prosperity. No one had any doubts that in the near future, it would become the most powerful territory among Barbarian Tribes in the northwest, even in the whole north, and would eventually become an empire.
During the development stage, Wuyang Region was undergoing large-scale construction with a large number of personnel and materials coming into the region. The materials that were meant for other territories in the northwest would be forcibly retained as long as they were thought to be of use for Wuyang Region. It was not an outright robbery, of course, but rather a forced purchase at a fixed price, which had shown Wuyang Region’s great financial resources to all people.
Wuyang Region was well known to all for its wealth. Zhou Bao had made a lot of money from the Cool Breeze Gang and from the battle which destroyed Northern Yuan. Now that Wuyang Region was on the right track, Zhou Bao started to embark on a mission of “liberalizing business, abolishing the guild”, which meant collecting a large amount of business tax by virtue of its geographical location. The steady flow of wealth into Wuyang Region had given Wuyang Region the financial resources it needed to support the massive construction.
No one was aware that these projects did not cost Zhou Bao a single penny. The construction of the Sea-calming Palace on Jilei Mountain was entirely funded by the Immortal Palace, and he was ostensibly in charge of the matter. Outwardly, it appeared as if the people of Wuyang Region were buying and selling materials, and Anyuan Store was responsible for providing the items, but, in actual fact, the expenses were paid for by the Immortal Palace. What was incredible was that the Immortal Palace did not even send anyone to oversee the transaction of the goods, and Jiang Xiao would submit an account to Golden Rooster every other month. This allowed Zhou Bao to take advantage of this loophole, and he asked Jiang Xiao to charge more expenses than was actually spent each time, and thus he was able to claim more money. Jiang Xiao was shocked by this state of affairs, saying that Zhou Bao would be the first corrupt official in the world if he were to take office.
Zhou Bao disregarded this. What was the Immortal Palace?
It was one of the most powerful influences in the Four Eastern Regions, out of the secular world, equivalent to an immortal mansion in the eyes of the ordinary people. Would such a place be short of money? No, definitely not. For them, it was like having the Midas touch, the ability to turn everything into gold. Money was like sand to them. If he were not a member of the Immortal Palace and had some qualms in taking too much money, he would definitely try to get more.
The Immortal Palace was out of the realms of the human world, but Wuyang Region was not!
“I’m exhausted. I’m totally exhausted!” During the whole construction of Wuyang Region, Zhou Bao had not been idle.
While the Sea-calming Palace was being built, he had to set up the Yin and Yang Dust Formation around the palace, and he had to extend the Yin and Yang Dust Formation below the Jilei Mountain to the Sea-calming Palace.
It was a huge project.
Previously, Wuyang Region was not a big county; It was about the size of the town at the foot of the Jilei Mountain with a courtyard. Thus, the scope of area for the Yin and Yang Dust Formation, which he had placed, was not large, and the work was not hard. Now, however, the Immortal Palace was building the Sea-calming Palace.
It was the Sea-calming Palace!
In the past, it was the palace of Heavenly Court, covering tens of thousands of acres and was bigger than the legendary Epang Palace. It was not an easy task to set up such a wide range for the Yin and Yang Dust Formation. Originally, Zhou Bao wanted them to build the main hall first, and Earth Bat of Girl agreed. However, at the time of setting up the formation, Earth Bat of Girl requested for the expansion of the perimeters according to his diagram. Naturally, Zhou Bao refused, and they had a quarrel and nearly came to blows because of this. At last, both sides came to a compromise. The Yin and Yang Dust Formation would cover about 10 times the size of the main hall, including the small town below the mountain and yard. Although the scope was much smaller than that on the diagram, the workload had increased by more than a 100 times. Even though he was filled with excess energy, owned abundant materials and had the support of experts of the Immortal Palace, Zhou Bao was still dog-tired.
“I won’t do this again next time! Damn it, what the hell is Earth Bat of Girl thinking? Asking me to establish a new sect and taking on disciples! He has even picked the name, calling this the “Sea-calming Palace”! I must have been a fool, to give up my life to do this kind of thing!” Zhou Bao muttered angrily.
The Immortal Palace was being secretive this time and did not want to reveal their relationship with Zhou Bao. Hence, many things had to be done by Zhou Bao, and for other stuff, he needed Wang She’s help.
And as his name indicated, when something came up, Wang She was a person of words only, but no action, much like a lazy snake that was in hibernation for the winter. In the end, everything was left to Zhou Bao.
You really don’t know how lucky you are! How many people in this world are able to get the same benefits as you? The Immortal Palace provides money and personnel, as well as the planning for the Sea-calming Palace, but all you do is to complain of exhaustion! I really don’t know what to say!”
“Hehe, Your Excellency Chief, I’m not a man who cannot discern the good from the bad. But it’s really tiring. Also, have you noticed, in this place, the Sea-calming Palace is used to suppress the Nine Strips of Dragon Veins, which aren’t spirit veins when they are underground. Thus, how is it possible to establish a new sect in this place? Even if I have the ability, it’s impossible to find a great spirit vein here. Without a spirit vein and Fairyland, how can there be a foundation for a new sect? Rather, it’s an opportunity to change regimes!”
“What you say makes sense. It’s really too barren and lacking in spirit veins. It’s hard to establish a millennium sect. But it will be good to establish a millennium family as well, like the Li Family of Pingzhou. They do not have any great spirit veins and Fairyland, very similar to you. It will be good to use certain powers like the Green Spirit Essence to gather some spirit veins for the family base.”
“A millennium family?” Zhou Bao’s eyes rolled as he had little interest in what was being said. Now in the northwest, Wuyang Region had become the dominant force. They had money, manpower and strength, but lacked inner accumulation. And the cultivation of inner accumulation would take up a long time, and it would not work even if you were strong enough to put Immortals to death with just one hand.
“Indeed, establishing a millennium family is the best choice. But you know the problem with the bloodline of my family!”
“No matter whether you build a renowned family or not, you have to seal off the bloodline of every newborn in your family before you bring down the Divine Wind Palace. There is no doubt about it!” Wang She smiled, “It makes very little difference!”
“Yes, it makes very little difference!” Zhou Bao thought. “Then, that’s it! It might seem that I have little or no ambition, if I don’t do anything under such good conditions,”
“As long as you do not practice the Way of the Emperor to aggravate the Human Emperor’s position, no matter what you do, the Divine Wind Palace and the Immortal Palace will give you a bit of face. As for the Mingyi School and the Jin, you don’t have to bother about them. The Jin now occupies the Central Plains of the Central Mainland Region, is the largest and most powerful dynasty in the Central Mainland Region. But the scope of the Central Mainland Region is so wide that it is impossible for the Jin to take control of it completely. For example, the northwest, the Western Region, and the west of the Western Region are the places where the Jin is not able to reach. There is still a lot of room for you to develop. To establish a dynasty, a well-known family or a sect, it’s up to you to decide!”
“Yeah, it’s all up to me! Hehe, I’ve heard a phrase before, ‘a thought can lead you to Buddha, but a thought can also lead you to hell’. Does it describe my situation now?”
“Where did you hear that? It sounds good!” Wang She said with a smile, “It has a profound significance. Unfortunately, I’m not the kind of person who likes to go for this sort of things. If you go to the Bigwheel Temple and talk to them about this, maybe they’ll make you the Living Buddha!”
“I digress, I digress!” Zhou Bao laughed, waving his hand, “You are in such a hurry that you should not come to chat with me, right?”
“Golden Lights Cave has sprung into action!” Wang She said with a serious expression.