Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace, Yu Dao Peak.
Qi Shuyu, who had been carefully dressed, and more than ten senior core disciples with beautiful appearances and different temperaments, gathered in front of the Supreme Sect Master’s cave, looking at the group of elder guards with unfriendly expressions.
“…Qing Muling is in seclusion for cultivation, so he is not accepting visitors at the moment!”
This was the exact words of the high-level female cultivator in charge.
“Then… how long will he need to finish?”
“I don’t know, maybe a few months, or it could be a few years.”
“How is that possible?”
Qi Shuyu clearly didn’t believe it. The sect’s martial arts competition was underway, and the final winner would be decided soon, and they would meet Qing Muling. After that, they could become part of his entourage.
So in the series of martial arts competitions that followed, Qing Muling had to appear and get to know all the senior sisters present in advance. If there were any candidates he particularly liked, they could be exempt from the trial and directly qualify.
Therefore, with confidence in her own charm, Qi Shuyu and the other women brought gifts to visit Qing Muling. As long as they could get along well, it was possible that he would agree on the spot and grant them qualification.
But at such an important moment, Qing Muling, as a key figure, had chosen to go into seclusion. Wasn’t this just making trouble? It must be the eldest senior sister causing mischief!
“The information we received is just that. If you don’t believe it, we can’t help it,” the elder guard said with a stern face.
Qi Shuyu’s expression darkened, and after thinking for a moment, she suppressed her anger and said, “Then we need to see the eldest senior sister. Please inform her!”
“Unfortunately, the eldest senior sister is also in seclusion and cannot receive visitors.”
“…”
Qi Shuyu’s eyes suddenly turned cold. At this point, it was already very clear that it was deliberately caused by the eldest senior sister, Xuebing Xuan, in order to prevent them from contacting Qing Muling in advance.
“Is the eldest senior sister going too far?” the core disciple Yu Binghua said coldly.
Since the Supreme Sect Master and the elders’ meeting had already decided, there was no room for change in this matter. Even the eldest senior sister had to comply, otherwise it would be openly defying the will of the sect’s high-level officials, which would be a serious offense.
The core disciple Su Yunmo snorted, “If she insists on causing trouble, then we have to appeal to the Supreme Sect Master and the elders’ meeting to come and uphold justice! Let’s see if the eldest senior sister can be tough to the end.”
“Very well.”
“That’s right, let’s do that!”
“We’ll go to see the Supreme Sect Master now…”
These proud women with their own backgrounds were all talking at once. Even though Xuebing Xuan was the eldest senior sister and a popular candidate to succeed the position of the next sect master, they were not afraid of her.
“Alright, stop arguing!”
A clear and pleasant voice came, and the figure of Yueyi Heavenly Lord appeared from the cave, her beautiful eyes sweeping over the group of disciples present.
“Greetings, Heavenly Lord.”
Qi Shuyu and the other women all bowed. As one of the few upper-level elders who could openly appear and walk around in the sect, Yueyi Heavenly Lord’s reputation was naturally well-known.
Yueyi Heavenly Lord smiled and said, “The Supreme Sect Master is inside. You girls can go in to see him. Regarding the matter of Junior Brother Qing Muling, you will receive a satisfactory answer.”
It was only natural for Qi Shuyu and the other women to agree. After bowing again, they were led into the cave by the elder guards.
…
In the luxurious city lord’s mansion.
Qing Muling sat at the head, frowning as he looked through the thick stack of jade account books in front of him, not saying a word.
Behind him, several alluring and provocatively dressed young women from the Yang family were carefully massaging his shoulders, with a flattering smile on their faces, fearing that they might not serve him well.
Below, Yang family members, led by the family head Yang Song, and nearly a hundred men, women, and children, stood together, looking nervous and uneasy as they awaited the final judgment of their master. They were all members of the Yang family’s direct line and influential figures in this small family.
As long as there was absolute strength, there was no need to make things too complicated.
After dealing with a group of Yang family cultivators who ran the gambling house yesterday, Qing Muling didn’t delay and immediately took control of the divine souls of the Yang family sisters, forcing them to reveal the whereabouts of the family head and the elders, and then went to each of their residences to subdue them.
Among these local tyrants, the current family head of the Yang family only had the cultivation of the True Person Realm at the seventh or eighth level, and the two strongest elders of the Yang family had just entered the True Person Realm. The main cultivation techniques and magical powers they practiced were of ordinary quality and couldn’t be compared with the sect’s supreme secrets, so their killing power was naturally not worth mentioning.
Therefore, Qing Muling easily subdued them all, planting powerful restraints in their divine souls, leaving them no room for resistance, and forcing them to submit and present all the family’s accounts for this master to review.
“Is this all?”
After a long time, Qing Muling put down the account books and asked in a calm tone.
Yang Song hurriedly stepped forward, with a smiling face, and said, “Master, the Yang family’s strength is weak, and we have only been in business for a short time. We also face constant threats from external enemies, and the long-term battles and wars have cost us a lot, so we haven’t been able to accumulate much wealth. It’s not that we deliberately concealed it.”A millennium is indeed not too long for cultivators, especially when the area of this floating void land is not large to begin with. They have to share it with several minor forces and are further exploited and squeezed by even higher powers, leaving them with little profit to retain.
The Yang family, a local snake, now controls a territory of just over three thousand miles, encompassing forty-seven towns and cities, numerous villages and settlements, with a population totaling just over twenty million.
The main profit-making industries in the towns, such as the merchant houses, taverns, gambling dens, and brothels, are essentially monopolized by the Yang family. Coupled with various taxes collected from the citizens of their territory, their annual income is barely satisfactory.
There are also over thirty spirit ore veins within the Yang family’s territory, producing some not-so-rare types of ores in modest quantities. Additionally, there are more than ten thousand acres of spirit fields and over four thousand acres of medicinal gardens, which yield some spiritual plants and spirit rice annually, as well as a batch of herbs that are not very old.
“Exotic Pioneering of the Vegetable-Growing Skeleton”
According to the ledger, the Yang family’s total annual revenue, after deducting all expenses, is not much, amounting to about a million top-grade spirit stones. After paying three-tenths to their backing power, the rest can be kept for themselves. However, most of this is in the form of various physical resources, and the actual amount of liquid spirit stone wealth is not substantial, making it not so easy to liquidate.
The Yang family has a considerable number of clan members, with large daily cultivation expenses, plus the occasional costs of warfare. Therefore, over the years, they have not been able to accumulate much wealth.
All of this constitutes the basic situation of the Yang family. Occasionally, when they encounter some passing solitary cultivators who seem to have plenty of loot and are not very strong, they would temporarily take on the role of bandits, devouring these lone fat sheep down to the bone.
Qing Muling was another target they had set their sights on, but his strength was formidable, so he turned the tables and wrapped up the entire Yang family like dumplings.
On this floating land, the situation of the other minor forces is similar, with meager foundations, few strong individuals, and frequent conflicts and skirmishes. From the perspective of a former life, it is a world of extremely brutal internal strife.
“Forget it, from now on, you will follow me.”
Qing Muling finally said, “In a few days, I will take care of those other minor forces as well, and make this floating land all bear the Yang name, so you won’t have to fight to the death over trivial gains.”
Yang Song’s eyes suddenly burst with joy, and he immediately bowed down: “I will follow the master’s orders, and I am willing to die a thousand deaths!”
The Yang family’s decision-makers had thought about unifying the entire floating land, which would allow them to occupy more citizens and resources, cultivate more experts, and perhaps eventually have the opportunity to expand to neighboring floating lands, gradually developing and strengthening the family’s power. Alas, their own strength did not permit it.
Now with this new master, even if they could only serve as his slaves and followers, as long as the foundation grew larger, he would still need people to do his bidding, right? Their lives would definitely be better than before, and the price was merely the loss of freedom, which was not unacceptable.
“Alright, you few stay behind and tell me about the other forces.”
Qing Muling waved his hand, dismissing most of the Yang clan members, leaving only four cultivators who had reached the True Person Realm, including two clan elders who were at the early stage of the True One Realm.
With Qing Muling’s current perspective, the actual combat strength of these six people was vastly inferior. Even if they attacked together, he could suppress them with a backhand, and even more so if there were additional people.
Yang Song then began to recount the intelligence he had on the other minor forces. After many years of overt and covert struggles, they generally understood each other’s situations.
Setting aside the similar wealth and resources, and focusing only on the number of cultivators above the True Person Realm, the strengths of the various families were basically on the same level. After fighting to the death for so many years, no one could really get the better of the others.
Besides the Yang family, there were the Lan, Qiu, and Liu families on this floating land, along with a small sect called Zhe Yin Mountain. There used to be a Feng family, but a few years ago, it was jointly annihilated by the Lan family, Qiu family, and Zhe Yin Mountain, with all clan members slaughtered and their properties and territories divided up among the victors.
Thus, there are now five minor forces ruling this floating land, and their common backer is a sect called Soul Severing Valley, which controls four floating lands of varying sizes. The sect leader is at the eighth level of the True One Realm, with over twenty other True One Realm elders, and tens of thousands of formal disciples, making it a relatively large force in the neighboring areas.
“Do people from Soul Severing Valley come here often?” Qing Muling asked.
Yang Song replied, “They rarely appear, usually only during the annual tribute collection. They send envoys to collect because this place is too barren and lacks any significant profit, so they don’t really care for it.”
“When is the next tribute due?”
“In about five months.”
“Good, that’s enough time.”
Qing Muling nodded, confident that a few months were more than enough to deal with the minor forces and completely consolidate power on this floating land. Then, taking advantage of the situation to eliminate Soul Severing Valley would not be difficult.