Chapter 144 - 114: "Everything Has Been Warehoused and Inventoried.
Chapter 144: Chapter 114: "Everything Has Been Warehoused and Inventoried.
"Is that a lot?"
Lame Monkey licked his dry lips. "We haven’t finished moving everything. We only got half the jade. The jade they used for paving at the Pill Sect looked so High Level. It’s a shame we couldn’t dig it all up. We ran out of time, and a lot of it shattered. We can use this jade to pave the ground in our camp."
"And these two three-meter-tall Jade Lions."
"These don’t need to go into the Warehouse."
"I’ll find some people in Jiangbei tomorrow to move them to the canyon entrance."
"Can’t we do it today?"
"They’re too heavy. Back in the Pill Sect ruins, it took dozens of men to lift them."
"And this wood is...?"
"Shelves from the Library Pavilion. I thought they looked pretty High Level, so I brought them back too. I’ve never seen wood like this in Jiangbei."
"What’s this mud?"
"Heh, according to the Medicine King Valley, this is ’Medicinal Mud’ that’s absorbed medicinal properties over many years of cultivation. The Pill Sect’s Farmland was Level 5 Farmland. We couldn’t bring the Farmland back, but if we mix this Medicinal Mud into our own, the plants we grow will be much healthier."
"Are all these boxes filled with Ghost Stones?"
"All sorts of things. Ghost Stones, Exotic Treasures, Mental Methods... Let’s just get them in the Warehouse first and take inventory slowly."
...
The entire Nameless Mountain was once again filled with a bustling atmosphere.
Lame Monkey and his men got busy moving the goods from the Dragon Carriage into the Warehouse inside the cave.
"Put that down for a moment."
Lame Monkey walked up to the busy Patriarch Wang, panting, and said, "The Domain Lord wants to see you."
"Understood, Brother Lame Monkey."
Patriarch Wang was taken aback for a moment, then quickly walked to the reception area outside the cave. He pushed the door open and saw Chen Fan sitting cross-legged at the table, drinking tea. He nervously wiped his hands on his clothes and said tentatively, "Domain Lord, you were looking for me?"
This was the first time he’d had a formal conversation with Chen Fan since joining the Mortal Realm.
"Mm."
After pouring Patriarch Wang a cup of tea, Chen Fan took a sip from his own and said softly, "Relax. You joined the Mortal Realm yesterday, and it’s been a busy couple of days. Are you tired? More tired than when you were a Patriarch, I imagine?"
"Not at all, not at all."
Patriarch Wang shook his head quickly. "I feel very fulfilled."
"Tell me the truth."
"Uh... I feel... I feel very relaxed. Very... wild. It’s kind of thrilling..."
"I don’t understand."
Patriarch Wang cautiously sat down cross-legged, then took the teacup with both hands. "It’s just that when I was the Wang Family Patriarch, I had to worry about so many things. Every day, I had to think about how to develop the family and ensure it would be passed down. Now, I don’t have to think about anything. I just have to follow you, Domain Lord."
"I never thought I’d one day be able to go to Jiangnan."
"The greatest dream of every power in Jiangbei is to set foot in Jiangnan one day. I never imagined that at my age, I would not only go to Jiangnan but also help destroy the Pill Sect. That’s something I never even dared to dream of before."
"I feel much more relaxed in the Mortal Realm than I did before."
...
Chen Fan couldn’t help but shake his head and chuckle. After a short pause, he continued, "Wang Kui is currently in charge of all the goods coming in and out of the Mortal Realm. He’s a core member. You made him a station master for thirteen years; he must hold some resentment toward you."
"I also promised him that you would serve as a station master in the Mortal Realm for thirteen years."
"Do you have any complaints about that?"
"None." Patriarch Wang immediately shook his head, his wrinkled face a mask of sincerity. "It is my honor to be a station master for the Mortal Realm!"
...
Chen Fan was momentarily at a loss for how to deal with this old sly fox, so he decided to be direct. "Let me be blunt. After you disbanded the Wang Family, what’s the situation with your wife, sons, and daughters?"
"They’re certainly worse off than before, but they’re all still alive. That’s the best I could hope for."
"I can give you a better answer."
"Tomorrow, I will accompany you to Jiangbei City. We will bring your wife, children, former clansmen, and station masters back to the Mortal Realm. The Mortal Realm needs people right now, and we will find a suitable position for every one of them."
"I can’t promote you."
"I have to consider Wang Kui’s feelings."
"But—"
"If your clansmen and relatives perform well, they can be promoted within the Mortal Realm. You stepped forward yesterday to block the Young Master of the Pill Sect, which is a meritorious act. I will credit that achievement to your son."
"What do you think?"
Patriarch Wang was stunned. He then put down his teacup, his eyes red as tears streamed down his old face. He knelt on the ground and said in a trembling voice, "Thank you, Domain Lord."
For him, this was the best possible outcome.
Not only were his family’s lives protected, but they were also given a path for advancement. Joining the Mortal Realm was definitely better than being in the old Wang Family.
"What’s his name?"
"Wang Qiuhao."
"A good name, ’perceptive of the smallest details’," Chen Fan commented. Just before Wang Qiuhao left, he suddenly grew curious. "There’s one thing I’m wondering. Why did you make Wang Kui a station master for 13 years and never promote him?"
"Because he was the best at being a station master..." Wang Qiuhao said in a small voice.
"So because he was good at it, he had to do it forever?"
"Uh..."
"Why not have him train others?"
"The others were too stupid to learn."
"Right. You may go."
...
「Not long after.」
All the spoils from the raid had been stored and inventoried. Everyone else was asleep, but Chen Fan was sitting alone on the City Wall, making plans. Over the next month, the Mortal Realm would enter a period of rapid development.
The surrounding regions of Jiangdong, Jiangnan, and Jiangxi were all entering the rainy season.
Trade would definitely be impossible during this time.
He would spend a month developing, and then, after the month-long rainy season, he would make his decisive move.
「Before that.」
He needed to organize his forces.
At the very least, he couldn’t keep calling Wang Kui the "Warehouse Keeper." If word got out, it would make the Mortal Realm sound like a gang of petty thugs.
He repeatedly consulted the Sect development logs he had brought back from the Pill Sect. They recorded all sorts of information about the Pill Sect, such as the names and positions of its various halls.
There were—
The "Pill Hall," the "Dark Hall," the "External Propagation Hall," and so on.
He thought these were pretty good.
He could use them with a few minor changes.
He also needed to create a uniform for the Mortal Realm Members, just like the Medicine King Valley. Standardized, neat clothing looked quite impressive. The internal rules of the Mortal Realm also needed to be established, with clear rewards and punishments.
「When the rainy season ends.」
The Mortal Realm would have to expand outward. In the future, it would accommodate more and more people, so it needed to become more formalized.
They had transplanted a lot of medicinal herbs this time.
There was definitely not enough space to plant them inside the cave. They needed to establish a city on Nameless Mountain for large-scale cultivation.
...
Chen Fan sat alone on the City Wall, calculating. There was still so much to do. He also had to go to Jiangbei City and bring back another batch of people.
"Domain Lord."
Just then—
Wang Kui had already walked up the City Wall holding a Bamboo Scroll to report. "Everything has been stored and inventoried. This haul includes 172,500 Ghost Stones, various medicinal herbs, and a total of 2,039 bottles of Elixirs, the majority of which are Cultivation Pills. The more precious Elixirs include..."
"12 Life Reviving Pills."
"7 Great Nourishing Pills, which can rapidly increase one’s Cultivation."
"37 unopened White Level Exotic Treasures and 47 opened White Level Exotic Treasures."
"6 unopened Green Level Exotic Treasures and 19 opened Green Level Exotic Treasures."
"1 opened Yellow Level Exotic Treasure."
"6 Building Blueprints."
"Various other items, including the Jade Lions, Medicinal Mud, and unidentified wood."
"5 White Level Mental Methods, 2 Green Level Mental Methods, 29 White Martial Techniques, and 6 Green Martial Techniques."
"78 White Level Alchemy Furnaces, 12 Green Level Alchemy Furnaces, and 1 Yellow Level Alchemy Furnace."
"All items have been stored in the Warehouse and recorded in the ledger."
"Excellent."
Chen Fan put down the Jade Scroll in his hand and smiled after hearing Wang Kui’s report. This haul was more than enough for his upcoming Infrastructure plans.
For this operation, he had anticipated three possible outcomes.
First, the best-case scenario: the complete annihilation of the Pill Sect.
Second, the next-best scenario: dealing a significant blow to the Pill Sect, greatly weakening them during the rainy season, after which he would pay them another visit.
Third, the worst-case scenario: only managing to scratch the Pill Sect’s surface, forcing him to go all-out after the rainy season ended.
As it turned out, the outcome was the best-case scenario.
"Go and get some rest."
Chen Fan took the Bamboo Scroll from Wang Kui, glanced at it, then handed it back and waved him off. "I’ll go to the Warehouse and take a look myself. You haven’t slept in days. Go get some rest."
"Take everyone to Jiangbei City tomorrow."
"We’ve been cooped up on Nameless Mountain for the whole rainy season. We’re getting musty. Go out and soak up some civilization."