Chapter 18: They Are the Truly Hideous and Vicious Villains! |
Wang Xianmao always kept two spirit seeds twirling in his hand. He pressed one hand against the ground and tossed them into the spirit well with the other.
Time to work!
The power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was vast. Spurred by his spiritual energy, the backyard of Fortune Source Residence underwent an earth-shattering transformation.
Massive branches sprouted from the spirit well. Under Wang Xianmao's control, the wing rooms on both sides lifted directly into the air.
The branches gradually thickened into giant trees, which then morphed into a wooden building.
The original items from the wing rooms flew through the air one by one, settling into the growing wooden structure.
The terrifying power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator left Yulou gasping in amazement. In less than a minute, a brand-new three-story building had risen in the backyard of Fortune Source Residence!
'If the Patriarch went to a construction site, just how incredible would he be?' Yulou thought.
"It can't be any taller. Making it too conspicuous won't do. Come, follow me inside and take a look."
Walking through the main doors of the new building revealed a beautiful counter—seamlessly crafted in one piece by a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"The left side is still the storehouse. I've already arranged the items for you. Nianqiu, go check if anything is out of place."
"On the right is the room for the two of you. I expanded it a bit so you brothers won't have to squeeze together when you sleep."
"At the back of the first floor, I modified the spirit well's water supply mechanism. The spiritual energy transmission is still a bit tricky, but it's only a minor issue."
"On the second and third floors, I built forty small rooms. If each room goes for two spirit stones a month, that's eighty spirit stones, hahaha."
"Let's go up and take a look."
Following Wang Xianmao, their earth-and-wood-element Foundation Establishment Ancestor, the group headed up to the second floor.
Yulou proactively walked ahead and pushed open the door to one of the small rooms.
The room was about three meters square, containing a cabinet, a bed, and a table with chairs.
It was bright and pristine. The work of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was truly extraordinary; everything was seamlessly formed and looked absolutely beautiful.
"What do you think?" Wang Xianmao asked.
Even the elderly Patriarch needed some emotional validation.
"When the Patriarch takes action, it is naturally extraordinary!"
Chen Luwan offered a compliment.
"Isn't it too big?"
Yulou asked hesitantly.
As soon as he said this, everyone fell silent.
Yulou, you are truly ruthless.
It's barely three meters wide and long, and you still think it's big?
Seeing everyone's confusion, Yulou quickly explained.
"If these rooms are too big, we won't be able to fetch a good price for the rooms out front.
"If we make them smaller and build more of them, we can earn an extra sum here without affecting the business of the large rooms out front."
As a reincarnated corporate wage slave who used to work nine-to-nine, six days a week, Yulou had brought a little taste of capitalist shock to the cultivation world.
The small packages couldn't be too economical!
Did you think Yulou was too ruthless?
No, it was this world that was too ruthless!
The Red Lantern Illumination Sect disciple, Gao Jian, and his master, Jiang Baobian, wanted nothing more than to squeeze every last spirit stone from the cultivators in Clear Stream Market. They were the truly hideous and vicious villains.
The Wang Clan seemed to be introducing inhumane cage homes, but they were actually doing the rogue cultivators a huge favor!
"Makes sense. Let me see. Come, tell me how we should do this."
Wang Xianmao placed his hand against the wooden wall. Soon, the small room in front of them changed its shape.
It shifted from three meters long and wide to three meters long and nearly two meters wide.
"Still too big. Get rid of the chairs!" Yulou judged calmly.
"We need to reach a point where it's cost-effective for rogue cultivators to stay and cultivate, but anyone with a bit of power wouldn't want to live here. Only then can we differentiate and sell the large rooms up front."
"Alright, I'll keep modifying it!" Wang Xianmao didn't hesitate, continuing to channel his spiritual energy.
Soon, the small room shrank again, becoming a little over two meters long and just over one meter wide.
"Two meters long and one meter wide. Try that." Yulou still felt it was too wide.
"Brother, isn't that too small?"
Yu'an chimed in, implying he should at least leave the rogue cultivators a way to survive!
"We'll split them into two types. One type will be like this, providing a table and a cabinet along with the bed.
"The other type will have nothing but a bed. It will only provide accommodation and spiritual energy. We don't need to leave anything else.
"This way, more customers will be willing to stay, and we can earn more spirit stones.
"It will also be easier to widen the price gap between the two types of small rooms in the backyard and the large rooms in the front courtyard."
Wang Xianmao silently channeled his spiritual energy, modifying it into its final form according to Yulou's idea.
Looking at the cramped room in front of him, Wang Rongwen's scalp secretly went numb.
Thank goodness I am a member of the Wang Clan!
"Yu'an, lie down and try it."
He nudged his son, signaling for Yu'an to lie down and test it out.
Yu'an pouted and reluctantly lay down on the bed. After squirming twice, he said with a long face,
"You can't even roll over in this. How could anyone live here?"
Yulou smiled and said,
"Let's try a soft opening tomorrow. If the results aren't good, the Patriarch can adjust it further."
During the First Industrial Revolution in England, there were proletarians who slept leaning against ropes. They worked over fourteen hours a day and were so poor that they had to rent the sleeping ropes by the hour.
Cultivators, naturally, wouldn't be quite that impoverished. However, the Red Lantern Illumination Sect monopolized the spiritual energy supply in Clear Stream Market. The control over various spiritual items lay in the hands of clans and sects; rogue cultivators couldn't even touch them.
Returning to the mortal world to become a wealthy man wouldn't be difficult, of course. But forcing someone who had already awakened to return to the darkness was, in essence, no different from killing them.
The safety, spiritual energy, jobs, and opportunities of Clear Stream Market were things the rogue cultivators who hadn't given up on the path of cultivation desperately yearned for.
Gao Jian represented the officials of Clear Stream Market, and he represented the Red Lantern Illumination Sect. He didn't believe those rogue cultivators had any value left to exploit, so he wanted to drive them away.
The rogue cultivators lost their chance to be exploited.
The logic and deconstructive angle of a "chance to be exploited" seemed rather twisted. However, prior to the productivity boom brought about by the Industrial Revolution, such a chance truly did not exist in most parts of the world.
The models of the mortal world couldn't simply be applied to the cultivation world. Yulou wasn't sure if this would work.
This was also the reason why, when he mentioned the cage home plan to Wang Rongwen, he had said his idea was immature.
Watching Yu'an scramble up from the two-square-meter cage home bed, Wang Xianmao let out a faintly imperceptible sigh and said,
"Alright, you all go back and rest first.
"Yulou, Yu'an, stay behind. Keep me company and help me lay down the spiritual energy transmission formation array for this building."
Yulou looked at the Patriarch in confusion.
So, the Patriarch was actually quite proficient in formation arrays?
"Patriarch, how can we let you do something like this? Luwan and I will slowly take care of it."
Wang Rongwen hadn't understood the Patriarch's intentions and subconsciously took the task of laying the formation array upon himself.
In his eyes, the Patriarch was the pillar of the Wang Clan and shouldn't be doing such basic manual labor.
"It's fine. I haven't had the chance to spend time with the two children before. This is a good opportunity to get familiar with them. You two go back and rest."
Wang Xianmao waved his hand dismissively and said, No matter the time or cultivation base, he was a member of the Wang Clan and its Patriarch. Taking on a bit more responsibility was nothing.
Yu'an's parents and Tang Nianqiu left. The Patriarch looked at the two brothers and asked with a smile,
"You don't have any objections to being dragged here by me to lay formation arrays in the middle of the night, do you?"
Yu'an didn't have any objections to laying formation arrays. He just felt that his own father seemed to favor Yulou a little more just now. Both he and Yulou could have lain down to test it, but Wang Rongwen had insisted on making him do it.
"It is Yulou's good fortune to be able to learn from the Patriarch."
Yulou said respectfully.
Wang Xianmao had tested them during the day. Grabbing the two of them to do this work now was akin to Tang Sanzang taking the Great Sage to sweep the scripture tower; it was the Patriarch teaching by example.
"I'm very lucky too, Patriarch. I really want to learn from you!"
Yu'an indicated that he also wanted to improve.
What would a world where the means of production were absolutely monopolized look like?
Rogue cultivators—small clans and sect vassal forces—small sects and large clans—large sects—the Immortal Alliance.
As the hierarchy escalated, the upper echelons controlled more of the means of production, and their influence and control over the lower echelons grew correspondingly larger.
The specific manifestation of this was that grand cultivators could move heaven and earth, altering the very laws of the world.
Meanwhile, minor cultivators couldn't even afford rent.
"This way, more customers will be willing to pay to stay, and we can earn more spirit stones.
"The pricing for the two types of small rooms in the backyard will also create a clear distinction from the large rooms in the front courtyard."
Wang Xianmao silently channeled his spiritual energy, molding the final layout according to Yulou's ideas.
Looking at the incredibly cramped room before him, Wang Rongwen felt his scalp prickle.
'Thank goodness I belong to the Wang Clan!'
"Yu'an, lie down in there and test it out."
He nudged his son, signaling for Yu'an to act as a model.
Pouting, Yu'an reluctantly lay down on the bed. After wriggling around a couple of times, he said with a mournful face, "I can't even turn over in here. Who would ever want to stay in this?"
Yulou smiled and replied, "Let's try a soft opening tomorrow. If the results aren't good, the Patriarch can make further adjustments."
During the First Industrial Revolution in England, there were proletarians who slept leaning against ropes. They worked more than fourteen hours a day and were so impoverished that they had to rent the sleeping ropes by the hour.
Cultivators naturally wouldn't be quite that destitute, but the Red Lantern Illumination Sect monopolized the spiritual energy supply in Clear Stream Market. The control over various spiritual resources rested in the hands of families and sects, leaving rogue cultivators unable to get a share.
Returning to the mortal world to live as wealthy men certainly wouldn't be difficult, but forcing someone who had awakened to the truth to return to the darkness was essentially the same as killing them.
The safety, spiritual energy, jobs, and opportunities found in Clear Stream Market were desperately craved by the rogue cultivators who hadn't given up on their cultivation paths, yet they were difficult to attain.
Gao Jian represented the official authority of Clear Stream Market, which meant he represented the Red Lantern Illumination Sect. He didn't believe those rogue cultivators were even worth exploiting, so he wanted to drive them away.
The rogue cultivators had lost the opportunity to be exploited.
Viewing 'being exploited' as an opportunity seemed rather hellish. However, before the development of productive forces brought about by the Industrial Revolution, such opportunities genuinely did not exist in most parts of the world.
The models of the mortal world couldn't simply be copy-pasted into the cultivation world, so Yulou wasn't certain if this endeavor would succeed.
This was also why he had mentioned to Wang Rongwen that his ideas were still unrefined when he first brought up the cage home plan.
Watching Yu'an scramble up from the two-square-meter cage bed, Wang Xianmao let out a soft, barely perceptible sigh and said, "Alright, you all can head back and rest for now.
"Yulou, Yu'an, you two stay behind. Keep me company while we lay down the spiritual energy transmission formation array for this building."
Yulou looked at the Patriarch in confusion.
'So, the Patriarch actually knows a lot about formation arrays?'
"Patriarch, how can we trouble you with something like this? Luwan and I can slowly handle it."
Wang Rongwen didn't understand the Patriarch's true intentions and instinctively tried to take over the task of laying the formation array.
In his eyes, the Patriarch was the great pillar supporting the Wang Clan and shouldn't be doing such basic manual labor.
"It's no bother. I never had the chance to interact much with these two children in the past. This is a good opportunity to get to know them better. You all go back and rest."
Wang Xianmao waved his hand dismissively. No matter his age or his cultivation base, he was always a member of the Wang Clan and its Patriarch. Shouldering a bit more responsibility was nothing.
Yu'an's parents and Tang Nianqiu left. The Patriarch looked at the two brothers and asked with a smile, "I grabbed you two to lay formation arrays in the middle of the night. You don't have any objections, do you?"
Yu'an actually didn't mind laying the formation array. He just felt that his biological father seemed to favor Yulou a moment ago. Both he and Yulou could have lain down to test the bed, but Wang Rongwen had insisted on making him do it.
"Being able to learn under the Patriarch is Yulou's good fortune," Yulou said respectfully.
Wang Xianmao had tested them during the day and was now roping them in to work. This was similar to Tang Sanzang bringing the Great Sage to sweep the scripture pavilion—it was the phase where the Patriarch taught by personal example.
"I'm very fortunate too! Patriarch, I really want to learn from you!"
Yu'an indicated that he wanted to improve as well.
What would a world look like where the means of production were absolutely monopolized?
Rogue cultivators—vassal factions of minor families and sects—minor sects and major families—major sects—the Immortal Alliance.
As the tier increased, the upper echelons controlled more of the means of production, granting them greater influence and control over the lower echelons.
The concrete manifestation of this was that grand cultivators could reshape the world and alter the rules of heaven and earth.
Meanwhile, minor cultivators couldn't even afford to pay rent.