Chapter 226: The Upper Echelon’s Fortune Has Run Out?
Cui Wenxuan nodded as if he understood but not fully, vaguely grasping something.
Next was the promotion and construction work for the 【Earth Temple】.
Collecting Earth Temple materials was handled by Cui Wenxuan and Mayor Chen Shilong, while Wu Xian only needed to handle the production.
As for the subsequent promotion, it would naturally be handled by Mayor Chen Shilong.
“You all continue chatting; there’s a guest from Shenglin Dojo at the Association.” Cui Wenxuan said his farewells.
“A guest from Shenglin Dojo?” Wu Xian asked in doubt: “What are they here for?”
“I don’t know; they said they want to investigate the 【Sacred Spirit Island】 Instance,” Cui Wenxuan shook his head: “When the Sacred Spirit Island Instance was sealed off a while ago, I already felt something was off. Probably something happened on the original Sacred Spirit Island 【side】.”
Wu Xian understood, feeling a bit strange inside.
Good grief, could they really follow the trail all the way to him?
After Cui Wenxuan left, Mayor Chen Shilong quickly sent people to protect the 【Earth Temple】 surrounding area.
“Master Xiao Wu has accumulated immeasurable merit this time,” Chen Shilong bowed solemnly to thank Wu Xian. “Once the Earth Temple Farm is established later, the shantytowns in the city should become a thing of the past.”
Evidently, Chen Shilong wanted the shantytown residents to join agricultural production.
This was undoubtedly a huge boon for the entire Yaoyang City.
Wu Xian, having come from a shantytown himself, felt immensely gratified by this.
His impression of Mayor Chen Shilong also changed slightly.
“Speaking of which, how did Yaoyang City’s major shantytowns form?” Wu Xian asked naturally.
“Well… on one hand, it was refugees who migrated from Hongta City and Ziyun City back then,” Chen Shilong said helplessly. “On the other hand, it was due to the city’s development dilemmas.
Of course, now with the rise of your Underworld Club, the economy and employment situation have improved a lot.”
“Ziyun City and Hongta City?” Wu Xian couldn’t help being curious. “What exactly happened to those two cities back then?”
Chen Shilong pondered for a moment and said meaningfully: “The specifics aren’t clear, but based on my investigations and verifications over the years, it’s nine times out of ten related to upper class people.”
“Wasn’t it a Dimensional Disaster?” Wu Xian asked in doubt.
“Dimensional Disaster is just the surface,” Chen Shilong sneered: “A Disaster-level Monster invades—not too many, not too few, just right to wipe out those two cities, then withdraws on its own. Does that sound reasonable to you?”
“Disaster-level Monster?” Wu Xian was startled inside: “There was a Disaster-level Monster invasion back then?”
Generally speaking, Otherworld Monsters are divided into five levels: Elite, Commander, Lord-level, King-level, and Emperor-level.
But after Lord-level, there’s another classification: Catastrophe-level and World-ending level, corresponding to King-level and Emperor-level respectively.
Simply put, monsters like Second Sister-in-law that gradually develop higher intelligence and cultivate Form Transformation belong to the King-level and Emperor-level sequence.
While those without higher intelligence, purely driven by instinct to destroy and devastate, belong to the Catastrophe-level and World-ending level sequence.
Elite, Commander, and Lord Monsters also have differences in intelligence, but the differences aren’t great, so no need to distinguish them.
“That’s right,” Chen Shilong nodded: “And it was an eighty-level Catastrophe Monster!”
Wu Xian was secretly shocked. “You mean, that Catastrophe-level Monster back then might have been controlled by upper class people behind the scenes?”
Chen Shilong neither confirmed nor denied it.
Wu Xian took a deep breath, his mood inevitably heavy.
Chen Shilong had long investigated Wu Xian and his father’s situation, knowing Wu Xian was connected to Ziyun and Hongta Cities back then, but he didn’t point it out.
“Are you scared?” Chen Shilong asked with a smile.
“Scared?” Wu Xian was puzzled.
“What if, like Ziyun City and Hongta City back then, a Catastrophe-level Monster suddenly shows up?” Chen Shilong teased.
“…” Wu Xian couldn’t help falling silent.
Yeah, what if a Catastrophe-level Monster popped up in Yaoyang City too?
Chen Shilong shook his head with a smile: “Actually, no need to be afraid. From what I know, the upper world no longer has that capability nowadays.”
“What do you mean?” Wu Xian asked in surprise and curiosity.
Chen Shilong narrowed his eyes with a smile. “Though I don’t know exactly what Ziyun City and Hongta City did back then, what I can say for sure is that afterward, the upper world completely lost control over the major Otherworlds.
Now, they have been continuously suffering backlash from Otherworldly Power.”
Hearing this, Wu Xian was both shocked and doubtful.
“You mean, the top-tier existences in the major Otherworlds today are also opposing the upper world?”
“Though not fully at war yet, it’s close,” Chen Shilong laughed: “Those old masters up there must have had real headaches these years, haha.”
“How do you know all this?” Wu Xian asked, puzzled.
“This is no longer a secret among the high-level officials on all sides today,” Chen Shilong laughed: “President Cui and Old Master Wang obviously know about it too.”
Wu Xian suddenly understood.
So back then, their three-way hints were because they knew this inside information?
Realizing the “upper world” was at the end of its rope?
…
Over the next few days, Yaoyang City’s grain price defense battle quietly began.
The first batch of seven Earth Temples quietly appeared in various places in Yaoyang City, establishing farms.
Spirit Tamers might not feel much about it, but ordinary folks felt the tangible benefits.
For example, the former shantytowns had now completely turned into “heavily polluted industrial zones.”
Large numbers of shantytown residents surged from the dirty, rundown shantytowns to the areas around the seven major Earth Temples, establishing “new villages.”
Sure enough, the former shacks were now facing demolition.
Though Wu Xian no longer cared about that demolition compensation, receiving the demolition subsidy still brought a unique feeling.
Having transmigrated here, he had finally gotten a taste of being a demolishee.
But beneath this seemingly prosperous development, various turbulent undercurrents still lurked.
Du Yifan’s Defense Team was getting busier and busier, even starting to expand personnel.
According to what Du Yifan revealed, Dimensional Leaks in Yaoyang City were becoming more frequent.
Who knows what those Evil God Scroll Painters were up to?
At the Association.
Wu Xian was discussing with Tattoo Brother how Composite Divine Power Factor improves “Human Scroll Painting.”
After several verifications, it indeed effectively enhanced the Human Scroll Painting effect.
The Xue Family disciples, under Master Sister and Third Master Xue’s arrangements, began coming one after another for “modification,” but the tattoo patterns were not Evil Suppressing Guard, but Master Sister’s Soul Devouring Ghost King.
According to Tattoo Brother’s tests, among Xue Lingling’s many Ghost Kings, the 【Soul Devouring Ghost King】 was the most suitable for Human Scroll Painting.
As for the Ghost Emperor Series, Tattoo Brother’s current level wasn’t sufficient yet.
During the discussions with Tattoo Brother, Wu Xian had unknowingly grasped the knack of “Human Scroll Painting.”
In fact, from the day he met Tattoo Brother, he had been trying to learn this craft.
Tattoo Brother explored ahead, while he followed behind, groping his way across the river.
It was just that he hadn’t had a chance to practice hands-on.
“Little Wu, are you sure you can handle it?” Xu Lu worried from the side: “Don’t cause problems for the person.”
“Relax~ I won’t guarantee success rate, but I definitely won’t cause problems for the person.” Wu Xian smiled confidently, looking at the young Xue Family member exposing his back in front of him. “Don’t be nervous, relax.”
This person’s name was Xue Zihang, a young man from the Xue Family’s collateral branch, also carefully selected by the Xue Family as a “modification candidate.”
He had a sturdy build, an honest and straightforward personality, and blind trust in Wu Xian.
“Brother Wu, go all out; I trust you!”
Hearing this, Wu Xian felt a bit nervous instead.
