Chapter 2094: Drawing Grand Pies

He held in his hand the techniques and divine arts of the Phantom Sect, which he had copied from the Overturned Sea back then—no, wait, that doesn't sound right, he had brought them out. But he couldn't naively hand them over to Panlongcheng for use.

As one of the oldest sects still in existence, the Phantom Sect's heart method lineage is very complete, and its characteristics are very distinct, but there are two major problems.

Since it was created by Qianhuan, the Phantom Sect's heart method focuses on the character "illusion," emphasizing divine arts and techniques.

Among them, a large number of illusion techniques and magical barriers are not suitable for military use. Unless one cultivates to the level of an immortal, illusion techniques are easily exposed before elemental power—moreover, nowadays the laws of elemental power have changed, making elemental power even more sharp and effective.

After subtracting seven and deducting eight, the truly suitable main combat heart methods for military use amount to only four or five, and then there is a pile of illusion techniques.

The vast Panlong Plain, with hundreds of thousands of troops, countless tribes and civilians—learning just these few heart methods is nowhere near enough? The techniques provided by the Mobilization Office must be numerous and diverse, because human talents are truly diverse, and individuals can even vary greatly.

The second problem: if he were to pass the Phantom Sect heart method to Panlongcheng, how would he resolve the issue of its origin?

How could the Tiger Wing General, who has never left the Panlong Wasteland and Mao River Plain, produce so many sets of the Phantom Sect's closely guarded heart methods, and how would he explain these techniques to Panlongcheng and Zhong Shengguang?

Lastly and most troublesome of all, the Phantom Sect heart method is very distinctive in its characteristics—He Lingchuan secretly practicing it himself is one thing. But if it were to be distributed as a military technique on a large scale, he truly wouldn't fear the Phantom Sect showing up to cause trouble?

What He Lingchuan least hopes for now is for Qianhuan to take notice of Panlongcheng, and then how would he foolishly draw attention to himself?

From a practical standpoint, Ling Mountain is still the best source of techniques—safe, reliable, and traceable.

Just listen as Xin Yi continues to lay out the bait: "Bailie's purchase of silver manganese and white steel from the Flash Gold Plains are excellent materials for crafting characteristic weapons, and this month he plans to transport them to Bai Sha Bay via the new sea route."

What are characteristic weapons? The swords, spears, and halberds used by soldiers in the past belong to ordinary weapons, namely so-called "mundane weapons." Because spiritual energy is too thin, mundane weapons suffice for combat.

Characteristic weapons lie between mundane weapons and magical artifacts, often possessing only a single characteristic, such as "sharp," "breaking," or "cutting steel," and even some shields can gain the "ramming" characteristic. They still fall short of the threshold for magical artifacts, lacking the rich and varied characteristics of those, but they win in low cost, stable quality, and characteristics that can be custom-made as needed.

The refinement of magical artifacts involves uncertainty—what characteristic emerges from the furnace is hard to say. But the refinement of characteristic weapons, as long as it strictly follows the recipe, will bring neither surprise nor shock.

In the middle to late ancient period, as spiritual energy gradually declined, characteristic weapons appeared in the world.

Conversely speaking, as long as the spiritual energy of heaven and earth recovers to the level of the middle ancient period, characteristic weapons will find their use.

For any force or nation with aspirations for the future, at this stage, besides possessing powerful divine arts and techniques, the demand for characteristic weapons is also very strong.

Silver manganese and white steel—these raw materials are also found in the Panlong Wasteland, but their output is small, only able to prioritize supply to the Great Wind Army, and the quantity is still insufficient.

He Lingchuan also wanted to equip his own Ximo Legion with them.

So the pie that Xin Yi drew is still very fragrant.

But he deliberately mentioned Bai Sha Bay.

He Lingchuan naturally understood the implication between the lines: Panlongcheng wants to freely use the port and docks of Bai Sha Bay, and for that, it must go through Ling Mountain.

This is precisely what Panlongcheng urgently needs to attend to right now.

Xin Yi then said: "Also, Panlongcheng is currently developing its second overseas trade route, and along the way, many sects and powers have good relations with Ling Mountain. At that time, Ling Mountain can act as a matchmaker for both sides, facilitating cooperation."

Actually, while developing trade routes jointly brings many benefits, not every country or power is willing to do so. In the short term, it may increase considerable economic gains, but in the long run, having strangers constantly coming and going through one's territory makes leaks very likely; furthermore, the composition of caravans is usually complex and hard to control, and if an army disguises itself as a caravan to seize local power?

This has actually happened before in the past.

The countries and regions along the second overseas trade route are relatively numerous, so it's not as simple as the Mao River Plain–Bai Sha Bay route.

For Panlongcheng to conquer them one by one is also a headache.

Negotiations between countries—short ones last months, long ones have no upper limit. Some countries' agreements, once discussed, drag on for over a decade; hard-won progress still leaves signing far out of reach.

If Ling Mountain acts as a bridge in the middle, everyone belongs to the Ling Mountain camp, naturally having a foundation of cooperation and trust, plus there's unbreakable face—such agreements become much easier to reach.

This pie is also very fragrant.

Of course, while Xin Yi was drawing the pie, he also added a lot of oil to increase its appeal. He Lingchuan could see from this that Ling Mountain also very much hopes to reach an agreement with Panlongcheng, but currently it remains only in lip service without substance, with no actual investment.

No matter, we can still talk.

"Actually, compared to mere support, we still have a better plan." After speaking with Sun Fuling, He Lingchuan has been thinking of ways.

Upon hearing this, Xin Yi became very interested: "I would like to hear the details."

The key point has arrived.

He Lingchuan took out a portable sand table, and Xin Yi voluntarily cleared the food, making space on the table.

The sand table had been adjusted beforehand, and upon opening it, it displayed a reduced map of Panlongcheng's territory.

"These past few years have been Panlongcheng's period of development—territory expanded threefold, population surged ninefold, and grain output has hit new highs year after year." These are old news, Xin Yi already knew them, and He Lingchuan isn't afraid to say them to his face—"On the surface, everything looks thriving. In fact, Panlongcheng has encountered many problems, such as insufficient farmland development, new official roads awaiting construction, and river embankments needing maintenance and reinforcement, and new towns and villages all needing accelerated development and construction,

in order to accommodate the large influx of new residents."

Interestingly, the real Flash Gold Plains face the same problems, and even more so—greater, more numerous, and more complex. As He Lingchuan practices the construction of Cangyan State, looking back at Panlongcheng's development opportunities, his ideas become flexible and varied.

His current position, vision, and scope actually far exceed the limitations of Panlongcheng's "Tiger Wing General."

Xin Yi nodded: "Yes, I know these all cost a lot of money."

These are all places where official finances must spend money and effort, and among them there are still many long-standing bottlenecks.

"But they are also very profitable." He Lingchuan laughed, pointing at the sand table: "For example, the Luji River wants to build a dam,

at this location, preliminary exploration has already been completed. Once built, it will not only bless the downstream fields, but also collect over thirty thousand silver coins annually in boat taxes."

He emphasized again: "This is a stable annual income, just like a golden goose laying eggs. Once the local economy improves, this sum will only become more considerable."