Chapter 20

Wang Xianmao habitually rolled two spirit seeds in his palm, pressed one hand against the ground, and tossed the seeds into the spirit well.

Start!

The power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was so immense that, under the influence of spiritual energy, the backyard of Fuyuan Residence underwent a cataclysmic transformation.

Massive branches began to grow from the spirit well, and the side rooms, under Wang Xianmao's control, lifted straight into the air.

The branches gradually became a giant tree, and the giant tree transformed into a wooden building.

The original furnishings inside the side rooms floated one by one from midair into the growing wooden structure.

The terrifying power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator left Yulou awestruck—in less than a minute, a new three-story building had risen in Fuyuan Residence's backyard!

'If the clan chief showed up at a construction site, how incredible would he be?' Yulou thought.

'No higher—it'd be too conspicuous. Come, let's go inside and take a look.'

Wang Xianmao stood up and smiled, gesturing for everyone to follow him.

Inside the main entrance of the new building was a beautiful counter—crafted as a single piece by a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

'The left side is the storage room; I've already organized everything for you. Nianqiu, check if anything's amiss.'

'The right side is your two rooms—I expanded them for you. You two won't have to squeeze into one bed anymore.'

'Behind the first floor, I completely rebuilt the spirit well's water supply system. The spiritual energy distribution is still a bit tricky, but it's just a minor issue.'

'The second and third floors each have forty small rooms, two spirit stones per room per month—that's eighty spirit stones total, hahaha.'

'Come on, let's go up and take a look.'

Following the earth-and-wood lineage Foundation Establishment ancestor Wang Xianmao, everyone ascended to the second floor.

Yulou, quick-witted as ever, walked ahead and opened the door to one of the small rooms.

Inside was roughly one zhang square, containing one cabinet, one bed, and one set of table and chairs.

The bed was radiant, the table spotless—the craftsmanship of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was truly extraordinary; everything was forged as a single piece, breathtakingly beautiful.

'How's it?' Wang Xianmao asked.

The clan chief needed emotional validation too.

'The clan chief's craftsmanship is truly unparalleled!'

Chen Luwan flattered him.

'Isn't it too big?'

Yulou asked hesitantly.

At these words, everyone fell silent.

Yulou, you're ruthless.

It's already one zhang long and wide—you still think it's big?

Seeing their confusion, Yulou quickly explained.

'If these rooms are too large, we won't be able to charge well for the rooms in front.'

'Make them smaller, make more of them—this way we earn extra here without hurting sales of the larger rooms up front.'

A reincarnated nine-nine-six slave from another world, Yulou brought a touch of capitalist shock to the Cultivation World.

Small packages can't be too cheap!

You think Yulou is ruthless?

No—it's this world that's ruthless!

Hong Deng Zhao's disciples Gao Jian and his master Jiang Bao Bian would squeeze every last spirit stone from every Qing Xi Fang cultivator—they are the true monsters with grotesque faces.

Wang Shi may seem to have launched inhuman cage rooms, but in truth, they've greatly helped the lone cultivators!

'Makes sense. Let me see. Tell me how to do it.'

Wang Xianmao placed his hand on the wooden room's wall, and soon, the small room before them transformed.

It changed from one zhang by one zhang to one zhang long and five chi wide (three meters long, nearly two meters wide).

'Still too big—remove two chairs!' Yulou judged coldly.

'We need it to be just right: so that lone cultivators find it worth staying in, but anyone with even a bit of power won't want to live here—only then can we profitably sell the larger rooms up front.'

'Alright, I'll keep modifying!' Wang Xianmao didn't hesitate and continued channeling spiritual energy.

Soon, the small room shrank again—seven chi long, four chi wide (a bit over two meters long, a bit over one meter wide).

'Six chi long (two meters), three chi wide (one meter)—try this.' Yulou still thought it was too wide.

【Previous description of Wang Xianmao as "eight chi tall" has been changed to "sturdy build"—to be deleted after 48 hours】

'Bro, isn't this too small?'

Wang Yuan spoke up: you still need to leave lone cultivators some breathing room!

'Make two types: one like this now, with a bed, plus a table and a cabinet.'

'The other, only a bed—just accommodation and spiritual energy, nothing else.'

'That way, more cultivators will be willing to stay, and we'll earn more spirit stones.'

'Also, pricing the two types of small rooms in the backyard will better differentiate them from the large rooms in the front courtyard.'

Wang Xianmao silently channeled spiritual energy, reshaping the room exactly as Yulou desired.

Looking at the cramped room before him, Wang Rongwen felt his scalp go numb.

Thank goodness I'm a Wang!

'Yuan, lie down and test it.'

He nudged his son, urging him to lie in and demonstrate.

Wang Yuan pouted, reluctantly climbed onto the bed, twisted around twice, then said with a gloomy face:

'You can't even turn over—how could anyone live here?'

Wang Yulou smiled and said.

"Let's try a trial operation tomorrow. If the results aren't good, the Clan Leader can make further adjustments."

During the First Industrial Revolution in England, there were proletarians who slept on ropes; they worked more than fourteen hours a day, so poor that the ropes they relied on for sleeping had to be rented by the hour.

Cultivators would naturally never be that poor, but the Red Lanterns monopolized the spiritual energy supply of Qing Xi Fang; control over various spiritual materials was in the hands of the family and sects, and they could not lay a finger on them.

Returning to the Mortal World to live as a wealthy elder was certainly not difficult, but forcing those who had awakened to return to darkness was, in nature, no different from killing them.

The safety, spiritual energy, work, and opportunities in Qing Xi Fang were things the unaffiliated cultivators who had not yet abandoned the path of cultivation could only long for but never reach.

Gao Jian represented the official authority of Qing Xi Fang and the Red Lanterns; he did not believe those unaffiliated cultivators had any value to be exploited, so he wanted to drive them away.

The unaffiliated cultivators had lost their chance to be exploited.

The chance to be exploited... this logic and deconstruction angle looked a bit hellish, yet, before the productivity development brought by the Industrial Revolution, such opportunities indeed did not exist in most places of the world.

The model of the Mortal World could not be simply applied to the Cultivation World; Wang Yulou was unsure if this matter could succeed.

This was also the reason he told Wang Rongwen that his thoughts were immature when mentioning the cage-house plan.

Watching Wang Yuan get up, rolling and crawling, from the two-square-meter cage-house bed, Wang Xianmiao let out a barely perceptible, soft sigh and said.

"Very well, you two go back and rest first.

Wang Yulou, Wang Yuan, stay behind and help me lay out the spiritual energy transmission array for this building."

Wang Yulou looked at the Clan Leader in confusion.

So, my lord the Clan Leader actually understands arrays very well?

"Clan Leader, how could we let you do such a thing? Chen Luwan and I will just do it slowly."

Wang Rongwen did not grasp the Clan Leader's meaning and instinctively took on the task of laying out the array.

In his view, the Clan Leader was the Bai Yu pillar supporting the Wang Shi sky; he should not be doing such basic, hard labor.

"It is no trouble. I have never had the chance to spend time with two children before; this is a perfect opportunity to get familiar with them. You two go back and rest."

Wang Xianmiao waved his hand indifferently and said.

No matter the time or cultivation level, he was still a person of the Wang Shi and the Clan Leader; taking on a bit more responsibility was nothing.

Wang Yuan's parents and Tang Nianqiu had left; the Clan Leader looked at the two brothers and asked with a smile.

"I dragged you here late at night to lay an array; you don't have any objections, do you?"

Wang Yuan had no objection to laying the array; he just felt that his own father seemed to love Wang Yulou a bit more just now. Clearly, both he and Wang Yulou could have lain down to test it, yet Wang Rongwen insisted on making him test it.

"Being able to learn from the Clan Leader is Wang Yulou's fortune."

Wang Yulou said respectfully.

Wang Xianmiao had tested them during the day; now dragging the two of them to do work was similar to Tang Sanzang taking the Great Sage to sweep the Scripture Tower; it belonged to the Clan Leader's phase of teaching by word and deed.

"I am also very fortunate, Clan Leader. I want to learn from you so much!"

Wang Yuan expressed that he also wanted to progress.