Chapter 20

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

Start!

The power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was immense; under the surge of spiritual power, the backyard of Fuyuanju underwent a cataclysmic transformation.

Massive branches began growing from the spirit well, while the side rooms, under Wang Xianmao’s control, lifted straight into the air.

The branches gradually became a giant tree, which then transformed into a wooden building.

Items originally inside the side rooms floated one by one from midair into the growing wooden structure.

The terrifying prowess of a Foundation Establishment cultivator left Yulou in awe—in less than a minute, a new three-story building had risen in Fuyuanju’s backyard!

‘If the clan chief were at a construction site, how powerful would he be?’ Yulou wondered.

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

Wang Xianmao stood up, smiling, and gestured for everyone to follow.

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

‘To the left is the storage room; I’ve already organized everything for you, Nianqiu, go check if anything’s amiss.’

‘To the right are your rooms—I expanded them a bit, so you two brothers won’t have to squeeze together anymore.’

‘Behind the first floor, I completely rebuilt the spirit 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, totaling eighty spirit stones. Hahaha.’

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

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

Yulou, quick-witted, walked ahead and pushed open the door of a small room.

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

The bed was bright, the table clean—Wang Xianmao’s Foundation Establishment craftsmanship was extraordinary; everything was seamlessly formed, stunningly beautiful.

‘How is it?’ Wang Xianmao asked.

The clan chief needed emotional validation too.

‘The clan chief’s handiwork is naturally extraordinary!’

Chen Lu praised 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—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-to-six slave from the mortal world, Yulou brought a touch of capitalist shock to the cultivation realm.

Small packages can’t be too cheap!

You think Yulou is ruthless?

No—the world is ruthless!

Hongdengzhao’s disciples Gao Jian and his master Jiang Bao were desperate to squeeze every last spirit stone from every Qingxifang cultivator—they are the true monsters with grotesque faces.

Though the Wang clan appears to have introduced inhumane cage rooms, they’ve actually done a great favor for the lone cultivators!

‘Makes sense. Let me see. Tell me how to do it.’

Wang Xianmao placed his hand on the wall of the small room, and instantly, the room before them changed shape.

It shifted 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 the two chairs!’ Yulou judged calmly.

‘We need it to be just right: comfortable enough for lone cultivators to find it worth their spirit stones, but too cramped for anyone with even a little power—only then can we price the larger rooms up front as premium.’

‘Fine, I’ll keep modifying!’ Wang Xianmao didn’t hesitate, continuing to channel spiritual power.

Soon, the 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.

[Previously described Wang Xianmao as ‘eight chi tall’—changed to ‘sturdy build’—to be deleted after 48 hours]

‘Brother, isn’t this too small?’

Yuan expressed: You still need to leave lone cultivators some breathing room!

‘Make two types: one like this now—still includes a bed, a table, and a cabinet.’

‘The other type keeps only the bed—just accommodation and spiritual energy, nothing else.’

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

‘The pricing difference between the two types in the backyard will also clearly distinguish them from the larger rooms in the front.’

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 tighten.

Thank heaven I’m a Wang!

‘Yuan, lie down and test it.’

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

Yuan pouted, reluctantly climbed onto the bed, twisted twice, then groaned.

‘I can’t even turn over—how could anyone sleep here?’

Yulou smiled and said.

‘Let’s try operating it tomorrow. If the results are poor, the clan chief can adjust further.’

During the early Industrial Revolution in England, there were proletarians who slept on ropes—they worked over fourteen hours daily, so poor they had to rent the ropes by the hour just to sleep.

Cultivators wouldn’t sink to such poverty, but Hongdengzhao monopolized Qingxifang’s spiritual energy supply; all spiritual resources were controlled by clans and sects, leaving them no access.

Returning to the mortal world as a wealthy merchant was easy—but forcing someone who had awakened back into darkness was no different from killing them.

Safety, spiritual energy, work, opportunity—these were all beyond the reach of lone cultivators still clinging to the path of cultivation in Qingxifang.

Gao Jian represented Qingxifang’s official authority, represented Hongdengzhao—he saw no value in exploiting these lone cultivators, so he wanted them gone.

The lone cultivators had lost even the chance to be exploited.

The chance to be exploited... from a logical and deconstructive perspective, this sounds like hell—but such a chance truly didn’t exist in most of the world before industrialization brought productivity growth.

The mortal world’s model couldn’t be simply applied to the cultivation world; Yulou wasn’t sure if this plan would work.

That’s why, when he mentioned the cage room plan to Wang Rongwen, he said his idea was immature.

Watching Yuan scramble out of the two-square-meter cage bed, Wang Xianmao let out a barely perceptible sigh.

‘Alright, you all go rest.’

‘Yulou, Yuan—stay behind. Help me lay out the spiritual energy distribution array for this building.’

Yulou looked at the clan chief in confusion.

So the clan chief actually understands arrays?

‘Clan chief, how could you do such a menial task? Let me and Luwan handle it slowly.’

Wang Rongwen didn’t grasp the clan chief’s intent and instinctively took over the array-laying task.

In his eyes, the clan chief was the white jade pillar holding up the Wang clan—he shouldn’t be doing such basic, laborious work.

‘No problem. I never had the chance to spend time with the two of you—this is perfect. Go rest.’

Wang Xianmao waved his hand dismissively.

No matter when or at what cultivation level, he was still a Wang, still the clan chief—taking on more responsibility was nothing.

Yulan’s parents and Tang Nianqiu left. The clan chief turned to the two brothers and smiled.

‘Dragged you two out at night to lay arrays—don’t you mind?’

Yuan didn’t mind laying arrays—he just felt his own father seemed to favor Yulou more. Both could’ve tested the bed, yet Wang Rongwen insisted only he do it.

‘It’s Yulou’s fortune to learn from the clan chief.’

Yulou said respectfully.

Wang Xianmao had already tested them during the day; now summoning them to work was like Tang Sanzang taking Sun Wukong to sweep the scripture hall—a moment of direct, embodied teaching by the clan chief.

‘I’m lucky too, clan chief—I desperately want to learn from you!’

Yuan declared—he too wanted to improve.