Chapter 217: 217. Chapter 214: Managing the Territory

217. Chapter 214: Managing the Territory

Originally, several members of the Tao Family thought Li Xuan was joking, but it turned out to be a soul beast, and a hundred‑year‑old soul beast at that.

That completely reshaped the Tao Family's understanding.

"What are you still staring at? Quickly absorb the soul ring before it disperses." Li Xuan said irritably to the dazed Tao He.

At the same time, Li Xuan picked up the severed wine god flower, removed its wine sac; the three‑hundred‑year‑old flower's sac was only fist‑sized, yet the wine inside was of excellent quality, and it was also the purest part of the flower's medicinal power.

So Li Xuan planned to keep it to brew medicinal wine for himself.

"Ah! Young master, I'll absorb it now, I'll absorb it now." Tao He, awakened by Li Xuan, only then reacted and hurriedly closed his eyes to begin absorbing.

The soul ring cultivated by Li Xuan contained virtually no hostility, so absorption was relatively easy and safe.

Therefore Li Xuan was not worried about any mishap when Tao He absorbed the soul ring.

Tao He absorbed the soul ring with great ease and speed, successfully completing it in just over ten minutes, and also comprehended the First Soul Technique.

"Is it really that smooth?" Tao Lin stared at Tao He's absorption speed, his eyes widening instantly, his tone full of disbelief.

The First Soul Ring Tao Lin had absorbed almost cost him his life; only luck allowed him to succeed.

Li Xuan glanced at Tao He, saw no problem, and reclined in his lounge chair to continue admiring the moon.

Tao He slowly opened his eyes, his face full of joy.

"Clan Leader, I succeeded; I have comprehended the First Soul Technique!" Tao He exclaimed, scrambling up from the ground and looking at Tao Lin with surprise.

"Quickly report your soul skill to the young master!" Tao Lin patted Tao He's head and said.

"Young master, I have already obtained the First Soul Ring. My soul skill is Aged Wine; wine stored in my martial soul accelerates aging—one year inside my martial soul equals three years outside. Currently my Wine Vat holds only ten jin of wine, a bit small…" Tao He scratched his head, introducing his soul skill to Li Xuan.

"Not bad, not bad. Keep pushing, aim to break through to level 20 soon and absorb the Second Soul Ring. Your Tao Family is a Soul Master Family; both the number and strength of soul masters must be raised, don't waste your talent." Li Xuan bowed his head, smiling as he encouraged Tao He.

"Yes, young master! I will work hard!" Tao He brightened at Li Xuan's encouragement and said excitedly.

Tao He felt Li Xuan's regard for him.

Then Li Xuan pointed to another three‑hundred‑year‑old wine god flower and also to another child of the Tao Family.

"Young master, I'll absorb it now!" The second child, clearly less steady and still youthful, hopped to the wine god flower, grabbed it, and began absorbing it elsewhere.

Next, another child also absorbed a soul ring, gaining the same soul skill as Tao He.

"Tao Lin, take the child back to rest; tomorrow or the day after, you and this one can return here to absorb another soul ring." Li Xuan waved his hand at Tao Lin.

"Tao Lin, the soul ring you need is about eight hundred years old, so I'll give it to you tomorrow. Today's matters must not be told to anyone, understand?" Li Xuan first mentioned the soul ring, then gave Tao Lin a cold warning.

Although Tao Lin didn't know much, he still must not spread it! "Young master, rest assured, no one will know what happened today." Tao Lin sensed Li Xuan's warning, knelt and kowtowed.

"Alright, you all stay the night in the City Lord's Mansion; we expect to finish absorbing the soul rings by the day after tomorrow, then you may leave." Li Xuan nodded at Tao Lin and helped him up.

"Yes, young master!" Tao Lin quickly nodded at Li Xuan.

"Alright, go rest first; I'm tired too." Li Xuan waved his hand at Tao Lin.

"Yes, young master." Tao Lin bowed nervously to Li Xuan, then left with the two children.

Li Xuan watched Tao Lin leave, then turned and left himself; after a day of hustle, he was thoroughly exhausted.

After returning to his bedroom, Li Xuan entered the space of the Sky‑Palm Bottle to begin cultivation, for meals can be skipped but cultivation cannot stop. — In the next two days, Li Xuan cultivated two eight‑hundred‑year‑old wine god flowers, allowing Tao Lin and his clan to absorb soul rings.

All four members of the Tao Family absorbed soul rings suited to them.

"Thank you, young master, for your great kindness!" Tao Lin said gratefully to Li Xuan after absorbing his soul ring, aware of his status and Li Xuan's great assistance.

Thus Tao Lin sincerely appreciated Li Xuan.

"Alright, the soul rings are absorbed. Next, select suitable people, get Wine City running smoothly, and prepare higher‑quality wine to give to Merchant Huang for promotion. If the promotion succeeds, our wine will be sold officially; then you must guarantee the wine output to me." Li Xuan said seriously to Tao Lin.

The wine industry is a pillar sector for Ladi Canyon in the coming period, and now Tao Lin has the authority to select personnel; the entire Wine City will be fully operational, and output can increase dramatically.

Thus Li Xuan decided that once Merchant Huang returns, he'll take the wine out for a trial; if suitable, it will be sold on a large scale, giving Ladi Canyon stable revenue.

"Young master, rest assured, I will return shortly to select quality wine and deliver it, guaranteeing wine production." Tao Lin bowed to Li Xuan.

"Alright, go back and get all the breweries in Wine City operating as soon as possible." Li Xuan instructed Tao Lin earnestly.

"Yes, young master, I take my leave." Tao Lin turned and left the City Lord's Mansion.

Just as Li Xuan saw Tao Lin leave the City Lord's Mansion, Zhou Chen and two others returned.

"Young master, we have selected our subordinates—people who appear clever in each farm—totaling three hundred." Zhou Chen bowed respectfully to Li Xuan, then gestured to the massive line behind him.

"You're back just in time; I just sent the Tao Family away." Li Xuan said irritably.

Just after sending a group away, another arrives; it really gives me no rest.

Though helpless, Li Xuan still had Zhou Chen arrange for them to rest in the City Lord's Mansion.

As for teaching the cultivation method of Dragon Tooth Rice, Li Xuan had written a booklet for them to study; if they don't understand, they can come to him, but he truly lacks the energy to teach it personally.

"Han Shucheng, set aside the ancient text for a moment and look at this—how many copies can you make in a day?" Li Xuan handed his booklet on Dragon Tooth Rice cultivation to Han Shucheng and asked.

Han Shucheng respectfully took the booklet, then used soul power to try. After five seconds, an identical copy was reproduced.

"Young master, the booklet is small; I can copy about fifty of them per day." Han Shucheng returned the two booklets to Li Xuan, gave a brief estimate, and said.

"First copy thirty, then let them transcribe themselves; ask me anytime if something's unclear." Li Xuan thought and told Han Shucheng.

Li Xuan looked at the bustling three hundred people and no longer had the energy to teach so many.

"Yes, young master." Han Shucheng nodded, then turned and led the people away.

"Zhou Chen, you go as well and help me observe these people, see their learning states, pick out the more steady‑tempered ones to become farm overseers; I need to cultivate people to manage the farms." Li Xuan said, frowning at Zhou Chen.

"Yes, young master." Zhou Chen nodded, then turned and left to find Han Shucheng.

At this point, only Sun Mu with his twenty subordinates remained, standing dumbfounded, staring at Li Xuan.

"Don't idle either; use the time to train your subordinates so they can quickly handle accounts. When the caravan returns, Ladi Canyon's finances must run, and you have little time left." Li Xuan said irritably, waving at Sun Mu.

"Young master, rest assured, I'll train them quickly and ensure nothing delays your affairs." Sun Mu hurriedly nodded and immediately led his men away.

After watching everyone leave, Li Xuan turned back to his Cultivation Chamber.

Although affairs in the territory are numerous, Li Xuan's main focus remains on cultivation.

Li Xuan also hands over power to his subordinates, allowing himself more time to cultivate.

As for whether his subordinates might betray him, Li Xuan is not worried at all; the Burning Heart Seal is released, and anyone with treacherous intent will turn to ash.

…

Three days later, Han Shucheng and Zhou Chen found Li Xuan, who was handling state affairs.

Now there are many matters inside Ladi Canyon, and Li Xuan doesn't have many suitable people at hand, so he still has to do things personally.

"Young master, over three hundred farmers have basically learned how to plant Dragon Tooth Rice; once we wait for next spring, they can plant it," Han Shucheng said respectfully to Li Xuan.

"Fine, let them go back first. There's nothing else in Ladi Canyon now; assign them to work, to labor, and don't let them be idle," Li Xuan nodded with satisfaction,

"Young master, I have already selected suitable farmers as farm supervisors, which will make our management much easier," Zhou Chen bowed respectfully to Li Xuan and then said.

"Zhou Chen, the farm affairs are yours to manage; also find some clever farmers to place in the Main City. Convey any orders for me. Han Shucheng should promptly create personnel files for the entire camp. Moreover, Han Shucheng, select some strong farmers to form a patrol unit to handle various disputes in the farm," Li Xuan said after a moment, addressing the two.

The territory still needs inspectors to operate normally, and the Main City also requires some people to run errands for Li Xuan; now Zhou Chen's duties have increased, and he cannot keep running errands forever.

"Yes, young master!" the two replied to Li Xuan simultaneously.

The two also know that Li Xuan has given them great authority, so they are grateful to him; without Li Xuan, the two

"Both of you go back, think about how to handle your own affairs, and come to me if any problems arise," Li Xuan said to the two.

"Yes, young master," the two responded and then left.

"These three life‑type Soul Masters are indeed a bit lacking as Soul Masters, but as managerial talent they are quite good," Li Xuan stroked his chin and nodded with satisfaction.

After delegating power, Li Xuan can enjoy much more leisure.

Douluo Continent differs from other places; here, strength allows one to act arbitrarily, so Li Xuan doesn't care whether Zhou Chen and the others might betray him.

If they truly dare to betray him, Li Xuan can easily make them turn to dust.

Inside Ladi Canyon, these three people manage finance, agriculture, and supervision.

Outside Ladi Canyon there are Huang Shang, Wine City has Tao Lin, Weapon City has Lou Gao, and none of these need to be managed by himself.

Although Medicine City technically belongs under Li Xuan's direct control, he truly lacks the energy to manage Medicine City, so Li Xuan is considering outsourcing.

"On Douluo Continent regarding medicinal herbs, the most reliable should be Broken Soul Gun Yang Wudi, but getting him on board isn't easy either," Li Xuan stroked his chin and muttered.

Yang Wudi is indeed the most suitable person to oversee Medicine City, but he is a bona fide peak Soul Douluo, capable of breaking through Title Douluo at any moment.

What right do I have to invite him?

"Regardless, we still have to give it a try," Li Xuan stroked his chin and muttered to himself.

However, Li Xuan alone isn't confident, so he needs to wait for Bai Chuan to break through to the Soul Douluo realm; that way, Li Xuan can be safer.

"Forget it, we'll look for Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm later," Li Xuan shook his head helplessly at the thought of that chatterbox; he doesn't intend to face that fellow anytime soon.

After delegating all authority, Li Xuan can relax much more and no longer has to deal with these matters daily.

But at that moment, Zhou Chen suddenly returned.

"Your young master, Mr. Huang has returned, bringing many items, and is outside requesting an audience," Zhou Chen bowed to Li Xuan and then said.

"Oh? You've arranged this, right? Come one by one! Can't I get a break…" Li Xuan said irritably to Zhou Chen.

But Li Xuan is not a clueless person.

"Zhou Chen, just go summon Huang and handle your own duties; quickly assign some people to run errands so you don't wear yourself out," Li Xuan said helplessly, waving his hand to Zhou Chen. The City Lord's Mansion is still short of staff. (End of chapter)