Chapter 393: Painting a Big Pie

"Does the Association currently grow medicinal herbs? For example, herbs for refining Blood Qi Pills, and herbs for True Qi Pills?" Lu Yu asked with a serious expression.

"We do grow herbs for Blood Qi Pills, though the quantity is not very large. This was mainly requested by the previous City Lord while he was alive."

Hai Qiong tried hard to recall, then continued, "As for the herbs for True Qi Pills, as far as I know, they have never been grown. Yes, I am certain they have never been grown."

Lu Yu nodded slightly, then immediately asked: "If we start planting herbs for refining True Qi Pills now, is it difficult?"

"It is not difficult," Hai Qiong answered almost without hesitation. "As for seeds, we can purchase them directly from the Association. We are not short on manpower either, and in our Association, there are two or three Awakened whose abilities are closely related to plant growth."

"Oh?" Lu Yu's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he pressed: "How exactly are they related?"

Hai Qiong hurriedly and enthusiastically introduced them: "Two of them can accelerate the growth rate of plants. The Blood Qi Pill herbs grown in the Association have always been under their care."

"There is also another person whose ability can increase the yield of plants. For example, a plant that would originally only bear one fruit could potentially bear two, or even three, under his careful tending."

"The three of them are in the Association right now. If you, President, wish to see them, I will call them over immediately."

After a moment of thought, Lu Yu said: "No rush for now."

He mused while saying: "In that case, as long as I spend points to purchase seeds from the Association, I will be able to harvest a large amount of medicinal herbs before long, right?"

"Yes, President," Hai Qiong said with a face full of smiles. "You don't even need to spend your points; just leave such a small matter to us."

Lu Yu glanced at him, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly, and said: "You are quite good at handling things."

A fawning smile immediately appeared on Hai Qiong's face.

He was naturally overjoyed to be able to help Lu Yu, because only by letting Lu Yu see that they had sufficient utility would this powerful President be willing to stay and protect them.

"However, I don't like taking advantage of others, and besides, I am not short on these few points." Lu Yu glanced at Hai Qiong.

Hai Qiong was instantly terrified, his face turning as pale as paper, and he hurriedly said: "Pr-President, that is not what I meant, I was saying..."

"Enough, I don't mean to blame you, no need to be so trembling with fear." Lu Yu waved his hand, signaling that he need not be nervous.

"I will purchase the seeds from the headquarters later; you arrange for people to be responsible for the planting. Tell them by the way that the more medicinal herbs they grow, the happier I will be."

"Once I am happy, I will give them generous rewards; even Heavenly God Fruits, which can significantly increase an Awakened's Mental Power, are no difficult task for me."

Lu Yu calmly dangled a carrot before everyone.

"Hea-, Heavenly God Fruit!"

Sure enough, upon hearing these three words, Hai Qiong's breathing instantly became rapid, his eyes filled with irrepressible excitement and longing.

In the world of the Awakened, the key status of Mental Power is like a foundation to a tall building; its importance is simply self-evident.

After all, in many cases, what Awakened lack is not ingenious ideas for controlling their abilities, but the actual ability to translate thoughts into action.

If Mental Power is insufficient, even if one outlines the most exquisite and peerless scenes of ability application in their mind, it is nothing more than a castle in the air, devoid of practical meaning—much like a clever housewife facing a kitchen without rice, unable to start despite having all sorts of culinary skills.

However, once Mental Power is abundant, even if the way of using the ability remains the same, the power displayed will be completely different, not to be mentioned in the same breath.

Relying on the support of powerful Mental Power, with greatly increased might, an Awakened can join the ranks of C-Rank and B-Grade.

But anyone with a discerning eye knows that increasing Mental Power is by no means an easy task.

The Moon Observation Method taught by the Cultivation Association is originally a fairly good path, but unfortunately, comprehension varies greatly from person to person.

Some people are gifted and may successfully reach Entry in just a month or two, achieve Small Success in less than half a year, and even reach the stage of Entering the Hall, using the Moon Observation Method with ease.

Yet there are others who, even after half a year has passed in a hurry, may have only just touched the threshold of Entry, with Small Success being even further out of reach.

And regrettably, the latter situation accounts for the vast majority among the many Awakened.

Even if someone is willing to offer a few pointers, how much one can ultimately comprehend still depends on individual aptitude.

Moreover, everyone is unrelated; who would be willing to spend precious time guiding you carefully? Isn't it better to use that time to improve oneself?

By comparison, Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures like the Heavenly God Fruit that can directly increase Mental Power naturally become the "white moonlight" in the hearts of many Awakened—a rare treasure they dream of and long to possess.

Beautiful things are often accompanied by a high price; the selling price of a single Heavenly God Fruit is as high as fifty thousand points!

For the vast majority of Awakened in the Cultivation Association, let alone coming up with fifty thousand points, even those who could produce five thousand points are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

And at this moment, this Lu Yu before them actually claimed he would take out Heavenly God Fruits as rewards?

"What, you don't believe me?" Lu Yu keenly captured the flash of hesitation on Hai Qiong's face, looked at him with a gaze like a torch, and asked.

"I believe, I believe." Hai Qiong hurriedly nodded repeatedly, a fawning smile plastered on his face, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was merely saying one thing while thinking another.

Seeing this situation, Lu Yu had no intention of explaining further.

He knew in his heart that when the time came to take out a Heavenly God Fruit and place it before everyone, there would be no need for more words; these people would naturally believe it without a doubt and subsequently be willing to serve him.

"By the way, besides this matter, there is one more thing you need to handle." Lu Yu changed the subject and continued.

"Please speak, President." Hai Qiong hurriedly responded respectfully.

"About how many people are there in Yongan City now?" Lu Yu's gaze was deep as he looked straight at Hai Qiong.

"About one hundred thousand, or if you count the people in the two Zhai outside the city, it's about one hundred and twenty thousand," Hai Qiong replied after a moment of thought.

"One hundred and twenty thousand..." Lu Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, a trace of contemplation flashing in his gaze, then asked: "Then how many people can Yongan City accommodate at most?"

"Ah?" Hai Qiong was slightly stunned; he clearly hadn't expected Lu Yu to suddenly throw out such a question, and for a moment, he was a bit confused.

However, he quickly regained his composure, thought about it seriously, and replied: "If we accommodate two hundred thousand people, it shouldn't be a big problem."

"Two hundred thousand people?" Lu Yu couldn't help but be a bit surprised; he had originally thought that those people outside the city hadn't moved in because the space inside the city was limited.

But now it seemed that things were not that simple.