Chapter 707: History of the Continents

"Hall Master, what is this talk? The sect's affairs we will naturally handle properly."

"Indeed, Hall Master, this isn't our first cooperation; whatever requirements you have, just tell us."

Yan Buji nodded: "Since that's the case, I won't say much. Early‑stage vein development is basically just miners, smelting, and casting—those steps. Can you possibly meet the sect's need for the large staff and basic facilities?"

"No problem at all!" Zhou Wan'an replied immediately.

"Alright, then after the Sect Master secures the vein we can discuss the rest; we still need to know how the Sect Master is thinking." Yan Buji said with a smile.

"Indeed."

"Hall Master Yan, are you really not taking responsibility for the Wai Mao Tang anymore?"

Yan Buji did consider going, but now there's new work, which isn't a bad choice.

And there's also a simple piece of advice; Yan Buji thinks it's better to believe it exists.

"The Wai Mao Tang has many matters to handle; I need to cultivate, so I don't have that much time for it." Yan Buji said with a laugh, shaking his head.

Looks like he truly won't be returning.

The surrounding Hall Masters thought that Yan Buji's attitude seemed like he was just being stubborn.

"Since that's so, we won't stay long; farewell."

"Farewell."

"Everyone, goodbye."

After everyone left, Zhou Wan'an quietly called out to Yan Buji, seeming to have something to discuss with him.

"Hall Master Yan." Zhou Wan'an glanced around nervously and whispered.

"Hall Master Zhou, is there anything else?" Yan Buji asked, a bit puzzled.

"This time the Sect Master is attending an auction; do you know its background?"

Yan Buji shook his head; he hasn't had time to inquire, but seeing Zhou Wan'an's demeanor, he seemed to know some inside information.

"You know?"

"Mm." Zhou Wan'an nodded: "Although Zhong Tian Zhi Yu is vast, within one great domain there are fifteen continents, housing tens to hundreds of billions of beings; our Human Continent occupies only six‑tenths of the territory."

"Oh?" Yan Buji's eyes shifted: "Hall Master Zhou means that the auction the Sect Master is attending concerns a vein that lies outside Human Continent territory?"

"Correct, this auction actually stems from a disaster caused by the Demon Race." Zhou Wan'an began to explain.

Although the Demon Race in Zhong Tian Zhi Yu maintains peaceful exchanges with the Human Continent, the Demon Race's internal conflicts are constant; whether the Human Continent intervenes is unclear, but Yan Buji knows that beings of different races have fundamentally different minds, and hoping to coexist peacefully with a different species is a pipe dream, unless one side falls into internal chaos.

"In those days, the Demon Royal Court of Zhong Tian Zhi Yu seized ten continents, until a generation's Demon Sage suddenly fell, causing the subordinate Demon Emperors to rebel, refusing the Royal Court's control, and thus began mutual wars. Moreover, our Human Continent benefited: originally occupying five continents, we now control eight!"

"Oh, I see." Yan Buji nodded.

Yan Buji has never deeply studied Zhong Tian Zhi Yu's history; after all, one must first consider one's own livelihood, focusing on the present, not caring about the past.

However, from what he hears, this semi‑public auction may involve internal Demon Race conflicts, which gave the Human Continent an advantage.

"Excluding the territory occupied by the Human Continent, the Otherworldly Race originally held one continent, and the remaining five belong to the Demon Race, but the Demon Race recently seems to have welcomed a new Demon Sage!"

"Demon Sage?"

Yan Buji pondered: a Demon Emperor is lower than a Sage, analogous to the difference between the Human Continent's Great Vehicle Stage and Tribulation Crossing Stage.

But Yan Buji has never heard of a Demon Sage; the known ones are the powerful Demon Emperors.

"Precisely because this Demon Sage arrived, new conflicts arose within the Demon Race, and a continent near the border of the Otherworldly Race became a battlefield, now stripped of everything." Zhou Wan'an sighed.

"Has the conflict escalated that far?" Yan Buji was surprised. Even within the Demon Race, not everyone is a fool, right? Don't they realize that a war affecting an entire continent could benefit the Human Continent?

But it seems the war has already ended; Yan Buji only now learns the news, suggesting the war began centuries, perhaps millennia, ago.

"So Hall Master Zhou means that if I were in charge, I'd have to cross several continents to get there?"

"Correct, and that place is now a juicy piece of meat, with countless forces eyeing it. Moreover, an important point: the Human Continent does not occupy that land; we merely help restore its vitality and open trade routes—a kind of humanitarian aid—but the territory remains Demon Race's."

Yan Buji pressed his chin, summarizing: "So we only have management rights and mining rights, but no land rights?"

"Yes."

"Then the upfront investment would be an astronomical sum." Yan Buji sighed.

"Hall Master Yan, what's your view on this?" Zhou Wan'an asked.

"It's not hard to solve. Though we lack land rights, a massive migration will occur; the main issue is potential Human–Demon conflicts. It also requires many cultivators for upkeep, plus early‑stage development; the manpower and material costs need investigation to estimate." Yan Buji said.

"Given that, please calculate it soon, Hall Master Yan, so we can plan."

"No problem."

Having said that, Zhou Wan'an smiled and handed Yan Buji a storage bag.

Yan Buji nodded satisfactorily.

"If you don't pay, don't expect me to reveal any information."

After returning to Lian Dan Tang, Yan Buji reflected and thought that venturing into Demon Race territory wasn't a bad thing.

"The Demon Race possesses many novel Spiritual Materials not circulated in the Human Continent; though we don't expect trade rights, gathering some for ourselves will be useful later."

Thinking that, Yan Buji wasn't in a hurry to cultivate, planning to continue the sacrificial refining of the Luo Weave Needle to speed its completion.

After a while.

While Yan Buji was still refining the Luo Weave Needle, Ye Lin came over again.

"Hall Master Yan?"

Yan Buji stepped out of the cultivation chamber, looking at the hurried Ye Lin, somewhat puzzled: "What's the matter?"

"I'm being dispatched to the Demon Race!"

"Huh?"

Yan Buji, looking puzzled, asked, "Are you going to Luohuang Zhou?"

"Huh? Hall Master Yan, how did you know?" Ye Lin exclaimed.

"Nothing, I guess I'll be heading there too." Yan Buji smiled.

Oh, is that so! Ye Lin let out a sigh of relief: "After I returned, I was cultivating just fine in the sect, but then my master said I needed to go out and gain more experience for a few years, and only after reaching Void Refining could I return to the sect—it's left me feeling a bit down."

What does Paolong Sacred Land plan to do in Luohuang Zhou?

It is said they are preparing to engage in Spiritual Material trade; the sect plans to invest a sum of money to purchase monster race Spiritual Materials, transport them back to the sect, and sell them. Ye Lin said.

Yan Buji frowned: "It's so far away—aren't you worried something might go wrong along the way? Even if we use a teleportation array, each round trip would be quite a cost, right?"

Yan Buji knew that teleportation arrays exist between continents, but at most they only connect one or two continents; the maintenance and usage cost of arrays spanning several continents is too high, so generally no one is willing to build them.