13: Faith Trading

Shen Xiaochuan stood outside the temple, holding a charcoal pencil. Dawn was just breaking, and the wind was a bit cold.

He squeezed the copper gear on his cuff and turned to walk toward the watchtower.

Chen Yan was already waiting up there.

"The two people from the East District have been settled."

Chen Yan spoke, "One knows how to farm, and the other is a carpenter. Both have been assigned to the Agricultural Area."

Shen Xiaochuan nodded. "How is the situation at the Blacksmith Shop?"

"Lolia hasn't rested; she's drawing design plans for new weapons."

"Good."

Shen Xiaochuan stepped onto the observation deck and looked down at the activity in the camp. Smoke rose from several places, but the granary was empty, with only a few empty bags piled in the corner.

He frowned slightly.

"The food won't last more than ten days."

Chen Yan looked up at him. "The mining team needs to eat every day, and the night watchmen can't go hungry either."

"Let's solve this first."

Shen Xiaochuan jumped down the steps. "To the Trading Area."

The two of them crossed the camp. On the way, they saw people carrying wind wolf meat. This was meat cut from the Thunder-Horned Savage Bulls, and now nearly six thousand catties were piled in the warehouse.

"We can't finish it all."

Shen Xiaochuan said, "Others lack food, and we have meat—we'll trade."

Chen Yan was startled. "Trade how much?"

"Let's try it out first."

They opened the Huaxia Divine Domain channel, and messages flooded in instantly.

"Three divine domains in the south are short on food; their stock is less than thirty percent."

"Seeking to buy five hundred catties of lean meat, can trade for three thousand catties of Staple Food."

"Emergency! Demon Wolves destroyed the fields, the children have nothing to eat."

Shen Xiaochuan watched for a few minutes, a slight smile appearing on his face.

"The market is looking good."

He entered his personal trading interface and posted a message:

"Fifty catties of wind wolf meat for five hundred catties of Staple Food. Limited to Huaxia Deities, on-site inspection. No deposit required, trade upon delivery."

After posting, he said to Chen Yan, "Find a reliable person to complete the first order."

In less than a minute, five private messages popped up in succession.

He chose Zhang Heng from Luoyang. Last month, this person had spoken up for Skydome City in the channel and had a good reputation.

The other party replied quickly: "I'm at the border; I'll arrive in two hours."

Shen Xiaochuan had Chen Yan take twenty people to meet him while he returned to the warehouse to prepare the goods.

Fifty catties of meat were packed into sealed boxes and loaded onto a handcart. Lolia arrived at that moment, holding a piece of paper.

"Lord God."

She handed over the document. "This is a registration form template. Every transaction needs to be recorded from now on, or things will get messy."

Shen Xiaochuan glanced at it. "You'll be responsible for the verification. Every transaction must be signed by you to be valid."

Lolia nodded. "A room in the Blacksmith Shop has been cleared out to serve as an Accounting Office."

Two hours later, Zhang Heng arrived.

He was in his thirties, wearing old combat fatigues, with two followers behind him. He personally opened the boxes to inspect them and scanned them once with a detector.

"No problem."

He said, "This is the Redemption Code for five thousand catties of Staple Food, valid immediately."

Shen Xiaochuan entered the code, and the System prompted: [Staple Food Reserves +5000 catties]

He smiled. "You can bring more next time."

Before leaving, Zhang Heng looked back at the camp. "Do you really plan to build this city?"

"It will be built."

"I'll say one thing when I get back—the Lord God of Skydome City is a man of his word."

As soon as he left, messages erupted in the channel.

"Skydome City traded for five thousand catties of grain!"

"Fifty catties of meat for five hundred catties—that's cheaper than the market price!"

"I want to trade too, are there any spots left?"

Shen Xiaochuan stared at the scrolling information and said to Lolia, "Prepare the second batch."

"You're going to put it all out at once?" Chen Yan asked.

"Five thousand five hundred catties, put it all up for sale."

Shen Xiaochuan said, "Every hundred catties for one thousand catties of Staple Food, with a daily limit of five hundred catties. Only for trade, not for sale."

"So much?"

Lolia's eyes widened. "What if someone tries to take it by force?"

"That's why it's in batches."

Shen Xiaochuan said, "Release a little every day to keep a steady pace."

He posted a new announcement.

As soon as the news was out, private messages flooded in like an explosion.

"I want to trade!"

"Add me to the priority list!"

"Can I pay half first?"

Shen Xiaochuan closed the private message channel and only kept the public announcement.

"Chen Yan."

He ordered, "Organize three hundred people to rotate guarding the warehouse. All entries and exits must be registered. Without the joint signatures of Lolia and me, no one is allowed to move a single grain."

"Understood!"

"Lolia, you're responsible for verifying identities and Redemption Codes. Every single transaction must be recorded in detail."

"I've already made the forms."

She took out a notebook. "Name, Divine Domain ID, quantity, time—everything will be archived."

At noon on the first day, the first batch of five hundred catties of Staple Food arrived.

Shen Xiaochuan went to the granary himself to check. The transport light portal opened, and bags of wheat rolled out, stacking higher and higher.

By evening, the warehouse was already one-third full.

On the second day, the exchange speed was even faster. Three deities came at the same time, bringing Redemption Codes for over twenty thousand catties of Staple Food.

Lolia sat in the Accounting Office, her pen never stopping. Her hand was shaking slightly, but she never stopped.

On the morning of the third day, the last transaction was completed.

System prompt: [Staple Food Reserves +52,000 catties]

The warehouse was full. A new storage shed was being built, but it couldn't keep up with the growth of the reserves.

Shen Xiaochuan walked into the warehouse and reached out to touch a wheat bag. The burlap was coarse and heavy.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"The food crisis is solved."

Returning to the square, Chen Yan and Lolia were already waiting.

"What's the next step?" Chen Yan asked.

"Defense."

Shen Xiaochuan said, "Now that we have food, we need to build walls. You manage the soldiers, she manages the work. I want Skydome City to be unshakable by wind and unbreakable by rain."

Chen Yan straightened his back. "Three lines of defense have been set up in the Mining Area. A new watchtower has been added to the East Valley and will be completed tonight."

"Good."

Shen Xiaochuan looked at Lolia. "And you?"

"The Mining Machines can be mass-produced; three can be produced today."

She said, "I've also drawn new weapon blueprints. We can start as soon as the Materials arrive."

"When will the Materials arrive?"

"Tomorrow. The iron ore traded from the Northern Divine Domains will arrive this afternoon."

Shen Xiaochuan nodded. "Prioritize equipping the mining team and the night watch team with the new weapons. Also, give these two teams half an extra portion of Staple Food every day."

"It's already been arranged."

Chen Yan said, "The soldiers' morale is very high after hearing about it."

Shen Xiaochuan looked up at the sky. The sun was high, shining on the roof of the granary and reflecting a faint light.

He walked to the notice board and picked up a charcoal pencil.

He wrote:

Divine Kingdom Era, Year 1, Day 4. Today, completed the first large-scale resource exchange. Staple Food reached 52,000 catties, wind wolf meat cleared.

Chen Yan arranged the Mining Area's defense, and Lolia started weapon manufacturing.

Skydome City officially began its city-building and defense projects.

After writing, he put down the pencil.

"Next."

He said, "I want to see the new blueprints from the Blacksmith Shop."

Lolia stood up. "I'll take you there now."

The three of them walked toward the workshop. Passing an empty lot, workers were marking lines.

"What's going to be built here?" Shen Xiaochuan asked.

"A new warehouse."

A worker replied, "According to your blueprints, it can store another eighty thousand catties of grain."

Shen Xiaochuan stopped and looked back at the full wheat bags.

Sunlight spilled over his shoulders, and the copper gear on his cuff flashed with a faint light.

He walked into the Blacksmith Shop, and a wave of heat hit him.

Lolia took a blueprint out of a cabinet and spread it on the table.

"This is I drew last night."

She said, "A new type of Battle Spear. Using bloodline ore as its core, it can pierce heavy armor."

Shen Xiaochuan looked down closely.

The spear on the blueprint had a three-layer structure and a precise design.

"What Materials are needed?" he asked.

"Three hundred grams of bloodline ore, eighty catties of Fine Iron, and also a High-Pressure Forging Machine."

"Do you have the blueprints for the High-Pressure Forging Machine?"

"Yes, but I can't redeem them myself."

Shen Xiaochuan opened the Faith Mall, turned to the Premium Shop, and clicked on [Mechanical - Intermediate].

A line of text appeared:

[High-Pressure Forging Machine Blueprint]

Price: 300 faith points

He clicked to redeem.

[Redemption Successful]

He handed the blueprint to Lolia.

"Build it within three days."

"I can."

She gripped the blueprint tightly. "The first batch of spearheads will be delivered in five days."

Shen Xiaochuan turned to leave.

"Lord God," Lolia suddenly called out to him.

He turned back.

"Can we... really build a city?"

Shen Xiaochuan looked at her.

"We have food, we have soldiers, and we have workers."

"What do you think?"