30: Chapter 30 Building Up Private Treasury

Shen Moyan spent the next three days in the Academy.

The sudden rain in the courtyard had just ceased, a gentle breeze blew, and a few peach blossom petals drifted through the gaps between the hanging screens, landing beside the yellow scrolls stacked in the room.

Shen Moyan read these scrolls tirelessly, gaining a deeper understanding of cultivation.

"Introduction to the Hundred Arts of Cultivation" starts from the Qi Gathering Realm, focusing on the four essential arts of cultivation—Alchemy, Talismans, Equipment, and Formations—and details the hundred arts derived from them. Most cultured Cultivators choose one of these four fundamental arts as their primary focus and another as a secondary focus. High-quality, high-standard Cultivators with great ambition might even choose to master all of them. After all, these are the Foundation of a Cultivator's combat techniques.

"Technique, Companion, Wealth, and Land: None Can Be Lacking" explains the importance of Cultivation Techniques, Dao Companions, wealth, and Immortal Caves. The author also emphasizes to newcomers that a Dao Companion is not a spouse in the narrow sense understood by commoners, but a fellow traveler on the path of Dao who helps each other; in short, it refers to a good network of connections.

The cultivation Realms described in these scrolls at the Kongsang Academy only cover the first four. As for the Realms beyond the Guizang Realm, they are omitted under the pretext of preventing students from aiming too high.

"It seems that even in the Academy, one is limited by their level of knowledge."

Shen Moyan held a copy of the "General History of Mountain and Sea," which detailed the major events that had occurred since the collapse of the Immortal Dao during the ancient war.

"This general history is full of flattery for the 'Xuanhuang Emperor Lord,' the supreme Dominator of the current Holy Court."

The book was filled with sycophancy between the lines; it claimed that without the Xuanhuang Emperor Lord, the currently stable Three Thousand Prefectures of Mountain and Sea would not exist.

But setting aside the fanatical cult of personality, objectively speaking, the book wasn't wrong.

The Emperor Lord's majesty reached the Eight Desolations, and the heavenly soldiers under his command were overwhelmingly powerful. He was a ruthless man who had fought his way out of a chaotic era.

Millions of years ago, the Mountain and Sea was in chaos, demons ran rampant, Immortals perished, and the Dao faded. The old Immortal Calamity plagued the world, and Mortal lives were as cheap as grass.

The Xuanhuang Emperor Lord emerged, established the Holy Court, and set down the Heavenly Laws, forcing twenty-one Immortal Lineages into seclusion. They only dared to emerge briefly every ten thousand years to observe the outside world.

He slaughtered the Heavenly Yao of all races and drove the remaining Yao Race to the Eight Desolations and Four Seas beyond the Three Thousand Prefectures. From then on, the way of humanity flourished.

What is cultivation? This is cultivation! The Xuanhuang Emperor Lord is the best interpretation of great power belonging to an individual.

The Mortals who can now stand safely in the sunlight within the Three Thousand Prefectures wouldn't be overdoing it if they kowtowed a hundred times to the Xuanhuang Emperor Lord. Without his establishment of the Holy Court, this world would still be a nursery for the Yao Race and those man-eating Cultivators.

"What exactly happened in ancient times?"

Shen Moyan searched through the general history, wanting to know the Xuanhuang Emperor Lord's background.

But all he found were four words: Born of Heaven.

Unspeakable, unsearchable, and unknowable. Any attempt to pry into the Emperor Lord's origins was taboo.

"Also, what is the connection between this [origin dao preaching stele] and this Emperor Lord?"

Shen Moyan carefully checked the general history and the timeline, discovering that the emergence of the [origin dao preaching stele] coincided exactly with the time the Xuanhuang Emperor Lord began his activities.

"And the Four Sovereigns of the Holy Court... among those four Immortal Lords in the Holy Court, only the Nine Songs Immortal Lord was born within the last hundred thousand years..."

"Forget it, no use overthinking it. My current cultivation is what matters most." Shen Moyan tossed the "General History of Mountain and Sea" aside and picked up another book, "Basic Introduction to the Dao of the Sword," reading it with great interest.

Another day passed, and Shen Moyan left the Academy.

Unfortunately, the Academy rarely mentioned anything related to the Materials for the Heavenly Demon Ritual. To obtain the Materials, Shen Moyan would have to take action himself.

"The path of cultivation lies in diligence. Young Jiang certainly didn't misjudge you."

Instructor Zhou had also just finished his lecture and came to visit this young man whose talent seemed decent.

"Thank you, Instructor Zhou. This Junior has benefited greatly."

"Not at all, I haven't taught you anything. Besides, you are also in the Mortal Transformation Realm; we can just address each other as equals."

"Then thank you, Fellow Daoist Zhou."

After some pleasantries, Shen Moyan asked if he could use his student status to view the stone rubbings of the Kongsang Prefecture dao transmission stele. Zhou Zhanpeng was surprised at first, then readily agreed.

"You've come at the right time. I'm just about to take a group of students to enter the Dao."

"If you are free during the Wei hour seven days from now, then come to the plaza below the Gao Sheng Heavenly Tower."

...Construction and Maintenance Department.

There was still some time before his appointment with Zhou Zhanpeng. Shen Moyan used the vice-manager token given to him by Xu Mingxuan to report for duty at the Construction and Maintenance Department.

Carrying a breath concealing talisman allowed Shen Moyan to better hide his Physical Body's aura. In the Divine Sense of others, his Physical Body appeared more seasoned, thereby interfering with their observation of his bone age.

"The Construction and Maintenance Department mainly handles civil engineering projects such as building city wall defense Formations, teleportation Formations, and Spirit Gathering Formations."

"And Xu Mingxuan's job is to manage logistics and Materials, such as transporting void-space cloud mica, a special material related to spatial Spells."

Xu Mingxuan, this undercover agent from the Biyang Sword Sect, had actually managed to infiltrate the Holy Court's rear; he certainly had some skills.

Now, Shen Moyan had disguised himself as Xu Mingxuan. Recalling the instructions left by the other man before he departed, he gained a clear understanding of the work at the Construction and Maintenance Department.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, this batch of goods is ready. Farewell."

In the backyard of the Construction and Maintenance Department, the Erxuan couriers who had come to collect the Materials tucked them into their sleeves and left immediately.

"This position is quite relaxed. I just sit in the department every day, check the incoming logistics Materials, and after confirming everything is correct, hand them over to the right people."

"At most, I'm responsible for receiving reports of Materials needed for front-line projects, determining the quantities, taking Spirit Stones from the treasury, and using public funds to purchase them from various merchant houses."

Shen Moyan sat bored on a golden silk phoebe chair, recording all incoming and outgoing Materials in the ledger.

Suddenly, a series of messages came through the vice-manager's token:

"Fellow Daoist Xu, there's a problem with the number of fire melting pearls you gave us last time. After installing them in the Formation base, the fire was weak and the water was strong. The Five Elements of the Four Seasons Grand Formation in the prefecture have been in disarray for several days."

"It's raining every day, and the growth cycles of the spiritual plants in the fields near the city have been disrupted. The spiritual farmers are making a scene every day; they almost stormed the court with their hoes."

After receiving this message, Shen Moyan immediately took out the previous ledger to cross-reference.

"Not enough fire melting pearls? How is that possible?"

He checked the ledger, his expression turning strange.

"The Cen Family? These fire melting pearls were bought from the Cen Family?"

Shen Moyan felt a bit lightheaded for a moment.

The Cen Family was a merchant house. Buying fire melting pearls involved going through this merchant house and then through the Construction and Maintenance Department. The fire melting pearls passed through two intermediaries before reaching the project front.

"Then it's an issue with the supplier. Wait for it; a new batch will be sent within three days," Shen Moyan replied.

"How many are needed?"

"The entire Kongsang Prefecture needs them; a total of thirty thousand is required," the person in charge on the other end of the token replied, their tone serious, as if after rigorous calculation.

"Only thirty thousand?"

Shen Moyan was surprised. Looking at the ledger which stated that three hundred thousand had already arrived, he fell into deep thought.

Suddenly, it dawned on him.

That damn Xu Mingxuan! He embezzled over two hundred and seventy thousand fire melting pearls. Even a greedy official wouldn't be this ruthless!

Shen Moyan stood up, rummaged through the desk, and found the blueprint for the Four Seasons Grand Formation of Kongsang Prefecture.

He had done a crash course on Formations over the past few days, so he could generally understand the rotation of the Five Elements' spiritual power.

However, the more Shen Moyan calculated, the gloomier his expression became, and his mouth twitched from time to time.

"The Five Elements counteract each other. The ley lines of Kongsang Prefecture contain a vast amount of true fire; there's actually no shortage of fire-element Spiritual Qi."

"So, to maintain the entire Four Seasons Grand Formation, only three thousand fire melting pearls are needed to ensure the Formation runs for over a hundred years. Why the hell would anyone need so many fire melting pearls?"

Shen Moyan stood frozen in place. Now, he couldn't look at the entire Construction and Maintenance Department the same way again.

Suddenly, the vice-manager's token vibrated again.

"The Provincial Directorate of Justice Office will visit Kongsang Prefecture this month. Please ensure all departments in Kongsang Prefecture carry out their daily duties and prepare for the reception."

After seeing the message, Shen Moyan's expression was blank for a moment, and then he flew into a rage.

F*ck you, Xu Mingxuan! You're using me as a scapegoat, aren't you!