89: The World Tree, the Divine Wutong Tree

Before long, a house was built on the highest level of Mount Wangyun, only about three hundred meters away from Wangyun Courtyard.

The house was small and exquisite, with many areas clearly decorated with care. One could tell at a glance that the resident was female, as a man would not have made it so ornate.

An Qinglian did not slack off either, working very hard to modify the appearance of the flowers and plants.

It had to be said that a woman's aesthetic was indeed much better. In just half a day, the summit of Mount Wangyun looked much more beautiful, giving off the vibe of a wealthy person's back garden.

On the paths frequently walked, a road was even specially paved with crushed stones.

Compared to before, it was simply countless times better.

An Qinglian even went to catch some small animals for the mountain forests. These animals were all Yao Beasts and were quite spiritual, but their temperaments were very gentle, and they would not take the initiative to attack humans.

Among them was a large white dog that also carried a faint aura of a Yao Beast, a first-grade Yao Beast.

The big dog loved to weave through the mountain forests, and whenever it saw Su Chen, it would proactively climb up to nuzzle him.

Su Chen glanced at the summit of Mount Wangyun, a slight smile appearing at the corners of his mouth. It seemed that keeping An Qinglian here was a correct choice.

Thus.

Another ten years passed.

The Eastern Region remained quiet for ten years, with almost no major changes during this period.

As the Su Family expanded its power, they also gained a deeper understanding of the Eastern Region.

In the Eastern Region, Saint-Grade powers were not particularly numerous, totaling only about ten or so.

Three of them were overseen by experts at the Saint King level, while the others were only at the Saint Realm.

Since Su Chen had eliminated Saint Guixu, only two Saint King powers remained in the Eastern Region.

However, there was one power that was quite special.

Its name was the Hidden Sentry, an organization that existed throughout the entire Xuantian Realm, with a very mysterious background.

According to reports, the Hidden Sentry had slain a Cultivator of the Saint King level tens of thousands of years ago, and its strength was incredibly terrifying.

Therefore, Su Chen guessed that this Hidden Sentry was likely not a local power of the Eastern Region.

Su Chen sat up from his chair and looked into the distance, his eyes turning slightly cold.

The Su Family had acted quite mildly for so many years; it was time to make some adjustments.

For a power to become strong, it must have enough territory and enough vassals so that resources can be utilized by the Family.

Currently, the resources the Su Family obtained from the outside were simply not enough for their use.

If not for Su Chen's support, the Su Family's cultivation resources would have been greatly reduced.

Of course, even if they were reduced, they would certainly be sufficient to maintain usage.

Therefore, Su Chen intended to use more decisive means next to directly unify the entire Eastern Region.

However, this unification did not mean making every single power submit; he only needed to make those powerful King-level Powers and Saint-Grade powers submit.

These powers had countless vassals under them; by taking them down, he would essentially have taken down the entire Eastern Region.

In this way, the Su Family's resources could become self-sufficient.

After all, although Su Chen had many resources, they were not infinite.

In addition to territorial expansion, the Su Family was also constantly building its own influence.

For example, six months ago, the Su Family established a separate city called Wangyun City, located five hundred miles away from Mount Wangyun, which had already reached a certain scale.

As the city lord, the Su Family could naturally collect taxes.

They levied taxes on those doing big business in the city, as well as on renting and selling houses in core locations, and so on.

While these amounts were not much individually, when added together, they formed a very considerable income.

Because the Su Family's current strength was very formidable and their appeal and reputation were high, most of the locations in Wangyun City were snapped up as soon as it was established.

Anyone with a bit of business sense knew how strong the Su Family was now.

As long as the Su Family intended to build Wangyun City, this city would certainly become one of the top cities in the Eastern Region in the future.

Although the Su Family's expansion had been mild over the years, it had never stopped.

This indicated that the Su Family would surely continue to grow stronger. Moving into Wangyun City now was an investment with a high probability of yielding a full return, a guaranteed profit.

And facts developed just like that.

In just half a year, Wangyun City was crowded with people, and powers from all directions flocked to the city.

What was originally a city not much different from Bright Moon City immediately exploded in popularity. The Su Family had also been busy with expansion matters recently.

They prepared to expand Wangyun City outward to three times its current size.

The current Su Family was already making a fortune just from Wangyun City.

The properties and houses throughout the city were sold to other powerful organizations.

Although they were said to be sold, these houses required a tax payment every thirty years, and the amount of this tax was twenty percent of the current market price of the house.

After paying ten times, a heavy tax was required, which was about seventy percent of the market price.

This wasn't something Su Chen came up with; most private cities in the Eastern Region operated this way.

However, privatized cities were very rare in the Eastern Region. Most cities were controlled by multiple powers simultaneously; unless you had absolute strength, it was hard to completely control a city in your own hands.

Because of the success of Wangyun City, the Su Family stopped recruiting servants from then on, accepting only those with great talent.

This was a sign of a power transforming into a major power.

Once Su Chen completely transitioned from earning resources himself to having others earn resources for the Su Family, it would mean the Su Family had truly become powerful.

Like this Wangyun City, the Su Family didn't need to do anything but collect money at fixed intervals and maintain order, which didn't require many people.

That was why the Su Family began to take a high-quality route.

Once Wangyun City was fully expanded, the profits would be truly terrifying.

But there was still a very large drawback.

Although the Jinghong Empire was rich in Spiritual Qi, it ultimately wasn't exceptionally good and couldn't attract very strong people, especially Cultivators above the Dao-Entry Realm.

If Cultivators of this level could be made to want to move into Wangyun City, the profits would likely increase manifold.

Su Chen looked thoughtful as he considered whether to continue moving locations or to develop right here.

After a moment, he had an answer in his heart.

Even if he changed places, there would always be somewhere better. Was he supposed to keep moving forever?

"Since that's the case, I'll just develop here from now on."

He had stayed at Mount Wangyun for so many years and didn't want to go anywhere else.

As he spoke, he waved his hand, and a small golden tree appeared in his palm, emitting a wonderful dao rhyme.

This tree was named the Wutong Divine Tree, also known as the World Tree. It was one of the few items he had obtained from the lucky draws.

Even Su Chen only had eleven of them.

The effect of the Wutong Divine Tree was also very simple: it could strengthen the Laws of the Heavenly Dao and, as it grew, bring immense help to the world it resided in.

The most basic of these was enhancing the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

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