The plan has changed

The imperial court had specially set up a post station at the foot of the mountain beneath Xiushui Village for the convenience of sending messages to the Lingxian Sect. It was also something the Lingxian Sect had requested from the court.

Although they usually had communication talismans and lock rings for keeping in touch, the sect now had more than a hundred additional people. Naturally, these new disciples all had relatives and friends, and since they were not yet allowed to leave the sect at will, the sect had to provide them with a convenient and efficient way to send messages and stay in contact with those people.

However, the Lingxian Sect’s use of the post station was only temporary.

For now, the sect was merely a little short on spirit stones and manpower. Once its population grew, Liu Yunan planned to acquire several spirit boats specifically for delivering letters and goods on everyone’s behalf.

With the sect’s current shortage of spirit stones, that idea could only be put on hold for the time being. They would have to make do with the traditional post station.

Whenever the post station in Xiushui Village received a letter sealed with the Lingxian Sect’s special red wax, it immediately raised the letter’s priority to the highest level and sent it posthaste to the Qinghe Sect to the south and Niutou Village.

Every time the post station received a letter from the Lingxian Sect, the entire village station would become lively, as if everyone had been injected with stimulants.

One reason was that they had handled a letter from an immortal.

The other reason was far more practical: for every letter from the Lingxian Sect they delivered, the local authorities gave them an extra subsidy.

Although more than a hundred disciples had originally joined the Lingxian Sect, some of them did not actually have any relatives or friends with whom they needed to keep in touch.

Others had relatives and friends living nearby who often came to visit them. Anything they wanted to say could be said face-to-face, so there was no need to send letters at all.

After filtering out those cases, only a few dozen people actually used the post station.

As for the imperial court, there was even less need to mention it. Whenever something came up that required contacting the capital, the Lingxian Sect simply used a communication talisman to contact Emperor Li Zhouxuan directly. If they needed to get in touch with the local government office, they contacted Prefect Tong Shuzheng by communication talisman. Neither side had any use for the post station.

Thus, on ordinary days, most of the station’s business came from people who visited Xiushui Village or settled there.

Although no one dared to deduct their salaries, their sources of income were indeed rather limited.

Fortunately, Xiushui Village had now become something of a tourist destination. Visitors arrived in an endless stream, ensuring that the post station, despite being built in the village, still saw a constant flow of carriages and travelers every day.

Han Weishu and Tong Jialiang were not the only ones thinking along these lines. Yuan Jinsheng was also considering whether he should send a letter to Zhao Yunzhong, the former ruler of the Huanyou Kingdom whom he had once assisted.

For the time being, however, Lin Xiao and the others knew nothing of what the disciples of Qingyun Peak were thinking.

Qin Jianghe and Liu Yunan had drawn up a preliminary plan and immediately contacted Lin Xiao. The three of them arranged to meet in the sect’s main hall.

As soon as Liu Yunan saw Lin Xiao inside the hall, he pulled out the plan he and Qin Jianghe had written and handed it over.

“Brother Xiao, there’s been a change of plans. Building a town may not be enough anymore. We need to build a city!”

Lin Xiao had not even opened the plan before he heard Liu Yunan say this. He looked up at the two of them.

“What makes you say that?”

Qin Jianghe explained from the side, “It’s like this, Brother Xiao. The two of us discussed it carefully. If we really establish a trading center in the future, Xiushui Village will certainly be included within its sphere of influence. Rather than that, we might as well turn the entire village into a city and incorporate the trading center into it.”

Liu Yunan continued, “The number of cultivators traveling back and forth will inevitably increase substantially in the future. Once the reputation and stability of our trading center have been established, and cultivators become confident in its reliability and quality, they will certainly begin forming merchant caravans.”

“At first, because they won’t know whether it’s trustworthy, most of them may come individually. But if this channel proves stable, many distant sects and kingdoms will surely organize caravans of cultivators to come here regularly to purchase goods. And if we count the number of sects and kingdoms in the mortal world—even just those surrounding the Pusi Kingdom—there are already quite a few. So naturally, we’ll need a place large enough to accommodate all those cultivators.”

“Besides, Brother Xiao, I think I finally understand why you thought of establishing a trading center after taking over the estate.”

Liu Yunan’s face was full of pride, and even his eyebrows seemed to perk up.

Seeing him like that, Lin Xiao smiled.

“Then tell me. Why?”

“Ahem.” Liu Yunan deliberately cleared his throat and flicked his sleeves before speaking. “If Xiushui Village becomes completely tied to the trading center, then it will be entirely independent within the mortal world and will no longer belong to the Pusi Kingdom.”

“That way, the villagers of Xiushui Village will become the residents and administrators of this city. From then on, they’ll no longer be trapped in the status of ‘farmers from the countryside,’ with no room to rise. They’ll have many more choices.”

“You once told me, Brother Xiao, that every honest occupation in this world is equal, and that as long as someone lives and works diligently, they are no less worthy than anyone else. But a life without choices is incredibly oppressive—not merely because of the difficulty of securing food and clothing, but because it weighs upon the heart.”

“By building the trading center and making Xiushui Village part of this vast enterprise, we’ll free the village from the limitations imposed by the mundane world. That will give the villagers more choices for their future. Those who want to farm can continue farming. Those who don’t will no longer be forced to do so out of desperation.”

Clearly, Qin Jianghe and Liu Yunan had already discussed this while working out their plan, so Qin Jianghe did not look surprised. He continued, “We didn’t really understand what you meant when you said those things before, but today it suddenly became clear to us. We grew up here, and the villagers all watched us grow up. Now that we have the ability to help, we naturally ought to give something back.”

“Simply giving them money or supplies isn’t true help. On the contrary, it can easily encourage laziness and greed. The proper thing to do is to broaden the possibilities available to them in the future.”

“Hahaha! You really are my good brothers!” Lin Xiao laughed happily when he saw that they both understood his intentions.

These two brothers were the main forces behind the sect’s construction and administration.

If they could truly understand his intentions, they would be able to shoulder more of the burden for him in many matters, and their thinking would be more accurate whenever important decisions had to be made.

That was a tremendous boon for their Lingxian Sect.

If Lin Xiao had not been someone who avoided alcohol, he would certainly have raised a full cup in celebration at that moment!

Lin Xiao looked at the two of them, his eyes filled with delight.

“You both understand my goals and ideas. The Lingxian Sect is destined to embark on an entirely different path. The mortal world of the future will change with each passing day. The people there will need to develop ways of living that belong to them. Relying on our sect’s protection is not a sustainable way for them to survive.”

“If our Lingxian Sect is going to develop rapidly, then our roots must grow stronger alongside it.”