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Chapter 237: Chapter 234 Immortal Essence Gold
"Oh, they retreated?"
Gu Jinlai was somewhat surprised, yet it felt expected.
He had just taken Jiangzhou State, and even the three Primordial Spirits, including Huo Yuqing, a Peak Monarch from Dragon Sparrow Manor, had been defeated by their side. Without fully understanding their capabilities, these forces naturally dared not act rashly.
Even if they did grasp the full situation of Lingxiao City, whether they would take action remained an unknown.
Lizhou State had six Monarchs, and when added to the Eastern Sea Islands, the number of Monarchs totaled twelve.
That amounted to the lineup of eighteen Monarchs.
This was a power that only those Sects wielding Divine Weapons could possess.
But, these eighteen great Monarchs each fought their own battles and were far from united.
Unless a powerful figure emerged who could command their respect, their actual influence would still be less than that of a top-tier power.
"They actually retreated."
Gu Jinlai’s tone contained a hint of regret.
But in the end, he didn’t force the issue, "If they’ve retreated, so be it. To prevent them from returning with force, or causing trouble in Fish Dragon City, let Nie Shisan stay here for some time."
"Yes."
Gu Chifeng nodded, while adding, "Fish Dragon City’s prosperity is built on overseas trade. Now that these forces have withdrawn... Fish Dragon City will likely decline quickly, and may even cause turmoil."
"We cannot let the local economy make us violate Lingxiao City’s own rules."
Gu Jinlai said, "These forces withdrawing in the short term will impact Fish Dragon City, but their departure will also leave behind a vast amount of interests. Some of these interests will inevitably be taken over by powers willing to abide by the rules and regulations of Lingxiao City. Plus, with Fish Dragon City’s unique location, it’s not impossible for the city to regain its prosperity in the future."
Nie Shisan was capable of pulling together the Star Sky Alliance, so this task suited him best.
"Though the powers in Fish Dragon City have withdrawn overnight, they left behind many good things..."
"Allocate those resources as they should be," Gu Jinlai instructed.
Following that, he stayed in Fish Dragon City for one day.
Only after Nie Shisan arrived with the core members of the original Star Sky Alliance did he hand over Fish Dragon City to him.
Given that both Lizhou State and the Eastern Sea Twelve Islands might not let matters rest, he specifically left behind a Thousand-mile Light and Shadow Mirror there.
If anything unexpected happened, he could receive the information immediately.
After making arrangements, Gu Jinlai then returned to Dragon Roar City.
With a month of governance and management by Xin Tianqi, Dragon Roar City had regained order.
Although Dragon Sparrow Manor maintained a tight control within Jiangzhou State, creating two distinct classes of martial artists and non-martial artists,
in such a situation, Xin Tianqi easily gained the support of the base social layer.
Moreover, when the former members of Dragon Sparrow Manor who had enjoyed benefits were overthrown, leaving behind a large void of interests, even giving just a portion to the commoners greatly improved their livelihoods.
Not to mention Lingxiao City’s own regulations and systems were founded on the principle of equality before the law.
Over a month, after enjoying the current open and free life, without the need for Meteor Star Guard to lift a finger, the public began to voluntarily report on those hidden and malicious former disciples of Dragon Sparrow Manor, leaving them with nowhere to turn to.
Unable to survive under such conditions, the disciples of Dragon Sparrow Manor had to either abandon their status and abide by the law, or flee Jiangzhou State and become fugitives.
...
Inside the main hall of Dragon Sparrow Manor, Gu Jinlai and Xin Tianqi were exchanging information.
Beside them, Gu Chaoyang and Nian Buwang among others were reporting on the situation across the cities in Jiangzhou State, and soon Gu Jinlai had a clear picture of the current state of affairs.
After a while, Gu Jinlai turned his attention back to Xin Tianqi, "Even though all the enemies from Dragon Sparrow Manor here have been utterly eradicated, we still need someone to preside over the situation. For the time being, I’ll leave it to you, Star Lord Xin."
Xin Tianqi, seeing Gu Jinlai’s trust, did not say much, but solemnly promised, "I will take good care of Jiangzhou State for Governor Gu."
At that moment, he seemed to have thought of something, "Governor Gu, when we captured Dragon Sparrow Manor and sorted through the spoils of war, we found quite a few good things, especially some...
"Good things?"
Gu Jinlai was a bit surprised.
Xin Tianqi was a Primordial Spirit True Monarch; anything he considered good must be of considerable value.
"You’ll know once you see it," said Xin Tianqi.
Gu Jinlai nodded and quickly followed him to a secret vault built underground.
This vault was excavated by hand, surrounded by a thick layer of poured refined gold, with some places as thick as three meters.
Xin Tianqi and others had only recently managed to open the vault’s door and witnessed the many treasured items inside.
"Lord Gu guessed correctly. When Wang Yinfeng and Ye Wuxia, two true Monarchs of Primordial Spirit, died, Dragon Sparrow Manor brought out many treasures as their foundation to provide to various Divinity Transformation Cultivators and Refining God Immortals, hoping to cultivate new Monarchs of Primordial Spirit and more Divinity Transformation Cultivators. Later, when Ye Dongliu failed, they squandered these high-level treasures in a last-ditch effort, so the vault now has few treasures suitable for Divinity Transformation and Refining God Realm cultivators left. However, there’s an abundance of Nourishing God Pills and such."
Xin Tianqi explained.
Gu Jinlai nodded.
These ancient Sects, while valuing their heritage, were not all fools.
When a Sect faced potential extinction, they would use whatever treasures available.
Would they hide and hoard them, waiting to hand them over to the enemy after their Sect was destroyed?
"However, speaking of it, these things truly are an unexpected treasure..."
Xin Tianqi spoke, and the two had already arrived in front of a platform.
On the platform, a large quantity of gold that seemed to have a brilliant glow flowing through it was piled up.
"This is..."
Gu Jinlai’s pupils contracted: "Immortal Essence Gold!?"
He strode forward, picked up a piece, and weighed it, quickly calculating: "This...there must be over four hundred pieces of Immortal Essence Gold!?"
"Correct, four hundred and six pieces."
Xin Tianqi said, "Dragon Sparrow Manor has a gold mine, and this gold mine is one of the large gold mines in the south of Tianhe, second only to that of Mu State. And these four hundred and six pieces of Immortal Essence Gold... if nothing goes wrong, should be all the refined gold reserves Dragon Sparrow Manor has accumulated over the past hundred years."
After hearing this, Gu Jinlai’s expression became quite strange: "Dragon Sparrow Manor has been refining Immortal Essence Gold for nearly a hundred years, and not used any of it, what’s the reasoning behind that?"
"I can guess a few reasons."
Xin Tianqi said, "Governor Gu should know that the Imperial Family holds a unique natural wonder that can bear Creation Immortal Fruit. This fruit is extremely magical, and anyone who consumes it can extend their life by a ’jiazi’. Dragon Sparrow Manor, as one of the Six Great Immortal Sects that stood with Daqian during that chaotic time, should be qualified to purchase such Treasure from the Daqian Imperial Family. And these pieces of Immortal Essence Gold..."
He glanced at it, "are roughly equal to the value of one Creation Immortal Fruit."
"Extending life by a ’jiazi’!"
Gu Jinlai also had a shiver in his heart upon hearing this.
The user of this fruit did not need guessing; it was surely for Huo Yuqing in exchange.
A ’jiazi’ is sixty years.
If Huo Yuqing really could live another sixty years...
She might even have a chance to step into the Devas Realm.
Such significance for the entirety of Dragon Sparrow Manor was simply incalculable in terms of money, worth spending every last dime.
Besides, it was a gold mine they already owned within Jiangzhou State.
"I remember when you used the power of Star State to collect some Immortal Essence Gold, but due to various reasons, in a few months you collected less than twenty pieces. Look at these four hundred and six pieces, are they enough to meet your needs?"
Xin Tianqi said with a laugh.
"I did collect some Immortal Essence Gold in Star State, but even with these, it’s still not enough."
Gu Jinlai said.
Even if he was to only build a five or six meters tall Cheng Ying Mecha, it would require at least six hundred pieces of Immortal Essence Gold.
However...
Now that he suddenly has four hundred and six pieces of Immortal Essence Gold on hand, plus the fifteen he has collected...
He was very close to his goal.
"You need so much Immortal Essence Gold..."
Xin Tianqi paused, as if he thought of something, then suddenly widened his eyes: "You can’t possibly be thinking of casting an Immortal Golden Body, can you?"
"Peak Heavenly Beings refine an Immortal Golden Body to step into the Saint Realm, using heaven and earth as their furnace. I am far from that stage."
Gu Jinlai said.
However...
If the Cheng Ying Mecha could truly be built, even if it was a simplified version of the Cheng Ying Mecha, complemented by the already Mahayana, excessively powered Eternal Furnace, he felt that the final combat power of this Mecha might not be much less than an Immortal Golden Body.
The most crucial point was that the perfection of the nuclear fusion engine technology would allow him to equip the Cheng Ying Mecha with the ability to fly once it was cast.
By then, his current biggest shortcoming would be easily solved.
Therefore...
"However, I do have a method to achieve an effect similar to a weakened Immortal Golden Body."
Gu Jinlai looked at Xin Tianqi, "I wasn’t planning on wasting manpower and resources, but now...with only about two hundred pieces of Immortal Essence Gold needed, I plan to give it a try."
"A weakened Immortal Golden Body!?"
Xin Tianqi’s breath hitched, and then with a solemn expression, he said, "What do you want me to do?"
"Assess the financial situation in Jiangzhou State. We need to maximize our acquisition of Immortal Essence Gold, and if that’s not possible, gold will do too. We strive to acquire no less than one hundred and eighty pieces of Immortal Essence Gold within a year."
"One hundred and eighty pieces of Immortal Essence Gold?"
Xin Tianqi’s mouth twitched.
As a top-grade spiritual material, the cost of acquiring Immortal Essence Gold was tens of millions of taels.
You should know that the total tax revenue of Star State in a year was only several hundred million taels.
In other words, if the development of Star State completely halted, in one year at most, they could only acquire a few dozen pieces of Immortal Essence Gold.
To acquire one hundred and eighty pieces of Immortal Essence Gold in one year...
This was almost an impossible task. 𝓃𝓸𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
"Immortal Essence Gold is different from other spiritual materials. It’s virtually the solid currency between Devas and even Saints or Earthly True Immortals, because their Immortal Golden Bodies, once broken, also need to absorb Immortal Essence Gold for repair. Therefore, each of the Major Sects will have some reserves of this type of spiritual material, the quantities vary, often around several dozens. If you truly want to gather one hundred and eighty pieces of Immortal Essence Gold within one year, unless..."
Xin Tianqi looked at Gu Jinlai: "Unless you purchase all the Immortal Essence Gold from the four top forces of the Yellow Sky Sect, Cold Moon Sect, Purgatory Sect, and Netherworld Sect."
