SFS Chapter 85 Post-War Changes
Chapter 85 Post-War Changes
Listening to the Tide Alley.
Courtyard No. 9527.
After being ravaged by a sudden attack, the area finally returned to its former tranquility.
The courtyard gate is no longer crooked and broken; the newly replaced thick wood door panels exude a faint fragrance.
Inside the courtyard, the furniture fragments that were once scattered all over the ground have been cleaned up and replaced by a few simple but sturdy tables, chairs and benches, quietly placed in the shadows under the eaves.
The restoration of all this is naturally inseparable from the craftsmanship of the owner of this place.
Yang Changsheng stood in the newly renovated courtyard, his gaze sweeping over the repaired walls and roof tiles.
Those opportunists who take advantage of the chaos only have spirit stones and valuable items in their sights.
Although they looted and destroyed like locusts, fortunately they were not so ruthless as to completely flatten the entire courtyard.
Otherwise, even if he had the cultivation level of the fifth level of Qi Refining and the strength of 43,000 jin of Body Refinement, rebuilding a small courtyard with restrictions from scratch would be no easy task, and the effort and time required would far exceed what he has now.
Even so, it took him quite a bit of effort to repair the doors, windows, furniture, walls, and floors.
They even used several puppets as laborers to barely tidy up the wrecked place and make it look human.
The array light barrier in the courtyard had long been shattered under the strong attack of the tribulation cultivators. At this moment, only a faint spiritual light flickered in the air, like a candle in the wind.
Yang Changsheng did not attempt to repair it because he had no knowledge of array formations.
"Squeak!"
Pushing open the door of the puppet workshop, the familiar scent of cold iron and spirit wood wafted towards me.
This was the core area he repaired immediately after the turmoil, and it was also the foundation upon which he established himself.
The workshop was simply furnished, with a large hardwood worktable on which unfinished puppet parts were fixed.
Against the wall were several rows of shelves, neatly categorized with black iron ingots, resilient spirit wood, gears and bearings of various sizes, and special spirit lacquer inscribed with runes.
In the corner, several completed and ready-to-be-sold Xuan Tie woodcutter puppets stood silently like guards, gleaming with the cold, hard luster unique to metal.
Yang Changsheng walked to the workbench, picked up a piece of black iron arm bone component that was being polished, and felt a cold, hard touch on his fingertips.
He skillfully picked up the carving knife, infused a wisp of pure spiritual energy into the tip, and smoothly carved runes for reinforcement and power transmission on the inside of his arm bone.
The blade sliced through the black iron, producing a subtle and steady friction sound that was exceptionally clear in the silent workshop.
Each cut was accompanied by a subtle shimmer of light, and the intricate patterns stretched across the metal surface as if they were alive.
"The war is truly over."
This realization settled in Yang Changsheng's mind.
With the Lu family completely annihilating the Chixiao Wang family, the biggest destabilizing factor in Biyue Lake and its surrounding area was eliminated, and the gloom that had been hanging over countless rogue cultivators finally dissipated.
However, the end of the war also meant a shift in needs.
In the market, the prices of war supplies had skyrocketed.
The prices of magical artifacts, elixirs, talismans, and even the Xuan Tie woodcutter puppets he relied on to earn spirit stones all began to fall rapidly, gradually approaching pre-war levels.
Yang Changsheng had anticipated this.
He still had a considerable amount of black iron woodcutter materials in his possession, enough to make a dozen more.
The future plan is clear: use up all these materials to complete the production and sale of the last batch of Xuan Tie woodcutters.
After that, the focus shifted entirely to manufacturing higher-grade, more valuable, and more marketable mid-grade puppets, the Blazing Archers.
A single Blazing Fire Archer is powerful enough to threaten cultivators at the sixth or seventh level of Qi Refining. Its material costs and manufacturing difficulty far exceed those of a Black Iron Woodcutter, and its corresponding selling price and profit margin are also more considerable.
This will be key to him maintaining and increasing his wealth accumulation in the post-war era.
In the past few days, besides burying himself in the workshop, Yang Changsheng would occasionally step out of the small courtyard and walk around the somewhat desolate port market, deliberately slowing down his pace and paying attention to the discussions and changes on the street.
The lake has indeed become calm, but beneath this peace lies obvious desolation and trauma.
The streets were much less crowded.
The once bustling and lively scene is gone, replaced by a desolate and silent atmosphere of post-disaster recovery.
Many familiar stalls have disappeared, and some shops have put up signs saying they are closed or for sale.
Whether it was the low-level cultivators of the Lu family or the vast number of independent cultivators at the bottom, they all paid a heavy price in this conflict that swept through Biyue Lake.
The air still seemed to carry a faint smell of blood and lingering gunpowder, reminding people of the bloody purge and counter-purge that had occurred not long ago.
Business naturally plummeted, and most shopkeepers were either frowning or dozing off out of boredom.
What stirred Yang Changsheng's heart even more was another piece of news circulating among the people.
After completely seizing the ancestral land that the Chixiao Wang family had managed for hundreds of years, the Lu family ambitiously announced that they would transform that area into the most prestigious market town within a radius of six thousand miles!
There are many theories about the reasons, but the core points are quite clear.
Firstly, it has a uniquely advantageous geographical location.
The Wang family's ancestral home is located in the upper reaches of the Chishui River, with exceptionally convenient water transportation. More importantly, it is closer to the Liuyun Immortal City, which is large in scale and rich in resources and has a Core Formation stage cultivator in charge!
This means it's easier to attract high-level cultivators and larger caravans from the Immortal City.
At the same time, it is also closer to the outer reaches of the resource-rich Kongyun Mountains, where monsters roam freely, making it extremely attractive to monster hunters and independent cultivators who collect materials.
Secondly, the spiritual veins are of superior quality.
The Wang family's ancestral land possesses a complete second-tier superior spiritual vein, which is far superior to the mixed spiritual veins formed by the port market relying on the spiritual energy node of Biyue Lake.
A second-tier superior spiritual vein is enough to support the long-term cultivation of many Foundation Establishment cultivators, and it can also attract powerful shops and forces to settle in, forming a virtuous cycle.
This is undoubtedly a significant signal.
Many people, especially astute merchants and powerful independent practitioners, have already taken action.
Yang Changsheng had heard people discussing going to Xinfang City for inspection more than once in the teahouse. Their words were full of anticipation for the future and eagerness to seize the opportunity.
Many people are already planning to sell their properties here and prepare to shift their focus entirely to that emerging new land.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
A knock on the door, neither too loud nor too soft, interrupted Yang Changsheng's thoughts and broke the tranquility of the courtyard.
Since the formation had not yet been repaired, the person knocking was not hindered in any way, and their voice came through clearly.
Yang Changsheng frowned slightly, put down the carving knife in his hand, and quietly probed out of the workshop with his divine sense.
A middle-aged cultivator stood outside the door, dressed in the Lu family's standard blue robe, with a square face.
His brows showed a hint of weariness that was hard to conceal, but his eyes remained sharp. His cultivation level was at the late stage of Qi Refining, around the seventh or eighth level.
The array plate and several small array flags hanging from his waist clearly indicated his identity.
Without hesitation, Yang Changsheng temporarily closed the workshop's doors, isolating himself from the interior, before quickly crossing the courtyard.
"What brings you here, fellow Daoist?" Yang Changsheng asked, opening the door and bowing with his hands clasped in a calm tone.
The middle-aged cultivator's gaze swept across Yang Changsheng's face.
Then, he quickly glanced at the courtyard, which showed obvious signs of repair, and finally focused on the array nodes that had not yet been restored.