One had to understand: in Hunzhou, the officials of the Prefectural Office, powerful cultivators all monopolized everything both inside and outside the island, squeezing the locals within while reaping profits from beyond.
Only the twenty-four registered Main Shops and the forces backing them could grow fat on the wealth, raking in endless profits.
Owning a Main Shop in the sea market meant abundant cash flow and, more importantly, a secure and stable cultivation environment.
It was the ultimate aspiration of everyone in Hunzhou.
The Qian clan, too, had schemed for years with this very goal in mind, plotting against the Jing family.
Yet what others prized above all else, Jing Qian discarded as if it were worthless scrap.
He tore down his family's Main Shop without the slightest pang of regret.
By the time the demolition was nearly complete, the overseer sent by Earth-Dragon Reef Island to Hunzhou's market arrived in haste.
This cultivator, a Ninth-Rank Fatebinding stage master, gave Jing Qian a respectful bow and asked:
"Young Master Qian, greetings. May I ask why you summoned us here?"
After all, Jing Qian was no longer just anyone; he was now both a newly appointed Prefectural Office cultivator and the owner of a Main Shop. His status was entirely different.
Jing Qian replied calmly:
"Many thanks for coming, Daoist Friend. I'd like your expert opinion: my Jing family's Main Shop covers nearly six mu of land. With the abilities of your island, if we were to build upwards, how many stories could we add?"
In his past life, Jing Qian knew that with modern engineering prowess, six mu of land could easily host a building dozens of stories tall.
But he was curious what cultivation-based construction could achieve.
The overseer, Dai Xin of Earth-Dragon Reef Island, had long overseen projects in Hunzhou's market and was known for his professional expertise.
After a quick visual survey, Dai Xin responded:
"Young Master Qian, with our island's abilities, we can reclaim land from the sea itself. Using spellwork to forge foundations, even a hundred stories would not be a problem.
"However, high-rises have a practical limitation: access. Above twenty stories, climbing up and down even with cloud ladders and hook-lifts becomes far too inconvenient."
Jing Qian nodded in understanding.
"Then let's start with twenty floors.
"As for design and structure, I'll leave that to you. I have only two requirements.
"First, make the foundations deep and the floors sturdy. Quality must be assured.
"Second, leave sufficient allowance so that more floors can be added later."
Dai Xin agreed readily to each point.
Jing Qian continued:
"If there are no issues, please arrange for construction to begin at once. Tell me within three months, how many floors can you complete?"
Dai Xin replied:
"If I bring in skilled hands from our main island, we can guarantee at least ten floors within three months. But the cost will be higher."
Jing Qian waved his hand dismissively.
"Three months is enough. Just go all out.
"As for the costs, can your island cover them upfront?
"Master Dai, you're a professional. You can tell at a glance what I'm planning. Surely you don't fear I'll run off?"
"I've already gained recognition from the Prefectural Office. From this day forth, the Jing family's Main Shop will officially deal in the business of estate management and property sales. This is the very first enterprise of its kind in Hunzhou's market. Tell me, doesn't your island want to be part of that?"
Dai Xin was a shrewd man. At first, the idea of funding a project without payment seemed like a trick.
But when he thought it over, he couldn't help being drawn in by Jing Qian's vision.
"Young Master Qian truly has foresight!" Dai Xin exclaimed.
"We'll take this job. As for labor costs, we can discuss. But instead of cash, how about once the building is complete, you allot us a few floors as payment?"
Jing Qian chuckled softly.
"Build the tower first. We'll revisit this discussion in three months.
"Trade floors for wages? Perhaps for some remote corners that might be acceptable.
"But this? This is going to be the landmark of Hunzhou's sea market. You think I'd give away prime space so casually?"
After settling the details with Dai Xin, Jing Qian had essentially secured this groundbreaking landmark project in the sea market. With that concluded, he turned and left the future site of the Jing Clan Tower.
His thoughts were crystal clear: a properly run Main Shop was no different from a monopoly, standing above the heads of tens of millions of commoners in Hunzhou.
It was bound to amass enormous wealth and resources.
But Jing Qian had arrived on the island alone, under a false identity, with neither kin nor allies.
He was surrounded by wolves and jackals, with pitfalls waiting at every step.
He had never intended to spend his energy on the petty management of Main and Branch Shops.
Such trifling matters were nothing but stumbling blocks on the path of cultivation!
Thus, in the shortest possible time, he clarified his plan and set a new direction for the Jing Clan's Main Shop.
He would cut away all the unnecessary details, abandon manpower, and abandon production and operations.
He would strip out only the two most valuable assets of the Jing Clan: the land and the operating license, and make them directly generate income.
In the future, the profits from land and license sales would be dedicated solely to supporting Jing Qian's cultivation.
Perhaps the Jing Clan's income would never match the scale of other Main Shops.
But for Jing Qian, it was the least distracting, least labor-intensive, most resource-efficient, and most cost-effective method.
As long as his cultivation advanced smoothly, nothing else mattered!
With his plans for the shop settled, Jing Qian hurried out of the sea market.
He leapt down the steps by the Dragon-Drinking Gong, reached the cave harbor, then followed the dammed lake's shore until he arrived at a secluded dock deep inside the cavern.
The place was enclosed by black stone walls, with only a narrow entrance left open.
Jing Qian produced the Prefectural Office waist token forged from Scaledragon scales and declared:
"I am Jing Qian, here to claim an eighth-grade treasure ship, granted as ancestral compensation. Please grant me passage."
The small gate at the entrance swung open, and Jing Qian was ushered inside.
The view immediately opened up; it was a massive shipyard.
There, waiting already, was Xu Xi, a Ninth-Rank cultivator.
He spoke first:
"Xiao Qian, where is your aunt? Will she ever return?"
There was a trace of concern in his tone. Jing Qian instantly caught on, recognizing the man's identity.
He knew at once how to respond:
"Uncle Xi, I buried Aunt beneath the sea."
Xu Xi's expression darkened. He said no more.
This Third Master of the Xu family was one of the few who bore genuine goodwill toward the Jing Clan.
It was thanks to Xu Xi's help that Jing Ran, during her desperate flight, had been able to borrow a ship and escape to sea.
But with his limited cultivation and meager influence, there was only so much he could do for the Jing Clan.
After a brief silence, Xu Xi steadied his emotions and said:
"Still, I must congratulate you on entering the Dao. This was your aunt's lifelong wish.
Come, I'll take you to choose your ship."
He led Jing Qian deeper into the shipyard.
This shipyard was the very heart of the Xu family's Main Shop.
In this generation, two of the Xu clan's descendants had become Dragon-Elephants, serving respectively in the Maritime Bureau and the Craftsman's Directorate, both core offices of the Prefectural government.
Beneath the Yan Shou clan, the Xu family counted among the strongest forces in Hunzhou.
Eighty percent of the ordinary ships and sixty percent of the graded treasure ships across Hunzhou were built in Xu's shipyards.
Even the Maritime Bureau's commissions were carried out by the Xu family in collaboration with the Directorate of Crafts.
Thus, the eighth-grade dragon boat Jing Qian, which was entitled to claim compensation, also had to be chosen here, from the Xu shipyard.
Still unsettled by the news of Jing Ran's death, Xu Xi muttered as they walked:
"I should have done everything in my power to stop your aunt back then.
How could she hope to fight so many people alone?
She gave everything to the Jing family; when did she ever think for herself?
Xiao Qian, don't follow her path. Don't clash head-on with every obstacle. Learn to adapt.
In Hunzhou, strength rules above all else.
A Fatebinding cultivator against a Dragon-Elephant… it can only end with their life burned away."
Jing Qian listened quietly, without replying.
Xu Xi was not a bad man. His privileged upbringing and secure environment had given him a gentle temperament.
In a peaceful country, he would have been a model gentleman, refined and admirable.
But in wolf-ridden Hunzhou, such a nature left him somewhat passive.
Still, at least with a good man, one did not fear betrayal.
Xu Xi was intimately familiar with the ships in his care and held nothing back from Jing Qian.
This gave Jing Qian a tremendous advantage in making his choice.
"The Qian family tried to pressure my elder brother, asking us to cause you trouble when choosing your ship. My brother agreed in principle… but don't worry.
When it comes to these eighth-grade dragon boats, whichever one you set your eyes on, you may take it. That much authority, I still hold."
Jing Qian swept his gaze across the seven graded treasure ships before him, activating the full power of his Worldly Insight.
Freely burning his Whitefang Life Essence, he flooded himself with information about each vessel.
In Hunzhou's seafaring world, the importance of a good ship went without saying.
And those skilled enough to helm them were vital to every faction.
The Jing family had once risen to prominence with breathtaking speed, in no small part due to Jing Chuan's unmatched sailing skills across Hunzhou.
Now, with Jing Qian's Tidal Fate Pattern advancing into the Blueblood tier of reforging, his ship-handling skills were bound to surpass even that.
All the more reason to choose his first treasure ship with extreme care.
Ninth-grade swordships were built entirely from Whitefang spirit-materials, requiring at least ten sets to complete.
In sheer value, they were ten times that of ninth-grade artifacts, any one of them worth hundreds of gold ingots.
An eighth-grade dragon boat required immense amounts of Bluewing spirit-materials to forge, making it not only worth a fortune but also the kind of clan-stabilizing treasure that could anchor a cultivation family's power.
Within the Xu shipyard were four ninth-grade ships and three eighth-grade ships, seven treasure vessels in total.
This was not the private wealth of the Xu clan, but part of the Prefectural government's naval reserves.
Compared to these mighty vessels, the two dozen ordinary ships nearby looked like worthless scrap.
Any outsider choosing here would naturally ignore the ordinary ships, focusing entirely on the three eighth-grade dragon boats.
But Jing Qian did the opposite. He ignored all the finished treasure ships floating in the water and instead pointed to a vessel still docked in its berth:
"Uncle Xi, what's the story with this one?"
The vessel he indicated was nine zhang, nine chi, and nine cun in length, the shortest among all the ships.
It had a slender, blade-like form, like a naked sword ready to strike. Though it looked finished, it had yet to be launched into the water.
Jing Qian's attention was drawn to it for one reason: in his Worldly Insight, this was the only ship that glowed with the aura of seventh-grade Blueblood materials.
-support me in Patreon for more chapter, 55+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LordoftheReader