Chapter 10: Python-Dragon Body Movent Technique
Since the logging team was not far from the base, backed against a cliff and shielded by complex terrain in front, they had not been attacked by demonic humans or vicious insects. For those monsters to reach them, they would have to cross the intimidation zone of the relay station or pass through the forest.
The team had already cut down a pile of Hardgold Wood and was transporting it back to the station in batches.
Next, the quarrying team.
They were even closer to the station than the loggers and were currently in high spirits, gathering stones everywhere.
The gentle slope of the nearest rocky cliff was already scattered with rubble of various sizes, a small portion of which contained the Steelblue Stone needed for the station. After so basic polishing, they could transport the suitable stones back. By now, the stones piled in the station’s courtyard had ford a small hill.
Calculating that Chen Yong would soon return with his team, Wu Yuan went back to the station to wait in the main hall.
Sure enough, before long, Chen Yong hurried back, looking sowhat disheveled.
Wu Yuan glanced behind him. Fortunately, only a few were injured, and none had died. He let out a sigh of relief.
Before Chen Yong could even catch his breath, he quickly clasped his hands and reported:
“Boss, we’ve scouted the area within five miles north of the station. There are quite a few vicious insects and demonic humans, and they’re slowly gathering toward the station. Even more are further away, we need to be on high alert.”
Wu Yuan nodded. “What about nearby resources?”
“We’ve confird two locations.
Three miles northwest, there’s a small open-pit Yuan Coal mine. I brought back a few samples. The quality is decent, but if we transport it back to Qingqiao Town, it probably won’t fetch a good price.
Five miles northeast, within visible range, no more than seven or eight miles,there are piles of Blue Yuan Copper sand. At least ten of them. But the area is infested with over a thousand Blue-Eyed Insects.
These vicious insects are terrifying. They rarely leave their nests, and we can’t afford to provoke them.”
“It’s not worth risking so many Blue-Eyed Insects for Blue Yuan Copper. The deposits lie right on the main path to the Demon Insect Hills. Such obvious bait must have tempted rcenaries before. But since the Blue Yuan Copper is still there, those rcenaries must have failed.”
“Boss is wise. Near the Blue-Eyed Insects’ habitat, we did see many human skeletons, as well as those of large warbeasts, likely brought by rcenaries.”
“It’s sweet bait! Most rcenaries are reckless and short-sighted. If a Gatherer ca to the Demon Insect Hills…”
Wu Yuan cut himself off. The rest of his thoughts remained unspoken.
What he really ant was: If a Gatherer—soone who scoured every inch of land—had co here, would there have been any opportunity left for him? The treasure trove of the Glowdream Cave would have been discovered long ago.
“Boss overestimates them. Gatherers are of high status. They only travel official roads and value their lives too much to co to a death trap like the Demon Insect Hills.”
“True enough.”
Wu Yuan felt relieved. Regardless of the past or future, he had claid the Glowdream Cave. There was no point dwelling on why others hadn’t found it, what mattered was that he had.
He took the Yuan Coal samples Chen Yong handed him. As Chen Yong had said, the quality was decent—mid-grade among first-tier Yuan minerals.
But his two lifetis of dream mories contained no record of this coal mine. It must have been small, easily hidden or exhausted early, leaving no trace for others to notice.
Now that he had discovered it, whether previous rcenaries had dismissed it as worthless or not, he would claim it for himself.
Yuan Coal might not fetch a high price, but it was indispensable for territory developnt.
And Wu Yuan was a man with territorial ambitions—sothing that had remained unchanged across three lifetis.
“It seems we’ll need to recruit more people ahead of schedule,” Wu Yuan said after a mont of silence.
“I fully agree. With the Spirit Spring Station, Boss has limitless prospects. Now is the ti to solidify our foundation. Even several tis our current workforce could be easily absorbed.”
“But where do we find the people?”
“What about new immigrants?”
“Absolutely not! Their character is untested. We must be cautious.”
Chen Yong’s expression turned odd. He thought to himself, Isn’t the boss forgetting he’s a new immigrant too?
After a mont of contemplation, Wu Yuan suddenly had an idea and clapped his hands. “Here’s what we’ll do. We’ll buy people directly through the rchant guild.”
“Boss ans purchasing slaves?” Chen Yong was surprised.
“Exactly.”
“Slaves aren’t cheap, and their aptitude is uncertain. Using them also requires many precautions.”
Chen Yong was on the verge of outright opposing the idea, but under Wu Yuan’s imposing presence, his voice gradually trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid.
“I understand your concerns. As long as we don’t make slaves a core part of our operations, there won’t be major issues. As for aptitude, take it seriously, but don’t take it too seriously.”
“Understood. How many slaves does Boss plan to buy at once?”
“Five hundred.”
Chen Yong was shocked. “That many? Even for ordinary slaves with no cultivation, each costs at least one silver. For those at the Muscle-Tempering Realm, add twenty copper. For the Tendon-Forging Realm, the price jumps to three silver each.”
Wu Yuan waved his hand. “No matter. Higher prices an higher value. Soon, I’ll send you back to Qingqiao Town with our recent harvest. There are also so tasks for you to handle.
For now, take your team to rest. In half a day, have the uninjured ard couriers relieve Huang You and Huang Tie’s teams. Remind them, if anyone breaks through on the spot, let them stabilize for a few days. No continuous Blood Yuan boosts.”
“Yes.”
Though puzzled, Chen Yong bowed and accepted the order.
Once Chen Yong left, Wu Yuan found himself with nothing urgent to attend to. He walked into the courtyard, where a cleared space served as his training ground.
Speaking of training, since arriving in the Tianyuan World, he had been too busy scheming to focus on cultivation.
Now that he had established a foothold, it was ti to prioritize increasing his strength.
His clone in the Soul Suppression Tower was currently practicing the Recumbent Buddha Stance.
This static stance was perfect for a mindless body like the clone. As long as it maintained fixed habits and rhythms in an environnt rich in spiritual energy, its cultivation would gradually improve.
With the addition of Blood Yuan and elixirs, its progress would far exceed most people’s expectations.
As for Wu Yuan’s main body, he planned to combine static and dynamic training, practicing both stances.
He chose a technique from his second lifeti’s mories: the Python-Dragon Body Movent Technique.
This was a secret body-refining thod that rged dynamic stances with fist techniques, a precious art he had struggled to obtain in his past life.
He stood with his feet apart, unmoving, yet his body swayed like a willow in the wind, twisting and bending like a coiling python, eventually adopting a posture resembling a swimming python-dragon.
Hissing and thunderous roars alternated continuously.
After half an hour, his feet shifted from stillness to motion as he began executing fist techniques, still accompanied by the unique hissing and roaring.
Python Strikes Prey!
Azure Python Overturns!
Python-Dragon Swings Tail!
Python-Dragon Worships the Moon!
…
Move by move, he transitioned from clumsiness to fluency, his movents a blur of speed and shifting shadows.
In his second lifeti, he had practiced this secret technique for over a century, accumulating profound insights.
As his body gradually adjusted to peak condition, the technique’s marvels began to manifest.
Not only did faintly glowing strands of spiritual energy gather around him, seeping into his body to temper his flesh, but the shadows of his fist techniques also faintly revealed the forms of a python and dragon, as if an actual mythical beast were trapped within his strikes. This was the sign of a fist technique reaching mastery.
Wu Yuan trained for nearly half a day, only stopping when he sensed soone entering the courtyard.
The visitor was Cai Yu, one of the two in charge of the Glowdream Cave.
Like the other couriers, she wore coarse linen clothing, but her revealed features and her role as de facto supervisor lent her a unique air.
When Wu Yuan had appointed supervisors, he knew that pairing the honest farr leader Hei Tou with Cai Yu would effectively place the cave under her command.
And reality proved his prediction correct.
Cai Yu had organized the tasks Wu Yuan assigned with ticulous efficiency. Black Jade Soil was being transported to the station in batches, already accumulating ten cubic ters. Three thousand catties of Black Pearl Rice had been harvested and stored in a dedicated warehouse.
She had also arranged for twenty catties of Black Pearl Rice to be hulled, using half to cook a pot of spiritual rice. Now, she brought a full bowl to Wu Yuan for him to taste.
Accepting the bowl, Wu Yuan admired the lustrous grains and smiled. “Jade-like pearls, black and gleaming, this rice should be called Black Pearl Rice, and the unhulled grain, Black Pearl Grain.”
“The na Boss chose is perfect,” Cai Yu said with a pleased smile. “If we sold this rice in Qingqiao Town, just this bowl would fetch fifty copper. If transported beyond the borderlands to a prosperous town, it would easily go for one silver.”
“You’re quite knowledgeable.”
Wu Yuan gave her a deep look. “This bowl must hold at least eight taels, aning a catty of unhulled rice could sell for over fifty copper.
As for selling beyond the borderlands, we don’t have that capability yet. But if a major inter-town rchant group visits, we might na our price.”
“Boss shouldn’t think about profit just yet. Try it before it gets cold.”
“Right.”
Wu Yuan chuckled and began eating.
The Black Pearl Rice lted in his mouth, incredibly sweet and fragrant. Even without side dishes, it was irresistibly delicious—though this might also stem from his origin in a world where crops were drenched in pesticides.
He finished the entire bowl in one go, thoroughly satisfied.
The abundant spiritual energy left his stomach in a state of perfect comfort. For soone without cultivation, eating this rice while practicing a compatible technique would drastically speed up their entry into the Muscle-Tempering Realm.
Even for Wu Yuan, at the early Skin-Refining Realm, the rice was imnsely beneficial. He estimated that three months of continuous consumption, even without other aids, could push him to the peak of the Skin-Refining Realm, perhaps even a breakthrough to the Bone-Forging Realm.
“Distribute the remaining rice. Supervisors and team leaders get a bowl each; the others can have a taste.”
After a pause, he added, “Ten catties isn’t enough. Cook the other ten catties of hulled rice and give Chen Yong a larger portion.”
“Yes,” Cai Yu said, then cautiously asked, “Is this a one-ti arrangent or…?”
Wu Yuan thought again. “From now on, every ten days: half a catty per bowl for team leaders and supervisors, two taels for regular couriers. Chen Yong holds the stationmaster rank, give him one *catty each ti.”
[A catty is a traditional Chinese unit of weight, also known as jin (斤).].
“Yes, thank you, Boss.” Cai Yu accepted the order joyfully.
This ant she would receive one and a half catties of Black Pearl Rice per month worth at least seventy-five copper.
Over a year, that amounted to nine hundred copper, a significant bonus.
With continuous consumption, she believed her long-stagnant high-stage Tendon-Forging Realm cultivation would soon break through, perhaps in six months, maybe even four or five.
Wu Yuan was even more generous with himself and his clone in the Soul Suppression Tower, ordering three daily als of rice.
Cai Yu acknowledged the order and left in high spirits to distribute the rice.
Watching her go, Wu Yuan fell into thought.
For a mont, he had considered promoting Cai Yu to steward, equal in rank to Chen Yong’s stationmaster position. But he held back.
He understood the art of leadership: promotions must not be arbitrary, and favors must not be excessive. Otherwise, instead of loyalty, they bred greed.
She needs more observation, he thought.
He wasn’t in a hurry. In less than ten days since arriving in the Tianyuan World, he had already built this foundation. There was plenty of ti ahead.
Surveying the courtyard’s piles of soil, stone, and wood, he decided it was ti to expand the station.
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