Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 49 Failed Attempt to Produce a Pie in the Sky
Fang Xianyu was unaware of anything concerning the project team.

Or rather, she only had a general idea that the authorities would take action, and based on the chat content she monitored, she knew that some players had been "recruited," but she was unaware of the specific plans and arrangements of the authorities.

Of course, as a sign of goodwill for cooperation, although neither party actually sat down to discuss the matter, they had a similar understanding.

Therefore, after each player was recruited, a document would appear in the private chat of Fang Xianyu's game merchant account. It included not only the course schedule for the recruited players, but also the plan for their training. In the words of that account, "A certain degree of honesty and limited mutual understanding will help advance and improve the content of 'Ten Continents Chronicles', and is also one of our basic sinceritys for achieving a win-win cooperation between the two parties." The subtext was to make it easier and more convenient for her to use the players.

Hmm... very official and reasonable "diplomatic" language, showing genuine sincerity.

In addition, the official authorities have been very restrained and cautious in their contact with her so far. Even though they have asked for five free slots, apart from one of them infiltrating the players, the other four are either squatting in a corner studying biology, or hiding in towns studying the history of human civilization and local culture and political systems. Oh, and there is another one who is hiding in the sect's library, spending his days and nights taking screenshots of cultivation techniques and secret manuals... In short, none of them have caused any trouble and they are all very well-behaved and quiet.

On the contrary, the players' ideas were so wild and unpredictable that Fang Xianyu had to personally create alternate accounts to clean up their messes on several occasions. This included, but was not limited to, apologizing to players and civilians who had committed petty theft, and speaking well of the disciples at the Guangcheng Immortal Abode in Taiping Town to salvage their image.

Since discovering the village of Divine Blessing, which was kept in a valley, she has had an additional task: to keep a close eye on the behavior of the players in Divine Blessing, especially to be ready to deduct favorability and prestige points from those players who stay up late at night and disturb the peace by attracting cats and dogs, so as to ensure that the daily lives of the villagers of Divine Blessing are not greatly affected.

In short, being the sect leader was quite mentally exhausting.

Therefore, when Wang Ergou and others approached her under the pseudonym Baili Shuang and expressed their desire to "take over" Shenyou Village, she was deeply tempted.

Wang Ergou and his gang have been recruited and all know some of the truth, so they at least know their limits—they certainly won't be doing parkour on the rooftops of villagers' houses in the middle of the night.

However, the problem is not scarcity but inequality.

If we agree to Wang Ergou's claim to sovereignty over Shenyou Village, what about the other players?
Does everyone agree?
This isn't a strategy game; it involves city development and construction, and there aren't that many people for them to test their plans on.

Players may not feel it truly because they are in a game, but for Fang Xianyu, every blade of grass and every person on this land is a living, breathing life. Why should players be used to conduct "experiments" on it?
Thinking of this, Fang Xianyu fell into deep thought.

"What you said makes sense, and the plan is very well designed,"

Within minutes, Fang Xianyu came up with a compromise. Controlling Baili Shuang, she said gently, “However, you are still young and don’t know much about Zhongzhou. Rushing to manage the people might cause many inconveniences… How about this, I will discuss it with the sect leader in the next few days. Once the Sheyi (community) is established, we will simultaneously put Sheyi City Building Tokens on the sect contribution shop. You can freely choose places under the Taiyin Sect’s name to build cities, and naturally you can build them according to your own ideas. If they are built well, the people will be attracted to settle down. At that time, how well the towns under the Sheyi are managed and how many people they can absorb will all depend on your own abilities. What do you think?”

Wang Ergou and Zhao Qing exchanged glances. Although they were somewhat disappointed that their idea had been rejected, they became excited again when they learned that they could build cities after the community function was opened in the future.

After exchanging a few words with Baili Shuang, the group hurriedly left the Taiyin Sect.

Despite failing to secure the right to "contract" Shenyou Village, Wang Ergou and his friends still gathered together, excitedly discussing their next steps.

Wang Ergou was the first to analyze: "Currently, our group has the strongest overall ability in the entire server. When we establish our city, it will definitely have the most members. Even if a new batch of players comes in, it's impossible for any newbies at that level to form a group that can compete with us. So we can focus on the best location for building our city; no one should be competing with us."

Han Yi quickly suggested, "How about the valley entrance? It's convenient for running dungeons and interacting with NPCs."

Zhao Qing also chimed in with her analysis: "That makes sense. And if we can attract all the villagers from Shenyou Village in the future, we can turn the valley into a tourist attraction... uh, that seems a bit too far ahead... but just providing supplies to players at the dungeon entrance can make us a fortune!"

The Jade Emperor scratched his head: "But can a city be built there?" "Maybe," Wang Ergou said, "Or we can plan several places and choose according to priority. I think a location between Taiping Town and our sect would be good!"

Jie Ran, who was usually quiet, shook his head and said, "No, Guangcheng Sect will not agree. I'm afraid it won't work."

Zhao Qing thought for a moment and asked, "Hmm... what about going south? It seems like the map marks the coast to the south. Although we can't get there now, the map will be opened up sooner or later, right? If we're near the sea, can we build a port?"

The Jade Emperor, unusually feeling a sense of intellectual superiority, mocked, "Are you stupid? We've all cultivated immortality! Why do we need a seaport? Wouldn't it be better to just use a flying boat?"

Upon hearing the Jade Emperor mention the word "flying boat," Wang Ergou's face immediately darkened, and he exclaimed indignantly, "Damn it! I'm the only player on the entire server who can pilot a flying boat! Can't you give me a way out?! I don't want to be a camel in another world!"

The Jade Emperor muttered guiltily, "Isn't Second Senior Sister also learning [Transfer]..."

Zhao Qing resignedly, "No, I gave up. There's too much to learn, and that skill isn't very useful. Besides, Senior Sister said she could teach me how to fly a real flying boat, but we'll have to build it ourselves or buy it."

Where can I buy it?

"I asked Du Zhong last time, and he said they could sell us the small flying boats as a favor, and the price could be discounted. The discounted price is..."

As Zhao Qing spoke, she gestured with five fingers.

The Jade Emperor guessed, "Five hundred taels?"

Seeing Zhao Qing shake her head, Wang Ergou also guessed, "Five thousand taels?"

Zhao Qing waved her hand speechlessly: "Please, can you guys use your brains? That's a flying boat used by cultivators! It must have been bought with spirit stones!"

"Then...five hundred spirit stones?"

"It's definitely more than that! Five thousand spirit stones is the lowest price! There are better ones that cost thirteen thousand spirit stones! But you can also convert them into equivalent amounts of spirit herbs, plants, and commonly used pills."

"hiss--"

Everyone gasped in astonishment, speechless.

In theory, spirit stones cannot be exchanged for the silver and copper coins used by ordinary mortals. However, as a general equivalent, they can be converted into corresponding amounts based on the price of spirit herbs and plants. For example, in most cases, the value of one unit of spirit stone fluctuates between ten and fifteen taels of silver, while a flying boat with a minimum price of five thousand spirit stones is equivalent to fifty thousand taels of silver—fifty million copper coins—even using the most optimistic conversion ratio.

Hmm... If we're going to slaughter pigs, we'd have to slaughter nearly five thousand, and we'd have to be able to sell them all.

(End of this chapter)