Qiao Xiaoxian laughed so hard she nearly cracked in half.
“Qiao Xiaoxian! I command you to stop laughing! Put me down!”
“I’m warning you one more time! Put me down!”
“…Waaah, please let me down, I don’t want to lose face…”
Qiao Xiaoxian stopped laughing, lowered her head, and gave a gentle peck on Jiang Ke’er’s burning hot cheek: “Alright, I’ll put you down. What’s this surprise you mentioned?”
Never mind the surprise—that peck left the surrounding boys’ hearts shattering into pieces.
All the good men and good women were being snapped up internally. These days, it was so hard for heterosexuals to get by!
“If I spoil it, it won’t be a surprise anymore,” Jiang Ke’er said with a mysterious smile.
She still had a chance to turn things around!
As long as she made Qiao Xiaoxian realize her money-making ability!
She whipped the signal flare off her waist, aimed it at the sky, and yanked it, sending it shooting upward.
“Begin!”
Like ants moving their nest, countless cultivators came swarming in, treasures gleaming on their shoulders!
The first to arrive was the Donglai Sword Sect!
Dressed in pale purple patterned sword cultivator robes, they laid magnificent brick and tile over the old mud houses of the small fishing village, one piece after another, replacing the beams with crystal-clear glass… In the blink of an eye, the shabby little fishing village transformed into something as grand as an immortal’s abode!
Qiao Xiaoxian’s jaw dropped.
After finishing their work, the Donglai Sword Sect disciples quickly retreated, clearing the space for the Tianyun Sword Sect’s next formation.
The Tianyun Sword Sect carried countless formation materials. They methodically buried all sorts of celestial materials and earthly treasures throughout every corner of the small fishing village according to formation patterns.
A dense wave of spiritual power immediately condensed within the small fishing village. With the wild accumulation of countless celestial materials and earthly treasures, the spiritual energy inside the village had reached the level of the Peach Blossom Paradise! This was truly the ultimate cultivation retreat that grandmasters across the entire cultivator realm dreamed of!
The spiritual energy concentration here exceeded ninety-nine percent of large-scale sects. Even a muggle who absolutely refused to cultivate would grow strong and robust after living here for a while, able to dominate tier 1 to 3 cultivators with sheer physical prowess.
The sect leaders watched with complicated feelings. The spiritual energy concentration here was already far higher than that of every sect present, yet it somehow appeared in a small fishing village.
The small fishing village had no spiritual energy spring, nor was it any kind of fengshui treasure land, yet it had been forcibly piled into a cultivation paradise through sheer extravagance… Was this the power of magic crystals? Waaah, lemons really are delicious…
After creating the spiritual energy spring, the Tianyun Sword Sect disciples withdrew, and the Lingshang Sword Sect arrived!
The Lingshang Sword Sect leader waved his hand, unfolding a massive formation blueprint, directing his disciples to arrange the formations for the small fishing village with perfect precision.
First came the Conceal Spirit Array, which interfered with passing cultivators’ perception, making this dense spiritual energy feel extremely thin and unremarkable, when in reality it was absurdly concentrated.
Next came the Conceal Form Array—every household was equipped with one.
When the array was deactivated, the houses and courtyards appeared as luxurious immortal estates. But the moment the array activated, they became nothing more than ordinary small fishing village homes.
With the freedom to switch between “dull life” and “experience life” modes, it was truly simple and unpretentious.
Then came communication arrays installed in every household, as well as the air-raid tunnels and Earth Solidification Arrays that the Yongshan Sword Sect cultivators dug out at lightning speed.
Other sects always aimed for the heights, wishing their mountains could be taller still, piling on extra dirt whenever they had nothing better to do, striving to get closer to the legendary Immortal Realm.
But here? They did the exact opposite—digging straight down with all their might!
Were they in a hurry to get to the Underworld? Weren’t they afraid of digging all the way through to the Netherworld Province?
An incomprehensible way of thinking.
And what came after was even more absurd.
For instance, the N-layer nesting doll of High-level Defense Arrays armed the small fishing village to the teeth.
Even the Kingdom of Dasi at full strength would need half a month to break through those arrays. And even if they broke through, they’d still have to face the complex maze of ultra-long tunnels… Completely conquering it would take who knows how long.
And even if they conquered it, it would be useless. Hidden inside the tunnels was an Emergency Teleportation Array that could instantly transport the villagers to the other end of Shenzhou.
By the time all the formations were arranged, dusk had already fallen.
This compensation event, which resembled a hundred nations paying tribute, had reached its final stage.
“Swoosh swoosh~”
Solid magic crystals piled up like a small mountain in the courtyard of the blacksmith shop.
The magic crystals weren’t that numerous—just a few hundred thousand or so—since most of these sects had chosen to pay with treasures instead.
Still, that was already a terrifying number, enough to found a brand-new sect.
“So? I’m pretty capable, right?”
Jiang Ke’er stood at the cliff edge, proudly showing off her empire to Qiao Xiaoxian.
The glazed tiles reflected the sunset glow. Sensing that night was approaching, the village’s night light arrays quietly activated, casting a soft radiance that made the whole place look like a bustling cyberpunk metropolis from some future world.
Qiao Xiaoxian’s brow furrowed as she looked at Jiang Ke’er with sorrow: “You… you went to rescue them?”
“Pfft, pfft, pfft! This is all money I earned fair and square with my own abilities!” Jiang Ke’er snapped angrily.
At that moment, the sect leaders flew over: “Per the agreement, shouldn’t you hand over the crystals now?”
“Ah, right,” Jiang Ke’er casually tossed the crystals to each of the sword sect leaders.
“Don’t try any tricks! Or else we’ll fight to the bitter end and slaughter your entire village!” The Lingshang Sword Sect leader said this without much confidence.
He knew very well how terrifying this village was.
Despite the Conceal Form Array making the whole small fishing village look plain and peaceful, like a novice village just begging to be trampled… with a single button, the entire novice village would transform into a hell-difficulty demon lord’s stronghold.
Anyone who came here to cause trouble was truly asking for it.
Even scarier, there were offensive arrays installed here that could execute ultra-long-range concentrated bombardments.
If any sect was foolish enough to harm the villagers, they’d better be prepared to have their entire sect razed to the ground.
Damn, that’s insane…
These sects had originally planned to retaliate afterward—slaughter the village once today was over—but they never expected Jiang Ke’er to take that money and upgrade the small fishing village into a super fortress without hesitation.
That way, even revenge would only result in mutual destruction.
So they could only swallow their anger in silence. Unless Jiang Ke’er broke the agreement by keeping a recording copy and handing it to the authorities, they wouldn’t spend such a huge cost attacking this terrifying village.
They did not want to experience the power of the Star Destroyer Cannon Array.
“I told you I could improve our lives,” Jiang Ke’er said, puffing out her chest proudly. “All we need to do is invest the remaining money back into the village, turn it into a famous tourist destination across Shenzhou, and then my blacksmith shop will have a steady stream of business!”
“…Blacksmith shop?” Qiao Xiaoxian laughed helplessly. “You did all this for your blacksmith shop? To prove that opening a blacksmith shop was the right idea?”
“Of course it’s right!” Jiang Ke’er bristled like her thoughts had been exposed. “I will never open some garbage martial arts school, even if it kills me! I have to prove that my decision as head of the family is absolutely correct and full of foresight!”
“Pfft—is that so?” Watching Jiang Ke’er’s puffed-up, angry expression, Qiao Xiaoxian couldn’t help but feel a strong urge to kiss her again. But before that, she still had something to remind Jiang Ke’er about.
“Then tell me, head of the family, was that also part of your plan?”
Qiao Xiaoxian pointed toward the blacksmith shop.
At the entrance to the courtyard beside the blacksmith shop, a black wood plaque hung squarely above the gate.
On it, four large characters were inscribed in sharp, fierce sword style.
—Blue Lotus Sword Sect.
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