Chapter 332: Chapter 196: The Untrustworthy Must Die

Cheng Zongyang was pleased as he looked at his Attribute Interface.

His cultivation of the Breath-holding Technique for the Sixth Grade Meridian Passage Realm was already past the halfway mark. He still had to break through the acupoints for the subsequent realms, but being more than halfway through the Sixth Grade Realm was still deeply satisfying progress.

According to the cultivation manual, the entire Middle Third Grades Realm was about opening all the meridians in the body. The meridians of the Five Viscera and Six Bowels, as well as the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, were all meant to be broken through within these three realms!

Only by opening every acupoint in the body could one project True Qi externally in the Upper Three Grades Realm, even forming Innate Gang Qi outside the body!

After finishing his inspection, Cheng Zongyang finally responded to Luo Dingran, "No, I just used True Qi to strengthen my hand. I thought this strike could crack the stone, but since my meridians aren’t all open, I can’t project my True Qi externally."

Luo Dingran gave a wry smile. "Sir, this is granite. The fact that you could leave such a clear Palm Seal on it without even being an expert who can project True Qi externally is more than enough to prove your strength."

Cheng Zongyang didn’t pay it much mind.

’But I definitely couldn’t have done this before. This proves the increase in my True Qi was truly significant!’

The more abundant and potent the True Qi, the greater one’s strength. This was undeniable.

"It’s decent," Cheng Zongyang said with a smile.

’His strength had increased, so naturally, his mood was good. If he had to face Lu Yan again, a single head-on punch with just fifty percent of his power would be enough to cripple the man!’

Amid their lighthearted talk, Cheng Zongyang went to rinse off, washing away the slight layer of impurities that had been expelled from his body due to the Elixir.

Feeling refreshed and invigorated, Cheng Zongyang finally felt completely at ease.

As he re-entered the automatic cultivation of the Breath-holding Technique, he noticed that the circulation speed of his True Qi was significantly faster.

’Based on the speed of this automatic cultivation, I estimate I can break one acupoint every six hours. Under normal circumstances, breaking three acupoints in two days shouldn’t be a problem.’

Although this speed couldn’t match the effects of the Nine Yang Pill, it was still a welcome, indirect boost to his efficiency.

’Sect Ruins... where could they be? I wonder if the five hunting and gathering teams will find anything.’

Cheng Zongyang murmured to himself.

The things that directly impacted his strength had almost all come from Sect Ruins. A lot of good stuff came from there.

The five fully-equipped hunting and gathering teams were currently operating in several areas to the north, also serving to explore the region for Cheng Zongyang.

’Once I’m done with the County Town’s affairs, I should start exploring the Wilderness World. But a range of only seventy kilometers is far from enough. I need to earn more money and more Points to get Crystal Stones.’

「Three days passed in the blink of an eye.」

Within a total of eight days, the Celestial Break Gang’s Hall of Justice and Ministry of Works Hall were mostly constructed. They began coordinating to completely reorganize West City’s environment, cleaning and repairing its buildings.

The people of West City also began to settle down quickly.

At the same time, Cheng Zongyang posted a public notice announcing which families were responsible for governing each of the four districts, so the common people knew who to turn to based on where they lived. This was to prevent the other six families from feigning ignorance and leaving him to shoulder the responsibility.

Furthermore, a few of the Cheng Family’s shops were established, and a trade market began to take shape in West City near the inner city wall, divided into two sections.

Li Yihuo divided the trade market into North Street and South Street.

South Street was designated for selling fish, meat, and vegetables, while North Street was for selling daily necessities and other goods.

For now, of course, no one was able to rent stalls and do business. But at the very least, the layout for the stalls had to be established first.

The Cheng Family’s grain and salt shops were the first to open.

With the arrival of the various families, the immense pressure on the food supply was distributed among them.

Now, Cheng Zongyang only needed to provide for the several thousand people in West City.

To stimulate the initiative and resourcefulness of West City’s populace, the grain and salt shops implemented a barter system while also continuing the work-for-relief program.

The barter system encouraged people to leave the city and search the area around Tianduan Mountain for Medicinal Materials to trade for rice, or to report the locations of mineral deposits for a reward.

The work-for-relief program hired people to assist the Ministry of Works Hall in repairing houses, constructing new ones, and expanding farmland outside the city, all in exchange for food.

People were free to choose either option.

As for farmland, the other six families quickly imitated this model, scrambling to claim and cultivate their own plots of wasteland outside the city.

Restoring the County Town wouldn’t happen overnight. Since the families wouldn’t cooperate, they could each just handle their own affairs.

As a result, though the County Town seemed chaotic, the people in each territory could at least continue to earn food through work.

「On the evening of May 9th.」

In the study of his home in Yunli Lane.

Cheng Zongyang stored a completed cooperation agreement in his Marketplace Cabin, then left his residence and headed for a private courtyard.

Over the past few days, he had also drafted a new Oath Contract.

It wasn’t long; it simply bound both parties and clarified their respective obligations.

The penalty for violation: Soul Returns to the Wilderness!

’He was perfectly willing to pursue peaceful development and mutually beneficial cooperation. But if the other party wasn’t sincere, then they couldn’t blame him for playing dirty.’

Arriving at an unguarded courtyard house, Cheng Zongyang unlocked the door and went inside.

Imprisoned in the courtyard’s cellar were forty-six people who had been arrested over the past few days for malicious assault and murder.

Cheng Zongyang proceeded to kill them all, absorbing them into the Wilderness World.

’Time to use the remaining twenty-three Low Tier Soul Crystal Stones. I need to keep increasing my available manpower.’

’As for the Martial Artists from the various clans imprisoned in the Tiantuan Village dungeons, I’ll save them for when I can buy Middle Tier Soul Crystal Stones!’

Once all the corpses were dealt with, his body vanished.

When he appeared in the Marketplace Cabin, Luo Dingran had already directed people to move the corpses out.

The bodies were arranged neatly in pairs. Before each of their heads, a shimmering red Low Tier Soul Crystal Stone had been placed.

With all the arrangements complete, Cheng Zongyang focused his mind, and the familiar process began once more.