X-Dragon Era-Chapter 556 - s 399-401: The Country of Dragon’s Gate_4

A uniform tax rate of 15%, that was the lowest tax rate in the world at this time, no one could go lower than this number, otherwise it would be equivalent to provoking all forces, and Xin Yun didn't know this before, but now that he had learnt it, he naturally wouldn't commit such a major taboo.

And so, in the span of a month, Tie Zhan successfully conquered all cities within a 1.8 million li radius centering on Shoushan City; after capturing a city, Amethyst-stage experts would clear up any lingering forces, then select management personnel, with Crystal-stage experts maintaining public order.

A month was neither too long nor too short, but by the time Xin Yun and the others emerged from seclusion, Mad Dragon Tie Zhan had led the Crazy Dragon Gang to achieve their anticipated goal, and from that moment on, thirty-six cities centered around Shoushan all fell under the banner of Dragon Gate.

Thirty-six super-cities with nearly six hundred million people, from a certain perspective, although Dragon Gate had just risen, it already resembled a nation in its own right, and although it could still expand, Mad Dragon Tie Zhan decided to halt further expansion decisively; managing more wouldn't be an issue, but protecting it would definitely become one, since they couldn't handle any uprising that might arise.

The reason Xin Yun wanted to capture cities wasn't for money, but to repair the Sky-opening Axe; each city had to pay a certain amount of gold, silver, copper, iron, and tin every month, with the money for purchasing the five metals being deducted from the taxes, and the remaining taxes then handed over to Tie Zhan for his unified allocation and use.

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In this way, Xin Yun saved a lot of time and energy; every month, he would collect a large amount of metals from the cities he controlled, and together with the continuous efforts of the Five Rat Brothers, the speed of repair significantly improved. However, even so, the amount of metals needed to upgrade the Sky-opening Axe from the Third Layer to the Fourth Layer was enormous, and it would still take a long time to gather enough materials for the Fourth Layer's repair.

A month later, when Xin Yun and the others broke through, everyone successfully stabilized their current realms, among them... Yan Qingying, Yi Luo Xiang, and Ming Xuan all stabilized at the Gold Ten Stars level, while Luo Fu stabilized at the Amethyst Ten Stars level, just one step away from becoming a Diamond-tiered expert!

Inside the secret chamber, Xin Yun slowly opened his eyes; after absorbing the energy from the Four Great Sword Souls, Xin Yun's strength skyrocketed from Crystal One Star to Crystal Five Stars in an incredibly short time, and the problem of an unstable foundation had also been successfully resolved, which, for Xin Yun, felt almost like a dream.

With a thought, Xin Yun waved his right hand and four colorful orbs of red, yellow, blue, and green light floated out from his palm, landing on the ground, and in the next moment... the Four Great Sword Souls reconvened into form.

Looking at the Four Great Sword Souls before him, Xin Yun took a deep breath; though they seemed unchanged on the outside, in reality, Xin Yun had devoured all their energy, and now the Four Great Sword Souls were merely existence with no tier or star rating.

Fortunately, although their energy had dissipated, their realm, experience, and memories were intact, so... they only needed some time to cultivate their way back, unlike at the beginning when it was necessary to constantly explore and summarize.

Frowning slightly, Xin Yun extended his right hand, and instantly, the Red Gourd appeared in it; amidst swirling green mist at the mouth of the gourd, the Celestial Spirit Ying appeared before Xin Yun.

Smiling at Ying, Xin Yun asked, "How have things been recently? Any progress with the alchemy?"

"Mhm..." Nodding proudly, Ying replied with a smile, "Now, I can begin to refine Copper Immortal Pills. Just by consuming one Copper Immortal Pill and absorbing and refining its contents for nine days and nine nights, an unranked Martial Artist can be promoted to Bronze One Star!"

"Oh!" Xin Yun's eyes brightened with excitement as he asked eagerly, "What if a Bronze-tier Martial Artist uses it?"

In response to Xin Yun's inquiry, Ying chuckled, "The effect for those at the Bronze tier is a bit less, but after consuming one and digesting it for nine days and nine nights, they can improve by one star!"

Speechless, Xin Yun could only look at Ying, finding it almost too ridiculous; within eighty-one days, an expert at the Silver tier could be created, which was preposterously exaggerated.

Perhaps ordinary people wouldn't understand the significance, but when recalling how long Xin Yun and others had cultivated to reach the Silver tier, was it possible to do it within a hundred days, from an unranked One Star to Silver One Star?

Looking at Ying, Xin Yun realized for the first time the true power of the Red Gourd; in some ways, the Red Gourd and the Kongtong Seal were indeed very similar, both could be used in combat, but combat wasn't their strong point. The Kongtong Seal, with its power of eternal life, and the Red Gourd's alchemy capabilities, were the strongest aspects of these two Innate Spiritual Treasures!

With the Kongtong Seal, one need not worry about aging or sickness, while with the Red Gourd it was possible to rapidly train a large number of experts in a short period of time; this was like a cheat code for any sect!

Of course, the realms raised purely through medicinal pills were false realms, and controlling one's own energy as effortlessly as someone who had progressed bit by bit in cultivation like Xin Yun and others weren't possible—there was absolutely no comparison. But again, as long as one had enough strength, in the face of absolute power, all else was futile.