Chương 91: Progress and Pitfalls

After Tang Yue left, the people of White Flower City continued their happy, busy lives, except for the glum-faced Li Sanshui. Oh, my money, gone like that, never to return... Later, Fang Cheng noticed that Li Sanshui was always listless. He asked Wang Hu and learned that the magistrate's private savings had all been given to that idiot with the heavy mission. Fang Cheng was very pleased.

To reward Li Sanshui for his sacrifice, he promised that if the public relations department were built up properly, he would consider giving him an extra salary. And so, Magistrate Li happily joined the big family of building White Flower City. Time was both short and long.... A month passed quickly. During this time, Fang Cheng spent every day circulating his spiritual thought and communicating with the seven statues in his Dao Field. But the statues showed no response.

He also tried to find traces of the Violet Star Emperor in the endless void deep within his Dao Field, but failed again. It was as if the Violet Star Emperor didn't even exist in his Dao Field. Perhaps, as Pei Tang had said, his realm was too low. He needed to reach the higher three realms before he could unlock the treasures in his Dao Field. Fang Cheng could only follow the proper path, slowly absorbing Immortal Crystals to raise his realm.

But ever since eating the crayfish and the Truth Fruit, he found Immortal Crystals utterly bland and unappealing. Sigh. His heart itched for no reason. What should he do? No. He had to control himself. Pei Tang had also said that cultivating the Dao was all about cultivating the mind. He had to remain clear and free of desires at all times. Otherwise, he'd be a slave to the demon sword for life.

"Yes! That's right! I need to calm down!" With that thought, Fang Cheng sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and focused his mind, immersing himself in selfless cultivation. Everything around him was empty and void. The crayfish, the Truth Fruit, all of it was an illusion. None of it was delicious. The Immortal Crystals in his hand were the best thing to eat... Cultivating his mind......

"Huh!" A strange fragrance reached him. Fang Cheng opened his eyes and sniffed the air, catching the smell of meat wafting into the main hall. Mm... it was grassland running goat, and it was his favorite spicy flavor. Not bad, not bad. He was a little hungry. Time to eat... He rose from the main hall, flew through the air, and landed outside the City God Temple. The nearby buildings had all been renovated. The streets were wider, and many shops had moved here, their business thriving.

Especially the Zhang Family Restaurant right next to the City God Temple. The stream of customers never stopped. The fragrance Fang Cheng had smelled was coming from that restaurant. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. The area around the City God Temple had developed into a commercial district. In any other city, this would be unthinkable. The City God Temple enshrined a celestial immortal.

What if you angered the immortal spirit and brought down disaster? But because White Flower City's City God feared nothing and respected nothing, especially the Everlasting Emperor, the people of White Flower City seemed to have let themselves go too. They'd become bold and carefree. If the sky fell, the City God would hold it up. The commercial district did bring Fang Cheng one problem: more people came to the City God Temple. Before, it was too far for them to bother.

Now, when they came to shop, they'd stop by for a visit. This annoyed Fang Cheng. He couldn't focus on his cultivation. So he simply shut the temple doors and barred all visitors. This closure only made the restaurant next door more popular. From the second floor, customers could look right into the City God Temple's main hall. So many customers, especially out-of-towners, would use the excuse of eating to come take a look. If they could catch a glimpse of the City God himself, even better.

The restaurant owner was Butcher Zhang, an old friend of Fang Cheng's. To develop White Flower City's economy, Qin Hao had founded the Brother Cheng Bank, offering loans to the people. Butcher Zhang was the first to answer the call. He sold his pork shop, took out a loan, and bought several buildings here to build the Zhang Family Restaurant. Fang Cheng descended from the air and walked into the restaurant. It was packed, but since he was a regular, Butcher Zhang always kept a private room for him.

"City God, you're here! Mr. Li and Lord Qin Hao are already waiting for you in the private room. Please, follow me." Butcher Zhang came out from behind the counter and greeted him warmly.

"Huh? When did they get here?" Fang Cheng scratched his head but didn't ask further. He followed Butcher Zhang up to the second floor, turned at the stairs, walked to the end of the hall, and pushed open the door. Li Shuyan and Qin Hao were sitting at the table, the hotpot steaming and giving off a rich, tempting aroma. Seeing Fang Cheng arrive, Qin Hao laughed at Li Shuyan.

"See? I told you. As soon as the aroma spreads, Brother Fang will show up." Li Shuyan frowned.

"That's strange. I eat here all the time. Why hasn't Brother Fang ever come to check on me?" Qin Hao laughed.

"That's because you don't use enough chili. As long as the chili is right, Brother Fang's nose will catch it, and he'll follow the smell."

"You two are fishing for me, huh?" Fang Cheng was speechless. These two had been getting bolder lately, using him as a test subject. He stepped inside, gave each of them a slap on the head, and then sat down. Butcher Zhang closed the door and wisely left.

"Brother Fang, don't misunderstand." Li Shuyan poured a glass of wine and handed it to Fang Cheng.

"Qin Hao and I both had things to discuss with you today, but we saw you were cultivating and didn't want to disturb you. So we got a private room at the restaurant and waited for you to finish." Fang Cheng nodded and didn't hold it against them. He took a sip of wine, picked up a slice of mutton, and motioned for them to speak. Li Shuyan glanced at Qin Hao, signaling him to go first. Qin Hao didn't hesitate.

"Brother Fang, I've got good news. White Flower City's registered population has officially broken a hundred thousand. That's not counting the floating population. If we include them, White Flower City's current numbers should exceed two hundred thousand." Fang Cheng's face lit up with joy. His first small goal was complete. After the meal, he'd send word to his superior, Pei Tang.

"Excellent, excellent. Ah Hao, you've done a great job." He praised him. Qin Hao smiled humbly.

"It's all thanks to everyone's hard work. Without Brother Fang's strong support, we wouldn't have developed this fast. And Shuyan's literacy campaign helped a lot too. Once the people's literacy and basic math skills improved, information moved faster and economic transactions became much easier. I didn't expect that introducing street novels and popular culture would also boost people's desire for knowledge. But when you think about it, it makes sense.

If you talk to the common folk about poetry and philosophy, they won't understand. But if you talk about butts and boobs, everyone gets it and has a good laugh. So we should develop this kind of grey culture too. Brother Fang, what do you think?"

"Hmm... that does make some sense." Fang Cheng mused. If Li Shuyan had said this, he'd have suspected ulterior motives. But coming from Qin Hao, it was fine.

"Other than a firm ban on The Abai Detective Files, you can do whatever you want with the rest."