Chapter 123: The City of Yanwu

　　Meng Bai was very excited along the way. He kept jumping back and forth on the chariot while cheering, “Oh! My Master is the City Lord! My Master is the City Lord! Haha!” To him, a supervisor in charge of a mine was already a very powerful official, and the City Lord was an existence he had to look up to.

　　Chen Zhen snorted coldly and mocked, “Yunxiao, look what a promising disciple you’ve found yourself!”

　　Yunxiao laughed. “He’s just a kid, and all kids’ dreams are either to be a general or a State Guardian.”

　　His skinny body was not much larger than Meng Bai’s, so when he spoke like an old man, it startled everyone and made them look at each other. They were all surprised by the fact that a fifteen-year-old boy like him could look further and deeper than any of the old men present.

　　Li Chunyang and Li Changfeng exchanged a look, both feeling happy in their hearts. They thought it must have been the guidance of the expert behind Yunxiao that made him such an amazing man. As for whether that expert was Gu Feiyang or his disciple, it did not matter anymore. As long as Yunxiao grew up under his guidance, they were content.

　　“Master, how did you know my dream was to be a general? After you take office as the City Lord, make me a general! I’ll bring an army back and show off in front of Uncle Li and others!”

　　Meng Bai’s eyes lit up, and his childish words triggered a roar of laughter.

　　Yunxiao smiled and said, “I’ll make you a general when you become a Martial Lord.” When he had finished, his face flickered suddenly, and he squinted ahead.

　　“A Martial Lord?” Meng Bai became discouraged instantly and said with a bitter look, “If I had the strength of a Martial Lord, I would choose to be the commander of the State Guardians and not some general.”

　　Xiao Qingwang’s face flickered as well, because he had sensed some aura up ahead. He gave Yunxiao a surprised look and asked, “Those boys?”

　　Yunxiao nodded slightly and did not say a word. Everyone was puzzled, and it was not until a moment later that they felt something, which put a surprised look on their faces. At the same time, they were amazed by the strength of his divine sense.

　　A strong, fierce aura came blowing over from ahead of the chariot. There were soldiers standing orderly in rows in the state road, all armored and armed with silver spears, combat-ready. Their high spirits and morale made them look like a steel pin that was inserted deep into the earth, unmovable and invincible.

　　Li Chunyang’s eyes lit up as he praised sincerely, “If I were given a hundred thousand soldiers like them, I might be able to defeat all the empires on the Heavenly Martial Continent!”

　　Chen Dasheng gave him a glare. “Keep dreaming then! An army of two thousand soldiers like these is already a heaven-defying force. I wonder how they were trained! I dare say that if two armies were to face each other, even if the enemy army was composed of two thousand Great Martial Masters, they might not be able to defeat these soldiers here.”

　　The chariot stopped, and Yunxiao stepped out of it as he looked at the front with a cool face. A soldier swung down from a white horse and strode over, then dropped to one knee and said, “Please bring us to Yanwu, King of Wucheng! We wish to serve by your side!”

　　Yunxiao laughed. “Bai Chengfeng, you all haven’t graduated yet. Staying in the academy and continuing your cultivation is what you should do right now. I’m going to Yanwu only to attend the trade fair. Do you think I will really stay there as the City Lord? Go back now, all of you!”

　　The two thousand soldiers were none other than the student army of Jialan Academy. During their time with Yunxiao, not only did each of them make a fortune, but their cultivation base had also taken a leap. And under the guidance of the Murderous Air Script, their actual fighting strength had soared as well. As a result, their admiration and respect for Yunxiao reached a very high level.

　　The soldier was Bai Chengfeng. He was seriously wounded after the battle in the field outside the city of Yangpu, but he had almost completely recovered after recuperating for some time, and there were even signs that he was about to make a breakthrough.

　　He was slightly taken aback, but then he said, “It is still semester break now. We will go back to the academy when the new semester starts.” His plan was to follow Yunxiao first and wait until the new semester started.

　　Bai Chengfeng was voted by the two thousand students as their leader to talk to Yunxiao, and now all two thousand pairs of eyes were watching him from behind. If he failed to accomplish the mission, he would be too ashamed to go back to see them.

　　“Let them follow you. I see that they have made greater progress in following you than cultivating by themselves,” said Luo Yunshang while smiling. Even she had made greater progress in the process of constantly healing Xiao Qingwang and Chen Dasheng with her pure Yang energy.

　　Bai Chengfeng was overjoyed, and without waiting for Yunxiao to reply, he quickly bowed and said, “Thank you, Teacher Luo!” Then, he turned around and roared, “Brothers, Young Master Yun has agreed!”

　　“Ohhh! Hooray! Hooray!”

　　“I knew Young Master Yun will agree! This is great!”

　　All two thousand students cheered instantly, and the eyes of many female students shone with happiness. Among them, Luo Landuo sighed under her breath.

　　Lin Yu, who was standing next to her, seemed to feel something. He grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze as he said, “He is strong now, but I will work hard and make him my target. Sooner or later, I will defeat him!”

　　Luo Landuo gave him a sweet smile, then lightly leaned her head against his arm. Looking at Yunxiao in the distance, she knew that their paths would probably never cross again. But, at least everyone was running forward on a road leading to the peak of martial arts.

　　“Just want and see, Li Yunxiao! I was wrong for looking down on you, but as long as I keep running forward, we will meet again on the road of martial arts!”

　　Luo Landuo held Lin Yu’s hand tightly and pressed herself closer to him.

　　With a wry smile, Yunxiao turned to Luo Yunshang and said, “I’m just going to a trade fair, not a war. Besides, I’m used to being alone, and I never wanted to be the City Lord.”

　　Li Chunyang suddenly said, “Yunxiao, do you think these two thousand students will still be the soldiers of the secular world if they continue to develop like this?”

　　Yunxiao’s face flickered. “Do you mean…”

　　“Chunyang is right!” Xiao Qingwang understood at once. “This force has gone far beyond the traditional soldiers. Although most of them are still warriors, I can sense that the murderous air in their bones will not be much different from that of the State Guardians.”

　　Li Chunyang smiled and said, “Yunxiao, don’t you want to be severed from all ties with the secular world? Two heads are always better than one. If you have this force and the rest of us to help you, you will soon be able to build a power that is beyond ordinary states.”

　　“Yes, we have at least half the fighting strength of Tianshui here, and our potential is endless,” said Chen Dasheng as his eyes lit up. “Why don’t we take Yanwu as our foundation and develop our own power, eventually becoming an existence like the Jutian Sect?”

　　Jutian Sect was the backer and the actual master behind the Firecrow Empire, and it was well-known even in other places on the Heavenly Martial Continent. Although everyone thought it was a somewhat ridiculous goal to develop into such an existence, they could at least take it as their target and achieve some result.

　　In Yunxiao’s eyes, Jutian Sect was nothing, at most a mere second or third-grade power on the Heavenly Martial Continent. But, he was slightly tempted by the idea of establishing his own power. In his previous life, although he was very strong, he was all alone and had no power to support him. Many a times, he was outnumbered and seriously injured by various powers. If he had a strong power behind him, he would not have been in such a miserable situation so many times.

　　Yes, he was ranked third on the Heaven and Earth Power Chart, which seemed to make him the third strongest man in the world. However, whenever those super powers with tens of thousands of years of history attacked, they always sent dozens or even hundreds of people. In fact, had it not been because Qu Hongyan did not attack him with all the forces of her sect out of fear that Shenxiao Temple would not be able to afford the damage, he might not have been able to leave the Snowfall Peak.

　　Looking at the cheering students, he fell into thoughts. They were all teenagers with high potential, and their talent could be said to be the best in Tianshui. Under his guidance, their future achievements would definitely be limitless, and it was possible that they would become a first-class power on the continent.

　　“In that case, I’ll bring them with me for the time being,” Yunxiao said lightly. There was a glimmer of light flashing in his eyes as he looked into the distance, and he said in a voice only he could hear, “Since my title in the previous life was Vanquisher, I’ll name you Dubhe.”

　　…

　　Yanwu was truly the most prosperous city in Tianshui, and with the Thousand Treasures Trade Fair just around the corner, it was bustling with activities. All the main streets were cordoned off while the influx of foreign businessmen caused the inspection to become extremely strict. Inns had long been full, and now even residential houses had begun to accommodate outsiders.

　　Yunxiao’s arrival caused quite a commotion. The previous old City Lord had long moved his family and belongings out of the official residence, waiting to return to the capital and spend his retirement there.

　　The chief bookkeeper of the city, Wu Zishi, was about to report to Yunxiao when he was cut off rudely, “Just tell me how much money do I have now and how much are the annual incomes and expenses. I’m not interested in other things.”

　　Since he had decided to establish his own power, money was his priority now. Yunxiao, who had little idea of such a thing in his previous life, began to feel the pressure and great burden of keeping thousands of people.

　　That gave Wu Zishi a pause. He had seen many money-minded City Lords, but this was the first time he met one who talked about money so blatantly. Not daring to neglect his new superior, he hastily began to calculate. Unlike all the previous City Lords, who left as soon as they were relieved of their offices, this City Lord was the newly made King of Wucheng, and Yanwu was given to him as his permanent fief.

　　“The annual tax revenue is about three hundred million gold coins. One hundred and fifty million will be turned over to the state treasury, and the city expenditures will be close to one hundred million, leaving about fifty million. But this time, because of the trade fair, thousands of merchants have entered the city in a short period of just a few days, and the tax they paid amounted to one hundred and twenty million. At present, the balance in the treasury is one hundred and fifty million gold coins.”

　　Since he handled all the projects in Yanwu, he was able to quickly provide a general picture of the city’s financial status.