Chapter 55: Only When You Need Money Do You Regret Not Having Enough
"Hmm, the foundation is set."
Ye Cheng looked at the vast plain he had just flattened and began considering his next challenge. "Now I need to think about the manpower and resources required to build the city."
There was no doubt that creating the city he envisioned would require an enormous amount of resources and labor. No matter how strong Ye Cheng was, he was still just one person. If it were about destruction, he could level several cities in minutes. But construction? That was completely beyond his expertise.
Money wasn't the issue. If he needed funds, he had countless ways to get them. The simplest method would be auctioning off a soul bone any soul bone would easily fetch an astronomical price, more than enough to fund the city's construction.
The real problem was hiring the right workers, architects, and city planners. Building an ideal city required professionals.
Most of these experts were affiliated with royal families, noble clans, or powerful sects. They weren't people you could simply hire just because you had money. That made things complicated.
"Should I just fabricate a future video where I rebuild White Cloud City? Then use the video's influence to materialize the city?" He had a sudden idea but quickly dismissed it.
A city appearing out of nowhere would be impossible to explain. If he kept pulling off such miracles, people would eventually notice inconsistencies. No one was stupid.
Ye Cheng had never underestimated the intelligence of this world's people, nor did he see himself as superior to them. It was best to avoid making things up from thin air.
"Should I ask the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect for help?" That was his first thought since they were known as the wealthiest sect. But he immediately shook his head, rejecting the idea.
Given the current situation, if he asked the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect for assistance, his so called father would probably be overjoyed and might even mobilize the entire sect to help him rebuild White Cloud City just to mend their relationship and improve his opinion of them.
But Ye Cheng wasn't someone without principles.
Since he had no intention of returning to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, he wouldn't accept even the slightest favor from them. Otherwise, it would feel like a betrayal of his mother, who had died waiting in vain for their rescue.
As for why he acknowledged Ning Rongrong as his sister before, that was purely because he had liked her character when reading the novel in his previous life. He genuinely didn't mind having such an adorable and well behaved little sister.
But Ning Rongrong was one thing, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was another. He saw them as completely separate entities. Accepting Ning Rongrong as his sister didn't mean he would return to the sect. The two matters had nothing to do with each other.
So, seeking help from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was absolutely out of the question. Ye Cheng couldn't accept that on an emotional level.
That meant he had to find another solution.
He recalled that in the original story, when Tang San founded the Tang Sect, one of the four clans, the Yu Clan, specialized in construction. The other three clans also had unique talents.
The Po Clan specialized in medicine.
The Min Clan was skilled in reconnaissance and information gathering.
The Li Clan excelled in forging.
Each of these four clans had expertise in areas essential for city building.
If he could recruit these four clans, he could simply provide the funds and let them handle everything. Rebuilding White Cloud City would be a breeze. After all, they were professionals, far more capable than an outsider like him.
Even if he couldn't persuade them to pledge allegiance to him, he could always hire them with money. From what he remembered, these four clans were all struggling financially. They wouldn't refuse such a lucrative deal especially one this massive.
"Alright, I have a plan. Now I just need to find a way to get money." Ye Cheng nodded, deep in thought.
Selling soul bones?
That was an option, but the problem was that all the soul bones he had were 100,000 year level. Such treasures weren't something you could simply measure in terms of money, nor would anyone be willing to auction them off.
Even though Ye Cheng had plenty of soul bones, he wasn't foolish enough to auction off a 100,000 year soul bone like an idiot. People would think he had lost his mind.
If he were to sell soul bones, it would have to be lower tier ones at most, 10,000 year level soul bones.
The problem?
He didn't have any 10,000 year soul bones on him.
"Tch, if I had known I'd need soul bones, I would've taken a few from Tang Hao earlier." Ye Cheng sighed in regret. Only when you need money do you realize how little you have.
"Then again… it's not too late. Should I go take some from him now?" He pondered.
At the same time, somewhere far away, Tang Hao suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, as if he had been targeted by an unknown terror.
"Never mind."
Ye Cheng eventually abandoned the idea. He had already let Tang Hao go. If he suddenly changed his mind, beat him up, and stole his soul bones, that would just be too shameless.
He had some dignity. He wouldn't stoop that low.
"Looks like I'll have to visit the Spirit Beast Forest later and get some soul beasts to donate a few soul bones." That was the final decision he made. After all, for him, determining whether a soul beast had a soul bone was incredibly easy.
Most soul masters, when hunting spirit beasts, had no way of knowing if a beast carried a soul bone. But he was different.
People often forgot that as a treasure type martial soul, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda had a natural treasure appraisal ability. It could sense the value of objects to some extent. The sect had accumulated massive wealth over generations thanks to this very ability, constantly finding hidden treasures that others overlooked.
And Ye Cheng's Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was an overpowered version of that, making its appraisal ability even more ridiculous. Not only could it determine the general value of an item, but it could also provide detailed information about it.
For example, if he used it on a spirit beast, he could instantly tell if the beast had a soul bone, which part of the body it came from, and even what abilities the soul bone possessed.
And it didn't stop there. His ability could also identify soul tools some ancient artifacts had unknown functions, but with his appraisal, he could determine exactly what they did and how to use them.
It even worked on unknown herbs, allowing him to instantly understand their medicinal properties.
Ye Cheng had originally designed this appraisal ability for one reason to easily identify the immortal herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Unlike Dugu Bo, who had no idea what he was dealing with, Ye Cheng wouldn't waste any valuable treasures due to ignorance.
But now, he realized just how useful this ability could be in other situations as well.
(End of chapter)
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