Chapter 12: Opportunity

"Extract spirit veins?" Upon hearing Li Xian's idea, Tang Rong immediately responded, "Young master, spirit veins cannot be extracted. They are attached to the jade and cannot exist independently. 

Furthermore, if you are talking about threads, some demonic beasts' silk might meet the requirements. For example, the silk of the celestial silkworm and jade silkworm, or the human-faced spider’s silk. It is also said that there is a type of sea spirit silk from the ocean that possesses similar abilities."

"What! Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry up and buy it!" Li Xian jumped up excitedly. Conductive threads were to industry what blood vessels were to the human body—absolutely essential! If they could acquire these threads, they wouldn't just be able to shrink the engine down to one foot in size; they could potentially reduce it to the size of a fingernail!

"Well..." Tang Rong sighed regretfully, "Young master, these materials are very rare, and their quality is inconsistent, some good, some bad. Most importantly, the price... they're very expensive. To purchase these spiritual materials, we can't use gold; we must trade with spirit stones."

Splash...

It was like a bucket of ice water poured over Li Xian's head.

"I knew things wouldn't be that easy in this world," Li Xian sighed and, in the end, turned to seek advice from Xu Ren. This time, Li Xian truly understood the importance of having a strategist.

"What's so difficult about this?" Xu Ren said with a nonchalant smile. "Young master, for those demonic silkworms and spiders, they have plenty of these threads. They just store them in caves unused, and what they love most are human world items.

You can send a trade caravan with mirrors, colorful lanterns, cloth, and the like to barter with them. They’ll be happy to exchange. The reason these materials are expensive is just because they are rare and the merchants inflate the prices.

However, we need to proceed carefully and discreetly to avoid drawing attention."

"Then let’s send someone right away," Li Xian couldn’t wait any longer.

"Young master, don't be impatient. Rushing won’t get you anywhere. Moreover, the most important thing now is to focus on developing the weaving machines and use the resulting cloth to connect with more people, forming your own network of relationships. That is the right approach."

"Oh, you're right, sir. I was too hasty." Li Xian immediately adopted Xu Ren's advice, instructing the research department to slow down the work on engine miniaturization and instead focus on increasing the engine's output power. For now, a three-foot-long engine would suffice.

"Young master, it's time to return to Wuyang City. Your opportunity should be coming soon."

"What opportunity?"

"The opportunity to leave Wuyang City openly! More specifically, young master will know once you return." Xu Ren hinted with a bit of mystery.

"Alright."

The two of them got into the carriage and leisurely made their way back to Wuyang City.

Speaking of Li Xian's status in Wuyang City, it was more like that of a hostage; he couldn't leave the city freely. Besides, Wuyang City wasn't a good place for development. There were too many officials here, and the Great Xia Kingdom was already in turmoil. Leaving the capital was necessary—when a great building is about to collapse, it's wise to run far away.

As they neared Wuyang City, Li Xian was shocked. After just a few days, the city walls were already covered with the newly produced spotlights, and many Foundation Establishment cultivators were still flying in the air, installing them.

"So fast!"

Xu Ren chuckled, "Young master might not know, but because of your unified pricing and the return of surplus funds, more people have started accepting the colored lights. In recent days, the stock runs out by noon every day."

"Oh, I see. The production capacity hasn't ramped up yet. Once the wire issue is resolved, the production will really explode." Li Xian's mind was entirely occupied by the wire problem.

Not long after they arrived home, the three guys, Shangguan Yong and company, came running over. They praised Li Xian extensively. As expected, after following Li Xian's suggestions, they found significant benefits—big benefits, in fact. Now, the three of them had teamed up with Li Youwei from the Li family, dividing the Great Xia Kingdom into four regions: southeast, northwest, with each responsible for one region. They started chain stores in the same style, and business was booming—so much so that they often ran out of stock.

"Even the palaces of the neighboring countries have sent people to make special purchases!" Zhang Quan, the little chubby guy, was so proud he almost floated away. After doing business for so many years, he'd never had it this easy, and he was even respected by others—for these people, being respected was more gratifying than making money.

"It will only get better in the future." Li Xian smiled and concluded.

Suddenly, a commotion came from outside, and Yang Zhong's voice rang out, "Young master, young master, hurry to the front hall to receive the imperial decree."

Xu Ren laughed heartily, "Young master, the opportunity has come!"

Li Xian, still confused, walked forward. As they went, Yang Zhong explained some etiquette to keep in mind.

When they arrived at the front hall, they saw the grand and imposing royal procession, and it was actually the captain of the emperor's guards reading the imperial decree. The decree was simple, without much pomp, likely due to the environment of the Immortal Domain.

The captain of the guards handed the imperial decree directly to Li Xian. "Li Xian, by order of His Majesty, in recognition of your contributions, you are hereby appointed as a Sixth-Rank Zhenwei Captain, and the Warden of the Northern District of Wuyang City (District Police Chief), responsible for maintaining the security of the northern district."

"General, you’ve worked hard. Recently, the workshop has forged a precious sword. Please accept it, and I hope you won't dislike it."

A sword in a box was presented to the captain of the guards. As soon as he opened it, his eyes squinted with delight. He hadn't even seen the sword blade yet, but the gemstones on the sword hilt and body were already gleaming; indeed, it was a "precious" sword.

Feeling pleased, the captain of the guards became much more amiable. "Young Master Li, as for the northern part of Wuyang, there's one family you must absolutely avoid provoking—the Wang family. Noble Consort Hua, hmm hmm, that's all I'll say. I'm off now."

Noble Consort Hua, was she the consort by the emperor's side the last time we met? So, Noble Consort Hua is from the Wang family! Li Xian understood. The emperor's current favorite was Noble Consort Hua, which meant that the Wang family was indeed not to be trifled with.

Li Xian then grew excited. Oh yeah, I'm becoming an official! And a sixth-rank one at that.

When Li Xian met Xu Ren, Xu Ren suddenly said, "Young master, don't say anything just yet. Let me guess—is it an official post managing the security of Wuyang City?"

Li Xian had grown to admire Xu Ren even more. "Could this be the opportunity you mentioned?"

"Indeed. Which district are you responsible for: east, west, south, or north?"

"The northern district."

"The northern district? Excellent! The northern district has a perfect target for establishing your authority!" Xu Ren's joy was obvious as soon as he heard "northern district," as though he had won the lottery.

"A target to establish authority?"

"Yes, establishing authority! Young master, you need to establish your authority right now. Until now, you’ve been viewed as nothing more than a wastrel. Who in the world knows your name? Even with the creation of the colored lights, people still think it's just some trifling invention, and they look down on you even more.

"So, young master, for your future development, you must establish your authority. And to do that, of course, you have to take on a big target."

"A big target? Sir, you're... you're not suggesting... the Wang family, are you?" Li Xian was utterly stunned, speechless, frozen in disbelief.

"Young master, you're sharp! Exactly right!"

"But... but... the Wang family is untouchable!" Li Xian was at a loss. The captain of the guards had kindly warned him that the Wang family was not to be provoked, yet here was Xu Ren telling him to make an example out of them. The contrast—wasn't it... a bit too extreme?

Xu Ren smiled confidently. "Young master, precisely because they are untouchable, that’s why you must provoke them. And because they are untouchable, it’s the only way we can leave Wuyang City."

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