Desolate Devouring Art-Chapter 1369 - There Will Be A Way

Chapter 1369 - There Will Be A Way
Qiao Bian could barely contain his joy when he finally laid eyes on his own ancestor.
If not for Elder Long, Liu Wuxie would never have made it back to the True Martial Star. When Elder Long learned that Liu Wuxie and Qiao Bian had shared life-and-death trials as sworn brothers, he could only laugh at the whims of fate.
Once everything was arranged, Liu Wuxie departed from the Spirit Sealing Institute with the disciples of the Liu Clan and the Heavenly Dao Society. He had personally brought them up, and since they had no genuine ties to the Heavenly Dragon Sect, they had no right to join the sect.
In any case, Liu Wuxie had never planned for them to join the Heavenly Dragon Sect from the start. Although the sect could offer them better resources, its flaws were obvious. In a large sect, they separated disciples into rigid tiers, and their unity could never compare to that of the Heavenly Dao Society.
Moreover, the Heavenly Dragon Sect would never support them unconditionally, leaving them to struggle up the ranks on their own. By contrast, Liu Wuxie lacked no resources and could personally help them advance rapidly.
"Master, where are we going?" Hu Shi asked once Liu Wuxie led them out of the Heavenly Dragon Sect.
Liu Wuxie had already returned the Treasure Soul Pouch to Elder Han and had initially planned to store them inside the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. However, he abandoned the idea when he considered the number of experts in the Heavenly Dragon Sect; he absolutely could not risk exposing the cauldron's secret.
"We're heading where we ought to go," Liu Wuxie replied. Offering no further explanation, he cast the Great Spatial Mythical Art and carried hundreds of people along with him.
A few hours later, they emerged before a vast mountain range, where they saw countless people hard at work. Two towering giants strode about as they moved enormous boulders.
In just a few days, a massive fortress had already taken shape. Its overall structure was complete, and only the interior still required work—spiritual arrays, cultivation chambers, alchemy halls, blacksmithing halls, and so on.
Those, however, would have to wait until Bi Gongyu and the others had finished their construction.
When everyone caught sight of the two giants, they were utterly stunned, including Xu Lingxue and the other three women, whose mouths fell open in disbelief.
"Who are they? They're huge!" exclaimed the members of the Heavenly Dao Society.
A beautiful elf also hovered in midair, casting various magic spells to reinforce the rocks and increase their durability. Whenever she used water magic to transport the boulders, her speed was in no way inferior to that of the giants.
In just a few short days, Vanya had become even more radiant, and her cultivation had already risen to the Void Realm.
"They're from the giant clan. The one on the left is called A'Lei, and the other is called A'Li. They're my friends and also members of the Heavenly Dao Society," Liu Wuxie explained as he led everyone over.
The upper echelons of the Heavenly Dao Society buzzed with excitement. "This will be our Heavenly Dao Society's headquarters?"
They had assumed they would need to start from scratch in the astral domain, yet Liu Wuxie had already laid the groundwork for them.
The sudden appearance of the group made those in the fortress mistake them for enemies. A'Lei quickly set down the boulder in his hands, and a powerful sword ray, unleashed by the Scarlet Firmament Sword, shot toward them.
"Stop, all of you!" Liu Wuxie shouted.
A'Lei halted his strike at once, and Xiao Luo retracted her sword ray just in time.
Voices from all around overlapped as everyone rushed over.
"Master!"
"Brother Wuxie!"
"Big Brother Liu!"
When A'Lei and A'Li charged toward them, their heavy footsteps made the entire mountain range tremble.
Xiao Luo was the first to reach Liu Wuxie, and she offered her master a deep bow.
When Xu Lingxue saw such a beautiful lady, she shot Liu Wuxie a meaningful gaze, but she quickly averted her gaze when the lady addressed Liu Wuxie as "Master."
When Vanya appeared, the four women immediately tensed. Although the elf before them had features slightly different from those of humans, she possessed a unique charm and was unbelievably beautiful.
When she spoke to Liu Wuxie, the longing in her voice was impossible to hide. As women, how could they fail to sense it? After all, they themselves had experienced that same yearning for Liu Wuxie before.
Xu Lingxue reached toward Liu Wuxie's waist and gave him a sharp pinch, making him grimace in pain. Yet, Liu Wuxie could only act as though nothing had happened.
After a brief round of introductions, everyone quickly grew acquainted and threw themselves into the construction work. Only by building their home with their own hands would they truly gain a sense of belonging.
Xiao Luo trailed after her three senior brothers, bombarding them with questions. Her relentless pestering left Hu Shi no choice but to recount Liu Wuxie's story from Azure Billow City. Very few people knew about Liu Wuxie's return to the True Martial Continent, and Xiao Luo had certainly been unaware.
Now that the True Martial Continent had evolved into a planet, only Liu Wuxie could set foot on it. Hence, even if everyone here learned of his secret, there was no danger of it spreading.
"Senior Luo, how are the acquisitions of shops in the city?" Liu Wuxie asked. By then, the fortress's framework—especially the main hall—was complete, and Liu Wuxie now sat within it.
Mu Tianli, Old Blindie, He Yingwu, Bi Gongyu, Song Ling, Lan Yu, Hu She, Miao Jianying, Jiang Le, and the others were all gathered in the main hall with him.
Old Blindie's full name was Luo Hai, but few people used it; everyone simply knew him as "Old Blindie."
"I've acquired five shops, but the locations are average. Most of the good shopfronts are owned by the various sects and clans. They're almost impossible to buy," Luo Hai ed.
The Heavenly Dao Society relied on alchemy, spiritual talismans, and spiritual arrays to support itself. Without their own businesses, they would do nothing but burn through their savings.
Fortunately, Liu Wuxie had left behind a massive stockpile of resources, so they didn't have to worry for the time being. However, that was no solution in the long run.
"That's not enough. We still need to acquire more shops. If we can't buy them, we can consider a partnership with them," Liu Wuxie said. Five shops fell far short of his expectations; they were nowhere near enough.
"Wuxie, it'll be hard to make a living through shops. Why don't we traffic slaves instead?" Luo Hai asked. The slave trade was the most lucrative business, capable of earning a mountain of resources every year.
"
Ahem!
" He Yingwu coughed, cutting Old Blindie off.
Above all else, Liu Wuxie despised the slave trade, believing that everyone was a human being regardless of cultivation, and he still remembered all too clearly the days he had spent as a slave. There was no way he would allow the Heavenly Dao Society to involve itself in such dealings.
"The alchemy and blacksmithing markets are more complicated than you think. Our profits will be limited if we sell pills, and we need a monopoly. We need a complete industrial chain from cultivating spiritual herbs to refining them into pills and selling them afterward. Our Heavenly Dao Society must control each of the steps," said Liu Wuxie.
He knew Old Blindie harbored no ill intent and was only making a suggestion for the Heavenly Dao Society's sake. Old Blindie had always assumed that Liu Wuxie intended to make a living by selling pills and spiritual talismans. He had never expected such grand ambitions from him.
"That's a good idea, but the structure in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain has long solidified. We don't even have our own spiritual herb garden—how are we supposed to build a complete industrial chain?" asked Luo Hai.
He wasn't trying to crush Liu Wuxie's enthusiasm. He had been living in the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain for hundreds of years and knew that the power structure there had long since solidified.
Even the superpowers couldn't easily change that situation, let alone a fledgling force like the Heavenly Dao Society. Only those superpowers could accomplish what Liu Wuxie envisioned, controlling every link to forge a complete chain.
"There will be a way," Liu Wuxie replied. He chose not to elaborate, as one should discuss some things only at the proper time.
"What's so hard about it? If we don't have a spiritual herb garden, we can snatch one. That goes the same for shops. If we don't have any sales channels, we can create them," Song Ling said in an utterly carefree tone.
That was precisely how they had operated back on the True Martial Star. They had seized the assets of the Lesser Blade Association and the spiritual herb gardens of several sects. Who could honestly claim that the world's resources never changed? Everything depended on who had the bigger fist.
"This isn't the True Martial Star, and we have to be more cautious. Alchemy, blacksmithing, and spiritual talismans are our old trade, but we won't be limited to them," Liu Wuxie replied with a wry smile, cutting Song Ling off, since those methods were no longer suitable in the astral domain.
The astral domain teemed with experts, and if they encroached on a superpower's interests, a single expert at the Quasi-Immortal Realm could erase the Heavenly Dao Society from the map.
In the end, merchants could only remain merchants. The reason Liu Wuxie had snatched and robbed in the past was to help the Heavenly Dao Society grow quickly. After all, a powerful sect required countless years of accumulation.
"Big Brother, you just need to tell us what to do," Song Ling said, itching to take part in the grander plan.
Everyone else watched Liu Wuxie with equally eager eyes. None of them understood the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain's structure well, so they all relied on his instructions.
"We'll split into two groups, one led by Mu Tianli, who will continue to manage the Heavenly Dao Society like before. He Yingwu will assist you," Liu Wuxie replied. He Yingwu understood the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain's structure well, making him the ideal support for Mu Tianli.
"Understood!" said Mu Tianli and He Yingwu.
"Senior Luo will lead the second group. Find unclaimed planets; our goal is to occupy them," Liu Wuxie ordered. The Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain held many minor, unclaimed planets that various forces constantly contested.
The superpowers showed little interest in them because they lacked resources, and most of those who fought over these planets were at the Void Realm or at the lower levels of the Earth Immortal Realm.
Cultivators at the higher levels of the Earth Immortal Realm already possessed the qualifications to seize medium-sized planets like Sky Cloud Star and Tranquil Meteor Star.
"Wuxie, you want to join the contest for planets?" Luo Hai asked, rising to his feet with shock. The contest over planets devoured time and unimaginable resources, and with their current manpower, enemy forces severely outnumbered them.
"The Heavenly Dao Society needs our own assets if we want to grow," Liu Wuxie said, but he did not go into further detail. Since they couldn't touch the planets occupied by superpowers, they could only set their sights on the minor ones.
Luo Hai was utterly stunned by Liu Wuxie's ambition. He had never expected that Liu Wuxie's true goal was to raise the Heavenly Dao Society to the very summit of the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain.
Liu Wuxie spent an entire day and night doing nothing but assigning tasks, only to realize they were severely short of manpower. He had brought only a few hundred people, and at this rate, everyone would be walking nonstop with no time to rest. However, that situation was inevitable for a force that had only just established itself in the astral domain.
In the Heavenly Dragon Sect's lesser realm, Hua Feiyu turned to Elder Sword and asked, "What has he been doing since his return?"
"Building the Heavenly Dao Society," Elder Sword replied without the slightest attempt at concealment, ing what Liu Wuxie had been doing over the past day. After all, he had been paying close attention to Liu Wuxie's actions ever since his return.
"He's pretty ambitious. Help him where you can and help him to grow as much as possible," Hua Feiyu said. He issued the order to support Liu Wuxie instead of restraining him.
"He's smarter than we think, and I believe everyone will look at the Heavenly Dao Society differently in three years at most," Elder Sword replied. He was confident that, within three years, the Heavenly Dao Society's name would spread throughout the Indigo Bamboo Astral Domain.