Free Web NovelChapter 461: Chapter 253: Year End; Fourth Grade
Yunli Lane, Cheng Residence.
Cheng Zongyang handed Zhou Zhendong a handwritten booklet and said, "This is what I’ve written up over the past two days regarding the Spring Festival’s theme and arrangements. Take a look first. You can ask if you have any questions."
Zhou Zhendong read it first. When he finished, he handed it to Li Yihuo, and finally to Zhang Chuchu.
After the three of them finished reading, they each shared their own opinions and questions.
Cheng Zongyang explained everything one by one, such as why it was called the Spring Festival, how to arrange the festival activities, and so on.
There was only one goal: to get the people of the County Town accustomed to the Spring Festival, to let them know that in the years to come, this festival would involve a great deal of shopping for New Year’s goods, festival activities, feasting, couplets, firecrackers, red envelopes, flower viewing, and more. Once that happened, they would begin to celebrate it spontaneously.
He wasn’t expecting many people to celebrate this year, but it had to be a grand event so that everyone would know the Spring Festival existed. Over time, as word spread, people would come to know that the Spring Festival originated in a place called Jade Peak County and was started by the Cheng Family.
Therefore, arrangements for various activities like storytelling, opera performances, paper-cutting, and couplet writing were made to build up excitement first. Everything would fully kick off in the days surrounding the first day of the first lunar month.
After fully understanding the plan, Zhou Zhendong and the other two agreed that the festival was an excellent idea and would help promote prosperity in West City, so they all gave their approval.
Next was to publicize the news of the upcoming opening of the Da Yi Commerce Association. For this, Li Yihuo’s merchant caravan and the Celestial Break Gang’s Earth Demon Hall would go to the various county towns to make the announcement.
Once the news was out, it would spread like wildfire, and soon, there would be no major power or commerce association that didn’t know Jade Peak County had a new Da Yi Commerce Association.
"By the way, how much do we owe the Commerce Association now?" After arranging these two matters, Cheng Zongyang finally brought up the last item.
Zhou Zhendong had the figures ready. "Including materials and cash, it comes to about three million taels. The construction of the Da Yi Commerce Association’s shops and transit warehouse was the biggest expense. The Commerce Association supplied many of the materials, and we’re responsible for the bill."
Cheng Zongyang thought for a moment, then said, "It’s fine. If we need more, just borrow it. We can afford to pay it back."
"Yes, sir."
After the three of them left, Cheng Zongyang returned to his study and entered the Wilderness World.
In the marketplace hut, Luo Dingran was arranging some items on the counter. Seeing Cheng Zongyang appear, he cupped his fists in a salute. "Greetings, My Lord."
Cheng Zongyang waved his hand dismissively and asked, "What are you doing?"
Luo Dingran held up several pill bottles. "Old Zhang needs me to do an initial analysis of these Elixirs. A full breakdown isn’t necessary. He’ll formulate a matching recipe based on the components."
Cheng Zongyang nodded. "What Elixirs? Haven’t you finished researching the ones we bought at the market?"
Luo Dingran shook his head. "They were found during the cleanup beneath Huining County Town. They’re very old. After appraisal, they were identified as Martial Arts Elixirs. Old Zhang sends any that he can’t immediately analyze over to me."
"Alright, you handle it. By the way, it’s been a while. How many Exotic Beasts have you caught?" Cheng Zongyang asked.
"Four so far. My Lord, are we really not going to capture that Lynx King? With our current strength, we’re fully capable of it," Luo Dingran said.
"No need. It’s not necessary." Cheng Zongyang held up a hand to stop him. "Just capture ordinary One-Star Level Exotic Beasts. It’s only for an experiment. If it’s too strong, I’m afraid I won’t be able to suppress it after its Mutation."
"Understood." Luo Dingran cupped his fists.
Cheng Zongyang said no more and turned to go to the second floor to continue his Cultivation.
He had been in seclusion for four months without a single day of sleep, using a wooden stool to restore his Essence, Qi, and Spirit. He spent two-thirds of each day improving his Cultivation and one-third training his Martial Arts and Talent.
Not only had his Cultivation and combat experience improved, but his Adaptation Talent had also reached a level that satisfied him.
Appearing on the second floor, Cheng Zongyang first summoned his interface to check it.
——
Name: Cheng Zongyang
Age: 16 (Years)
Lifespan: 16/103 (-558 days; +78 days)
Realm: Fourth Grade (Bone Marrow Cutting)
Talent: Adaptation (3152/10000, Specialization)
Points: 136,900
Skills: Archery (15135/20000, Specialization); Medicine (1988/3000, Middle Level); Array (32/1000, Beginner Level)
Cultivation Technique:
Turtle Breath-holding Skill (65/164)
Martial Arts:
Basic Saber Technique (3612/7000, Refined and Masterful)
Wind-Stepping Step (7986/15000, Divine Skill)
Great Strength Vajra Palm (5298/7000, Refined and Masterful)
Illusionary Blade (211/1000, Beginner’s Practice)
Acupoint-Sealing Hand (762/1000, Beginner’s Practice)
——
Looking at the progress of his Cultivation Technique after entering the Fourth Grade, Cheng Zongyang took a moment to feel the power of the final stage of the Middle Third Grades and was very satisfied.
After opening the Ren and Du Meridians, the depth of his True Qi far exceeded his imagination! It was almost three times that of the Fifth Grade Realm! Moreover, he could already project a tiny amount of his True Qi externally. It wasn’t much, but this was a result of opening the Ren and Du Meridians.
Breaking through two acupoints every day was his fixed cultivation baseline. Even if he didn’t rest, he had to complete this set "task."
Sitting on the Meditation Mat, Cheng Zongyang’s mind quickly settled and grew calm.
As his Cultivation Technique activated, the True Qi in his body flowed rapidly through the two-and-a-half meridians of Ren, Du, and Chong, like water rushing through a pipe. It caused no strain on the meridians, nor did it connect with the completely opened Twelve Meridians.
The Eight Extraordinary Meridians were separate from the Twelve Meridians, so the progress of the Cultivation Technique was different. It involved 164 acupoints, and he had now broken through 65 of them. There were still nearly a hundred more to go.
According to the records within the Cultivation Technique, opening all Eight Extraordinary Meridians did more than just perform a Washing Marrow and Chopping Bones and greatly enhance one’s Cultivation. It allowed True Qi to be released externally through the corresponding acupoints in the meridians, transforming into Gang Qi. More importantly, opening the Eight Extraordinary Meridians was a prerequisite for following the Martial Dao to break the mirror and transcend the ordinary.
An Extraordinary one who Entered the Dao through the Martial Dao was far stronger than someone of the same Realm who simply cultivated the spirit to Enter the Dao!
Feeling the torrential "flood" of True Qi, Cheng Zongyang resumed his Cultivation.
He was now seizing every spare moment to cultivate. Once he entered the Upper Three Grades, it would be time for him to head to the East Sea Abyss.
With the wooden bed, he didn’t have to worry about any injuries.
The familiar process of breaking through went without a hitch. Four hours later, as the first acupoint gave way, Cheng Zongyang immediately used the wooden bed to recover from the slight damage to his Chong Meridian.
This was the side effect of manually cultivating and accelerating the speed of breaking through acupoints; it wasn’t as slow and steady as automatic cultivation. This was also why, without Elixirs, an ordinary person could at most break through one acupoint every two or three days. Even with medicine, the fastest one could go was one acupoint per day.
Once his True Qi had rapidly adapted to and widened the acupoint, he began the second breakthrough.
By the time the second acupoint was broken, a total of eight hours had passed.
He used the wooden bed to restore his meridians again, then glanced at his Cultivation Technique’s progress. It had increased by two points.
He checked the time; it was already the middle of the next night.
Cheng Zongyang didn’t continue but instead entered the Cultivation Room to train his combat skills against Exotic Beasts with wind and fire Abilities, while also training his Adaptation Talent.
However, as the end of the twelfth month approached, Cheng Zongyang had to pause his Cultivation plans.
There was much to do at the end of the year. The launch of the Da Yi Commerce Association, the promotion and buildup for the Spring Festival plan—all required his involvement.
For the former, as a Steward in the Commerce Association’s procurement department, he had to personally meet with merchants from other powers who came to him, and get an understanding of the products they were proactively offering. For the latter, he had to handle the Spring Festival affairs.
The Commerce Association’s procurement wasn’t just about going out to find goods; it also involved others coming to their door to discuss partnerships.
Some powers, wanting to become long-term suppliers for the Da Yi Commerce Association, would naturally spare no effort to come and negotiate a partnership.
This was what Cheng Zongyang had to deal with.
As news spread that the Da Yi Commerce Association was establishing a branch in Jade Peak County and would soon be opening, it was inevitable that such merchants would come calling.
As long as the association agreed to cooperate and signed a contract, those merchants would dare to start planting or producing on a massive scale.
Cheng Zongyang understood this mentality perfectly. It was just like in his previous life, where businesses would desperately throw money at top-tier streamers, hoping to have their products featured regularly on their streams.
Therefore, it was natural that these people wouldn’t be shy about handing out red envelopes.
