Drinking and Planning

Red Maple Tree, Yang Tianyou stood with one hand behind his back and the other holding a piece of pure white silk, on which was embroidered a handsome young man with a youthful face, dressed in white, and carrying a long sword.

That was Yang Tianyou in his youth.

"Alas... the path to immortality is fraught with peril..." A long sigh faded away with the wind.

All told, of all the old friends I made in my youth, only Jinge remains.

Hong Qing of the Cloudglow Sect also perished in this war.

Yang Tianyou didn't have many friends to begin with, and now that they're all leaving, he can't help but feel a lot of emotions.

"Black and White!"

A shadowy figure suddenly appeared, "Present!"

"Go to Spirit Commandery yourself and invite Jinge here. Tell him... I'd like to invite him for a drink!"

"Yes!"

Black and White left, Yunhua gracefully approached, glanced at the silk handkerchief in his hand, and said softly, "Go and pay your respects to her."

"Alright, Madam, shall we go together?"

Yunhua shook her head, "I won't. If she can't be alone in life, she'll be happy to spend some time alone with you after death!"

Yang Tianyou remained silent for a long time, then sighed, moved, and disappeared into the vast sky.

As the sun sets and night falls, stars spread like a sea across the dark sky, and a crescent moon casts down boundless silver light.

Yang Tianyou and Jinge sat facing each other, drinking wine under the moon, their unrestrained and carefree demeanor reminiscent of their youth when they were kindred spirits, discussing the Talisman Dao and all things in the world.

"Tianyou, I thought I'd never be able to have another drink with you in this lifetime!" Jinge mumbled, the wine they were drinking was Yang Tianyou's treasured wine, and even Golden Core Cultivator couldn't handle more than a few cups.

"No way! You'll come to my Great White Residence every year from now on, and we'll drink and get together!" Yang Tianyou laughed. At that moment, he suddenly realized that his relationship with his old friends had become quite distant.

This was not his original intention, but rather an inevitable consequence of being entangled in numerous matters, coupled with the ever-increasing gap between his cultivation level and status.

Just like what Liu Siyu said before she died, "I've tried so hard to chase after him, but... why... can't I still see his back..."

"Haha, you said it yourself. Don't blame me for coming to bother you later..." Jinge's cheeks were flushed, and his eyes were red, but he continued drinking. Finally, he slumped onto the table with a thud, only his mouth still muttering, "Friend... pour some wine..."

Without disturbing Jinge, Yang Tianyou went outside the courtyard to the edge of the cliff.

A strong wind blew, ruffling his full head of black hair. As his robes fluttered, Yang Tianyou drew his sword and began to dance. The sword light was like water, as if reflecting his State of Mind, sometimes passionate and unrestrained, sometimes cold and lonely.

Halfway through the dance, a flash of sword light appeared, and a graceful woman in white appeared, ethereal and ethereal. Yunhua, sword in hand, danced with her husband.

A faint, gentle voice echoed, "Even if everyone else leaves, I will stay with you..."

In the blink of an eye, another ten days have passed.

During these ten days, the Yang Household first distributed the compensation to the fallen clansmen and the Four Symbols Army, and also gave the Four Symbols Army a large sum of resources as a subsidy, so that many Commanders returned to the Chaotic Sea with smiles on their faces.

Then, based on their Merit, the Yang Household distributed the resources that each of their subordinate forces should have received, ensuring complete fairness and impartiality, which won the hearts and minds of all the forces.

After finishing all the miscellaneous tasks, Yang Tianyou began to adjust the Lineage's development plan.

To develop, you need money and resources.

The Yang Household currently has the following resource channels.

First, the clan's income includes the resource output from the Three Blazing Flame Palace Secret Realm and the Blood Moon Secret Realm, as well as the income from the Spirit Fields, spiritual spirit medicine, Pill, Formation, Artifact, and Talisman on Purple Moon Mountain, and the income from the Purple Moon Trading Company.

Second, the tax revenue from Purple Moon Commandery and Luochuan Commandery, as well as income from related Mineral Deposits and Spirit Veins.

Third, the territories of two counties in Xuan Province, one and a half counties in Mo Province, and some resource output from the Blood-Slaying Dao Secret Realm.

Fourth, trade with the Eastern Sea Flood Dragon Clan and trade revenue from the Chaotic Sea.

In addition to the four sources mentioned above, there are also some miscellaneous incomes.

In total, the Yang Household's annual income has far surpassed that of the Mountain and River Hall, and the number of Cultivators they can train has at least doubled.

Furthermore, after Yang Tianyou broke through to the Spirit Transformation, he was able to take the Four Symbols Sect's Lineage Master assessment.

Once passed, one will be able to fully inherit the legacy of the White Tiger Lineage.

Even if that amount of resources were given to the Yang Household now, it would be an absolute windfall.

With money comes the confidence to expand one's influence.

Although Yang Tianyou was grieving over the loss of Yang Dangmo and others in this war,

From a purely profit-driven perspective, the Yang Household is absolutely guaranteed to make a profit.

More than 10,000 Cultivators died in battle, but in return they gained 50% of the post-war resources and a large amount of Merits. If only the profits are considered, the Yang Household earned more than ten times that amount.

With so many resources, let alone 10,000 Cultivators, even 100,000 could be easily retrained, and Lineage expansion would be even less of a problem.

Yang Tianyou's first target was the Purple Moon Army. Eight thousand men were no longer enough to satisfy the Lineage's appetite, so he simply went all out and expanded the army to thirty thousand, nearly quadrupling the number.

At this moment, Yang Tianyou had figured it out: in times of war, one cannot be bound by past perspectives.

It's wrong to focus solely on balancing income and expenditure.

At this point, fiscal deficits should be the norm.

In war, survival is the key, and to survive, you must have strength.

Resources are only useful when they are spent; otherwise, they are just a pile of waste.

So what is the most effective and fastest way to enhance Lineage's strength?

The answer is, Cultivator Legion!

As long as resources are invested, the power of the Purple Moon Army can expand several times over in less than thirty years.

Of course, if there aren't enough Spirit Transformation powerhouse in the army, it's impossible to rival Sage Manifestation.

They are at most much stronger than cultivators at the Great Perfection Spirit Transformation, but they are unlikely to possess true Sage Manifestation power.

The reason why the Purple Moon Army and the Four Symbols Army were able to unleash their Sage Manifestation power in the battle twenty days ago was simply because the Four Symbols Army had enough Spirit Transformation powerhouse.

Only in this way can a combat power at the Sage Manifestation be supported.

The strength of Military Formation cannot increase indefinitely. If it does not have enough strong individuals, there are limits and constraints.

Nevertheless, Yang Tianyou was quite satisfied; having a few more Spirit Transformation Great Perfection experts was a good thing.

Furthermore, even in an emergency requiring the Sage Manifestation power, borrowing some elite Four Symbols Army soldiers from the Four Symbols Alliance as a backbone would suffice, and the Alliance's higher-ups would likely not refuse.

Besides the Purple Moon Army, the number of Cultivators in the Yang Household will also expand from the original 160,000 to the current 140,000, and then to 300,000.

In Yang Tianyou's view, the resources the Yang Household currently possesses are more than sufficient to support this level of expansion.

After the expansion is complete, we need to find a way to make money, because as the clansmen's cultivation level increases, the resources they need will also become increasingly larger.