Xiao Yun's Five-Year Plan

The next day, at the Lord's Mansion.

The largest Meeting Room had never held so many people at the same time.

The table in the Meeting Room had been newly commissioned by Sheng Minglan. It was two zhang long, one zhang wide, with a thick oak tabletop polished smooth as a mirror.

A flower was carved into each of the table's four corners. Shui Ruoyan said they were clubs, Yao Yuerou said they were peach blossoms, and Sheng Minglan said they were begonias. The three of them argued for ages, and in the end, none of them convinced the others.

Xiao Yun sat in the main seat. Spread out before him was the sheet of white paper he had written on yesterday. Six words, including "population" and "shipping," had been circled, and several lines of small characters had been added beneath each one—notes he had stayed up late writing last night.

To his left sat the deans of the Four Great Academies—Shui Yuntian, Huo Lie, Feng Wuhen, and Yao Yang. All four had arrived one after another over the past few days, and all were Soul Douluo-level powerhouses. Just by sitting there, they seemed to make the pressure in the entire Meeting Room drop by several degrees.

Shui Yuntian wore a water-blue robe, her hair coiled high and held in place with a white jade hairpin, making her look dignified and elegant. Her complexion was much better than it had been a month ago, and the enhancement of her Eighth Soul Ring made her seem several years younger.

Huo Lie wore a bright red robe. His beard was shaved clean, and the wrinkles on his face looked as if they had been carved by a knife, each one radiating authority.

Feng Wuhen wore an azure robe, his hair tied back