Opening the Way

The phrase "acting on behalf of Heaven" sounds grand, is difficult to put into practice, but is by no means impossible.

However, there's no doubt that Mo Chanzi, Xuan Tian, and the Three Elders and Four Ancestors almost succeeded, didn't they?

Now that the demons have risen from the ashes, as the successor of Mount Mo, Emei Mountain, and Nine Yin Mountain, Li Fan, who boasts that he is the embodiment of the righteous path and the one who protects world peace, naturally takes on the task without hesitation.

As for how to do it, he didn't have any specific plan.

It's not to say that justice will always prevail over evil, nor is it that the devil is always one step ahead of the saint; evil in the world can never be eradicated.

Based on his experience of surviving so far, Li Fan's rudimentary idea was that all he needed to do was be the last one standing and win the fight.

Just keep getting through the challenges and keep winning.

After all, most of the demons and monsters in this world worship violence and believe in the survival of the fittest.

Therefore, there is no need to treat them as human beings and discuss right and wrong, cause and effect, or retribution.

Just do it.

As long as the allies of justice are stronger and more violent than all evil spirits and demons in the world, there will always come a day when they will devour, capture, and exterminate all the Chi Mei Wangliang, monsters, and evil spirits in the heavens, turning them into rare and protected species.

There is no such thing as immortality in this world. Regardless of good or evil, lower-dimensional beings will be crushed by lower-dimensional beings, and higher-dimensional beings will be chased down and killed. Once they are wiped out, the world will be at peace.

This is the "fruit" that Li Fan achieved after his "sudden enlightenment" upon Mo Chanzi Book.

Xuan Tian, "... Huh? That's it? You've mastered the Mo Shan Technique, and this is all you've come up with? Didn't I tell you that already??"

"The feelings you get from being taught by others are different from the feelings you get from figuring things out on your own."

Li Fan sighed for another three seconds, savoring the feeling of being a righteous partner. He felt he had been strengthened in some way, but couldn't quite put his finger on it. He figured he should take advantage of this lingering feeling and quickly find a few demon gods or demon ancestors to kill and experience it for himself. So he urged,

"Alright, alright, never mind that. Xuan Tian, what's up now? I rushed over as soon as I saw your letter after I got back to Earth. Is the Moon Essence ready? Or do you need the pot? But I haven't gotten it yet..."

Xuan Tian said, "What furnace and pot?! Do you think sword forging is like stewing vegetables?! It's not that fast! Based on the calculations of the Tai Sha Star Core, I have redrawn the sword seal for Yue Po. Yue Po will also need some time to comprehend the Tai Sha Sword Dao. He's still a long way from being born!"

Li Fan asked curiously, "No, then why did you send me a message asking me to come over? Did you miss me?"

Xuan Tian: "Pah! Someone from Ink Bamboo Mountain wants to pay you a visit. Seeing you always blocking my way at the sword-making workshop, they're asking me to introduce them."

Li Fan squinted at Xuan Tian's puppet head, his expression saying, 'Does the Sword Ancestor Xuantian think he's so easy to talk to?'

Xuan Tian, "Tsk, isn't it all because you keep urging us! Moon Soul is undergoing a major update! This remote and impoverished place, Ink Bamboo Mountain, only has a few sword-forging furnaces! So many craftsmen have to wait in line! Can you wait that long?"

In short, I borrowed someone else's sword furnace, materials, and machine tools, which delayed other customers' orders. Since those customers want to pay a visit to you, why don't you just go to Heavenly Craft Peak and let them pay their respects? It's not like paying a visit will cost you anything!

Alright, alright, Moon Soul is his beloved sword after all, so any increase in investment is worthwhile, especially with Xuan Tian personally helping to temper it. What's there to complain about?

Then let's go repay the karmic debt. The visit is probably for the immortal threads, I suppose. Indeed, wealth shouldn't be flaunted; this is making a bad name for myself. I wonder how many immortal threads I'll need to repay this karmic debt...

"Your Excellency has misunderstood. We don't want money; in fact, we want to give you money."

Li Fan, "..."

If they hadn't gone through the proper channels to meet him, Li Fan would have completely ignored this fraud gang.

Okay, I'm exaggerating. They weren't a scam gang at Heavenly Craft Peak, but a group of fat people... Okay, no offense to fat people, but judging from their clothes and appearance, they were probably a group of well-off, over-nourished businessmen.

Moreover, these are not ordinary shopkeepers. Every one of them has accumulated lifespan using Immortal Palace Divine Infant Pill, and their immortal robes and jade pendants are all of the highest quality. They can even place orders for Heavenly Craft Peak to forge swords. Their strength is probably not much different from that of the nobles and patriarchs of powerful families in Li Country.

"I am Zou Chi, a merchant selling silk for the mountain gate." "I am He Mingyuan, engaged in weaving and spinning." "I am Luo Hui, in charge of construction." "I am Dou Yi, with expertise in fruit planting and construction." "I am Huang Cao, a salt smuggler." "I am Song Qing, a medicinal herb trader..."

"We, the Mohists, pay our respects to the Ninth Generation Grand Master."

What? You guys, all dressed in fine silks and bloated with fat heads, can be Mohists?

Li Fan looked at the group of people who came to pay their respects with suspicion. He did some mental calculations and remembered that he had seen the names and businesses of several of them in the official gazette. He had a general idea of their backgrounds.

These people are likely the big bosses of the local chambers of commerce in Ink Bamboo Mountain, and they are all large business groups and financial magnates who can directly contact the peak masters and guardians at the level of immortals. Most of them are the financial backers of Ink Bamboo Mountain. The main business route south Li Country Changsi City is to do business with these emerging financial magnates from Ink Bamboo Mountain.

Small businesses like Jiang's, where disciples make a living, are not even considered important here; they're just there to scrape by.

"What, you've remembered you need to pay protection money? And you even came in a group, trying to put pressure on me so we can negotiate?"

That's right. In fact, when you really look at it, the Grand Master was the leader publicly elected by those in industry and commerce. It's just that after Chanzi, the population of Moshan suffered heavy losses, and given the Mountain Master's personality, he probably didn't interact with them much. These people probably just took orders directly from the Abbot.

Zou Chi and the others hurriedly bowed, saying, "Master, you have misunderstood us. We are just ordinary people, usually busy running Fourth Department and managing our businesses. We were unaware that the mountain had changed owners. We only came to pay our respects because we were afraid of disturbing your peaceful cultivation."

"Oh, thank you for your understanding."

Li Fan smiled, turned his head to look outside the crowd, and saw a mechanical figure with an incongruous style, clearly a craftsman's puppet.

"May I ask how this senior brother is addressed?"

"Zhang Shan of Heavenly Craft Peak pays respects to the Grand Master. I've come to explain the mechanical chariot."

Li Fan: "... What kind of car?"

Zou Chi and the others said, "Your Excellency, please forgive us. We have a business plan that requires us to pass through Moshan, and we would like to ask for your assistance..."

Li Fan rolled his eyes. "Oh, I thought you esteemed guests were being nosy, that you'd finally remembered to offer sacrifices to a tycoon like me. Turns out I'm the one blocking your path to wealth, huh? What? You're going to start with politeness and then resort to force? Using smashing a cup as a signal?"

"No, no, no!" "Your Excellency has misunderstood!" "We had no such intention!"

The bosses hurriedly kowtowed repeatedly.

"Alright, alright, stop wasting time. You've all brought your technical staff along, right? Do you have a PowerPoint presentation? Just tell us about any big projects you're working on."

Since they were the bread and butter of Ink Bamboo Mountain and the abbot's money bag, Li Fan stopped teasing them and sat down in the armchair in the reception room. The merchants finally wiped their sweat and got up, then pulled Zhang Shan over and gave him a general explanation of what had happened.

In short, it can be summarized into three points.

First, they wanted to build a railway.

Second, they want to set up a bank.

Third, they will issue bonds.

Li Fan was dumbfounded. "... What???"

Okay, this summary is too simplistic; anyone would be embarrassed by it. Let me explain it in more detail.

Everything in this world is interconnected.

The chaos in the world is both the root cause and an opportunity.

Some people drift with the tide in chaotic times, living a precarious existence, while others see the direction of the times amidst the torrent.

When the Li Country was in crisis, with trade routes cut off on all sides and enemies everywhere.

Lu Qi, the one whose head is still stuck in a flowerpot, colluded with the eunuch clique to develop real estate in Changsi City, engage in usury, extortion, and monopolize trade, making a fortune. Li Hongxian Li Wenrao also took the opportunity to monopolize the trade routes to the Li Country through the Zhidu Division and the Beibian Gang water transport.

While the Changsi City Consortium was making a fortune, raking in the profits and counting money until their hands cramped, other forces in the Li Country suffered heavy blows.

People at the bottom of society went bankrupt due to natural disasters, man-made calamities, constant wars, and land annexation. Having lost their land, they could only work in factories, struggling to make ends meet.

Landlords and powerful families in various places also faced natural disasters and man-made calamities, and struggled to maintain production amidst the onslaught of demons, monsters, refugees, bandits, and corrupt officials and armies.

The powerful clans at the top, due to the political turmoil in the Liqiu Palace and the financial crisis in Changsi City, have lost their source of income and fallen into a serious debt crisis.

The industrial and commercial groups in Ink Bamboo Mountain are also facing serious problems.

On one hand, the abbot reached a compromise with the imperial court to supply the Li Country. The trade routes were monopolized by the eunuchs, and the production lines of Heavenly Craft Peak had to prioritize military orders. This severely impacted the financial resources of the local tycoons of Ink Bamboo Mountain.

On the other hand, large numbers of refugees from the three kingdoms of Zhen, Xun, and Li poured into Ink Bamboo Mountain, forming new power groups that competed for production resources and cultivation quotas, squeezing the living space of the locals.

Therefore, the business magnates and managers of Ink Bamboo Mountain, along with their former competitors, could not hold on any longer. For the first time ever, they gathered together to discuss the matter and, after consulting with acquaintances from Heavenly Craft Peak, came up with a solution.

Li Fan Fanqi: "The solution is to build a railway?"

Engineer Zhang said, "It's a government vehicle lane, but it is indeed a laid railway track, so it can also be called a railway."

In fact, Heavenly Craft Peak already had many flying palaces, flying boats, flying birds, flying oxen and horses, self-propelled carriages and the like. These train-like mechanical iron carts had also been in prototype form for a long time and were widely used in the underground mine tunnels to transport ore.

The advantages are naturally higher load capacity, sturdiness, durability, and affordability, requiring fewer cultivators for operation and maintenance. However, the disadvantages are also obvious: it is not as convenient as a flying boat, and laying railway tracks is troublesome; once the line is attacked and destroyed by the Demon Race, transportation between the two places will be cut off.

However, when the cultivator economy was the mainstay, transporting Spirit Stones, talismans, and robes by flying boats and airships was quite profitable, as long as disciples from Ink Bamboo Mountain were invited to operate the magic array and help sail the boats.

However, with troops being deployed to the Fourth Department of Ink Bamboo Mountain and cultivators going to the front lines, it would be too costly to transport heavy goods such as minerals, timber, armor, food, and swords back and forth using flying boats. Therefore, the Li Country's court borrowed the Li River waterway and dug a canal to use the "Jingbian Gang" to support the needs of the hundreds of thousands of troops on the border.

The problem is that the main production base of Ink Bamboo Mountain is not on the Li River, but on Heavenly Craft Peak in Bamboo Mountain. Therefore, a large amount of supplies and military equipment need to be transported from Heavenly Craft Peak to the river to be loaded onto ships.

So, to solve this problem, the engineers at Heavenly Craft Peak built a railway, a machine track, connecting Heavenly Craft Peak with the ferry dock on the Li River.

After calculating and finding the results satisfactory, the Heavenly Craft Peak decided to connect all nine peaks of Bamboo Mountain with mechanical roads, thus linking the entire Bamboo Mountain area into one industrial base. Along the Li River, the north bank was fields and the south bank was factories. Human resources were plentiful, and the relocated migrants and mined materials could be transported to various factories. The production machines roared to life, not only quickly arming the army that had Li Country but also rapidly prospering Bamboo Mountain. Soon, the people who had migrated from various places had a means of making a living and were able to settle down.

No, it's not just about settling down. Where there are roads, there are people, resources, and livelihoods. Money is also circulating rapidly. So much so that the place that was once complained about for its poor quality of the Divine Astral Coin has now become the place in Bamboo Mountain entire Nine Mountains Li Country that is most in need of investment!

There's no shortage of money! The eunuchs of Changsi City, the powerful clans who fled from the Central Plains, have money to burn! Money is depreciating everywhere, but here in Bamboo Mountain, money is making money, so of course they're pouring money in!

Upon seeing this situation, the Ink Bamboo Mountain consortium, sensing both the danger and the opportunity, naturally began to scheme.

Could we pave the road for government vehicles all the way to the Ten-thousand-mountains?

Could we extend the government vehicle lanes to Changsi City?

Could we pave the entire land of the Twelve Countries with the roads leading to the imperial palace?

If trade routes are cut off, then use iron, drive them into the ground, weld them into the stone, and brand them onto the earth. Let's see if you still dare to cut them off!

So the merchants wanted to build a railway, but building a railway required resources, manpower, and money. Several merchant firms united and planned to pool their assets to set up a money exchange to collect funds for the railway project.

With the personal connections accumulated over the years with Heavenly Craft Peak and Ink Bamboo Mountain, obtaining the abbot's permission and utilizing the resources at hand and the skills of the Tiangong people, setting up a privately-run government-run road workshop would naturally not be a problem.

The problem mainly involves two points.

First, the war situation in the north is unstable, and beyond the Li River lies the territory of the Li Country's court. To go south, we need to connect the main Daoist temples and resource points of Yangjia Mountain, Chicken Mountain, Ji Mountain, and Lingqiu Mountain. The first step is to pave the road across the Moshan Five Sons Peak.

Secondly, road construction costs money, and even if financing or loans were needed from the eunuchs of Changsi City, the two sides were competitors. Moreover, considering that Lu Qi had killed off a large number of wealthy old men in the north in recent years, his behavior was too ugly, and the bosses of Ink Bamboo Mountain were not comfortable doing business with this group of scoundrels. Therefore, they could not reach an agreement on the shares.

The Ink Bamboo Mountain Foundation stated that it could provide profit sharing through debt financing, but it still insists on monopolizing the construction and operation of the government business route.

However, issuing such a large-scale bond with an estimated long term definitely requires substantial legal protection and contracts, as well as the endorsement of a highly accomplished Daoist master, to ensure everyone's peace of mind. Therefore, it is necessary to find a guarantor acceptable to everyone to mediate and facilitate the issuance of this large-scale bond by the government agency.

Of course, what they really wanted to find was the abbot.

But the abbot is too hard to find. Daoist Master, are you kidding me? You think you can just see him whenever you want? Besides, the abbot is currently incredibly busy, playing chess, doing arithmetic, setting up formations, and performing rituals. Lou Guan Tower Pagoda is overflowing with people; even big bosses have to wait in line. After all, everyone queuing up at Daoist Master's door is from some powerful family or clan...

But who else is there besides the abbot...?

Hey, look what a coincidence!

There really is such a person in Ink Bamboo Mountain who can solve all these problems. Although there are still doubts about his talisman skills, it seems that the Kun Tickets have worked fine, and he seems to have a lot of free time, spending all day doing who knows what...

That's basically it! Everyone gets what they need: he provides the money, I pave the way, and you issue the receipts! Together, we'll develop the Ten-thousand-mountains, and everyone will have a bright future!

Li Fan raised his hand, "Wait a minute, I don't see what benefit I get from this?"

The bosses were taken aback and looked at each other in bewilderment.

It was Master Zhang who spoke up, saying, "Master, this road has been paved, a feat that benefits the present and future generations. I'm sure everyone will remember your kindness. It's a great deed, so what more could you possibly want?"

Li Fan glanced at him sideways, "They're not willing to give any of it to those eunuchs. Your Heavenly Craft Peak must have taken the lion's share, right?"

Master Craftsman Zhang coughed, "Master, why bother arguing with them over such petty gains? We've already wasted a lot of materials on sword forging..."

Li Fan rolled his eyes. "Is this some petty profit...? Here's the deal: I won't worry about the rest of the area. Once this section of road within Moshan is repaired, it will become part of Moshan's industry. Also, help me connect it to Five Sons Peak. The construction, operation, and procurement of materials for Moshan will all be handled by the residents of Moshan. It won't interfere with your trade routes. It'll just involve some local specialties. Consider it helping to create jobs for my people. Is that acceptable?"

After thinking it over, Engineer Zhang agreed, "What the Grandmaster said is correct. Now that Mo Mountain has been enshrined with an array, its malevolent energy is not suitable for mortals to live in for long. After the road is built, the people of Mo Mountain will need to maintain it a lot."

The bosses thought for a moment, rolled up their sleeves, shook hands, and reached an agreement.

"As the Grand Master commands."