Wine Fox Had Lost Even His Pants

Making the best of things.

Adapting to circumstances.

Doing whatever came to hand.

That was Lu Ya's so-called plan.

He wasn't going to do anything special for the development of Azure Phoenix City.

If he came across a Void Kun, he'd roast it.

If he came across Fan Ni, he'd make use of him.

And if he came across any other Tom, Dick, or Harry, he'd make use of them just as opportunistically.

But he'd underestimated the White Lotus Sect's influence in East Floating City.

That very night, more than a thousand immortals came to Bamboo Spring Sect.

When they first arrived in Azure Phoenix City, they'd been a little apprehensive, worrying about Liu Xuanye, this, that, and everything else.

But before long, the mouthwatering aroma wafting out of Yuelai Inn drew them in. They obediently paid up in Immortal Crystals, taking bite after bite and exclaiming, "Now that's delicious!"

The inn served not only Lu Ya's roasted Kun meat, but also boiled Kun slices, stewed Kun bones, shredded Kun meat...

Yuan Zhou's cooking was still slightly inferior to Lu Ya's.

But with Lu Ya's seasonings and his own considerable culinary skills, he could make it taste nearly identical. It was hard to tell the difference; only Immortal Sect Masters and those above them could discern the subtle distinctions.

The Kun meat dishes were reasonably priced. They weren't being sold off cheap to move volume, nor were they being hoarded as rare delicacies. Customers streamed in without end, and at one point, a line even formed.

Well into the night, Yuelai Inn was still brightly lit.

It was the only business open in all of Azure Phoenix City, yet it was unbelievably popular. It hardly seemed real.

But it really was happening!

Not all the immortals who came that night had come to spend money. Most were there to watch and admire the Void Kun's magnificence.

This was a wicked beast that had plagued the East Floating District for over a thousand years, committed countless atrocities, and was said to be unbelievably delicious.

If they couldn't afford to eat it, could they not at least look?

The crowd had gathered around the Bamboo Platform behind the inn once again.

Even immortals felt the same overwhelming shock as Immortal Commoners when standing before the Giant Kun, feeling as insignificant as ants.

After a long while, someone asked:

"Wait, there's no smell of smoke from grilling in the inn. Where are they cooking the meat we're eating?"

At that, a local Immortal Commoner replied proudly:

"They're cooking it inside the Kun's belly!"

"It's our Sect's Elder Lu who's grilling it in the Kun's belly!"

"Elder Lu?"

"You don't even know Elder Lu?"

"The Sect Master's Dao Companion, the City Lord of Azure Phoenix City!"

"Cooking inside its belly?"

"A mortal?"

"How could our Elder Lu be a mortal?"

"Did Elder Lu really consummate his marriage with Sect Master Liu?"

"Of course he did!"

"At the wedding, the Elder even kissed the Sect Master. We all thought he was done for, but nothing happened, and before we knew it, he'd carried her off to their bridal chamber."

"Our biggest hope now is for the Sect Master to have a child!"

"Was it because of Elder Fan's Protective Bamboo Slip?"

"Who's Elder Fan?"

"..."

Similar conversations kept breaking out among the crowd.

Lu Ya hadn't deliberately tried to control what people said.

He neither made a fuss about things nor tried to conceal them.

He let everything develop naturally.

The guests soon learned how the Kunpeng Brothers had died.

"Sect Master Liu killed Golden Peng all by herself?"

"Elder Lu cooked a Giant Kun alive from inside its belly?"

"Elder Lu was the one who brought Bamboo Spring Sect back from the brink?"

"It had nothing to do with the White Lotus Sect?"

I don't believe a word of it!

There must be some shady deal with the White Lotus Sect!

The truth was often more outrageous than a lie, to the point that people would rather believe the lie.

Most of the immortals guessed that Lu Ya was probably an agent secretly cultivated by the White Lotus Sect, whose goal was to marry into Bamboo Spring Sect and gain this blessed land indirectly.

Elders from several nearby minor sects also paid visits to Ning Zhongzi one after another. They presented congratulatory gifts, bought up large quantities of Kun meat to take home, then waited until no one was paying attention before asking:

"Junior Sister Ning, could you let us in on how to work with the White Lotus Sect?"

"Don't get the wrong idea. We're not planning to build a city. We just want to discuss partnering with the White Lotus Sect to forge swords."

Ning Zhongzi had no choice but to come clean.

"We haven't partnered with the White Lotus Sect. Developing Azure Phoenix City was our own Elder Lu's plan."

"Which Elder Lu?"

"..."

For three days straight, the crowds in Azure Phoenix City showed no sign of thinning. They continued to grow steadily.

Alongside the immortals, wealthy mortals came to spend money, as did large numbers of wandering refugees.

Before long, Azure Phoenix City's reputation was soaring.

After several days of observation, merchants interested in the city confirmed that Bamboo Spring Sect was in no danger and that the White Lotus Sect had made no move to disavow any connection. The truth was clear enough.

Starting on the fourth day,

merchants began arriving one after another to discuss business with Ning Zhongzi.

Since Yuelai Inn specialized in fine food and drink, the first merchants to arrive sold everything else.

There were vendors selling knockoff spiritual artifacts and immortal swords, sellers of pesticides and Immortal Fertilizer, little medical clinics, fortune-tellers...

Since it was still early days, they followed Lu Ya's instructions and welcomed everyone, so long as they didn't violate the Immortal Court's laws.

Among them were even gambling dens and pleasure houses!

Ning Zhongzi made a point of specifying—

Gambling dens had to cap their bets.

Pleasure houses could offer performances and drinks, but no prostitution.

And apothecaries couldn't sell addictive pills.

Azure Phoenix City would have no pornography, gambling, or drugs!

Since rents were low in the early days, all thirty storefronts aside from Yuelai Inn were rented out in just two short days.

These merchants mainly sold affordable immortal goods, and with the Void Kun drawing crowds, Azure Phoenix City was receiving more than ten thousand customers a day by the seventh day.

Half of them were immortals!

In just ten days, Azure Phoenix City's commercial scene had taken off. Local farming and animal husbandry expanded rapidly alongside it, and the entire Floating Mountain flourished.

Ten days later.

After lazing around on the mountain for ten days, Lu Ya was feeling tired again.

Sleeping, fishing, hot springs, flirting, drinking—life as a Salted Fish was just so dull and boring.

Especially his regular dual cultivation sessions with Liu Xuanye. Liu Xuanye was having a wonderful time, her Immortal Platform growing warm and stable by the day as she gained fresh insights into the sword path.

Lu Ya, on the other hand, suffered through it, ending up with an aching back and legs that cramped every time. But that was just how it was for pretty boys. Nothing he could do about it, and there wasn't much point complaining.

It was time to head down the mountain and see how the city-building project was going. Perhaps he'd find some unexpected fun.

After stretching out with a long yawn, Lu Ya stepped forward and went down the mountain.

Ten days had passed, and the seedlings in the wheat fields and valley below were already over a foot tall. Even the pasture had grown considerably.

The Immortal Commoners greeted Lu Ya more warmly than before.

"Elder Lu, thanks for all your hard work."

"Elder Lu, my chives are growing so tall. Would you like me to cut some for you to take home?"

"Elder Lu, the oysters in the river are plump and delicious. Take some home with you."

"Elder Lu, let me add some goji berries for you."

"Maybe some other time."

Lu Ya thought, I have worked hard, but not in the way you imagine.

When he reached Azure Phoenix City,

he stared at the small city before him, packed shoulder to shoulder with people and roaring with noise, completely dumbfounded.

Have I reached East Floating City?

All sorts of spirit-beast mounts and flying immortal artifacts streaked across the sky, trailing faint, luminous light as they gathered from every direction and slowly descended into the plaza in front of Yuelai Inn.

The broad, one-sided street bustled with people and traffic.

The shopkeepers at the spiritual artifact stores called out to passersby, accompanying their shouts with dazzling light spells to advertise their grand opening discounts.

At the wine shop in the inn's upper-story pavilion, immortal light shimmered. The laughter of immortal guests and singing girls drifted out, along with the intoxicating aroma of wine.

Shouts and chatter rose outside the auction house. Each time a sale went through, a bronze bell rang on the roof, its pleasant immortal chime echoing throughout the city.

There were also peddlers and hawkers setting up stalls along the cliffside.

There were con artists selling Dog Skin Ascension Pills, craftspeople applying spiritual films to immortal swords and spiritual artifacts, fortune-tellers dressed up as reclusive masters, and storytellers spinning tales of immortals...

As he walked down the bustling street, Lu Ya felt a little dazed.

It felt less like ten days had passed and more like ten years.

Is this really the Azure Phoenix City I planned on a whim?

It felt a little like a dream.

As he thought this, Lu Ya walked up to a lively establishment. A huge signboard bore the words—

Ten Thousand Flower Pavilion.

He could hear toasts and laughter from upstairs, the chatter of women, and the sound of strings and flutes.

There's already a pleasure house?

Building Azure Phoenix City wasn't a waste after all!

Ning Zhongzi had already told him that Azure Phoenix City's pleasure houses had to operate legally. They could offer performances, but prostitution was forbidden.

Still, going inside for a little wine, a look at the beauties, and a song or two would be quite pleasant.

Even married men needed a little fun.

Just as Lu Ya was about to step inside, a graceful, full-figured figure drifted across his path.

In those gentle, bright eyes, wisps of darkness began to gather.

"What, has the Sect Master been neglecting Senior Brother?"

It was Ning Zhongzi.

Lu Ya suddenly felt like he'd been caught in bed with someone, and hurriedly took the way out she offered.

"You know the Sect Master has always been aloof."

The dark wisps in her eyes vanished in an instant, and Ning Zhongzi suddenly felt a little sorry for Lu Ya.

"I'll have a word with her later. You'd best stay away from a place like this. It's all common trash, not fit for a master like you."

"Even common trash can have a bit of artistic merit."

"Hmm?"

"..."

Ning Zhongzi's single "Hmm?" silenced Lu Ya. He didn't dare say another word, and could only stroll around with his Senior Sister.

Unable to discuss art with the immortals, Lu Ya suddenly found the bustle around him grating.

As Lu Xun once said, people's joys and sorrows were never shared. Lu Ya only found them noisy.

Wasn't building Azure Phoenix City a waste, then?

He glanced at the curvaceous figure beside him and shook his head.

This woman...

She can't be allowed to stay!

After walking for a long while, Ning Zhongzi suddenly grew sentimental.

"A month ago, Bamboo Spring Sect was lifeless and on the verge of being disbanded. Who would've thought it would become like this in the blink of an eye? We've completed in one month the year-long task the Immortal Court deliberately saddled us with."

Lu Ya nodded absently, his thoughts already wandering somewhere else.

"Let's keep it up."

Ning Zhongzi suddenly stopped and stared straight at Lu Ya with her bright eyes.

"Did you plan all of this, from stirring up the Beast Tide and hunting the Void Kun to using Fan Ni...?"

Lu Ya hadn't planned any of it, but if she was praising him, how could he deny it?

"Ahem. It was just a tiny contribution."

Just then—

The crowd in the street stirred and hurriedly scattered.

A little brat of a girl was riding a huge, yellow-eyed tiger through the street, charging wildly.

She skidded to a stop in front of Ning Zhongzi.

"Nanny, something terrible's happened! Lord Wine Fox gambled away even his pants!"