A Mighty Tide of Immigration, Local Men Scattered Like Stars!

"Three days from now, major shops across the Star Luo Empire will stock century-old whale glue. Seven days from now, the Imperial Capital Auction House will auction off millennium-old whale glue. To the highest bidder."

Once this news broke, the spirit master world erupted.

Every faction, large and small, across the continent—every single one—headed toward the Star Luo Empire.

Some went just to join the excitement, while others genuinely intended to purchase the whale glue.

Who wouldn't want to increase the age limit of the spirit rings they could absorb?

Even if they couldn't use it themselves, they had to secure some for their promising juniors.

After all, in the world of spirit masters, strength is everything.

And whale glue was the key to unlocking greater power.

However, when they entered the shops in the Star Luo Empire and saw the prices hanging on the shelves, the expressions on their faces changed one by one.

Expensive—too expensive. One could even say it was absurdly expensive.

Previously, a single gold spirit coin could purchase a piece of whale glue the size of a fist.

But now, a piece of century-old whale glue the size of a fist was priced at one thousand gold spirit coins.

The price had skyrocketed a thousandfold!

Yet, even so, these people gritted their teeth and emptied their wallets.

There was no helping it; the signboard of Dai Mobai's ten-thousand-year fourth spirit ring was simply too compelling.

Those who purchased the whale glue not only directly stimulated the economy of the Star Luo Empire but also indirectly boosted the local economies.

After all, the whale glue was so expensive that many had nearly emptied their life savings just to buy a single piece.

If they carried it on them and it was accidentally stolen or lost, it would be no different from losing their lives.

Therefore, most people chose to consume it the moment they bought it.

As everyone knew, the original purpose of whale glue was as an aphrodisiac.

This led to those who consumed it becoming unable to control themselves.

Fortunately, Dai Mobai had anticipated this long ago.

The distance between any shop selling whale glue and the nearest brothel was no more than a single street.

Consequently, on the day the whale glue went on sale, the ladies in the brothels didn't need to solicit customers at all; instead, customers came in an endless stream.

On the first night of the sales, the Star Luo Emperor sat in his study, staring at the data submitted by the Ministry of Revenue, unable to suppress the curve of his lips.

He had thought this might be a profitable venture, but he never expected it to be this lucrative.

One day—it had only been a single day.

The revenue from the whale glue sales exceeded the Star Luo Empire's tax income for an entire quarter.

This didn't feel like selling goods; it felt more like printing money!

Such terrifying wealth-gathering power naturally attracted attention.

The next day, Miles, the Platinum Bishop of the Star Luo City Spirit Saint Hall, met with the Star Luo Emperor.

Dai Mobai happened to be present.

After Miles exhausted every appeal to emotion and reason to get the whale glue for free, he finally dropped the facade and issued an ultimatum to the Star Luo Emperor.

"If the Star Luo Emperor is so ignorant of protocol, then the Star Luo Empire can arrange its own annual awakening ceremony."

Miles stood with a flick of his sleeves, his face full of arrogance.

He was confident that the Star Luo Emperor would inevitably compromise.

However, to his surprise, after hearing his words, the expression on the Star Luo Emperor's face wasn't one of compromise or panic, but rather—

Joy!

"It's a deal! A double blessing!"

The Star Luo Emperor and Dai Mobai exchanged a glance, unable to control the smiles on their faces.

Their delighted demeanor left Miles momentarily unable to process what was happening.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Miles, realizing he hadn't misheard, was so angry he was huffing and puffing.

Leaving behind a harsh, "You will regret this," he hurried away.

That same day, Miles issued an order to all Spirit Hall branches within the Star Luo Empire.

Effective immediately, the Spirit Hall would no longer provide free spirit awakening for the citizens of Star Luo.

Once this news broke, the commoners of the Star Luo Empire felt as if they had been struck by lightning; they felt as if the sky had collapsed.

Having done this, Miles brewed a pot of hot tea with a relaxed air, waiting for the Star Luo Emperor to come and beg for forgiveness.

However, he didn't receive a message of apology from the Star Luo Emperor; instead, he received an even more explosive announcement from him.

Effective immediately, the Star Luo Empire would take full responsibility for the spirit awakening of its citizens. Furthermore, every spirit master in the Star Luo Empire would henceforth receive double their previous monthly spirit master subsidy.

When this news spread throughout the Star Luo Empire, the citizens of Star Luo were instantly revitalized.

Miles, on the other hand, was so furious he nearly choked on his own breath.

But now, even if he wanted to stay, he couldn't, so he had no choice but to withdraw all of Spirit Hall's forces in a fit of pique.

However, the matter did not end there; instead, it began to develop in an even more bizarre direction.

Spirit masters from the Heaven Dou Empire traveled to the Star Luo Empire with money in hand to buy whale glue, only to discover after their purchases that the Star Luo Empire's monthly subsidies for spirit masters were double what they received back home.

Upon further inquiry, they learned that spirit awakening here didn't require bowing to Spirit Hall, as the Star Luo Empire handled it themselves.

Those with quick minds began to do the math.

In Heaven Dou, whatever Spirit Hall said was law, and the spirit master subsidies hadn't increased even once since they were first introduced.

In Star Luo, not only were the subsidies doubled, but there were even discounts on whale glue!

What were they waiting for?

The Star Luo Empire was their home forever!

With this thought in mind, a massive wave of migration began quietly and vigorously.

It started with scattered independent cultivators choosing to join the Star Luo Empire, followed by several small spirit master families moving their entire households, and eventually, even large spirit master families crossed the border in grand processions to resettle in the cities of the Star Luo Empire.

This massive wave of migration caused the status of Star Luo citizens to rise, and everyone they met would boast, "I'm a local Star Luo man," as their sense of imperial identity climbed to its peak.

The Star Luo Emperor sat in the imperial study, looking at the latest data submitted by the Minister of Revenue, his expression growing increasingly indifferent.

There was no help for it; when you look at such skyrocketing data every day, you eventually get used to it.

Net population inflow had grown for three consecutive months, and the number of registered spirit masters had nearly tripled compared to the same period last year.

Fiscal revenue looked even better; the whale glue trade alone was worth twenty years of the entire empire's previous tax revenue.

And it had only been three months since the whale glue went on sale.

The procurement plan for awakening devices had also been completed ahead of schedule.

Not only in major cities, but in towns and even rural villages, awakening stations had been set up and were ready for use at any time.

The distribution of gold spirit coins had also been fully brought under imperial management.

On the day of distribution each month, long lines formed in front of the distribution points in every town, and every time a spirit master received their subsidy, they would hear the official say the same thing.

"The Star Luo Empire thanks you for your contributions, esteemed spirit masters."

Listen to that—not only did they get money, but they were also provided with emotional validation.

A simple sentence like that was more effective than any propaganda.

Whoever pays the money gets the credit for the sentiment.

The Star Luo Emperor had originally thought he understood this principle well, but after Dai Mobai's guidance, he finally grasped its profound depth.

Now, not only could Spirit Hall no longer sit still, but the Heaven Dou Empire couldn't either.

If you have money and want to give it away, no one will stop you, but you can't steal my people!

The Heaven Dou Empire sent envoys to negotiate, righteously accusing the Star Luo Empire of disrupting the order of the continent's spirit master world.

As a result, the Star Luo Empire's response was even more blunt.