System Upgrade 2.0

Adding their families, along with the dozens of people Tang Wen had recruited himself over the past month, brought the total to more than five hundred.

His land area had not increased, but his wealth index had risen by more than thirty thousand taels of gold.

Naturally, that referred to what he had brought back from Yunhai City on his previous trip, although he had spent some of it on buying people and other expenses.

Still, he had made another sum from Shen Xihe.

With the Thousand-Leaf Workshop also worth several hundred thousand taels, his wealth index had naturally climbed another notch.

As for his cultivation, perhaps because the Fish-Dragon Nine-Turn Art Yang Yun had given him was an earth-tier high-grade cultivation method, his absorption of popularity energy had improved enormously.

Another reason was that the system's upgrade to 2.0 had brought more benefits.

Thus, his cultivation had advanced two stages in succession, taking him straight to the pinnacle of the eighth-rank inner astral realm.

His luggage capacity had risen to 1,000 tons, and his stay had been extended by ten days. What delighted Tang Wen even more was that he could now open a second transmigration gate.

According to the system, it led to another world, and Tang Wen was intensely intrigued.

"Brother Yang, did you take care of that matter you mentioned last time?" Tang Wen asked with a smile as he drank his tea.

"I sent it over. Things seem promising. I should hear something in the next few days," Yang Yun replied, his face bright with joy.

"Then let me congratulate you in advance, Brother Yang," Tang Wen said with a smile.

"You recruited so many people today. Congratulations to us both," Yang Yun said, smiling.

"By the way, did Kang Qingfeng interrogate Qiao Xiao again afterward?" Tang Wen asked.

"He interrogated him once more afterward and gave him another beating.

"He's doing this to pressure you. He surely knows you'll hear about it.

"Then he'll drag it out with you. I reckon he'll give him another beating every few days from now on.

"That man is utterly despicable.

"But your subordinate showed real backbone. He was beaten half to death without crying out in pain once," Yang Yun said.

"Do you think it would help if I went straight to the provincial capital and approached the Six Fan Gate?" Tang Wen asked.

"Probably not, unless you have very close ties with them.

"Otherwise, Kang Qingfeng will use setting up the branch as his excuse. Think about it: would the Provincial Hall help you spoil their own plans?

"Younger brother, if there's really no other way, just give a little ground.

"A thousand military merits it is, then. Let's endure it. Taking a loss can be a blessing," Yang Yun said, shaking his head.

"This isn't about taking a loss. If I put up with it this time, he'll climb up my nose and onto my face next time. By then, he might seize the entire Thousand-Leaf Workshop." Tang Wen only said this after glancing at the popularity above Yang Yun's head.

He had noticed that Yang Yun's popularity leaned slightly toward him.

Had it stood upright in the middle, Tang Wen would not have said that. Popularity represented a person's attitude toward him.

"I think that's exactly what Kang Qingfeng is planning," Yang Yun snorted.

"If I can't endure him, I'll bring him down. Brother Yang, after you go back, ask around for information about him. You don't have to get involved. I'll do it myself!" Tang Wen said with a cold smile.

"Well..." Yang Yun hesitated, and his popularity swayed from side to side with him.

"If it really puts you in a difficult position, Brother Yang, forget it. After all, he's a branch master of the Six Fan Gate, his cultivation is formidable, and the entire Six Fan Gate stands behind him," Tang Wen said.

"Damn it! Once I have news, I'll have someone deliver it to the Thousand-Leaf Workshop.

"But I'll only gather information. I won't get involved in anything else.

"And even if you get caught, I won't admit I helped you dig up information," Yang Yun said.

Tang Wen saw that his popularity had stopped wavering and now leaned firmly toward him.

That meant Yang Yun had made up his mind to help him. A stone lifted from Tang Wen's heart.

"Understood!" Tang Wen nodded, patted a gift box beside him, and smiled knowingly. "This is grape wine, along with a set of rouge, lipstick, and perfume for women.

"Of course, these aren't the cheap goods people buy in Yanling Commandery.

"You never accept silver, Brother Yang, so I'll give you wine instead. Take it home and enjoy it with your wife.

"Sometimes, women need a little coaxing too.

"Otherwise, a fire in the backyard can give you quite a headache."

"Hahaha! Brother, we're kindred spirits." Yang Yun laughed heartily, then changed the subject. "You're almost seventeen, brother, and still single.

"With such a large estate to manage, you can't do without a sensible woman.

"Plenty of men your age already have three wives and four concubines."

"Hehe, I'm still young. There's no hurry," Tang Wen said, hastily shaking his head.

"Still young? Other men your age are already fathers," Yang Yun said.

The Chu Kingdom was far larger than China. Exactly how many square kilometers it covered was something even the court probably could not calculate accurately, constrained as it was by the backward technology of ancient times.

Decades of favorable winds and timely rain had allowed the people to live in peace and comfort.

It was perfectly ordinary for girls to marry at thirteen or fourteen, and equally normal for boys to marry at fifteen or sixteen, fostering the ideal of a wife, children, and a warm kang bed.

With no contraception, people kept having more children, even though disasters had struck the country constantly over the past three or four years.

National strength had declined sharply, wars had erupted everywhere, and banditry was rampant. The number of bandits claiming mountains as their own kingdoms had increased more than tenfold.

Yet none of that had dampened the common people's fervor for having children. It had already become a habit.

As a result, the Chu Kingdom's population remained enormous, numbering well over a billion.

With wars raging year after year, the country had to be defended.

The court's armies, yamen runners, constables, Six Fan Gate disciples, Personal Guard Army, and guards expanded every year. This year, their combined numbers reached four or five million.

Martial artists of every level numbered close to twenty or thirty million. One in every fifty people practiced martial arts.

However, most of them were weak ninth- or tenth-rank martial artists. Those above the sixth rank were uncommon.

Tang Wen, for instance, had been in this world for half a year, yet the only powerful martial artists he had met in the vast Yanling City were Yang Yun and Kang Qingfeng. Both were probably at the sixth or fifth rank.

Of course, Qiao Xiao likely possessed sixth-rank realm strength as well.

Tang Jun, Zhao Du, and Zhan Zhao were all at the seventh- or Eighth-Rank Realm stages.

Thus, Tang Wen urgently needed to recruit a few sixth-rank realm martial artists to bolster his standing.

If he could keep several Sixth-Rank Realm martial artist slaves at his side, Kang Qingfeng would not dare speak so arrogantly when facing him.

After all, even if Tang Wen could not beat him openly, he could send someone to kill him in secret.

Murder was nothing new in the Chu Kingdom. Plenty of people were killed every day.

Even the powerful disciples of the Six Fan Gate were killed on a daily basis.

However, sixth-rank martial artists were in the "outer astral realm." Experts at that level could project their inner astral energy outward and injure people from up to three zhang away. They were far too difficult to find.

Even if he found some, hiring them would likely cost a considerable amount of silver each year.

Most importantly, martial artists like that were minor overlords in their own territories, all swaggering and overbearing.

Getting one to sell himself to the Tang family as a slave would probably be harder than ascending to heaven.

Of course, even experts at that level could not stop bullets.

With a handgun carried on his person for protection, Tang Wen still felt somewhat secure.

However, they were agile and highly skilled in lightness techniques. If they were on their guard, hitting them would be extremely difficult.

Yang Yun left thoroughly satisfied with his gifts. The constables and yamen runners who had accompanied him each received a gift of two taels of silver and a bag of pearl rice, and they all returned to Yanling in high spirits.

"Constable Yang, whenever there's official business in the future, just send me to Su Mei Island."

"Constable Yang's friends are our brothers..."

Sure enough, every one of Constable Yang's subordinates was clamoring to run errands on Su Mei Island.

At midnight, Tang Wen entered the Great Landlord Space.

At once, the totems on the surrounding walls lit up, while two beams of light, one black and one white, shot toward the large screen at the northern end of the space.

The next moment, he saw the data on the screen updating continuously.

It took several full minutes to settle. Bold lettering at the top displayed: Great Landlord Space system upgraded to 2.0.

New system features:

1. The 1,000-popularity gate can now be opened, allowing passage to another world.

2. Before and after transmigration, carried luggage can be temporarily stored in the space for an additional half-day.

3. Popularity Eye upgraded to ninth rank.

4. Popularity absorption speed doubled.

Tang Wen stood before the popularity gates, itching to push open the second gate, marked "1,000 popularity."

However, he had no idea what sort of world lay beyond that gate.

His main purpose for this trip was to buy cement and reinforcing steel, then order another batch of crossbows in preparation for expanding the Personal Guard Army to two hundred men.

If he ended up in an ancient world, there would be no cement there. Wouldn't the purpose of his trip go up in smoke?

Thus, Tang Wen did not dare take that risk.

He decided to use the first gate instead. When he pressed his hand against it, he discovered that a map had actually appeared on its surface.

The map showed five domains: the Eastern Domain, Southern Domain, Western Domain, Northern Domain, and Central Domain.

Tang Wen tapped the Southern Domain, and its map immediately enlarged.

Tang Wen found the Great Eastern Republic on the map, with Yunhai City prominently marked.

It seemed that after the system's upgrade to 2.0, its transmigration destination features had improved as well, becoming much more detailed.

Previously, he had simply stepped through blindly, without knowing where the system would take him.

Now things were different. He could set the destination himself. This map felt rather like a version of a navigation app.

Tang Wen hesitated for a moment, then tapped Yunhai City directly. The map enlarged again, and he saw the house he had rented.