Pleasure City

Zhou Wanwan looked at her and said, "Does that mean I can't refuse to sell it to you?"

Zhao Lili nodded and said, "Yes, that's exactly what I mean."

Zhou Wanwan looked at her and said, "Alright then! This restaurant is yours."

Zhao Lili didn't expect things to go so smoothly.

Soon, Zhao Lili obtained the restaurant contract. Smiling, she said, "Brothers, let's go! I thought it would take a lot of effort!"

Those experts on the Earth Ranking said, "This little girl is quite interesting. She actually dares to open a restaurant in the Jianghu Alliance. I wonder if she has some kind of backing."

"I just love girls like that, so tender and fragrant, and most importantly, so beautiful!"

"Tsk tsk tsk... You're not thinking of eating her, are you? Hahahaha..."

The man squinted and said, "Yes, little girl, come with me!"

Zhou Wanwan asked, her face full of fear, "I've given you my restaurant, what exactly do you want?"

The muscular man glared at her menacingly and said, "I told you to come with me, so hurry up."

Zhou Wanwan followed pitifully behind them as they carried Zhou Wanwan up the mountain.

They were extremely fast; they all possessed superhuman agility.

The muscular man, Hei Niu, grabbed Zhou Wanwan's clothes and said, "Little beauty, come with me! Keep me company tonight, I'll treat you well!"

Zhao Lili laughed heartily, "Hei Niu loves this! Let's hurry back to our Pleasure City, and we'll rob the mine of Earth Ranking 86 in a bit."

Hei Niu hesitated, "I'm only ranked 87th on the Earth Ranking, won't we be at a disadvantage?"

Zhao Lili chuckled and said, "There are six of us, not to mention there's another person Earth Ranking 89th and 83rd on the Earth Ranking. What's there to be afraid of?"

Hei Niu chuckled and said, "That's true. I've heard this vein is quite good; it's a cinnabar vein, very valuable!"

Zhou Wanwan's eyes lit up. A cinnabar vein? That's pretty good.

Cinnabar veins are more effective than jade veins.

These people returned to Pleasure City Pleasure City, a huge palace hidden in the mountains. The entire palace was built against the mountain and was so large that it could not be seen at a glance.

Zhou Wanwan stared blankly at the palace. Zhao Lili chuckled and said, "How is it? Magnificent, isn't it? I spent five years building this."

Zhou Wanwan indeed found it spectacular, with clouds and mist swirling around the mountains year-round.

From a distance, most of the palace was hidden in the clouds and mist, with only the layers of eaves and towering roofs visible, appearing and disappearing intermittently.

Zhou Wanwan swallowed hard. "Beautiful."

Zhao Lili led her into the palace, where there was a dragon throne, and the entire palace was built in the style of the imperial palace.

Zhao Lili sat on the dragon throne and said with a smile:

"The Pleasure City has only just been built, and everything is not yet complete."

But it won't be long before this place is much more grand and lively than it is now.

Sooner or later, it will surpass the surrounding forces and become the true center of this area.

Zhou Wanwan looked at the palace and asked, "Sister, do you want to be the emperor?"

Zhao Lili laughed heartily:

"Emperor? What's the point of being an emperor?"

I want to become the Jianghu Alliance, then I can command the entire land.

Zhou Wanwan flattered, "The Jianghu Alliance? That sounds so impressive!"

Zhao Lili said smugly, "See this Pleasure City? It took five years to build and cost 160,000 taels of gold."

Zhou Wanwan exclaimed in surprise, "Wow! Sister, I admire you so much! Sixteen thousand taels of gold, I wouldn't even dare to dream of it!"

Zhao Lili looked at her and said, "What would you know about these things, little girl? We need to go find that cinnabar vein."

Zhou Wanwan looked at her and said:

"Sister, please take me to see it too!"

I've lived in the countryside all my life, and I've never even seen what a cinnabar vein looks like!

Zhao Lili looked at her with a mocking expression and said, "What kind of knowledge could a little girl like you have? Fine, I'll take you to see for yourself and broaden your horizons."

Zhou Wanwan got into the carriage and looked at the carriage road. "Sister, this carriage of yours is extraordinary. I feel so comfortable sitting in it!"

Zhao Lili boasted:

"My carriage is no ordinary vehicle."

The frame is made of submerged wood that has been submerged for thousands of years; it will not sink in water and will not rot for a hundred years.

The cushions were made of fox fur, and the curtains were made of Jiangnan brocade; the scale and grandeur were in no way inferior to the imperial carriage in the palace.

Zhou Wanwan took a sip of tea, ate a piece of pastry, and said, "Hmm... this pastry is quite good, and this tea, it should be West Lake Longjing, with a lingering aftertaste."

Zhao Lili looked at Zhou Wanwan and said, "Hehe, you little girl are really interesting, you know your stuff."

Zhou Wanwan hummed in agreement and said, "Of course they know their stuff."

Zhou Wanwan slept for a while in the car, then heard Zhao Lili say, "Have we arrived?"

Then they heard Hei Niu nod and say, "We've arrived. This cinnabar vein is quite large; our men have already surrounded it."

As soon as Zhou Wanwan got out of the car, she saw the cinnabar vein.

The entire mountain wall was a dark red, with many bright red cinnabar ore stones embedded in the crevices of the rocks.

The miners were all held captive by Zhao Lili's men, their heads bowed, afraid to move.

Zhao Lili started boasting triumphantly again:

"See those? Do you see my elite troops?"

They are all top-notch experts! Many of them are on the Earth Ranking, and most of the rest are on the Human Ranking, all of whom are willing to follow me.

"My personal guards alone number over three thousand. What do you think you have to fight me with?"

After saying that, Zhao Lili glanced at the people being held captive and said, "I won't bother with them for now. I still need these people to help me mine cinnabar, so I'll keep them for the time being."

Zhou Wanwan nodded and obediently followed behind Zhao Lili.

Looking at the cinnabar ore, Zhao Lili asked, "Do you know what cinnabar is used for?"

Zhou Wanwan shook her head.

Zhao Lili looked at her and said:

"This cinnabar can be used in medicine to calm the nerves, relieve fright, ward off evil spirits, and detoxify. Pharmacies are scrambling to buy it."

It can also be used as a pigment; when ground into a fine powder, it becomes top-grade vermilion.

It can be used to refine mercury; when heated, it can be transformed into molten mercury. It has great uses in the preservation of royal tombs, alchemists' elixir making, and the cosmetics of the powerful and wealthy. It is also a highly sought-after commodity closely monitored by the imperial court.

It can be used to make ink paste. Fine cinnabar ink paste is extremely rare and valuable, used in calligraphy and painting by scholars, official documents, and pawnshops.

It can be used in Daoist temples and Buddhist monasteries to draw talismans for warding off evil spirits, perform rituals, and consecrate objects; it's an essential ritual implement for both Daoists and Buddhists!

Zhou Wanwan swallowed hard, then casually picked up a piece of cinnabar and played with it.

The energy within her body instantly surged into the cinnabar ore, turning it bright red and even somewhat scorching.

Zhou Wanwan was full of surprise; she really hadn't expected that cinnabar ore would have such great energy.

Jade can only store energy, but it cannot enhance it, while cinnabar can.

She didn't yet know exactly how many times the energy could increase.