Who Was the Richest Person in the World?

In Jingzhou Prefecture, there was a Great Immortal Zongheng Temple dedicated to the Immortal.

When Chu Tianshu arrived, he checked the temple keeper's information.

It's fair to say they haven't done many decent things.

So he killed it on the spot and has been living here recently.

The development of the Zongheng Army began in the southeast and extended to Jingxiang. The earliest Great Immortal Zongheng Temple in the world were located along the southeast coast and at Fire God Gully.

The second batch of temples was built in the Jingxiang region.

However, at this moment, he was sitting cross-legged on a prayer mat in the main hall of the temple, and his appearance and demeanor were quite different from the statue of the Great Immortal Zongheng behind him.

They can't be said to be completely dissimilar, but rather that they both resemble human beings.

That Great Immortal Zongheng, Zongheng, wore a purple-gold lotus crown, had kind and benevolent eyes, long eyebrows and beard, an oval face, vermilion lips, and large ears that reached his shoulders.

He is dressed in purple qi robe with the Eight Trigrams symbol, sitting cross-legged on the back of a Kun fish, holding a jade whisk with a roc pattern in his left hand and a black and Zongheng chessboard in his right.

I really don't know who came up with this.

I heard that in the southeastern coastal areas where Japanese pirates once roamed, the statue of the Great Immortal Zongheng looks completely different now.

He was a golden-armored god, holding a fire-wielding spear in his left hand and a long sword in his right, with a wrinkled, fanged demon's head beneath his feet.

At this moment, Chu Tianshu sat cross-legged, his eyes half-open and half-closed, and colorful flames floated on more than a dozen important acupoints all over his body.

The foundation of each flame was firmly attached to him; the colorful light, like seedlings, soared upwards, and although it swayed constantly, it could not stray too far.

The entire temple was unusually quiet, without the sounds and smells that one would expect from a burning fire.

This is all the divine power of the Heavenly Ranking, which he guided down and used the "Great Void Heavenly Silkworm General Principles" to guide and harmonize it, gathering it into the body through acupoints, creating this extraordinary phenomenon.

If we count the Seven Souls in ascending order, then the Stinking Lungs" soul should be the last one.

Conversely, after the Stinking Lungs, what should be refined is the Filth-Removing Soul.

But Chu Tianshu first refined the Thief Swallower.

The practice of martial arts must be combined with practical experience.

He needs to first strengthen his ability to absorb and digest the power of the Heavenly Ranking, and then make some minor adjustments to the cultivation sequence of the Seven Souls Dantian based on his own philosophy, which would be more appropriate.

After Thief Swallower, Non-Poison.

Distinguish which "poisons" are truly harmful, and even among the poisons, those that can be used to refine oneself should be utilized before attempting Filth Removal.

Now, he has completed the development of "Stinking Lungs" and "Thief Swallower," and is now developing "Non-Poison" products.

The amount of energy that can be drawn from each of these Three Po Dantians is far less than that from the dantian in his sea of qi that he has cultivated and sublimated to this point.

After all, his Qi Sea meridians had been cultivated to the Leakless Mystic Art, and through physical cultivation, his Leakless True Force, which also benefited the Qi channels throughout his body.

The Seven Souls Dantian, all seven combined, are merely to assist him in cultivating his Leakless Innate Nature.

However, although the quantity is somewhat insufficient, each of the new dantian has its own unique uses.

Besides the characteristics mentioned in the secret manual's theory, once Chu Tianshu truly mastered it, it would connect with his Qi Sea.

With each step I took, I felt refreshed and new.

"The body possesses Seven Souls, and within the body resides vital energy; these spirits and vital energy are interconnected, and the spirit is forged from this vital energy—"

The moment Chu Tianshu opened his eyes, the dozen or so colorful flames on his body went out at the same time, leaving only a dozen or so wisps of light blue smoke.

His gaze drifted out of the main hall.

It's as if you can see tangible winds lingering above the distant mountains, creating ripples as they collide with the rocks and undulate with the forest.

The once-flowing wind was also altered, flowing down the mountain in gusts and surging in different directions.

Wind has no form, waves have no substance.

As he cultivated the "Great Void Heavenly Silkworm General Principles" to this stage, it seemed that he could already give it a clear form with the naked eye.

Although this feeling was still intermittent and fleeting, it filled him with a delightful sense of wonder and made him yearn to immerse himself in it.

Chu Tianshu narrowed his eyes slightly, preserving this small portion of his vision, and took the opportunity to calculate.

"On the Dongshan Road, the wind arrives after three breaths, and twenty-three flowers fall."

Great Immortal Zongheng Temple, on the stone steps on the east side.

As Wu Bo was walking up the mountain, he suddenly felt a gust of wind from the distant mountains, causing the flowers and trees along the stone steps to sway.

But those were all magnolias, with sturdy leaves and sturdy flowers, only a few petals fell off.

Wu Bo looked up and saw that twenty-three flowers had fallen.

Chu Tianshu closed his eyes and continued his calculations.

"After prolonged exposure to the sun, the temperature has fluctuated, and the mountain's energy has shifted. On the seventeenth step of the North Mountain Path, a new crack has appeared."

The mountain path on the north side of this mountain has been in disrepair for many years, and few people walk there.

The stone steps, hundreds of layers high, are filled with weeds and even wild rice seedlings growing between the cracks.

And there are ants, crawling along the intact stone steps, heading towards their goal.

Suddenly, a new crack appeared in the stone steps, and an ant fell into the crack.

After a long while, the ant finally crawled out, and another drop of rain fell from the sky.

"The wind blew, the clouds gathered, the light rain condensed, and stopped after seven breaths."

A light drizzle fell intermittently, dripping from the stone steps towards the mountaintop, but it stopped after only seven breaths.

Outside the main hall, the last drop of rain fell, but not a single drop touched the roof of the hall.

Wu Bo's boots trod through the faint trace of rain as he entered the main hall, delivering a stack of documents.

"Grown ups."

Wu Bo said, "The progress reports from the various prefectures 'Divine Machine Battalion have been compiled and are submitted for your review, sir."

Among these government officials, it was still customary to address Chu Tianshu as "Sir".

All the government offices knew that this matter was being vigorously promoted by the Dream-Eating Marquis Manor.

However, besides the Dream-Eating Marquis, there is another person who seems to have more insight and is more involved.

Wu Bo is seen by many as someone who has the advantage of being in a privileged position, but only he knows the bitterness he suffers.

To this day, a wisp of Great Void Divine Art power remains buried deep within his heart, subtly affecting his mind and body.

He had never seen anyone's skill power condense into threads, winding like a silkworm cocoon.

Having been embedded in someone else's body for so long, the cocoon has not weakened. Instead, it seems to have its own life pulse, able to resonate with Wu Bo's breathing and circulation, using Wu Bo's usual breathing and intense emotional fluctuations to nourish itself.

Is this martial arts or Gu Arts?

Even those who practice Gu poison should use real poison as a catalyst; how could they possibly create the same effect as Gu poison with just their skill?

Chu Tianshu took the document and began to examine it.

Wu Bo cautiously speculated, thinking that Chu Tianshu seemed to be in a very good mood just now.

There's no one else here, so what could be making me happy?

Wu Bo, of course, knew nothing about it.

Chu Tianshu was happy just to prove his progress in cultivation, without needing anyone else to see it.

Of course, if fate brings you together, it would be even more fun to show off to others.

Wu Bo is no match. This man has already enjoyed all the blessings by simply pondering the cocoon in his heart. Even if you give him more shocks, he will not be able to give him genuine praise.

If you're going to show off, you have to do it in front of someone important.

"That's right, progress is very rapid in all areas."

When Chu Tianshu absorbed the power of the Heavenly Ranking, he sensed the influence of the Great Immortal Zongheng, whose power was rapidly increasing, indicating that progress in various regions was indeed very fast.

Moreover, he has documents and reports from more than one source.

The martial arts culture was extremely prevalent in the Great Xuan Dynasty. In the Jingxiang region, every village and hamlet had someone who knew a few kung fu skills, all of which were skills honed from childhood.

However, the government is incompetent and society is in disorder, unable to provide them with good jobs. If they want to gather into bandits and cause trouble everywhere, they are also suppressed by the imperial court and watched by the Divine Machine Battalion and the Six Gates.

Their energy was simply used for internal strife.

Chu Tianshu was willing to spend the Marquis's money and had enough of a deterrent effect. Once these people put their strength into serious matters, the progress would naturally be fast.

"Oh? The road repair work in Tang County has even been declared complete?"

"Indeed, I myself could hardly believe it. I went to see for myself, and it's really finished."

When Wu Bo talked about this, he felt a strange feeling in his heart.

Tang County was originally a new county established by the people who moved there during the large-scale development of Jingxiang.

Legend has it that back then, everyone was enthusiastic and worked together. Minor conflicts could be resolved in the blink of an eye. Even so, it took many years of construction to achieve its current state.

These people are all harboring resentment and infighting, and are filled with hatred for their hometown.

However, under the control of the government and the noble family, the whole event proceeded smoothly, with no bottlenecks in the allocation of materials, payment collection, and reporting.

Are our government officials really that powerful?!

For a moment, Wu Bo wondered if he had wasted the first half of his life, completely failing to see the potential of the government.

However, he soon realized that the most important thing here was the momentum that Chu Tianshu had personally created.

Leaving aside the difficulty of the Dream-Eating Marquis Manor's mansion, even if a wealthy merchant of equal means were to subdue a gang and the Divine Machine Battalion, and then manipulate the government, it would be an incredibly difficult task, requiring almost flawless execution at every step.

But as Chu Tianshu accomplished these tasks, bit by bit, strand by strand.

Wu Bo and the others followed him around, without even realizing what the difficulty was.

They witnessed firsthand that Chu Tianshu, while handling various matters, still had the mood to be sarcastic, joke, and casually convict and kill.

He was a completely unreliable and chivalrous person, yet he accomplished the most reliable things.

After visiting Tang County, Wu Bo kept thinking about this matter on his way back.

At this moment, he felt an even greater fear of Chu Tianshu than he did of the cocoon in his heart.

It wasn't just fear of death, but a stranger feeling.

Why are you looking at me like I'm a ghost?

Chu Tianshu didn't even lift his eyelids, and casually said something.

Wu Bo quickly lowered his gaze. "No, I revere you like a god."

Gods? It's just because they have more opportunities to practice and observe. But Laozi? I'm actually quite good at learning things.

Chu Tianshu chuckled inwardly and said, "Yan Shisansheng did a good job. Promote him back, and I'll reward him handsomely."

"This Ding Wanhua is quite interesting. When the project was finished, she even suggested leading the villagers to work elsewhere? Fine, consider her meritorious."

"She's from the Returning Wind Dancing Willow Sword Sect?"

Wu Bo nodded. "Exactly."

"The Returning Wind Dancing Willow Sword Sect, aided by the Heavenly Ranking Heavenly Ranking, is also constrained by it, and thus harbors much resentment."

Chu Tianshu changed the subject, "Heavenly Ranking Lord Xuantan, who is ranked Di Ba on the Heavenly Ranking in this era, was regarded as the Martial God of Wealth in his early years, but after he became famous, he was increasingly worshipped and kowtowed to as the God of Wealth, with people begging him to do good deeds."

"Therefore, he was almost always successful in business, and even when he sent caravans to foreign countries, he could still earn mountains of gold and silver."

"But because of this, he was truly charitable and generous. He was the biggest donor to the Six Gates ' private fundraising efforts and the earliest donor to the Dream-Eating Marquis Manor. Countless others had borrowed money from him."

"Isn't he also the financial backer of your Divine Machine Battalion?"

Wu Bo said, "We're different. He surrendered to our Divine Machine Battalion voluntarily. It seems that those who surrendered to the Six Gates every year couldn't please him, so he surrendered to us as well."

"Hahaha, it seems he can at least choose to apply to another company himself."

Chu Tianshu laughed out loud.

"Returning Wind Dancing Willow Sword Sect is unwilling to be truly bound by the Heavenly Ranking. Do you really think this former Martial God of Wealth would want to be constantly confined to the business world and become a money bag that anyone can borrow money from?"

Ten years ago, Lord Xuantan was ranked sixth.

He's now fallen to Di Ba.

The God of Wealth's fame is growing at a rate comparable to, and roughly equivalent to, that of the Dream-Eating. This can only mean that the troubles he has been through are enough to cause his realm to be truly overtaken by those behind him.

Wu Bo's expression changed slightly.

"Grown ups----"

Wu Bo and the others secretly gathered together, speculating about Chu Tianshu's intentions, and concluded that Chu Tianshu was unlikely to cause any major disturbances or attract attention in the near future.

It wouldn't hurt if everyone was forced to serve under him for a few years; after that, who knows what the situation would be like?

But why have they decided to take action against Lord Xuantan so quickly?

"My lord, please forgive me Lord Xuantan has long been invited to reside in the capital. Although he occasionally comes out for leisure, actively seeking to invite him would surely attract a lot of attention."

"This will definitely involve some truly important figures and top experts."

The Dream-Eating Marquis entered from outside the hall with a loud snort.

He overheard Chu Tianshu saying he was going to reward Yan Shisansheng handsomely in the side hall, and wanted to see what merit that little rascal had actually made.

Unexpectedly, I heard these words as soon as I arrived.

"General Wu, what do you mean? Brother Chu was able to defeat even me, the Marquis. How many people in the world are there that he should be wary of? Are you implying that I am not a truly great man?"

Wu Bo looked embarrassed and dared not say a word.

The Heavenly Ranking considers both merit and reputation.

The business of dream acquisition is too rare to be seen before, although those who have actually bought dreams are always those with enough money to afford them.

But the more extraordinary it was, the more its reputation spread throughout the surrounding seas.

Your seventh-place ranking also leans towards the unorthodox and ingenious. In a true battle of sheer strength, even if you catch up to the Lord Xuantan realm, I'm afraid—

Moreover, when Lord Xuantan makes a move, it involves more than just one person.

"Lord Xuantan, Lan Ziya, Ziya is a good name."

Chu Tianshu laughed, "This name sounds like it won't catch any fish."

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"You two find a way to send him an invitation to eat fish. That's settled then. Go quickly."