I, Who Hate Marine So Much, Have Become A Future Nika?

Chapter 284: The End of the Universe - (4800 words)

Time passed slowly, and soon three months had gone by.

During these days, regardless of the strength of the Cloud Firmament Sect, it had gained fame and popularity, resembling that of the Sacred Land.

There were too many people gathered here.

Qi Refining, Foundation Building, Gold Core, and even Nascent Soul cultivators continuously flocked to the Cloud Firmament Sect.

Moreover, these cultivators who came were not limited to the North Abyss Region.

Cultivators from the Cloud Dream Heavenly Domain and the Western Wasteland Wilderness also hurried to the Cloud Firmament Sect and settled in the nearby Cloud City.

In order to accommodate these cultivators, the Cloud Firmament Sect expanded the Cloud City, its largest market, by more than three times, and established more than ten satellite cities according to local customs.

At the same time, most cultivators had spirit stones, and the majority of them carried all their belongings with them. With a large number of cultivators gathering, there was also a large amount of spirit stone materials, making the area around the Cloud Firmament Sect extremely lively.

For the Cloud Firmament Sect, such a scene of cultivators gathering naturally had its benefits.

Regardless of other factors, just one point alone made the Cloud Firmament Sect earn a lot - housing prices.

Among the four essential elements of cultivation - wealth, companionship, law, and land - although land ranked the lowest, it was still indispensable.

Even powerful cultivators needed spiritual land for cultivation, and their requirements were even higher.

After all, energy in the world is conserved. The stronger the cultivator, the more spiritual energy they consumed. Naturally, their requirements for spiritual land in both their lives and cultivation were higher.

The many Foundation Building, Gold Core, and Nascent Soul cultivators who came all needed a good Cave Mansion for cultivation.

And within a radius of ten thousand miles, all the land belonged to the Cloud Firmament Sect. Without the permission of the Cloud Firmament Sect, not to mention long-term residence, they couldn't even build a house.

This forced a large number of cultivators to pay money to rent the Cave Mansions built by the Cloud Firmament Sect.

With many cultivators coming and few good Cave Mansions available, this seller's market caused housing prices around the Cloud Firmament Sect to rise three times a day.

In just three months, housing prices around the Cloud Firmament Sect had skyrocketed by more than ten times.

The spiritual stone income earned from rent alone had nearly doubled the Cloud Firmament Sect's financial revenue.

This situation made the experienced high-level members of the Cloud Firmament Sect somewhat stunned.

At this moment, Tao Juran, as a core disciple and a Gold Core cultivator, looked at the gathered information and his hands trembled slightly...

"One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand... one hundred and three billion spirit stones. Although some wealthy individuals rented for decades at once, isn't this amount of spirit stones too exaggerated? Can housing prices really make so much money?"

Excited, Tao Juran's eyes turned slightly red as he looked straight at Zhong Cang.

"Junior Brother, you're not a reincarnated immortal, but a reincarnated god of wealth, right?"

Being able to collect so many spirit stones at once naturally had something to do with Zhong Cang.

He brought some tricks from his previous life of selling houses and made a big profit in this world.

He earned a staggering amount of spirit stones that even Gold Core cultivators, even core disciples, even those with strong personal strength, had never possessed.

Now, the spirit stones he had collected amounted to over a hundred billion.

And this was not all from housing prices.

"If this pattern continues, we could collect trillions of spirit stones, right...?"

Tao Juran gasped in shock.

On the other hand, listening to his senior brother's endless sighs, Zhong Cang could only say that his knowledge was still limited.

Real estate in his previous life had supported the infrastructure of a great nation for nearly ten years.

However, after the sigh, Zhong Cang also spoke with a worried tone:

"Senior Brother, making money from housing prices is natural, but it also invites hatred. You guys..."

As soon as Zhong Cang opened his mouth, Tao Juran knew what he was going to say. Therefore, without waiting for him to finish, Tao Juran waved his hand repeatedly and said, "We're working on it, we're working on it. We've invested eighty percent of the money earned from housing prices into the construction of the Floating Sky City!"

"As long as the Floating Sky City is as strong as you say, our Cloud Firmament Sect will not be in chaos."

"That's good."

After speaking, Zhong Cang's gaze continued to look towards the Cloud Sky City and the massive teleportation gate standing in the middle of it.

This is one of the reasons why the cultivators have gathered here.

While the Heavenly Heart is indeed attractive, it wouldn't gather millions of cultivators here.

The reason they stay is because of the Heavenly Heart's teleportation gate.

For the cultivators, the former can increase their comprehension and help them break through their cultivation techniques.

But in cultivation, one cannot lack resources, wealth, and companions. Even if their cultivation techniques break through, it would still be insufficient without enough resources.

The teleportation gate fills this gap - entering the mortal realm, if they are lucky, they can obtain everything they desire.

And then - the resources they obtain will all be gathered within the Cloud Firmament Sect after going around in circles.

The Cloud Firmament Sect is not a charitable organization. After fighting with other sects for so long to gain the upper hand, they naturally won't allow independent cultivators and cultivators from other places to enter the mortal realm for free.

Any cultivator entering the mortal realm from the Cloud Firmament Sect's territory needs to sign a contract and give fifty percent of their gains to the Cloud Firmament Sect.

This dominance is not exclusive to the Cloud Firmament Sect, but rather the entire alliance of sects and demonic sects.

What, entering the mortal realm privately?

Those who are seen as trespassers by both the righteous and demonic factions can be killed on sight.

In addition to the fifty percent tax, any other resources obtained by independent cultivators will also return to the Cloud Firmament Sect.

This time, it's not about forcibly taking things, but rather that they can't do without the Cloud Firmament Sect.

Talismans, refining tools, formations, pills... Although independent cultivators understand these things, they don't possess the systematic cultivation of the Cloud Firmament Sect.

Not to mention, independent cultivators have a bad reputation, and no one dares to casually consume pills.

On the other hand, the Cloud Firmament Sect may sell things at a high price, but they provide guarantees.

In addition, the Cloud Firmament Sect relies on renting out Cave Mansions, auctions, selling mid to low-level cultivation techniques, teaching the Heavenly Heart... They are cutting the leeks of the independent cultivators one by one.

It can only be said that during this period of time, the Cloud Firmament Sect has truly made a fortune.

Those millions of independent cultivators have become the workers of the Cloud Firmament Sect.

However, while enjoying massive benefits, there is a hint of worry in Zhong Cang's heart.

He has always believed that the domain that can shake the entire North Abyss Region during clashes is definitely not a good place.

Moreover, besides the mortal realm, not all of those millions of independent cultivators are well-behaved.

There is a saying in the world, "With a weapon in hand, killing intent arises."

There is also a saying that "Heroes defy prohibitions with martial arts."

Cultivators rely on their own power, and when they have strength, their first thought upon seeing something good is not that it belongs to someone else, but rather to snatch it for themselves.

For this reason, they even came up with an extremely shameless saying - "The treasure belongs to the virtuous."

What is virtue? A fist is virtue.

Independent cultivators who rose up from chaos regard this as their guiding principle.

Even Zhong Cang, when he saw the five and a half Innate Spiritual Treasures in the Wutai Mountain Secret Realm, his eyes lit up and he wanted to claim the treasures for himself.

Therefore, these millions of independent cultivators are also millions of violent mobs. As long as the Cloud Firmament Sect declines even slightly, they will swarm like wild dogs and devour the Cloud Firmament Sect completely.

Is the Cloud Firmament Sect safe?

Of course not.

There are external enemies, unknown hidden dangers, and millions of violent mobs around. Even the Transcendent Level major sects may not just watch the Cloud Firmament Sect rise.

It can be said that the Cloud Firmament Sect is indeed prosperous at this moment.

However, it is like boiling oil over a fierce fire, like a beautiful flower with delicate patterns, always on the verge of collapse.

"Hu..."

"Danger is just danger. If we want to rise, we must inevitably go through storms and hardships."

"In the mortal realm, there is both crisis and opportunity... Anything that poses a threat to us must possess a transcendent and extraordinary power. If we can make use of those powers for ourselves, the strength of the Cloud Firmament Sect will undoubtedly increase."

"And there are millions of independent cultivators. If they all come together, it will indeed be troublesome. But as long as the Cloud Firmament Sect never declines, they will be our vanguard, our workers, forever accumulating wealth for our sect!"

"As for the demons... they are indeed dangerous. But precisely because they are facing such a great enemy of humanity, the transcendent-level major sects of the Central Continent will not allow the Cloud Firmament Sect to rise. They will immediately try to extinguish us... They need humans to guard the borders."

Crisis contains opportunities, and the Great Dao requires competition. Zhong Cang has confidence in overcoming the crisis, seizing the opportunity, and rising with the momentum.

While thinking about various things, Zhong Cang returned to his own engineering team.

The engineering team was not located in Shattered Star Lake, but on a special mountain peak. At this moment, the mountain had been cut in half and inverted using magical techniques. Countless cultivators were busy working on the mountain, either inscribing talismans, setting up formations, or using their own refined tools to bestow special abilities upon the mountain.

There was also a group of master carvers in the central part of the mountain, carving palaces.

To refine a mountain into a floating city and embed countless formations to give it powerful abilities should be extremely difficult. However, in just three months, this floating city had already taken shape.

The reason for this rapid progress was because each cultivator was treated as an engineering team, as Zhong Cang had previously sighed. For the humans of the previous era, their power was limited, and they had to rely on machinery for certain large materials. However, machinery had fixed and rigid movements, making it very inconvenient and cumbersome to operate. This meant that every time a large machine was used, a considerable amount of time would be wasted, causing delays in the progress of human engineering.

Cultivators, on the other hand, were different. Qi Refining cultivators could use magical techniques to lift thousands of kilograms of weight. Foundation Building and Gold Core cultivators could easily handle tens of thousands of kilograms. This allowed them to pick up any materials they needed with their hands.

At the same time, they could use spiritual fire or mana to process the materials as they pleased.

Furthermore, cultivators had abundant vitality and could work continuously for several days or even a month.

Lastly, cultivators had the ability to create clones and summon puppets or Dao weapons to assist them...

Combining all these factors, cultivators were almost omnipotent. Moreover, with thousands of cultivators working together, their efficiency was equivalent to that of ten thousand people.

With ten thousand tireless and versatile tools, how could the construction of the floating city be slow in such a situation?

If they were willing to pay the price and use the Flowing Light Grotto-Heaven, they could build ten cities in a month!

Hmm... of course, if they wanted to quickly build the floating city, there was a prerequisite: they needed a large amount of spiritual stone resources.

But through a series of operations by the sect and Zhong Cang, the sect was not lacking in spiritual stones and resources. As a result, in the Cloud Firmament Sect, the first project established was the construction of thirty-three floating cities.

...

Arriving at this place, Zhong Cang first glanced at the progress of the construction of the floating city. Then, he found an old man standing at the highest point.

He was the only Grandmaster of formations in the sect and also the chief designer of the floating city project.

Respecting the capable, Zhong Cang was quite respectful towards him.

"Old Zheng, didn't you say that the interior space of the floating city was already arranged three days ago? What is that?" Zhong Cang pointed in a direction and asked.

Glancing at the direction Zhong Cang was pointing, Old Zheng quickly replied, "That is reserved space for the divine tree... You mentioned that the floating city is an impregnable fortress that needs to be able to sustain itself for at least a year in desperate situations. After considering it, we thought that it would be difficult for disciples to live comfortably for a year with just formations. So we thought of transplanting a divine tree into the floating city, using the power of the divine tree to regulate the five elements and spiritual energy."

"As a wood-type spiritual plant, most divine trees have the ability to regulate spiritual energy, stabilize space, store spiritual energy, purify the air, and heal cultivators. In crisis situations, divine trees can also provide food for cultivators. At the same time, the branches and roots of the divine tree can also serve as the foundation of the floating city. So we thought of incorporating a divine tree into each floating city..."

Using a divine tree as one of the foundations of the floating city was feasible and could greatly enhance the endurance of the floating city.

The fact that they were able to combine the divine tree with the floating city also demonstrated the strength of the old man before him.

After respectfully bowing to him, Zhong Cang somewhat embarrassedly said, "Old Zheng, take a look..."

"Hahaha..."

Zhong Cang's slightly embarrassed expression made Zheng Lao laugh.

After a long while, he wordlessly took out a few jade slips and smiled at Zhong Cang, saying, "You little brat, if you want the formation diagram, just say so. As long as you want it, I'm willing to give it to you. I'm already old, and the future of the Cloud Firmament Sect is waiting for you to take over."

"Zheng Gong, you're too kind, and besides, you're not old..."

After a few more exchanges, Zhong Cang began studying with some jade slips.

This was also Zhong Cang's daily routine.

Every day, after teaching the laws and giving lectures, Zhong Cang spent all his remaining time in the Floating Sky City construction team.

However, he was ultimately just a formation master, barely even a grandmaster.

Being able to design the Floating Sky City, a Law Weapon with strategic significance, relied on his past experiences. He still lacked many things himself.

Because of this, in the Floating Sky City construction team, Zhong Cang's main focus was not on building the floating city with others. Instead, he focused on learning and understanding the concepts and knowledge of formation grandmasters and grandmasters.

What made Zhong Cang feel at ease was that his talent had been recognized by everyone.

In this world, as long as your talent is strong enough, you will find beauty everywhere and good people everywhere.

Zhong Cang's experience was just like that.

Whether it was a formation grandmaster or a grandmaster, they didn't mind getting along well with Zhong Cang. Some even wanted to leave their names in history through Zhong Cang.

Therefore, no matter what he wanted to learn, there were people patiently teaching him.

Formation grandmaster Zheng Lao even had a plan to cultivate Zhong Cang as his successor.

Hmm, as a formation grandmaster, Zheng Lao was initially a bit reserved.

As a scarce formation grandmaster, his status was extremely high. Even the sect master had to address him as Old Qin when visiting.

In this situation, he didn't need to please Zhong Cang.

When interacting with Zhong Cang, his emotions were the calmest.

However, after a few consultations with Zhong Cang, his attitude immediately changed.

With a strong soul and the Five Realms Heavenly Heart, Zhong Cang's multi-core thinking could now split into 128 parts.

The combination of these two abilities allowed Zhong Cang to learn knowledge quickly and without any bottlenecks.

According to his speculation, if Zhong Cang hadn't injured Zhong Yong halfway, his formation realm would definitely surpass the realm of his grandmaster and reach the level of a sage.

(End of this chapter)

At the same time, his past experiences allowed Zhong Cang to come up with various novel ideas.

The latter two realms were great existences that could leave a mark in the world of human cultivation.

............

Reacting from his fear, what rose in Zheng Lao's heart was extreme joy.

"With such monstrous talent, this child must not be allowed to leave... Wait, he belongs to our sect, so there's no problem."

The former allowed him to integrate and thoroughly understand the knowledge once he comprehended it, making it completely his own.

In the end, Zheng Lao widened his eyes and discovered that as long as he dared to teach, Zhong Cang could learn about formation knowledge.

When all these factors were combined, Zhong Cang's comprehension speed in learning formations was unheard of by Zheng Lao.

When seeking advice, every hint from Zheng Lao allowed Zhong Cang to contemplate and analyze from 128 different perspectives.

And now, he had the opportunity to teach Zhong Cang and help him become a sage or even a saint. In this situation, his attitude naturally underwent a drastic change.

Just this alone was astonishing.

And this was not even considering the boost from the Heavenly Heart, which greatly increased Zhong Cang's comprehension.

The latter allowed Zhong Cang to increase his proficiency by +1 and solve doubts and problems in his mind simply by trying it out.

Such talent even made Zheng Lao feel a sense of fear.

What was even more terrifying was that Zhong Cang had Once Proven, Forever Proven and Heaven Rewards Diligence.