Dual Cultivation God Returns-Chapter 688 The fisherman

""Fuu~"", Madam Liang and Zhao Biren heavily exhaled, opening their eyes as they, unlike Wu Long, had to concentrate and meditate in order to view, as well as influence, a remote location, not having the capacity to process two realities at the same time as he did.

Hong Yue, who was this whole time silently conversing with Wu Long, cut off her speech, seeing that they were no longer in the privacy of their companions being mentally preoccupied.

Though her conversation was not exactly of a private nature, as she was simply inquiring his motives in moving so stealthily and carefully, not openly initiating contact with any of the local official powers.

Though she could partially understand the reasons due to the information he revealed earlier, Hong Yue was in this conversation further affirmed in the sensibility of his actions, when she heard just how paper thin was the veil that separated them from a very tangible threat.

It was fine to assume that the local Iron Claw Group did not pose that much threat to him. In fact, he would likely not find any danger in approaching them directly and finding out any information he so desired, even if he had to antagonize them to do so. The reason he was careful, though, was because of something commonly called the "exponential escalation".

Even the most remote areas of civilized life in the Seven Boundless Worlds, still bore, however thin, a connection to the more affluent regions, and however insignificant and manageable one might at first find their opponents upon arriving in a new Boundless Worlds, they would very quickly realize that confronting them without proper knowledge can disproportionately rapidly escalate to trouble beyond their means.

Directly confronting local forces might truly be easy, but was too reckless of a move in absence of any information about whose influence was present in the area.

This was something confirmed by the information provided by the man who so generously decided to share his knowledge with them.

As soon as their business was complete, Wu Long's group got up from the table, leaving a small sum of money transported to them by Fen Baihu, and quietly disappeared into the crowd. Although if one were to look for them after, they were nowhere to be found in the city.

—

As Old Yen continued a more soft search of information with the funds so generously provided by the man lost in the dreams of a Mystic Realm, Wu Long returned with the little group to the Eternal Duality Valley where the key figures gathered for another small council, to share and discuss the newly received information, as well as preliminary plans for the future.

The Soft Meadow Continent they were currently residing on was, as was quite common, divided into numerous Mortal Countries, but that was a society separated from the cultivation society they were concerned with.

There were, of course, overlapping parts, but apart from those they mostly existed in an almost deliberate isolation of each other, unlike the Three Continents where the two blended together.

"So you're saying that Mortal Countries here are generally restricted to the first six of the Nine Mortal Realms, and when one exceeds that cultivation, they belong to the cultivation world, not the world of Mortals…", Nie Xiwang nodded with understanding.

"Generally, yes. Once one's cultivation reaches Core Formation Realm, they become entangled with the society of the cultivation world, whether they want it or not, since they are at the bottom of the ladder at that moment, thereby slowly being unable to retain strong connections with Mortals", Wu Long replied in his usual manner, not assuming absolutes, but merely pointing out the general trends.

"Hmm, that would mean that as we don't seek to interfere in the lives of Mortals there's absolutely no merit for us in researching their politics and state of affairs…", Feng Yi traced her chin in thought, as that was quite different to what she expected their initial goals were.

Wu Long nodded once more, adding "Borders of countries as divided by Mortals do not concern us -or cultivators in general for that matter - at all, in fact cultivators are often oblivious to the existence of such distinctions"

"But there are also countries that belong to the society of the cultivation world, right?", Cao Mei chimed in with excitement, as she could envision great nations of cultivators that she heard of.

"Naturally, those exist as well, and in places they do exist, they rule over both Cultivators and Mortals alike. We will no doubt visit them in the future", he chuckled, seeing the enthusiasm of Cao Mei and some beauties around rise at those words, "But that is more of an exception than the rule, as most of the Seven Boundless Worlds is covered in lands like these"

"Given the vastness of a Boundless World, …", Ye Ling offered more insight, "... cultivators generally do not linger in places with nothing to be gained. The density of cultivator population in any given area is directly proportional to the richness of resources found in that area, in addition to any other benefits, or exceptional factors that make it an area of interest. Highly beneficial areas usually have several powerful factions, contesting for dominance, or one dominant power that has complete control. All other areas are generally ruled by small groups like here, those who don't have enough power to contest for better territories, or enough talent to join larger factions"

"But didn't you say that all areas with links to lower Boundless Worlds are inherently areas of influence?", Hong Yue asked recalling Wu Long's earlier explanation.

"Yes, as I also said that Frontier Worlds were of great value as well. This world lost both qualifications, thus losing any of its usefulness. It is no wonder it was mostly abandoned", Wu Long chuckled, "though we cannot exclude the possibility of at least lingering interest in this world. Or rather, now that we have a spy of a more powerful force, we have proof that prominent powers closely monitor the situation here"

"Then it is only a matter of time before this world is embroiled in a power struggle between at least a couple of major forces", Nie Xiwang noted, causing Wu Long to nod in agreement.

"How do we go about facing them?", Feng Yi addressed the elephant in the room, since contending with major powers of this Boundless World right after arriving in it was obviously not the best situation they could wish for.

"We don't need to", Wu Long chuckled, earning quite a few raised eyebrows, and then with a chuckled giving an explanation, "the first order of business was information, and we have succeeded in procuring what we needed before any of the big players entered the stage. Now, we are no longer in such a vulnerable position, so we can turn our attention to growing our capabilities and developing our strength, something I told you we have to do"

The urgency of Wu Long's first move was to fix a fatal weakness in their position, which was the blindness toward their situation and environment, that made any and all moves extremely dangerous.

Now, however, they were instead in the position of power, since they knew about those around them more than the latter knew about them.

"So your plan is to dive deep and just stay low while consolidating our strength?", Xue Bing asked with a bit of bluntness, expressing what others thought but did not voice.

After all, it was a little hard to believe that he would take such a passive approach.

"Hahaha, no, of course not. We will also be gradually strengthening our positions and expanding our influence, but that has to be a very careful and gradual process in order to not lose our advantage", Wu Long lightly laughed, seeing that no one really believed he wanted to lay low, "we do lack funds, after all. So our second order of business would be to discreetly enter the local market"

"What currency are they using here?", Sui Luxiao's eyes lit up at the mention of the local economy.

"Mm, while I did say that countries of cultivators took up a smaller percentage of territory in the Boundless Worlds, their influence goes way beyond their actual borders. Each region's cultivators use the currency of the overlord of the region. In the case of this region, it is the Wei Dynasty that Old Man Zhao was a vassal of, and thus for several hundred Worlds around, the currency is their coin"

"Then I suppose there is a market of exchange between those powerful nations?", Sui Luxiao nodded with understanding, clarifying the first thing that came to mind.

"Yes, and that is where powerful Trading Companies and other international organizations come into play as well. Overall, the economy here is more complex than in the Three Continents, and there are many players involved. So if we were to aim big for the foreseeable future, it would be to expand the Soaring Feather Trading Company and its influence over the economy of the region, and if possible, further still"

As he made this goal clear, Sui Luxiao's eyes flared with excitement and anticipation. Cao Mei and Cao Xiang also looked at each other as they realized that there was a busy time ahead.

"Well, for now, as you heard, there will soon be a struggle between major forces here, it would be a waste not to use it", Wu Long then added with a grin.

"Hahaha! When the Sandpiper and the Clam fight each other, it's the Fisherman who benefits! Valley Master is wise!", General Feng's voice thundered as he proclaimed his approval as Wu Long's grin froze.