Chapter 328 - Extremely Tacky, Extremely Enjoyable
"Chen Chen, what are you...doing?"
Xiao Wuyou spluttered somewhat incoherently as he looked at the thousands of cultivators dressed in uniform clothing.
Chen Chen explained, "I set up a merchant alliance in the Boundless Sea, and these are all members of the merchant alliance."
The fact of Zhou Renlong, who was at the side, turned sullen after hearing his words.
'You have more than a thousand members, you call those resources?'
If he had guessed correctly, there should be more than ten cultivators who were in the Essence Soul realm. They were no weaker than the cultivators of Mount Wufeng.
'Since when...did this kid develop such a strong force in the Boundless Sea?'
...
Chen Chen ignored the gazes of astonishment coming from the people around him and said indifferently, "Pinghai, how is the Merchant Alliance developing nowadays?"
"Alliance Master, there are now 36 giant boats under the command of the merchant alliance, and all of the 98 islands in the nearby hundreds of thousands of miles of the sea have joined the merchant alliance."
"In addition, our merchant alliance has more than two thousand stores, and nearly 100,000 merchant alliance members including low-ranking cultivators, in the major cities at the edge of the sea."
'One hundred thousand...'
Hearing this number, Zhou Renlong almost fainted!
'Chen Chen is horrible. The Boundless Sea belongs to him. How can he have the cheek to say that he only has some assets.'
"Alliance Master, since you informed me last time that perhaps, you will one day live in the Boundless Sea, we have prepared an island for you as a cultivation abode for you."
Seeing the shock and bafflement on the faces of the cultivators, Nan Pinghai was secretly pleased. He decided to add those words in order to show the superiority of the Boundless Sea.
"That's very thoughtful of you," Chen Chen praised.
He did not dare to live in the city by the Boundless Sea. According to his plan, he would move to the island, and when the time comes, he would have a bunch of Void Refinement realm cultivators for bodyguards. Who would dare to create trouble?
Now that Nan Pinghai had already prepared everything, he was naturally pleased.
"Alliance Master, how about I take you there now?"
"Okay."
Chen Chen answered and once again returned to the giant boat.
As for the group of cultivators on the giant boat, they had yet to completely snap back to their senses and most of them seemed to be in a trance.
...
Two hours passed.
Under the leadership of Nan Pinghai, the giant boat went about 5,000 kilometers deeper into the Boundless Sea and arrived over an island called Kongming Island.
Chen Chen silently scanned the map. Kongming Island was roughly located at the very center of the Boundless Sea with seven or eight islands within a thousand kilometers around him. They were just like stars revolving around a moon.
Besides, the area of Kongming Island was large too as it occupied an area of dozens of meters, which was more than enough to accommodate a few hundred people.
"Everyone, come with me!"
Nan Pinghai pointed to Kongming Island below with a smile on his face.
A few moments later, the protective array of the empty bright island below opened wide, however, before the crowd could see clearly what it was all like inside, a more dazzling light shot out from the island, shaking the crowd of cultivators who could not open their eyes.
Chen Chen inhaled sharply.
After waiting for a while, the cultivators inhaled sharply when he took a clear look at the situation. Even Chen Chen could not help but take two steps back.
"This..."
'Too tacky!'
There was a palace covering an area of nearly a million square meters that was golden in color.
It wasn't really gold, but rather, it was a somewhat translucent yellow crystal that emitted a dazzling golden light under the sun. It was simply the crystal palace that existed only in legends and myths.
Chen Chen felt that an ordinary person would go blind sooner, or later if they were to stay there.
"Alliance Master, this is the best building material of the Boundless Sea, the Deep Sea Citrine. Its value is higher than that of medium-grade Spirit Stones. It not only has a gorgeous appearance, but more crucially, it can absorb the surrounding spiritual energy, and with the accumulation of time, the spiritual energy of Kongming Island will become richer and richer."
Nan Pinghai was extremely proud as if he was claiming credit.
Chen Chen checked the palace with his divine senses. Apart from the Deep Sea Citrine, the palace was also decorated with a large number of exotic treasures.
This palace was probably the most majestic palace they could imagine.
"This is a little tacky... it doesn't suit my style at all."
Chen Chen sighed in his heart, but when he saw Nan Pinghai's prideful expression, he couldn't bear to be a wet blanket.
A ship owner who had been hanging out in the Boundless Sea for years, how high could his beauty standards be?
"Well, it's not bad, just a little too extravagant... I'm used to being frugal, I can't get used to this."
Chen Chen casually praised.
Nan Pinghai hurriedly shook his head and said, "Lord, you have brought too many benefits to the cultivators of the Boundless Sea. This palace is considered nothing. If not for the shortage of time, I would have built some palaces on several surrounding islands!"
Chen Chen smiled modestly and did not speak again.
As for Zhou Renlong who was behind him, his eyes were already glistening at this moment and he wished he could go in now.
Clearly, his aesthetic sense was similar to that of Nan Pinghai.
His pursuit was the most extreme enjoyment brought by the most extreme tackiness.
Chen Chen glanced at the excited cultivators behind him and sighed deeply.
Since he could no longer contribute to the human race, he could only come here to enjoy life.
Unfortunately, a good young man like him was sinking into pleasure just like that.
'What's the point of being so hard on myself?'
Thinking of this, he said to the crowd of cultivators solemnly, "You guys haven't gotten used to life here in the Boundless Sea yet. Let Nan Pinghai take you to other places later to have a look, and try to integrate yourselves into the merchant alliance as soon as possible."
The look on the faces of all the cultivators froze when they heard that.
Based on Chen Chen's words, they reckoned that they probably couldn't stay here anymore. After that, many cultivators had disappointment written all over their faces.
Even then, Chen Chen didn't show any signs of being soft-hearted.
As the saying goes, modesty drives progress while arrogance makes one lag behind. Being thrifty is something to be proud of and being proud is something to be ashamed of.
The cultivators had yet to experience the lavishness of the human world, and it was inevitable that they wouldn't be able to resist the temptation.
That wasn't acceptable.
He couldn't go back to the human territory because of objective reasons.
On the other hand, the cultivators still had chances to return in the future, so he couldn't ruin their future.
Hence, it was better for him and Xia Xishuang to stay in such a place.
Although this style does not seem to match with the theme of a recluse...
"Chen Chen, I feel that I can try to reach the Void Refinement realm. I won't join them in familiarizing myself with the situation. I'll stay here in a recluse from now on."
Zhou Renlong said seriously. As soon as he said that, he found a room in the corner of the palace and went into seclusion regardless of whether Chen Chen agreed to it.
Chen Chen smiled and shook his head. He didn't bother with him.
Although the other cultivators were a little disappointed, they were generally in a good mood.
They had chosen to follow Chen Chen with the hopes of leaving Mount Wufeng.
However, this place didn't feel like a refugee camp at all. They felt like they were here for a vacation as it was much better than they had expected!
...
Meanwhile...
In a certain realm of the eastern region of the demon race, Xiao Liang looked rather serious. In front of him, there was a group of intelligence officers of the Great Jing Dynasty.
Although Bai Dongsheng had possessed him for a while and caused great damage to his body, the Great Jing Dynasty had given him a huge compensation afterwards. In short, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
Now, he was also given the task of tracking down Chen Chen's whereabouts.
This task was much safer than fighting the demons on the front line.
"Lord, we've found Chen Chen."
At this moment, an intelligence member reported in surprise after taking a look at the communication token.
Xiao Liang raised his brows in surprise.
In his opinion, Chen Chen was also a mighty figure. It wasn't that easy to flee so he had prepared himself for a long time.
Who would have thought there would be news of Chen Chen's whereabouts so soon?
"Where did he escape to?" Xiao Liang hurriedly asked.
"The cultivator who heard it said that he headed in the direction of the Boundless Sea." The man replied.
Hearing the word Boundless Sea, Xiao Liang felt a headache coming on.
The Boundless Sea was massive, and if Chen Chen were to float on the Boundless Sea and make a living by fishing, it would be hard for him to be found.
What made him even more worried was that there were many terrifying sea demons in the Boundless Sea. If Chen Chen were to accidentally get eaten by the sea demons, it would be over for him.
He had to personally kill Chen Chen in order to receive the blessing from Heaven so that his ancestor could be spared from the suffering of the Thunder Tribulation.
At the thought of this, he gritted his teeth and said, "Hurry up and assemble some people to go with me to the Boundless Sea!"