After confirming the change in the plan from constructing a town to building a city in Shushui Village, the next topic of discussion naturally shifted to the specifics.
Since it was now a city, some adjustments would need to be made to the previous designs. However, there was no need for a major overhaul, as the original plan only included a few additions for town management and a commercial district.
The management area itself didn't need to be relocated since it was already positioned closest to Lingxian Sect, making it ideal as the core administrative center. However, the newly planned residential and commercial districts would need to be reallocated.
Currently, most of Shushui Village's land was used for farming, with only a small portion designated for residential areas. Since these farmlands had been passed down through generations of villagers, it wouldn't be appropriate to repurpose them as construction sites.
So, with the city plan in mind, all new structures would have to expand outward.
This was the first point.
The second point involved the specific structure of the city and the design plans for its construction.
Neither Qin Jianghe nor Liu Yunan had much experience with city planning. While they had visited several large towns and prefecture cities over the years, they didn't feel confident enough to design the city themselves. They wisely decided to consult Lin Xiao for guidance.
If Lin Xiao had no particular ideas, they intended to seek help from professionals, either from the local populace or the imperial government.
As it turned out, Lin Xiao did have some thoughts.
However, his ideas weren't directly related to city planning. Instead, he thought of the system's building fusion function.
While listening to Qin Jianghe and Liu Yunan explain the plan, Lin Xiao quietly asked the system in his mind, "System, since you've been upgraded, does that mean the building fusion function has also been upgraded?"
[To adapt to the new version and facilitate the progress of advanced tasks, all functions have been upgraded in this update. Please check the details carefully, Host.]
Since the system had updated, Lin Xiao hadn't taken the time to thoroughly explore the new features.
"Can the building fusion function now combine an entire city?" he asked.
[As long as there are sufficient building materials and blueprints, it can be done.]
With the system's affirmative response, Lin Xiao felt much more at ease.
This meant that the city they planned to build in Shushui Village could be designed even more impressively.
He turned to Qin Jianghe and Liu Yunan and said, "We'll need blueprints and a large amount of building materials. First, you should contact the royal family. I'm sure they have plenty of architectural experts. Have them design some blueprints for us, and once we have them, we can make any necessary modifications to suit our needs. After that, we'll gather the required materials."
"When the preliminary work is done, there's no need to rush to hire craftsmen. I have other plans in mind."
"Got it. I'll contact Li Zhouxuan right away," Liu Yunan replied.
"As for building materials, the amount needed to construct a city will be enormous. I'll contact the workshops to secure the basic supplies first to avoid delays when construction starts," Qin Jianghe added.
"Great. Oh, Jianghe, I just borrowed 100,000 spirit stones from the head of the Yuan family to purchase some essential items for the trading center. He's agreed to lend them, so make the arrangements to collect the stones," Lin Xiao instructed.
At the mention of such a large expenditure, Qin Jianghe's heart skipped a beat. A hundred thousand spirit stones was no small amount. Every time they conducted business with the cultivation world, they only earned about ten thousand spirit stones at best. And from that, they had to deduct the cost of using the Qiankun Transfer Array, along with other expenses like the sect's various needs and occasional purchases. What was left was not much. With the spirit stone mine currently untouchable, it would be difficult to repay a debt of 100,000 spirit stones at their current rate of accumulation.
However, since Lin Xiao had deemed the expenditure necessary, it was clearly something the sect couldn't do without. Despite his initial shock, Qin Jianghe didn't question the decision and said, "Understood. I'll personally go in a few days to ensure the spirit stones are collected."
Lin Xiao noticed the surprise on both Qin Jianghe and Liu Yunan's faces at the mention of the 100,000 spirit stones. He chuckled and reassured them, "Once the trading center is up and running, everyone who trades here will have to pay taxes. We won't need to worry about spirit stones in the future."
He then turned to Liu Yunan and added, "The Li family has decent integrity. You can share a bit about the city-building plan with them. Although our trading center won't be under their jurisdiction, they'll still benefit from having it within their territory. We don't need to worry about them leaking the information or plotting anything underhanded."
"Got it, Brother Xiao. I'll handle communication with them," Liu Yunan replied.
With that, there was nothing more to discuss for the time being. The three of them finalized a few details and then set off to carry out their respective tasks.
As Qin Jianghe and Liu Yunan left the grand hall to attend to their duties, Lin Xiao checked the time and headed toward the Qingyun Peak disciples' dormitories.
He found He Yi inside his room, studying the second chapter of Ben Yuan Heart Sutra, when a familiar knock sounded at the door.
"Come in."
With the barrier lifted, Lin Xiao entered the room, closing the door behind him. He glanced at the cultivation manual on He Yi's desk and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? You're hard at work. Did I interrupt you?"
"Did the Sect Master come for an urgent matter?" He Yi responded directly without answering the question.
Understanding that he had interrupted He Yi during his studies, Lin Xiao smiled and got straight to the point. He pulled out the jade slip that recorded the peculiar stone patterns from the Jishi mine.
"Take a look at this. Have you seen anything like it in any ancient texts?"
He Yi furrowed his brow slightly as he took the jade slip. Knowing that Lin Xiao was asking about "ancient texts," He Yi surmised it was likely related either to yuan energy or Jishi. Since Lin Xiao had mastered yuan energy himself, it was clearly the latter.
After scanning the contents with his divine sense and thoroughly examining each pattern, He Yi withdrew his divine sense and looked at Lin Xiao.
"I haven't seen an exact match, but a few of the patterns bear some resemblance to something I've seen before. However, I can't say for certain."
He paused to recall the details more carefully before continuing, "The patterns weren't recorded in a text, though—they were carved into a stone wall."
"A stone wall? Where was this?" Lin Xiao asked.
He Yi frowned, searching his memories.
"It was when I was a child. My father took me to visit someone at their cave dwelling. The patterns were carved into a wall there. I was too young to understand their conversations, so I wandered around the cave. I came across a stone archway, and through it, I saw these kinds of patterns etched onto a screen wall. I only caught a glimpse before the owner came over, smiling, and gave me a jade sword as a gift. Then, we left."