Chapter 130 – Local Floridians Concerned as Florida Man Erects Caiman Farm Instead of Alligator Farm
A few hours later…
DING
<A permanent portal to Planet Rabbit Trent A-3 has been opened.>
<The Planet "Rabbit Trent A-3" has been renamed to "Orlando".>
DING
<One of the Mystic Realm Portal's Guardian "Kitten" has been assigned as Governor of Orlando Planet.>
<Because of the guardian's domain abilities, all Horned Caimans and Cockatrices will no longer be hostile toward you or your employees. However, they will fight back if their lives are in danger.>
<Because of the guardian's domain abilities, the fertility rate of all freshwater creatures and sea creatures have been tripled. Water-based creatures have been strengthened. The density of water element essences have been doubled.>
<Guardian "Kitten" will collect life force from the local population of Orlando Planet as local taxes. Every month, the guardian shall transfer the accumulated life force to you directly.>
Leo gazed at the fisherman statue, who transformed into an elderly fisherman and vanished into the newly erected permanent portal to the previous mystic realm. He waved his hand to the elder.
"I'll call you back when I can find a better governor. Be patient… Kitten."
The fisherman statue bitterly laughed at his new nickname. He slightly bowed and vanished into the permanent portal.
After the fisherman statue was gone, the three others returned to their previous position. They resumed their poses, pretending to be regular statues.
Leo glanced at the trio and deeply sighed. He had heard everything from them, and he got a better understanding of his system and the entity fate crystal.
Still, as the entity fate crystal's secret was too heavy, Leo still couldn't calm down. He also couldn't stop sighing.
"What the hell have I gotten myself into?"
As overthinking deteriorated his sanity, Leo threw everything he had learned earlier to the back of his head. He glanced at the three statues.
"Keep up the good work. I'll summon you when I need your help in the future."
<Roger, Munya!>
<Of course, Woof!>
<Understood, boss.>
The black-winged angel, the catopus, and the wolf respectfully bowed. Their eyes dimmed as they went back to dormant mode.
Leo turned around and jumped down from the platform. He still had a lot of things to do, such as building the Gunsmith Workshop, upgrading the general store, tidying the junkyard, sorting spatial rings, and overseeing the warehouses.
Managing an entire company alone was a tough job. The Florida Ceo would be busy for a long time.
.
.
It had been two weeks since every mystic realm portal in the world was opened. The expedition teams from big sects and clans returned to deliver their results.
The Tang Clan returned in full numbers as they never ventured far into the dangerous forests. They lingered around the pagoda town for a week before everybody returned.
Tang Xuan and his young junior received a full boon of the mystic realm. Some of them awakened either wood or water element while a few youngsters managed to advance to the golden core stage by cultivating the elemental Qi.
Yang Xiang and the first prince's teams managed to come back to tell a tale as well. The former's group returned early after they had discovered the sweet dream mushroom. As for the first prince's group, they salvaged a strange metallic ship and brought it home.
Unfortunately, the second prince and his men perished because of a certain someone. The imperial court was in the middle of investigating the incident. It wouldn't be long before they would discover the culprit.
As for the third prince and his imperial bodyguards, they missed out on this event because Yan Xiang had punished him for ruining Tang Xuan's job when they visited Leo. Thus, he unknowingly saved his own hides for another day.
Still, Yan Zhu couldn't enjoy his luck because his secret military base, aka the Fatui Cult, was in terrible shape.
When the cultist from the Frozen Fire City went to check on their underground city, they discovered that all resident there was either missing or dead. Furthermore, the chosen cultists that participated in this season's mystic realm never returned. As a result, they lost 90% of their military strength.
Situ Clan also got a disastrous casualty. Situ Nantian was critically injured while the rest of his followers perished in the mystic realm. The other elders also went missing as they became victims of the sweet dream mushrooms near the pyramid.
The Ouyang Clan's teams were the lucky dog among the prominent clans. They went to a different mystic realm, and they secured some treasures and rare herbs. A few clansmen managed to increase their strength to the next stage and gained a new elemental power.
However, not all Ouyang Clan's members were as fortunate. Some of their agents in the Death Sword Sect suddenly stopped contacting their clan's headquarters to report their findings. Among the agents, Hua Guanhai no longer informed the clan about the Death Sword Sect's movements.
Nobody had realized yet that the Death Sword Sect brought in something from Leo's mystic realm, which would bring the second calamity that once traumatized Hua Jiashan and Situ Nantian 500 years ago.
.
WHOOSH
Hua Jiashan, Han Hao, Han Meng, Tiger Swordsman, and their disciples managed to return alive. Everybody but Hua Jiashan had been grinning from ear to ear as they were looking forward to the future merging.
The sect master gazed at his people and bitterly laughed. He already accepted his fate as a vessel of a new lord. He gazed at these people and instructed them one last time.
"Make sure to tidy up your living quarters and every facility before you visit senior Florida Man. At least, return the favor of the sword saint by treasuring his old home."
Hao Han and others came back to their senses. They faced Hua Jiashan and deeply bowed.
"We will not forget our true home, sect master. Even though we will be working for Senior Florida Man soon, our hearts and our blood belong to the Life Sword Sect!" Han Hao pledged.
Han Meng saluted, "We may have to serve a new lord, but we won't forget our roots! We grew up from here, and this place will always be our home! You are also like a father to us. Our bond will never be broken!"
Tiger Swordsman dryly laughed and chimed in, "It's not like we will abandon the sect, Senior Hua. We can always return here to take care of the sect or help you teach young disciples. We just have another side job at Senior Florida Man's place!"
Listening to his trusty people, Hua Jiashan was relieved. He waved his hand and allowed them to leave.
"Alright. You're dismissed. It will be lonely here, but you can always come back to visit me and tell me what it's like working for Florida Man."
"Yes, sir!"
Everybody saluted Hua Jiashan. Then, they gradually spread the word to their colleagues that they would merge their sect with Florida Man's domain as they would receive abundant cultivation resources from him.
After everybody had left, Hua Jiashan silently returned to his courtyard. He stood in the middle of the field and brought out a long sword. Then, he repeated the signature move of his sect, performing a rite for his ancestors.
Dancing with a sword for 10 minutes, Hua Jiashan's metal and fire element Qi resonated with his sword. However, his mind was blank as his consciousness already traveled to another place far away.
While being absentminded, Hua Jiashan suddenly heard a stranger's voice in his mind.
'You're getting sloppy, disciple.'
Hua Jiashan stopped practicing. He widened his eyes in shock.
"T-This voice… Master!? Is that you?!"
The voice belonged to the ancient sword saint, who had long ascended to the immortal realm. The sword saint was also Hua Jiashan's secret mentor whom he had never told anybody about.
'I've been listening. I heard our sect is going to merge with somebody else's domain? Is that true?'
"Y-Yes, master."
'Who is he? Is he an immortal or a fellow swordsman?'
Hua Jiashan lowered his head in shame. He confessed, "That person… is a mysterious cultivator, master. I believe that he might be an immortal in disguise, and he's a physique cultivator. He uses no sword or obvious martial arts, but his physical strength is definitely superior to everybody I've seen. His Qi is also… unique."
'Tell me more.'
Hua Jiashan finally revealed a bright smile. He sat on the field alone and narrated how he encountered Leo in the mystic realm.
Like a child telling his day at school to his parent, the sad look on his face vanished as if the merging no longer troubled his heart.
.
.
Cultivators from various sects either celebrated their successful expeditions or were saddened by their losses. The Amazonian Sanctuary was neither.
Far north, beyond the Death Sword Sect's headquarters, thousands of young maiden and female elders gathered at a forest city, welcoming their master's return.
Everybody cheered when Dongfang Mei, Xu Nuan, Yao Qiqi, and everybody returned without an injury at first. But then, Dongfang Mei returned and shocked her subordinates by announcing the new arrangement.
"We have a piece of bad news for you, ladies."
Dongfang Mei took a deep breath before she announced the merge.
"We shall relocate south and join a powerful immortal's domain! We will abandon this city!"
"WHAT?!"
The women stopped celebrating and stared at their master in disbelief. The forest and the city were their only sanctuary as the cultivation world was unforgiving for female cultivators.
Sexual harassment, human trafficking, and slavery were common in this world, where male cultivators ignored common sense and moral ethics. They acted like caveman barbarians, treating weaker cultivators as animals. Thus, living in this world as a woman was a nightmare. Many women developed a trauma, which prevented them from interacting with men.
Because of such oppression and treatment, the women banded together in this city to protect themselves. They even managed to gain respect from medium and small sects.
However, Dongfang Mei, who had given them hope, suddenly dropped the bomb.
Upon learning that they might have to leave this place to live with other male cultivators, some of the women protested.
"Why do we have to move?! We are safe here!"
"Have you asked us if we want to move?!"
"I'm not going anywhere! We built this city! We're not serving some perverts!"
"Senior Dongfang! Are you trying to sell us to some vile men?!"
Noises got louder, and more women yelled at her.
Dongfang Mei had expected this outcome. She clapped her hands and gave them a choice.
"I see that most of you here favor staying. Then, I will give you a choice."
"A choice?" Everybody stopped making noise. They listened to their leader.
"First, I will step down as the caretaker of this sanctuary and allow you to select a new leader."
"…"
The women nodded in acknowledgment as they needed someone to replace Dongfang Mei. Still, they hesitated as none of them was as strong as her. The second strongest female cultivator there was Xu Nuan, but she didn't seem to be on their side.
Aside from Xu Nuan, there were plenty of nascent soul cultivators. They looked at each other, unable to decide which one to be nominated.
While everybody was lost in thought, Dongfang Mei continued her speech.
"The new leader will inherit this city and the sanctuary, while I and Xu Nuan will migrate south. If anyone wishes to follow me, you are welcome to do so. However, you must continue to follow my instructions and orders until the authority is handed over to the domain lord."
Yao Qiqi next to Xu Nuan innocently vouched for Leo, "The domain lord is very kind and strong, sister! He healed me, and he can fly with a SWOOSH!"
Xu Nuan and Dongfang Mei's followers giggled at the girl. They patted her head.
"How did he fly?"
Yao Qiqi mimicked how Leo jumped.
"He stomped the ground and SWOOSH!" Yao Qiqi started leap-frogging while extending her arms like Superman.
"Hahahahaha!"
Nothing healed a woman's heart pain more than seeing their child innocently playing. Xu Nuan and Dongfang Mei regained their hope, hoping to convince their followers to join them.
Xu Nuan stepped forward and told everybody the tale of Leo. She even included the incident when Leo rejected one of her disciples after the latter had attempted to seduce him.
Among the listeners, Qi Niu, who was the person in question, glared at Xu Nuan with red eyes. She bit her lower lip in embarrassment and shame.
Thanks to her reaction, many disciples noticed her expressions and connected the dots. One of them even asked the girl.
"Is that true, Qi Niu?"
"…"
"Did you get turned down by an elder? Did you try to seduce him?"
"…"
The two questions and Qi Niu's silence were enough to convince many girls. Slowly and gradually, more women leaned toward joining the domain of a mysterious elder.
Still, after the speech, not all of them were willing to follow Dongfang Mei. Only 100 women chose to join their migration. As for the rest, they refused to change their ways.
The two groups silently parted ways. Dongfang Mei, Xu Nuan, Yao Qiqi, and 100 female disciples of the sanctuary boarded a small flying boat and flew south, heading to the Magpie City.
