'How strange...and terrifying. It almost feels like, with each breath that he takes...he's getting stronger.' Zuixian's senses buckled under the load of Xinzi's pressure.
He wasn't incorrect. The Dao Breath wasn't terrifying because of the ability to create avatars out of most lifeforms, or the power to channel the scattered skills of all bodies in one. No, what truly made the Dao Breath monstrous, was that with each breath that the practitioner took, they got stronger.
One second, one minute, hours, days, months, years, eternity -- Xinzi only had to keep breathing, and his Dao Fountation, body and soul would keep getting more tyrannical till the end of time.
Overwhelmed by the pressure in Xinzi's eyes and breath, Zuixian tried to step back. Xinzi's aura denied him the right, keeping him pinned where he stood, and forcing him to experience...the immensity of the gap between Xinzi and him.
'This doesn't make sense. How did he become so strong? Or was he always concealing his true abilities? I'm confused. Why...so much power -- ugh!' Unable to breathe in the yoke of Xinzi's pressure, Zuixian choked and spasmed uncontrollably. His face turned blue, and the incisive words that Xinzi threw his way kept bombarding his mind.
Indeed, he was nothing and had nothing. As a drifter that spent half his days indulging in wine, how could he, in all good conscience, question the one that singlehandedly carried the powerless to safety.
All knew of the good deeds performed by the Divine Tailor's Enlightened Bank. And though Zuixian believed that he acted only to clean up his image, the fact remained that he did what no other factions could: erase famine.
By relying on Quick-Turn Irrigation Liquid to accelerate the harvest and quality of crops, Xinzi produced immense quantities of alchemical products and spiritual food. The 20 million acres of immortal-grade farmland aside, he also relied on the Yaozhou Province's immense Spiritual Farmlands and a careful network of avatars that handled transmutation work.
Xinzi called them the 10,000 shamans.
"In a gold rush, sell shovels. In times of war and conquest, sell weapons, pills and armors. We don't have to fight. By relying on our farms, mines and businesses, we will suck all spirit stones out of the various warring factions and accumulate enough wealth to buy six Great Desolation Worlds. After draining them to ruin, we can take over the East." This was Xinzi's main policy.
The revenues from the Silkshifter God's Abode fueled the establishment of Alchemy, Artifact Refinement, Talisman and Formation Shops that made a killing off the Rampaging Beast Hordes and various warlords' conflicts. Those new streams of revenue were later reinvested in the purchase of mines and farms.
At the moment, with deals on beast and spirit sides, the Divine Tailor already controlled 90% of Yanzhou's mines and farms -- including 75% in Dongli and 25% in Anyue. Now Xinzi approached the money-lending phase, where he'd manufacture scarcity and lend the various warlords large sums of money so they could keep buying discount-price war resources from him.
He'd already started in some provinces, and with each day that passed, his corrupt wealth expanded. But thanks to that wealth, in Xihai, famine didn't exist. Other areas received the Enlightened Bank's support, but as the headquarters' location, Xihai had it best -- leading to an influx of refugees, immigrants, and a booming population.
Zuixian could tell that the Divine Tailor didn't pick his areas of charity at random. But so what? The end results harmed the warlords while benefitting the helpless.
Frustrated, ashamed, yet refusing to accept the logic of what he perceived as a deceitful, self-serving and malevolent entity, Zuixian balled his fists. His lungs atrophied, his blood flow interrupted by the weight of Xinzi's Dao Breath.
'Wait, wait, he's serious. If I don't intervene, Zuixian will choke to death.' Qiu Meng went into panic mode.
Initially, believing that Xinzi wouldn't become a threat to Zuixian's life for some time yet, Qiu Meng didn't mind the heated exchange. But once he remembered that in the normal timelines, following the destruction of the White Immortal Sect, Zuixian wasn't meant to meet Xinzi before he came looking for the Myriad Essence Stone in the Nameless Sword Mountain, Qiu Meng realized that he misjudged the situation.
With no other choice, the former eunuch stepped forward.
"Greetings, Divine Tailor! Please forgive Zuixian's lack of courtesy. He has always been a bit loose-tongued and, had I known that you two had history, I would have never brought him here! On account of my ignorance, and the bonds you two share, please spare my brother's life!" Without hesitation, Qiu Meng bowed at Xinzi. The move warmed Zuixian's heart. But unimpressed, Xinzi shook his head.
"'Dumb and Dumbest,' is that the game we're playing? Of course, you knew. Otherwise, why would you try so hard to bring him here?" With no consideration for Qiu Meng's plans, Xinzi said, exposing the reincarnated immortal's petty thoughts.
In that instant, confusion seized control of Zuixian's mind, forcing him to consider why Qiu Meng initially called this place...the 'opportunity of a lifetime.'
'Did he already know who we'd find here, and bring me just to help his plans? No, Qiu Chen isn't that scheming. It must be Xinzi trying to drive a wedge between us!' Zuixian convinced himself.
His thoughts didn't escape Xinzi who, while inwardly sneering at the "brotherly" pair, let go of Zuixian.
Released from the crushing pressure, Zuixian fell flat on his butt, gasping for breath.
"It's fine. I don't particularly care. Have a seat, gentlemen. But be careful. You've now entered the Survival Mode. One mistake and it's over. Are you here for dresses or death? Let's find out," Xinzi said and vanished from the scene.
By the time he'd reappeared to the two's eyes, the tailor was comfortably seated on a spacious couch -- holding a warm teacup in one hand, and with the other, gesturing for the two to follow his example.
'He could probably kill us both before we realized his intent.' Again, Zuixian and Qiu Meng took in the full measure of the gap between Xinzi and them. And while Qiu Meng came prepared for Xinzi's dominance, once confronted with reality, he despaired all the same.
'There must be some variables that I failed to account for. He's growing too fast. Hengye Zhen's growth pace...has surpassed all other timelines.'
