TPWBI Chapter 129

When Yang Yi and Hei Lie’s group approached the castle, there were already over a hundred people, neatly dressed, waiting at the gates to welcome them.

The scene was grand and imposing, a clear display of their power and wealth.

The attire of these servants was extremely refined, completely different from that of the common folk outside.

They had been trained to perfection, standing in two orderly lines along the road—dark and dense, exuding a powerful presence.

For someone inexperienced, it would be easy to be intimidated by such a formation.

If it were the Yang Yi of the past, he too might have been startled by such a sight. But after serving as a divine envoy for so many years, this kind of scene no longer held any sway over him.

He often presided over grand ceremonies. Before him stood crowds of hundreds of thousands, yet he could still handle it all with composure.

Yang Yi, eyes forward and unmoved, sat tall atop his ostrich mount. He gave a slight nod of acknowledgment toward the crowd, radiating an air of natural pride.

Behind him followed several hundred soldiers, all clad in sturdy armor, holding in their hands the iron weapons still revered as divine artifacts on the Western Continent. They stood unfazed, their presence in no way diminished by the spectacle before them.

Hei Lie, too, made no effort to restrain the aura befitting a high-ranking warrior. The people of the Western Continent present there couldn’t help but hold their breath, silently enduring the oppressive pressure that came from a true powerhouse.

“Divine Envoy, Chief, you cannot ride horses… no, birds, inside the royal palace.”

The palace attendant braced himself and stepped forward, forcing himself to block the ostrich-mounted procession.

Yang Yi nodded, then smoothly dismounted from the ostrich. His movements were graceful and effortless, drawing admiring blushes from the women standing on both sides of the path.

But when Hei Lie swept his sharp gaze across them, that pink, fluttery atmosphere instantly turned to ice. The women froze, no longer daring to look up, and quietly lowered their heads.

“It’s my pet. I don’t want it to leave my side,” Yang Yi said, pointing to Little White.

The attendant smiled politely. “Of course, that’s perfectly fine. Your pet is truly beautiful.”

Hearing this, Little White proudly puffed out its chest, its already long neck stretching even longer in smug satisfaction.

As they entered the castle, Yang Yi was immediately captivated by the lavish design. Just as Qiao had said, it was beautiful and luxurious.

Every corner radiated the wealth and immense power of its owner. Ordinary people could never have built such a magnificent structure.

Such a building would be considered extremely luxurious even on Earth. Thinking about how all of this had been painstakingly crafted by hand, Yang Yi couldn’t help but feel deep admiration.

However, that feeling was quickly shattered by the stench that filled the air, dragging him back to harsh reality. He no longer had the mood to appreciate the scenery with every step.

Such a beautiful castle. How could they not cherish it?

Yang Yi felt utterly frustrated. He couldn’t imagine why the castle’s owner didn’t do something about it. Although the interior wasn’t as filthy as the streets outside, it wasn’t much better either.

The stench of excrement constantly assaulted his nose. A casual glance at the floor revealed strange wet patches and even traces of solid waste.

The women in the palace all wore long, wide-hemmed skirts that looked elegant and beautiful. But when Yang Yi saw a maid stop somewhere, and after she left, there was a suspicious wet mark on the spot where she had squatted. He suddenly found it impossible to look at those skirts the same way again.

“What are these people thinking! They’re ruining the castle, something built so beautifully. They don’t even know how to maintain it.”

Unable to hold back his disgust, Yang Yi muttered quietly beside Hei Lie.

“I was just thinking…” Hei Lie replied seriously, “Our rubber is definitely going to sell really well here.”

Yang Yi widened his eyes. “Since when did you become so business-minded?”

“The Central City spent so much money. We have to find ways to make up for it somehow.”

With Hei Lie’s interruption, Yang Yi’s mindset shifted as well.

“So much organic fertilizer is being wasted like this. It’s such a pity.”

After all, their Spark Tribe was still buying organic fertilizer from the Green Python Tribe. Their population was growing. The amount of grain they cultivated was increasing, too.

Not only did they use it for themselves, but they also often used it for trade.

At the moment, they still had enough manpower for land reclamation. But the difficulty was in expanding production, because the fertilizer couldn’t keep up.

If the soil wasn’t fertile enough, it would not only reduce the yield. Over time, that patch of land would also become ruined.

One of the major focuses of the research team in the Agriculture Department was figuring out how to obtain more fertilizer.

If all the fertilizer from the Royal City could be transported to the Spark Tribe, they would never lack fertilizer again!

But Yang Yi only thought about it for a moment. Transporting something like that over long distances was way too uneconomical. And it sounded downright strange.

“If we open up large farmlands around the Royal City, then none of it would go to waste.”

Yang Yi stared at him in surprise. “Are you serious?”

“I’ve looked into it. There’s no shortage of land around the Royal City. But we still need to figure out how to make it work.”

Yang Yi secretly gave Hei Lie a thumbs-up. “You’ve really inherited our China’s farming talent well. Whenever you see land, your first thought is to plant something on it.”

“Of course,” Hei Lie said with a grin. “I’m the son-in-law of China, after all.”

Yang Yi spat lightly.

“But seriously,” he continued, “these past few years, the Western Continent has had plenty of contact with us. How is it that they still haven’t learned to make use of organic fertilizer like we do?”

The Western Continent had farmland, too. But most of it was used to grow wheat. They preferred foods made from flour.

Their eating habits leaned more toward those of the ancient nomadic regions of China, raising livestock as their main livelihood, with flour-based foods as their staple.

The wheat yield here was extremely low. A ratio of 1:5 was already considered very good.

That 1:5 meant that for every one unit of seed sown, they harvested five units in return.

In reality, many places couldn’t even reach that level. A 1:2 yield wasn’t uncommon at all.

With such pitiful output, it was easy to imagine just how low their productivity really was.

Despite the palace being adorned with flowers and luxury, the lives of the common people were far from good.

Along their journey, they had encountered many Western Continent natives.

The nobles, of course, lived far better than those of the Spark Tribe. They wore silk and fine cotton cloth imported from the Spark Tribe, dined on all sorts of delicacies brought from there, and drank expensive tea or coffee. Their days were, indeed, very comfortable.

They bought goods from the Spark Tribe without hesitation. No matter how expensive they were.

But the common folk had a hard time living. Even getting to eat a piece of hard, black bread was already difficult enough. The bread they did have often contained bits of stone and sand.

The gap between the rich and the poor was far worse than in the Eastern Continent. The class divide was stark, and the nobles took great pleasure in it. They enjoyed that feeling of being superior to others.

Such a situation was closely tied to their social system. It couldn’t be separated from their level of productivity either.

Because their yields were so low, the baseline for survival was also extremely low.

Hei Lie shrugged. “Not everyone can accept change so easily. Hasn’t the Green Python Tribe stayed the same all these years?”

“That’s true,” Yang Yi admitted.

He was grateful that he didn’t live in such an environment. Otherwise, none of his ideas would ever have come to fruition.

The Green Python Tribe had watched as the Spark Tribe grew stronger step by step over the years, yet they still hadn’t changed. They were just as they’d always been.

At most, they had made minor adjustments in small details, but nothing major. So they remained stuck in their old ways.

It was only because of their connection with the Spark Tribe that their lives had become somewhat more comfortable.

At first, Yang Yi couldn’t understand it. Didn’t the Green Python Tribe feel tempted at all? Watching the Spark Tribe thrive and prosper day by day, while they themselves stayed the same?

Although they weren’t as poor as the other tribes, the Green Python Tribe still had their troubles. The Spark Tribe’s location made trade much easier, which in turn lowered their costs. But even so, the Green Python Tribe still often worried about food. They were no longer on the same level as the Spark Tribe at all.

Hei Lie had said before that the Green Python Tribe was a large and well-established tribe that had been developing for many years.

They had their own system in place. Any change to it would cause a huge commotion. It wasn’t something that could be handled easily.

If disagreements arose because of that and led to internal conflict, the losses would outweigh the gains.

Since life was still manageable as things were, no one had the resolve to make a change.

Although the situation on the Western Continent was somewhat different, the outcome was essentially the same.

Especially for the traveling merchants. No one could guarantee that following Yang Yi’s methods would truly be the right choice. If something went wrong, no one wanted to take responsibility for it.

They weren’t farm owners, so they didn’t have that same drive to change anything.

On the contrary, because the Western Continent’s grain yield was low, food prices weren’t cheap there.

When they transported grain back from the Spark Tribe, they could even earn a decent profit. So why bother taking on something risky that wouldn’t pay off?

Change always comes with risk. It takes a certain amount of courage to embrace it.

On Earth, not everyone shared the same love and talent for farming as the Chinese people did.

Hei Lie’s suggestion greatly piqued Yang Yi’s interest. There was still plenty of labor available on the Western Continent. If that could be put to good use, it would be an excellent idea.

Thinking back carefully to the task released by the Transmigration Deity, it actually didn’t necessarily require building a city with so many people. As long as they could support and feed that many, it would also count.

At present, the population of the Spark Tribe could hardly increase further through immigration. Aside from natural births, it was difficult to attract more outsiders. Even if there were new arrivals, it wouldn’t be as many as before.

In recent years, those from the Eastern Continent who had wanted to seek refuge had mostly already come. Over the past two years, the number of people coming to join them had clearly declined.

After all, with travel relying solely on foot, information between many places wasn’t that well-connected. It wasn’t easy to migrate across great distances to seek refuge.

If he wanted to complete the task sooner, he had to open up a new front.

This time, it didn’t necessarily have to involve building a city. Cultivating land to feed more people would work just as well.

Growing staple crops alone wouldn’t be enough to meet that need. They could also plant cash crops, such as rubber and the like.

The city dwellers of the Western Continent would surely need a pair of waterproof shoes made of rubber.

As Yang Yi wandered through the enormous castle, circling around without yet meeting the new king, he had already made up his mind. He would open farmland on the Western Continent.

“Honorable Divine Envoy, you truly are as the legends say, shrouded in holy light.”

The new king greeted him with a bright smile, his demeanor warm and friendly.

The king and queen were seated on chairs made of gemstones, while ministers stood on either side.

Everyone present was dressed in elaborate and exquisite clothing, inlaid with crystal-clear jewels, their fingers adorned with rings set with gems.

The queen’s hair was styled high, decorated with a profusion of flowers and jeweled ornaments.

Each person looked like a walking Christmas tree, covered in glittering decorations—wealthy and splendid at a glance.

Yet, they didn’t give off the air of vulgar nouveau riche. Their adornments were tastefully matched. They didn’t wear them merely to flaunt wealth, but because they found beauty in them.

In contrast, Yang Yi and Hei Lie appeared exceedingly plain. They were completely out of place amidst such splendor.

The nobles and ministers standing on both sides each had different thoughts upon seeing them. Some even carried looks of disdain.

A few began whispering among themselves, wondering whether Yang Yi and Hei Lie’s group might be impostors.

The so-called Divine Envoy and chieftain of the famously prosperous Spark Tribe, weren’t their clothes far too shabby? They hardly looked like the people who had supposedly shaken the entire continent.

Even though they did seem unusual, especially that warrior, whose presence exuded an unmistakable sense of pressure, their simple attire still made many frown.

The council hall was clearly much more spacious, bright, and clean than the other parts of the castle. Though there was still a faint, unpleasant odor lingering in the air, it wasn’t nearly as strong, probably because of the open space allowing it to disperse.

Yang Yi, unfazed by the questioning looks directed at him, spoke calmly: “It is our honor to be invited by you. May our friendship endure.”

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