Chapter Seventeen: The Arrival of Zi Xu Shang Ren

  Finally able to rest, Qin Lan returned to her room and quickly turned on her computer, entering the game.

  During the day, Qin Lan shut down his computer to avoid being discovered by others when he went to a strange place to handle affairs. Although turning it on could gain him half a day's time, this otherworld was completely different from the world he previously lived in, and he didn't know if there were any strange people or events; what if someone else discovered his secret? That would be very bad. Now, that mysterious computer and the abnormal game had become his greatest reliance; unexpectedly, for the rest of his life, this secret would only be known by him alone.

  Entering the game, everything in the city is as it was yesterday. The bustling market is crowded with people coming and going, the noisy tavern can still be heard from a thousand miles away, and the ironwork shop and craftsmen's workshop in the southwest corner of the city are occasionally visible, making mechanical sounds. Now this city has taken shape, and with most houses and resources upgraded to level 4, the city is becoming increasingly lively.

  As soon as he entered the city lord's mansion, Huang Kaitian immediately came to pay his respects. "Your Lordship, with the development and upgrading of the city, two urgent matters have arisen that need to be dealt with. Your humble servant dare not take it upon himself, so please make a decision."

  "Huh? Qin Lan immediately thought of the urgent state affairs in the Three Kingdoms upon hearing this news. Generally, handling such emergencies well would bring quite a harvest. Indeed, the first item was that the river water in the east of the city was overflowing, and the people were demanding the construction of river dikes and dams, requiring an allocation of 36,000 gold coins. Without a doubt, if this amount were to be taken from the newly built Hot Blood Three Kingdoms City, it would be absolutely embarrassing, and even if they wanted to take it out, they couldn't. However, Qin Lan simply nodded casually and approved."

  Thirty-six thousand taels of gold, and who knows how much more in his treasury.

  Tian Feng, having obtained the approval, immediately issued the decree and soon returned, "I report to Your Excellency that due to your benevolence and love for the people, the citizens of Xiangyang are greatly inspired, morale has increased by tenfold, and population has increased by a thousand."

  "Heh... " Qin Lan smiled slightly, he had expected this outcome, so it wasn't unexpected. "What's the second urgent matter?"

  "A wandering Taoist priest has arrived, hoping to establish an altar in our city to worship heaven and earth. He requires 6,000 gold coins, 10,000 of each resource, and a plot of land to build on." Huang Tianfeng's face was expressionless, the card simply stated this, without much autonomy or automatic analysis and decision-making. Qin Lan sighed, if it were really General Tianfeng standing in front of her, that would be great.

  Unfortunately, he has no way out now, even if Tian Feng really stood in front of him, he couldn't recruit him.

  In the game of Hot Blooded Three Kingdoms, originally, as long as the government reached level 2, you could use gold and jewels to buy official positions from the Han Dynasty. The lowest position, Wu Chang, only required 10,000 gold to obtain. Once you had an official position, you could then promote to Shi Chang, Li Kui, Ting Chang, Qi Fu, County Magistrate, County Governor... And with an official position, you could buy a title, the lowest being Gong Shi, followed by Shang Zao, then Zan Jue, Da Fu... After confirming that she could continue developing in this Three Kingdoms world, Qin Lan immediately thought of buying titles and official positions to quickly develop other cities. This way, she could research technology and send troops at the fastest speed to conquer other forces and capture real famous generals.

  However, what disappointed him was that he couldn't offer gold and jewels now, even if his treasures filled the warehouse, he didn't know how to make an offering... The novice guide stood in the corner and reminded him in a pleasant voice, "Respected City Lord, your city has not yet reached level 5. In the turbulent world of the Three Kingdoms, it cannot defend itself. Please quickly build an army. Only with sufficient defensive power can you find a foothold in the midst of war."

  Military strength, Hong Qiang Wei has recruited 10 civilians, 10 righteous soldiers, 10 scouts, 10 long gunners, 10 knife shield soldiers, 10 archers, and 10 light cavalrymen in the past few days, and completed their training. However, this number of troops is not impressive anywhere. Fortunately, Tian Feng is relatively conservative, he has worked hard on city defense construction, so now the outer city wall has 110 arrow towers, and hundreds of scattered traps and anti-cavalry trenches.

  In the game "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", famous generals and noble titles are closely related. Without a title, it is impossible to recruit famous generals. No matter who you capture, even if it's a super trash general with poor attributes, he will say to you, "My lord, must be a world-renowned xx, so I won't follow you."

  So, Qin Lan plans to upgrade the government office to level 5 as soon as possible, and then see if she can make an offering of jewels, and then go out to open a branch city. As for the Taoist priest... wait? Qin Lan suddenly thought of it, there aren't many Taoist priests in the Three Kingdoms, but they are all outstanding ones. Could it be...

  "What's the Taoist's name, did you ask? Qin Lan suppressed the excitement in her heart and asked Tian Feng beside her, "Is it Yu Ji? No? Is it Nan Hua? Also not? Sima Hui?"

  Huang Ka Tianfeng shook his head in denial. Seeing Qin Lan's eyes turn to disappointment, he finally spoke up, "He said his name is called Zi Xu."

  Zixu Shangren!!!! The immortal Zixu Shangren who lives in Jinping Mountain and doesn't ask about worldly affairs???? Qin Lan jumped up at the first moment, how did he come to my city???? As someone familiar with the history of the Three Kingdoms and the game of the Three Kingdoms, Qin Lan naturally knew of Zixu Shangren's existence.

  In the history of the Three Kingdoms, Zixu Shangren accurately predicted the death of Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang's entry into Shu, but he never interfered with any events, so few people knew him, and his reputation was not as loud as that of Yu Ji and Nan Hua. In the game, Zixu Shangren is also a special character who usually appears only in hidden tasks, rarely appearing in front of many people. However, Qin Lan knows that he is absolutely no weaker than Yu Ji and Nan Hua, or rather, their abilities are about the same, it's just that Yu Ji and Nan Hua like to travel the world, trying to save the common people, while Zixu has always been watching the world with a cold eye.

  Approved!!

  Why not approve? Qin Lan gave orders to Huang Ka Tianfeng, then turned around and walked out. He wanted to go see the legendary immortal himself.

  It's no wonder that the immortal who can predict the future, Zi Xu Shang Ren, is sitting alone in the city center, waiting for Qin Lan's arrival on his worn-out grass mat. Until Qin Lan walked in front of him, he suddenly opened his eyes, and the fleeting gleam revealed an inner self that was different from his shabby appearance.

  "I have seen the superior." Qin Lan's respectful bow and salute.

  "Indeed, indeed." Zi Xu Xian Ren didn't return the courtesy, but instead let out a long laugh. "Nan Hua, Nan Hua, you said that in this world it's impossible for an emperor with the aura of the nine palaces of purple emptiness to appear, so why did I just happen to find one?"

  “？？？”

  "Your humble servant... Zixu has seen the great lord. I humbly request that the great lord permit me to build an altar in this city, to pray for the lord's blessings."