Chapter 161: The Future of Yecun?!

Accompanied by A-shui, Ye Mo first headed to the Bai Clan's Immortal Village to investigate for himself.

Stepping into the Bai Clan's Immortal Village, Ye Mo was immediately greeted by the pervasive scents of medicinal herbs and alchemical brews. True to his background as a scion of a renowned apothecary family, Bai Xijun had turned the vast majority of the shops within the immortal village into pill-shops. There were no fewer than dozens of alchemical workshops alone.

Naturally, the village was currently only capable of refining pills; it lacked sufficient time to cultivate spiritual herbs independently. All medicinal ingredients were procured from the massive herb gardens in the primary immortal city.

Without a doubt, the development strategy of the Bai Clan's Immortal Village was centered on the art of pill-refining. Combined with the advantage of being the first to establish and open up the area, they quickly made a name for themselves, attracting a massive influx of rogue cultivators.

Ye Mo toured various large and small shops throughout the village and discovered that every common pill below the third tier he could think of was available here. Even specialized pills below the third tier, including the toxic soul pills, could be purchased. Moreover, the prices were exceptionally low, undercutting all other immortal villages.

This realization filled Ye Mo with a deep sense of unease.

With pill prices as inexpensive and high-quality as those in the Bai Clan's Immortal Village, they could easily crush the alchemical workshops of other immortal villages, including that of the Ye Clan's Immortal Village. The alchemical workshops of rival villages would be left completely deserted and ultimately driven to bankruptcy.

To prevent the village's alchemical workshops from collapsing, the only countermeasure Ye Mo could conceive was to forbid the shops in the Ye Clan's village from purchasing pills from the Bai Clan's Immortal Village, restricting villagers exclusively to locally produced pills. Aside from this measure, he was utterly helpless.

However, this tactic could not halt the rapid expansion of the Bai Clan's Immortal Village, because rogue cultivators were entirely free to move as they pleased.

Many rogue cultivators preferred to purchase pills at the Bai Clan's Immortal Village. Even for something as basic as a first-tier vitality pill, given sufficient time, numerous cultivators were willing to travel specifically to this island dedicated to alchemy for their purchases. Even immortal villages lacking alchemical capabilities would send their own pill shops to stock up on goods here.

Possessing such a flourishing commerce in spiritual pills, the Bai Clan's Immortal Village was hardly short on spirit stones. With spirit stones came strength, allowing them to rapidly elevate the combat power of the entire immortal village.

Today, the Bai Clan's Immortal Island boasted seven or eight battle-vessels, alongside a massive contingent of cultivators. Coupled with several newly found allies, the Bai Alliance controlled over twenty surrounding resource islands, making it a formidable force in the central region of the Ao Lai Archipelago.

Leaving the Bai Clan's Immortal Village, Ye Mo traveled next to the Ren Clan's Immortal City. The Ren Clan had risen to prominence through trade and possessed considerable prowess in commercial enterprises. After lingering in the Ren Clan's Immortal City for a full day, Ye Mo finally departed by boat.

"Compared to powerful immortal villages like the Lou Clan, the Bai Clan, and the Ren Clan, where does the future of the Ye Clan's Immortal Village lie?"

Ye Mo fell into deep contemplation. This was a question he could not afford to ignore. According to the current trajectory of each village's development, within half a year to a year or two at most, the Ye Clan's Immortal Village would be left far behind in the dust. Once these powerful immortal villages expanded their influence across the entirety of the Ao Lai seas and reached the borders of the Ye Clan's Immortal Village, it would mark the moment when the Ye Clan's Village was thoroughly suppressed.

Ye Mo was not naive enough to believe these powerful villages would show mercy to the Ye Clan's Immortal Village; they would undoubtedly strike to subjugate them.

Having visited the major powerful villages in the central region of the Ao Lai Archipelago, Ye Mo chose not to journey to the western, southern, and northern regions. The sea routes were too distant and time-consuming; it would take a month or two just to tour all the major villages there. Boarding a fishing boat with A-shui, he made several transfers and returned to the Ye Clan's Immortal Village in the eastern region.

Along the return journey, Ye Mo grew even more taciturn. A-shui wore a look of deep worry, yet knew not how to offer comfort.

Furthermore, when selecting the island to establish the village, he had deliberately chosen the eastern periphery of the Ao Lai Archipelago to avoid overly frequent conflicts. This, of course, had both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage was the absence of immediate competitors on all sides, granting the Ye Clan's Immortal Village a more stable environment to grow without facing enemies from every direction. The disadvantage was its remote isolation, far removed from the epicenter of conflicts in the Ao Lai seas, causing them to fail to realize in time just how powerful villages like the Lou Clan had become.

Ye Mo sat at the port bow of the fishing vessel, the scenery outside spreading out unobstructed before him. The fishing boat cut through the tranquil sea surface, stirring up ripples that shimmered brilliantly beneath the sunlight.

"I'm afraid it won't be long before the powerful expansion of the major villages shatters this peace entirely," Ye Mo mused inwardly with a quiet sigh.

The cabin, measuring just a few zhang across, was crowded with over a dozen rogue cultivators. Most of them sat with their eyes closed in meditation, while only a few looked bored, peering around just like Ye Mo.

He had traveled to many places these past few days and seen the most powerful immortal villages. Compared to the Lou Clan, Ren Clan, and Bai Clan immortal villages, the Ye Clan's Immortal Village had fewer people, fewer shops, and lacked sufficient renown.

At this thought, Ye Mo furrowed his brow once more, seemingly dissatisfied with his own conclusions.

While these were all facts, they completely missed the core issue. Compared to the other three major immortal villages, the primary flaw of the Ye Clan's Immortal Village was its lack of a unique, overwhelmingly powerful advantage.

For instance, the Lou Clan had forged a massive and formidable fleet of wolf-class battle-vessels, boasting formidable comprehensive strength. The Bai Clan possessed an unmatched supremacy in alchemy. The Ren Clan excelled in trade.

In contrast, the Ye Clan's Immortal Village lacked any standout strengths worth mentioning. At best, it appeared formidable among the dozen or so immortal villages within a radius of a thousand miles, but across the entire Ao Lai sea, it amounted to nothing.

Those three immortal villages each possessed distinctive characteristics, whereas the Ye Clan's Immortal Village appeared rather mediocre. In other words, an immortal village like the Ye Clan's could be found every thousand miles.

Lacking a formidable advantage of its own was the greatest weakness of the Ye Clan's Immortal Village. It was precisely because it lacked any prominent edge that the village appeared so fragile.

A sudden flash of clarity dawned upon Ye Mo's heart, bringing with it a surge of joy. He had finally pinpointed the most crucial problem.

Yet, resolving this issue posed an even greater hurdle.

The Ye Clan's Immortal Village held fifteen resource islands, alongside a ransom of one hundred thousand spirit stones, rendering its short-term and medium-to-long-term financial resources barely sufficient. The village had to find a breakthrough point to secure a competitive edge.

Ye Mo began to ponder which sector this massive sum of spirit stones should be invested in so that the Ye Clan's village could likewise forge an advantage. The Ye Clan's Immortal Village certainly could not contend by trying to match the strengths of those powerful villages.

The Lou Clan's martial arena was quite famous, prompting other immortal villages to emulate them by opening fighting rings; yet, lacking the strength comparable to the Lou Clan, it held zero appeal for rogue cultivators. Such inferior acts of imitation merely invited mockery and could never achieve the level of influence commanded by the Lou Clan.

Similarly, the Lou Clan's battle-vessels and the Bai Clan's alchemical arts were advantages accumulated by their respective clans over hundreds of years. Even if the Ye Clan poured a colossal amount of spirit stones into them, competing with them in these areas would be exceedingly difficult.

While the Ye Clan did possess the sea-monster reef hunting grounds, this could hardly be considered a unique feature, as other immortal villages had similar domains.

"I must find an advantage that only we possess, one that others cannot replicate."

The train of thought within Ye Mo's mind gradually crystallized.

Inside the fishing boat, the dozen or so rogue cultivators were engaged in idle chatter. These rogue cultivators were all heading toward the Ye Clan's village, preparing to hunt sea beasts. Ye Mo joined their conversation, asking about good destinations in the village, as he intended to earn a few spirit stones there.

The rogue cultivators possessed considerable familiarity with the various immortal villages, providing Ye Mo with a wealth of inspiration. Their conversation grew increasingly animated as they discussed the characteristics of the Ye Clan's village, continuing unabated until the sky grew dark and the boat finally arrived at the harbor of the Ye Clan's Immortal Island.

Stepping onto the pier and gazing upon the familiar sights, Ye Mo suddenly felt a profound sense of belonging—the first time he had ever experienced such a strong sensation of returning home. Though this place could not compare to the three great immortal villages, it was his own home, a quality no other place could ever rival.

Ye Mo thought this to himself.

"This fellow Daoist, are you planning to stay at an inn, or do you have somewhere else to go?"

Several rogue cultivators had developed a favorable impression of Ye Mo and asked with genuine concern when they saw him standing there.

Hearing this, Ye Mo turned his head and smiled. "I need to find a friend of mine. He is an immortal guard here with his own residence, so I won't be accompanying you all further."

"You have a friend who is an immortal guard here?"

The rogue cultivators were slightly stunned, taken aback by Ye Mo's words. Immediately afterward, they cupped their fists in farewell and said, "We are heading off to hunt sea beasts. If fate permits, let us slay sea demons together in the future. Until we meet again."

Ye Mo waited in place until they had walked deep into the immortal village before setting off.

The newly constructed outer village was already beginning to take shape. Darkness had descended, and it was dinner time; the warriors had successively returned to the inner village, leaving the outer village quiet and still.

Passing through the outer village to the gates of the inner village, two immortal guards recognized Ye Mo and exclaimed in pleasant surprise, "Village Chief, you're back? Commander Gao has mentioned you several times."

"Oh, have there been any major events recently?" Ye Mo scanned the immortal village, noting that everything appeared normal, suggesting no major incidents had occurred.

"Everything is completely normal; no major events!" an immortal guard immediately responded.

By the time Ye Mo returned to the Village Chief's Manor, the news of his return had already spread. Virtually all the core cultivators within the village gathered in the main hall of the manor.

"Haha, Brother Ye, you're finally back! I've stockpiled twenty or thirty second-tier Crimson Fire Spirit Sword Armors over at my place, just waiting to hand them over to you," Wang Hu said with a hearty laugh the moment he laid eyes on Ye Mo.

Ye Mo had been gone for nearly half a month. While he was present, no one felt anything out of the ordinary, but once he left, many felt as though something vital was missing; whenever they spoke or acted, they would invariably find themselves thinking of Ye Mo.

"Wang Hu, reporting on village affairs the moment you meet him—aren't you annoying?"

Mo Ling had just stepped through the hall's threshold when she caught sight of this scene. She shot Wang Hu a glare before turning to say, "Brother Ye, you haven't eaten yet, have you? I've already given orders, and the food and wine will be served shortly."

"No, I've been starved for half a day. Come, let's eat first," Ye Mo replied with a smile, suppressing the urge to immediately share what he had witnessed along his journey.

He did not wish to ruin such a warm atmosphere.

During the evening banquet, Wang Hu asked several times about his experiences on the road, but Ye Mo only shared the amusing anecdotes, brushing over the mention of the premier immortal village with a light remark, completely omitting any heavy topics.

Once the boisterous banquet concluded and they had chatted idly for a while, Ye Mo finally recounted his observations of the various immortal villages over this brief period. He spoke in meticulous detail, including even the rogue cultivators' discussions and evaluations of the various villages along the way.

When he mentioned the battle-vessels of the Lou Clan, Chang Fei wore an expression of shock and burning yearning. The rest wore solemn expressions, and the atmosphere grew heavy.

"I toured over a dozen immortal villages in the central region of the Ao Lai Archipelago. Compared to powerful immortal villages like the Lou Clan, the Bai Clan, and the Ren Clan, the Ye Clan's Immortal Village has reduced to mediocrity—you should all be well aware of this. Where does the future of our Ye Clan's Immortal Village lie?"

Ye Mo looked around at the gathered crowd and spoke in a deep voice.

The crowd involuntarily plunged into stunned silence.

Ever since the Ye Village crushed the Ten-Village Alliance and gained absolute control over the dozen or so spiritual islands scattered across hundreds of miles of surrounding seas, everyone had swelled with intense confidence, even bordering on arrogance. They had believed that the immortal villages built by these aristocratic scions were nothing special and far superior to their own.

They had assumed the Ye Clan's Immortal Village was already a premier powerhouse within a thousand-mile radius and would soon attain elite status across the entire Ao Lai sea.

However, learning of the true strength wielded by major immortal villages like the Lou Clan and the Bai Clan abruptly made them realize just how overly confident they had been.