Chapter 309: Breakthrough
Rich?
The thing Tang Xiu most lacked right now was exactly money. Rebuilding Nine Dragon Island itself required a terrifying sum. Yet, the amount he had in hands was not sufficient. Hence, his mind was filled with ideas where he could obtain more when he called Long Zhengyu.
However, rebuilding Nine Dragon Island was not a project that could be completed within a short time. Given some time, his Magnificent Tang Corp might possibly start making a profit. With a steady flow of financial support, maybe he wouldn't need to worry about money later.
"So, what do you need me for?" said Tang Xiu to change the topic.
"If It's not for a meal, then what?" said Yi Lianyan with a smile. "I was trying to find you to eat breakfast, but I couldn't find you anywhere. It's noon, so I tried my luck coming here. Never thought you'd really be here, though."
"Let's go back and have breakfast then," said Tang Xiu with a nod.
At this time, all the dead bodies in the castle had been gathered and burnt. Those who were captured by the pirates had been sent back while the dead were taken away. As for how those who left would resettle and what they wanted to do, it was up to them.
As Wolf Head and the rest had been cleaning up the castle the entire morning as well as dealing with the broken things, it now looked a lot neater and orderly.
After lunch, while watching Yi Lianyan who was quickly cleaning up the tableware, Tang Xiu gave Wolf Head a hand signal as the duo then headed toward the castle's gate.
"What's your order, Boss?"
"I'm about to leave Nine Dragons Island to go back to Saipan and handle some stuff there. So this place will be yours to manage," said Tang Xiu.
"Don't worry, Boss!" said Wolf Head.
"If that girl—Yi Lianyan wants to stay here, let her be and take care of her. She will also do the laundry and cooking. Also, you are to investigate the entire island while I'm away. If there are other people here, immediately apprehend them and wait for me to come back to handle it. If not, then you are to stay on guard. I believe that it will take a while before the construction project team arrives here," said Tang Xiu.
"Alright. We'll be stationed here, but it will be quite difficult to guard the entire island since we have too few personnel," said Wolf Head.
"I know, I have too few people under me," said Tang Xiu with a sigh.
Wolf Head's face flickered as he quickly said, "Boss, aren't you going back to the mainland to pick a bunch of people? If so, I know some powerful ones from the special forces who just retired in the last one or two years. Their strength can continue to improve if they are properly trained."
Tang Xiu's expression moved, "How are they compared to you?"
"A few of them are not weaker than me! And the rest are on par with those of my team," said Wolf Head.
"Good. Then, you'll take care of this issue and assign the defense task to the others. I don't mind if the people you bring here are slightly weaker, but I need them to have good characters. Also, I request absolute loyalty from my subordinates."
"I can assure you about this point. But, about the pay…"
For a moment, Tang Xiu looked distracted as he sized up Wolf Head with a strange expression. He then let out a wry smile and said, "The first time we met, I recall that we did talk about this issue? It seems like I haven't offered you a penny, right? So be it then! I'll pay the twelve of you 500 thousand each annually! As for those you will bring, each of them will be paid 300 thousand per year. If their first year's performance are good, then tell them they will have the same treatment as yours from the second year on."
"Roger that," Wolf Head chuckled.
"I'll withdraw 20 million when I'm to Saipan for you to manage. You can call me when the money runs out. And if there is equipment you need to purchase, you can also freely tell me and I'll spare no effort so long as it is necessary," said Tang Xiu.
The smile on Wolf Head's face turned thicker. He suddenly found that following Tang Xiu was a wise choice. The days after following him had been very splendid and exciting. Be it being able to kill criminals, slaughtering pirates, and living under guns and raining bullets, it let him resurrect the warm-blooded life he once had yesteryear. More so with sufficient funds available to them now.
"Don't worry, Boss. I will help you train a group of elite warriors."
Tang Xiu waved his hand, "I don't have a problem regarding the discipline according to military custom, but leave out the training of martial arts. For that, you'll be under Mo Awen's management. He's strong and smart enough, so I will assign him to manage this place."
"Understood!"
Regarding Tang Xiu's arrangement, Wolf Head himself had no objection. He had seen Mo Awen's strength and knew how fearsome he was. Hence, he was wholeheartedly convinced.
"By the way, I trekked around the island this morning but I couldn't see any pirate ships. Where are the ships left by those pirates?" asked Tang Xiu.
Wolf Head laughed, "They didn't anchor their ships in the harbor, but in a certain spot of the deep water bay. When those pirates came here, they didn't dare land here blatantly, for fear that there would be dangers on the island. We have checked it, though. There are a total of three ships, one of which is an outdated warship that we don't know where they obtained. Each ship is equipped with weapons."
Tang Xiu nodded, "As a pirate, more so for being one for many years, such a capital isn't bad. I'm afraid that it wouldn't be easy to kill them if we run into them at sea. Perhaps we'd even be wrecked and sunk by them."
"Yeah. For pirates, being able to cross unhindered into the sea showed that they do have the capital. Anyways, Boss, the cruise liner you used to sail to Nine Dragons Island is now being used to transport the residents of Southern Bird Island. So it might not be easy for you to go to Saipan since the pirate ship's log is way too obvious. If you do take it, I'm afraid you won't be able to reach Saipan due to being attacked and sunk by the patrol warships."
Tang Xiu slightly frowned. After hesitating for a moment, he then slowly said, "Can you temporarily modify those ships?"
Wolf Head shook his head, "It won't be easy. They are equipped with a lot of weapons. It will take a few days to remove them."
Forcing out a wry smile, Tang Xiu said, "Then forget it. I'll wait for two more days for the cruise liner to come back before going Saipan."
At night.
Atop the castle, Tang Xiu sat cross-legged and quietly cultivated. The star force accumulated in his body was getting stronger and he could make a breakthrough to the Flesh Strengthening stage at any time. However, no matter how hard he tried, he always failed at the last hurdle.
He was there until 4AM and then left the top of the castle to the end-point of the road leading to the harbor. There, he sat cross-legged right at the Spirit Spring position.
Yesterday he found the existence of the Supreme Emperor Purple Qi here. Hence, he wanted to try and see if it would also appear today for him to absorb it.
Time passed by. When the glowing red sunrise came and the first ray of sunshine fell into the sea, a stream of Supreme Emperor Purple Qi descended from eastern horizon and instantly fused into Tang Xiu's forehead.
"Boom…"
Sitting cross-legged and cultivating, Tang Xiu's body jolted. His sea of consciousness seemed to have been split by an invisible force. Shortly after, the Supreme Emperor Purple Qi channeled itself into his sea of consciousness and flowed downwards. Within a short dozen breaths, it had circulated within Tang Xiu's meridians for a few times.
'Give in to me!'
Tang Xiu's consciousness could hardly contain this Supreme Emperor Purple Qi within. Relying on sheer tearing effort, only then was it drawn into his dantian, the star force inside his dantian steadily approached this Supreme Emperor Purple Qi, attempting to wrap and refine it.
However, the Supreme Emperor Purple Qi gave off a very strong repulsion force as it struggled and resisted time and time again, almost breaking the enveloping star force several times. Gradually, as though adapting to the star force's presence, the struggling Supreme Emperor Purple Qi became milder. Along with the encroaching star force, the stream of Supreme Emperor Purple Qi shrunk into a thumb-sized ball.
'Fuse!'
Clenching his teeth, Tang Xiu controlled his star force and went all out to squeeze this mass of Supreme Emperor Purple Qi. After spending more than ten minutes, the star force and the Supreme Emperor Purple Qi came into contact thoroughly as its repelling force eventually dissipated and fused into his star force.
"Buzz…"
Tang Xiu felt as though his body was ignited. All the blood inside his body—from head to foot—was boiling hot while an invisible energy washed and quenched his internal organs. The energy in his skin layer turned more compact and its toughness became stronger despite becoming thinner.
With his spiritual sense, Tang Xiu then examined his body's internal state.
Much to his ecstasy, his body was in the middle of an insane transformation due to the Supreme Emperor Purple Qi. His internal organs were constantly being quenched and rejuvenated, becoming more powerful. His tendons and bones became more tenacious and solid while all his body muscles began to fission unceasingly.
Each cell split into two and then split into four. The weak cells were ruthlessly expelled from his body while the strong ones remained. Even the number of cells in the muscles layer began its increasing cell division.
Each cell became stronger and each of its layers turned thicker than before; the number of cell layers had doubled in just half an hour.
Though Tang Xiu's body didn't seem to have changed looking from his outward appearance, the intensity and strength of his body had violently increased for several times. Were someone to shoot him, perhaps it wouldn't be able to pierce his skin and could only leave mark on it at the most.
"Hahaha…"
A carefree laugh came out of Tang Xiu's mouth the moment he opened his eyes. As his body jumped, he was already stepping on the sea surface in an instant.
Churning, tapping and spraying the ocean!
Tang Xiu indulged himself for a few minutes in the joyous feeling of a breakthrough as he then returned, wet and damped, to the Spirit Spring. He found that, while cultivating, the spiritual force within the Spirit Spring would be drawn into his body continuously. Furthermore, due to the extraction of spiritual force, his absorption speed of star force was faster than before.
Chapter 310: Highest Existence
On the way back to the castle, happiness still filled Tang Xiu's mind. He had, after all, been stuck in the Skin Strengthening stage for a long time and finally had a breakthrough now with the help of the Supreme Emperor Purple Qi. His strength soared by several times as his overall strength became twice as powerful than before at the least.
Prior to this, when he first met Viviani, he felt that he wasn't her opponent. After all, she possessed an unusual terrifying aura. But now, he had the confidence to fight her even if Viviani was an expert martial artist. He might not be able to beat her, but he still could injure her if he paid a price.
'If I were able to absorb this Supreme Emperor Purple Qi every day, wouldn't I probably be able to advance to the peak level of the Flesh Strengthening stage?'
Tang Xiu then made up his mind to cultivate in this place every day before he left, striving to have an early breakthrough to the peak level of the Flesh Strengthening stage.
Three days later, just as Tang Xiu finished drawing the sketch for the reconstruction of Nine Dragons Island, the cruise liner that carried the residents of Southern Bird Island back returned.
"Awen, accompany me to Saipan. We might need Tom Reggie's help to reconstruct Nine Dragons Island," said Tang Xiu in a deep voice while taking the reconstruction drawing.
"We can trust him, Boss. I will fix him myself if he dares to mess up," said Mo Awen with a nod.
Tang Xiu smiled, "Let's go! The rest of you will stay here. I planned to look for a construction team in Saipan, but I changed my mind now. I called a friend of mine who's in the real estate business in the mainland, and he has agreed to bring his construction team here. I hope Nine Dragons Island's reconstruction can be carried out smoothly."
Two days later, the cruise liner docked at Saipan port.
After assigning the docking procedures to the crew, he and Mo Awen then headed to Lao Bay Resort.
"Hey, I'm here."
"I'm in Seaview Villa #17."
"Got it!"
After contacting Long Zhengyu, Tang Xiu immediately went to Seaview Villa #17. Tang Xiu gave Long Zhengyu a big hug after seeing him and then said in a deep voice, "Let me introduce you. He's Mo Awen, my man. Awen, this is Long Zhengyu, my friend."
The two men shook hands as Mo Awen then immediately said, "Boss, Tom in on his way. He should be here soon."
"Then I'll wait for him. Anyways, you wait for him outside, Zhengyu and I need to discuss something!"
"Alright!"
Immediately after, Tang Xiu and Long Zhengyu went inside. After taking a seat, Tang Xiu straightforwardly said, "Tom Reggie is Mo Awen's friend, a fierce and experienced character who has gone through life and death situations. He's also this Lao Bay Resort's majority shareholder and kinda has a big influence in Saipan. He can help with the reconstruction of the island I bought."
Squinting his eyes, Long Zhengyu said, "I can let him buy some shares."
"I know you will make money, but I'll be struggling and short on it. Nine Dragons Island's reconstruction is a huge project, and I have to invest a huge sum on it."
After hesitating for a moment, Long Zhengyu then seriously asked, "Tang Xiu, we're brothers nevertheless, but I still wanna know what kind of concept you have devised to reconstruct Nine Dragons Island?"
Tang Xiu handed the reconstruction design plan he brought to Long Zhengyu and said, "Nine Dragons Island already has some buildings, but I need to expand the area and build more buildings—which has a lot of special requirements. Have a look, you'll get it."
Opening the reconstruction design plan, Long Zhengyu spent a few minutes observing it as a burst of shock suffused in his eyes. After a long while, he then looked at Tang Xiu, yet the shock still hadn't left his expression, "I wanna know something. Why are you spending so many funds in this project?"
"This place is gonna be my domain later. A domain that truly belongs to me, where I'm the highest existence there," Tang Xiu laughed.
Long Zhengyu forced a smile and said, "Say, Brother Tang, you want to found a state, eh!"
Tang Xiu laughed, "Build a fart country? Bah, it's just dozens of square kilometers!"
Long Zhengyu asked, "Tang Xiu, I know you have a lot of money, though I don't know how much. But you don't have enough, right? Also, this project is rather huge, so how much do you need to invest for the initial period? First of all, us being brothers aside, business is still business. The best I can do for you is by taking only the minimal earnings in the construction project, but I can't provide the funds for the advance payment. You already know that my Long family has nearly spent all our funds in the joint cooperation project."
Stretching out a finger, Tang Xiu lightly said, "I'll give you 10 billion in advance for you to manage. Contact me again when the money runs out."
Astounded, Long Zhengyu asked in astonishment, "Where did you get so much money from?"
"I bumped into some trouble in Hong Kong but also got an unexpected fortune. I won't tell you the details, though. In short, I can transfer you the money anytime, but you must guarantee the quality of the project," said Tang Xiu with a smile.
"Sure!" said Long Zhengyu solemnly.
"I won't have much time to stay and inspect the reconstruction of Nine Dragons Island. So if you also don't have much time, it's best to send your most trusted man to take the helm and stay there. Also, you don't need to worry about trouble since some of my men will be responsible for the security there," said Tang Xiu with a nod.
"Got it!" Long Zhengyu nodded.
Moments after, Tom Reggie and Mo Awen arrived.
"I'm really glad to know that you came back, Mr. Tang! By the way, this friend is…" Tom Reggie warmly shook hands with Tang Xiu as he then turned to look at Long Zhengyu.
Tang Xiu introduced, "He's a friend from my country. I especially called him here to discuss a business cooperation for a certain project. It's also exactly why I invited you to come since I'm going to ask you whether you're interested to earn some money from me."
"From you?" a puzzled expression appeared on Tom Reggie's face.
Tang Xiu explained the matter and then finally said, "You're a local tyrant here in Saipan, you can handle things more conveniently than Long Zhengyu. So if you wanna join us in this, you gotta make a decision now."
Shock suffused in Tom Reggie's eyes as he inquired, "But can you really… come up with more than 20 billion funds, Mr. Tang?"
"20 billion may be a huge sum of money, but it's not a problem for me. What I care about is the progress of the work and the quality. I can get the money as long as you have the ability," said Tang Xiu with a smile.
"That's all right." Tom Reggie nodded heavily, "I'm interested in this profitable project anyway. What's more, I'm doing a business with a big boss such as you, Mr. Tang. Anyways, Mr. Long, since this is Mr. Tang's project, do you have any ideas in mind for cooperation?"
"About the earning share issues, let's have a separate negotiation later," said Long Zhengyu.
"Alright!" Tom Reggie nodded and laughed.
"I don't want to know about the issues between the two of you, so you can discuss it between yourselves," said Tang Xiu. "In short, you just need to handle the project quality and its progress for me. By the way, do you both want to see the island I bought?"
"Certainly. Besides, we don't know the current situation on the island yet. So we can arrange the specific and concrete construction project after we have finished the fieldwork survey," said Long Zhengyu.
"How about now? This matter shouldn't be delayed, right?" asked Tang Xiu with a smile.
Long Zhengyu looked at Tom Reggie.
The latter had a difficult to describe expression as he said, "Would you please wait for a while, Mr. Tang? I have some important things I have yet to deal with. Give me half a day. After I have finished handling my matters we'll leave early in the morning tomorrow. Is that fine with you?"
"Alright then. I'll be resting here today!" said Tang Xiu with a smile.
Tom Reggie immediately said, "I'll arrange accommodations right away."
Waving his hand to him, Tang Xiu said, "I'll stay here. Long Zhengyu is one of us anyway, no need for the civilities. You can go busy yourself! Let's have dinner after you're done with your things."
"If so… I'll take my leave first."
With Tom Reggie leaving, Long Zhengyu squinted his eyes and said, "This Tom Reggie is not bad, Tang Xiu. Seemingly a straightforward man to me."
"If he has no boldness and resolution, how can he do a big business? Tom Reggie has an unusual identity and used to be a very fierce man. His mind and decision making abilities are good, so get along and speak openly about whatever you have in mind with him," said Tang Xiu with a smile.
"Relax! Besides, the most important thing in a cooperation is integrity and trust, which I can vouch for myself. Anyhow, have you contacted your family since you left Beijing? I heard from Ouyang Lulu that your paternal aunt was looking for you, but she couldn't contact you." Long Zhengyu laughed.
Paternal aunt?
Tang Min's face appeared in Tang Xiu's mind as he then shook his head and said, "I haven't contacted anyone. Aside from contacting several important people after I came abroad, I haven't called too many people. But, what did she contact me for?"
"I dunno," Long Zhengyu shook his head. "Call and ask Ouyang Lulu if you want to find out about it. Or you can call her directly."
Tang Xiu was silent for a moment as he nodded, "I'll contact her later. Let's go! I'll take you to a Thai massage. This place has a good one. That's right, I also made an acquaintance here, a very vigorous and heroic-spirited person as well as generous and loyal."
"Who?" asked Long Zhengyu.
"I don't know what he does since I didn't ask him." Tang Xiu shook his head and said, "But he should be a Big Boss, though. He called himself Old Fatty Li, so I called him likewise."
"Old Fatty Li?" astonishment covered Long Zhengyu's face. "Are you saying he's the Northeast Steel Magnate—Li Laoshan?"
"Yea, he seems to be called Li Laoshan," said Tang Xiu with a smile.
Raising his thumb up, Long Zhengyu exclaimed with a sigh, "Damn, I really didn't expect you would meet and make acquaintances with Li Laoshan here. That fella is a terrific guy, notoriously proud and haughty in the country. Unless you can fascinate him with your skill, otherwise he would have normally ignored you."
"Eh?" Surprised, Tang Xiu said in astonishment, "You mean… he's crazy?"