I Can See Your Combat Power
Chapter 1827 - 258: Not Respecting the Monk, But Respecting the Buddha

Chapter 1827: Chapter 258: Not Respecting the Monk, But Respecting the Buddha

"A better world cannot rely solely on warriors."

Mi Bai seriously explained to the people of Unparalleled City, "Artisans skilled in the Five Elements trades are the foundation of construction and development."

"Such people can be summoned or dismissed as long as there is sufficient force."

Du Ting frowned: "Just issue a task order through Wind Media—whatever number you need, you can get. Why waste effort opening institutions and schools?"

"The Great Elder makes a valid point."

The two other elders of the Du Family, standing on the same united front, immediately chimed in, "Currently, Red Cloud has already gathered elite craftsmen from the Seven Cities, but they remain stagnant and lack opportunities to utilize their skills. Opening more schools will only increase idle hands."

For clans that rely on sheer force to rise, it is incredibly difficult to persuade them to value craftsmanship. After all, in their eyes, artisans of the Five Elements trades are merely lowly people, candidates for servitude.

Knowing he couldn’t convince the others, Mi Bai chose to remain silent. Yet, his determination was evident as he issued a policy and personally visited notable local artisans in the city, inviting them to become instructors at the yet-to-be-completed academy.

For the majority of established artisans, receiving such an invitation was met with fear.

The reason was simple: their craftsmanship is their livelihood, and now they were being asked to hand it over to strangers, equivalent to digging out their roots.

Many artisans agreed outwardly, but they fled the city overnight with their families.

The guards at the posts did not stop them, merely sneering as they allowed passage, then passing along these occurrences to the city hall.

Any organization, no matter how healthy its development, always has internal divisions—even in Unparalleled City, differing voices abound.

Compared to Mi Bai, who landed as an outsider, the warriors of the guard force respected the Du Family’s three legislators more, as they fought valiantly in the frontline battles for Unparalleled City.

Thus, to many, this incident seemed like a power struggle between the old and new legislators. Though Mi Bai had the dean’s support, the Du Family’s three elders clearly had more public favor within the inner city of Unparalleled City.

To be blunt, had this invitation for artisans to take up instructor roles come from the trio of Du Ting and the others, those artisans would never have fled overnight.

But Mi Bai lacked that kind of prestige and trust, and was even seen by many artisans as a man intent on depriving them of their livelihood.

Such matters could hardly be explained, much less prevented. Mi Bai could only employ greater sincerity in inviting those elite artisans, but the results were meager—until he knocked on the door of Master Craftsman Ou Yu.

"Ou Yu was expecting Mr. Mi to knock on my door first, yet here you are as the last visitor."

Ou Yu, with graying temples, chuckled as he teased the visibly exhausted Mi Bai, "So it seems the Ou Clan’s craftwork isn’t worthy of Mr. Mi’s attention?"

"You overestimate my intention," Mi Bai replied, shaking his head. "The Ou Clan’s legacy runs deep and its rules are strict. Were it not out of desperation, I would never dare show up brazenly, putting the master craftsman in an awkward position."

"Hahahaha!"

Ou Yu laughed heartily. "Mr. Mi should have come earlier! I read the city hall’s proclamation and have stayed home these past days, waiting for your arrival!"

"Waiting for me?"

Mi Bai was stunned. In his mind, the Ou Clan should be the most resistant to Unparalleled City’s endeavors.

For Ou Yu, as the leading craftsman of the Ou Clan, to refrain from openly opposing the idea was already considered significant support.

After all, this policy encouraging the establishment of academies for the Five Elements trades fundamentally competed with the Ou Clan. As the bearer of their legacy, how could Ou Yu truly be pleased?

Nevertheless, this matter was for the greater good of all Xiehe. Even with the anticipation that Ou Yu might resent the effort, Mi Bai had resolved to proceed.

Yet in a twist, the supposed beneficiaries, the elite artisans, treated his invitation like poison, avoiding him like the plague, while Ou Yu—one ostensibly undermined by the policy—welcomed him with open arms.

Having weathered many storms, Ou Yu took one look at Mi Bai’s expression and immediately discerned his thoughts, clapping his hands as he laughed, "Mr. Mi must think that after reading the proclamation, this old man flew into a rage, accusing Unparalleled City of breaking alliances and burning bridges. If Mr. Mi thinks thus, then you underestimate the Ou Clan. The Ou Clan has a legacy of thousands of years, specializing in craftsmanship. If we lack even the magnanimity for this, how could we create peerless works?"

"Many matters are incomprehensible to those warriors, as they are not artisans and do not understand what artisans need most. But this old man understands what Mr. Mi intends to achieve. If this endeavor succeeds, Red Cloud Mountain will become Xiehe’s sacred land of craftsmanship. So long as the original intent persists, I dare to predict: within a hundred years, Xiehe artisans will all come from Unparalleled City!"

"I must ask Mr. Mi to answer this question truthfully!"

After a pause, Ou Yu stared directly at Mi Bai and asked solemnly, "Does this initiative come from that person’s directive, or is it Mr. Mi’s own decision?"

...

Dragon Continent Calendar, April 8, 1796

The departure of a large group of Tang Clan members from Chengzhou could not possibly go unnoticed.

In the current Xiehe, there were no naïve idealists under a banner of justice anymore—most chose to keep an eye on the movement and see what direction these Tang Clan members would take.

When it became clear they were heading straight to Longzhou, many could no longer sit back.

Among the most concerned were the He, Nong, and Liu families occupying Lingjiang’s Seven Cities, as well as the flourishing Da Lin Commerce Alliance and Bounty Guild.

Everyone could see that this return of Tang Clan members must be under the directive of the Void Grandmaster, and their destination was surely Red Cloud Mountain.

But Red Cloud Mountain was a small place—even if you included the entire North Mountain range, it couldn’t support a truly sustainable enterprise.

The Tang Clan needed a city—they needed at least one city. But who would yield one?

None of the three prominent families were willing to back down, but they had to consider the worst-case scenario, as Red Cloud Mountain’s current status was far from ordinary.

Time can dull all memories. Within just a few short years, people had already forgotten Longjiang’s floods and the Ghost Weeping Warship.

What continued to spread by word of mouth was how Unparalleled Academy stood for righteousness and had shown the path to cultivation for all.

The common folk had long since separated themselves from animosity—they could not relate to distant grievances but reaped direct benefits from Unparalleled Academy’s advancements.

Even more significant was the newly anointed king of Red Cloud—nowadays, even the most short-sighted noble family could see that this new ruler was publicly supporting Tang Luo. Otherwise, why choose Red Cloud Mountain instead of countless other sanctuaries to preach and teach?

The saying "Don’t just respect the monk, but the Buddha too" rang true. Even if the three major families refused to relinquish territory, they could not disregard the influence of this king.

Thus, the heads of the three great families, along with Ye Qingcang of Da Lin Commerce Alliance, convened in Chaochang in April to decide which city in Lingjiang should be ceded to the incoming Tang Clan members entering Longzhou’s borders.

But this negotiation was doomed to be painstaking—no one was willing to relinquish the prize they held. What should have been a swift resolution instead felt endlessly drawn out.