The Immortal Cultivation World Is Too Dangerous: I Return to Earth as a Divine Sage
Chapter 6 - The Legendary Figure Zhao Qingzhi

Chapter 6: The Legendary Figure Zhao Qingzhi

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“Great Xia Wealth Rankings.”

“Tianhai Wealth Rankings.”

“Top Ten Families with a Thousand-Year Legacy.”

“The Most Influential Figures in Great Xia.”

After deciding to build a force on Earth to serve his needs, Ye Yang immediately began searching the browser for information on Great Xia’s tycoons, families, and influential figures.

Indeed, the method for the only cultivator on Earth to build a force was this simple and direct.

Ye Yang had no need to painstakingly create a force from scratch. For him, it was merely a matter of finding the force he wanted, applying a few tactics, and making that force serve him, effectively becoming his own.

Time passed in a flash.

On the computer screen, as Ye Yang searched, profiles of one prominent figure after another appeared before his eyes.

To be honest, as Ye Yang looked at these profiles, he couldn’t help but marvel at how drastically Great Xia had changed after the Kunlun Mirror altered the world’s background.

Before the world background changed, Great Xia would never have allowed so many powerful figures to exist. The state simply wouldn’t permit it. But after the world background update, numerous influential figures who would have been nearly impossible before had emerged.

Take a simple example: before the background change, no matter how powerful a family was, they had to bow to the state.

A single word from the state could topple a family with centuries or even a millennium of legacy.

But after the update, the most elite families could rival the imperial authority. Much like the Five Surnames and Seven Clans of the Tang Dynasty before the background change, even the imperial family had to rely on their power to govern the nation.

Unlike the Tang Dynasty, which relied on the scholars of the Five Surnames and Seven Clans to govern, allowing them to check imperial power, in Great Xia, these top-tier families genuinely possessed the strength to counter the throne.

The cities and provinces where these families resided were practically governed by them. Over centuries or even millennia of legacy, they had turned their territories into impenetrable fortresses.

Local officials were directly appointed by them, with only a formality of submitting an appointment decree to the imperial court afterward for appearances’ sake.

In essence, post-update Great Xia was a nation co-governed by the imperial family and various powerful families.

In other words, the imperial family was essentially the most powerful family among them.

From the browser information, Ye Yang also learned the specific hierarchy of families in the post-update world: Ten-year magnates, hundred-year notables, five-hundred-year clans, and thousand-year dynasties.

Of course, these rankings didn’t strictly require a force to endure for ten, a hundred, five hundred, or a thousand years to reach the corresponding level. The family hierarchy was merely a standard for assessing strength.

As long as a force met the corresponding criteria, it could directly ascend to the rank of magnate, notable, clan, or even dynasty.

However, in a world dominated by these families, it was nearly impossible for an ordinary person to rise from nothing and establish a notable, clan, or dynasty.

Notables and clans were somewhat achievable. Every few years or decades, new ones would emerge. But becoming a dynasty was ten or even dozens of times harder than becoming a notable or clan.

The key factor in becoming a dynasty was the ability to influence an entire province or even multiple provinces.

Much like Samsung in the pre-update world, where one’s life—from birth to death—was intertwined with it.

To become a dynasty in a short time, one needed to control a colossal entity capable of achieving such influence. Otherwise, one could only rely on the accumulated legacy of centuries or even a millennium to slowly ascend to dynasty status.

According to the browser, only one family had successfully risen to dynasty status in the past century. This family was located in Ye Yang’s current city, Tianhai City.

Tianhai City stood out in Great Xia, even considered second only to the imperial capital, precisely because of this family.

Tianhai City thrived because of this family.

The family’s name was the Zhao Family.

A century ago, the Zhao Family was, at best, a moderately wealthy magnate. But everything changed with the emergence of a man named Zhao Qingzhi.

In less than fifty years, Zhao Qingzhi led the Zhao Family, a mere magnate, to dynasty status.

On the list of the most influential figures in Great Xia over the past century, Zhao Qingzhi ranked ninth.

Those ranked above him were true titans.

At the very least, they were first-rank officials who reformed Great Xia’s systems. Higher still were the Emperor of Great Xia and figures like the Prime Minister.

For Zhao Qingzhi to rank among such people was undeniably formidable.

Zhao Qingzhi’s profile was indeed impressive.

His life story was like that of a protagonist in a novel about building a magnate empire, filled with legend.

A century ago, after Zhao Qingzhi took over the Zhao Family, it coincided with a booming foreign stock market. Zhao Qingzhi sold off all the family’s assets and ventured overseas to enter the stock market.

Once in the market, he was like a god of stocks. He never suffered a single loss.

In less than five years, he multiplied the Zhao Family’s wealth by over a thousand times. In terms of wealth alone, the Zhao Family’s fortune was already comparable to that of an ordinary dynasty.

But Great Xia’s dynasty system didn’t judge solely on wealth. Wealth alone could, at most, elevate a family to notable status; reaching clan status was incredibly difficult.

Zhao Qingzhi clearly recognized this.

Thus, after amassing sufficient wealth, he swiftly withdrew a large portion of it and pivoted to other industries.

In these new industries, Zhao Qingzhi was as if blessed by the heavens. He almost never incurred losses.

Whether in logistics, the emerging automotive industry, or electronics, the Zhao Family entered each at the perfect time, becoming a leader in every field. Due to its multifaceted development and lack of losses, the Zhao Family’s wealth grew exponentially.

In terms of wealth alone, fewer than ten dynasties in Great Xia could rival the Zhao Family.

This included the imperial family itself.

But, as mentioned, wealth alone wasn’t enough to qualify for dynasty status. So, as his wealth continued to grow, Zhao Qingzhi shifted focus to tangible industries.

Decades later, the Zhao Family’s enterprises practically dominated all of Tianhai.

Virtually all of Tianhai’s iconic buildings belonged to Zhao Family businesses.

Beyond Tianhai, the Zhao Family also had investments in numerous other regions. With their vast industrial influence, the Zhao Family successfully ascended, becoming the only family in centuries to rise from magnate to dynasty status.

“Time is the greatest enemy. For the elderly, even a minor cold can be a terminal illness. The legendary figure who single-handedly built the Zhao Family, 96-year-old Master Zhao, has contracted a cold and is beyond medical help. Zhao Family direct descendants are rushing back to Tianhai City to see Master Zhao one last time.”

“Superstar Zhao Ling’er’s identity exposed, suspected to be Master Zhao’s granddaughter.”

After reading Zhao Qingzhi’s profile, Ye Yang’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the related news under Zhao Qingzhi’s entry.