Please drop some monthly tickets and recommendation tickets…
The noise around them showed no signs of dying down. Yuan Wu endured it for a while before finally snapping, roaring: "All of you, shut up!"
The commotion fell silent in an instant, and every eye turned toward him. Yuan Wu swept a cold gaze across the crowd before gritting his teeth: "I know the general situation, but not all the details. Let me investigate first, and then I'll explain."
So saying, he picked up the spatial ring that Fu Qi had tossed him earlier and began carefully examining its contents.
Everyone stared at his reaction intently.
They watched as Yuan Wu's expression shifted — first shock, then delight, then a heavy scowl, cycling through several changes before settling back into that bitter, sour-faced look.
His large hand trembled, and he suddenly pulled something resembling a sheet of beast hide from the spatial ring, examining it closely. The instant his eyes fell upon it, he let out a low gasp.
The Emperor Realm cultivators crowding around him could no longer hold back — they surged forward in a pack, and the moment they saw what was on the beast-hide parchment, every one of them changed expression.
"What is this?"
"Looks like a palace."
"The scale is enormous."
"Hmm, it even seems like there are specific requirements for the building materials."
"What's that supposed to mean? Are they making us build a palace?"
"No way. Why would the Dragon Clan need a palace built? I've never heard of the Dragons having any use for that."
"My heavens, if this palace were actually built, I doubt there'd be a second one like it in the entire Star Boundary."
"Blue-gold bronze, ice-soul snow-jade, sky-crystal meteor sand… tsk tsk, those are all materials for forging Emperor Treasures! Are they really going to use them just to build a palace? Isn't that a bit much?"
Once they'd taken in what was on the beast-hide blueprint, the group of Emperor Realm cultivators could no longer maintain their composure — their faces changed one after another.
Those pressed to the outer edges, unable to see the blueprint clearly, had their eyes bugging out of their skulls, faces twitching with disbelief.
Blue-gold bronze? Ice-soul snow-jade? Sky-crystal meteor sand?
One jaw-dropping name after another crashed into them like thunder, leaving them momentarily stunned.
Although they had always lived on Dragon Island and had never interacted with the outside world, that didn't mean they couldn't recognize quality goods. Half-Dragon City had alchemists and artifact refiners in abundance, and Dragon Island was hardly lacking in cultivation materials — as long as they didn't venture into the Dragon Palace grounds, they could move freely throughout this small world.
So they understood perfectly well what those materials represented.
Every last one of them was extraordinarily rare artifact-refining material, any single variety worth a small fortune — and nearly impossible to find at that. For an Emperor Realm cultivator to get their hands on even a small amount could provide an enormous boost to their Emperor Treasure.
But now? According to what they'd just heard, these materials — so precious they were virtually extinct — were meant to be used to build a palace?
Was that really true? Doubt gnawed at every single one of them; none dared believe what they'd heard.
In an instant, all eyes converged on Yuan Wu, demanding an answer.
Yang Kai was somewhat surprised too. If it were really as described, then the scale of this undertaking was staggering — even a Great Emperor's sect couldn't pull off something like this. Could Dragon Island truly manage it?
Yuan Wu had been studying the beast-hide blueprint the entire time. After a long while, he finally rolled it up, swept his gaze across the crowd, let his dark eyes linger on Yang Kai for just a moment, and then announced in a ringing voice: "The Dragon Clan has given us an extremely arduous task!"
The moment those words left his mouth, the crowd exploded.
"No way!"
"They actually want us to build a palace?"
"And using those materials?"
"Building a palace wouldn't be the problem — we've got plenty of people here. No matter how big the palace is, we could finish it within a month. The real issue is those materials…"
"Exactly! Where are we supposed to find these materials? Without materials, how are we supposed to build anything? The Dragon Clan is trying to drive us to our deaths!"
"Shh! Keep your voice down! This is the Dragon Palace walls have ears…"
The crowd erupted into another round of heated discussion.
Yuan Wu's expression was as ugly as it could possibly get. He waited a good while before finally speaking again: "You're not wrong. The Dragon Clan wants us to build a palace — and an exceedingly grand and massive one at that. I just looked it over, and if this palace is completed, it will cover over a hundred mu of land."
A collective sharp intake of breath rippled through the crowd.
A hundred mu?
How big was this island to begin with? A hundred mu would take up nearly a tenth of the entire landmass. They had thought they had more than enough manpower, but the moment they heard the scale, every last one of them was dumbstruck.
What the hell kind of palace was this? This was practically a city!
Yuan Wu raised a finger and pointed directly at the center of the island, announcing: "The palace is to be situated right there. The Dragon Clan has already laid out most of the plans — all we need to do is follow the blueprint."
Sensing that the crowd was on the verge of another uproar, Yuan Wu pressed his palm downward and barked: "I know what all of you are worried about. It's the materials — well, Dragon Island has made preparations for that." He held the ring high above his head. "It's all in here."