158: The situation is unpredictable and fraught with danger.

"They're finally gone!"

Zhang Sheng let out a long breath, his tense nerves relaxing slightly.

Su Tang's gaze fell on the spot where the red-haired man had dissipated, and she sighed softly, "A single wrong thought leads to death and the end of one's Dao. On the path of the Upper Realm, one truly cannot afford a single mistake."

She caught a glimpse of Zhang Sheng's furrowed brows and solemn expression. The corners of her lips curled up slightly, wearing the composure of someone who had seen it all before:

"Prefect Zhang, you'll get used to such scenes once you've seen more of them. In the future, when your hands are a bit more flush with funds, you might want to set up a Great Prefecture Protection Formation. It can save you a lot of trouble."

A Great Prefecture Protection Formation?

Zhang Sheng muttered to himself; it sounded quite profound.

But right now, the most pressing matter was that astronomical sum of spirit tax!

Sixteen hundred million a year! Thinking about how, after Earth was laid out, even the radiated ten thousand kilometers counted as Hua Prefecture territory, he felt this was a massive trap. Yet, he didn't even have the right to refuse.

"Thank you for the reminder, Shopkeeper Su." Zhang Sheng suppressed the irritation in his heart. "Regarding the placement of the shop, why don't we go take a look now?"

The three of them rose into the air and flew toward the direction of Huaxia.

Looking down at the city below, Su Tang suddenly spoke, her tone as flat as if she were discussing the weather: "Prefect Zhang, your prefecture's population is truly not small, and there are actually so many Divine Breath Realm Cultivators... Why don't you sell some Human slaves to me?"

"Human slaves?" Zhang Sheng's hair immediately stood on end. He turned his head sharply, his gaze as sharp as a blade.

"Shopkeeper Su, the citizens of my Hua Prefecture are not commodities! Do not mention the matter of buying and selling again!"

Su Tang wasn't surprised by his reaction. She merely said leisurely, "Prefect Zhang, don't be in a hurry. Hear me out first.

I'm offering fifteen hundred Spirit Crystals per person. That's a full five hundred higher than the tax-offset price from the Spirit Tax Division—one thousand Spirit Crystals per person.

If you are interested, you can find me at the Youyuan Chamber of Commerce at any time."

At this moment, the last shred of optimism in Zhang Sheng's heart was completely crushed.

This Upper Realm was a naked purgatory where the strong preyed on the weak, and humans ate humans!

In the eyes of the powerful, low-level Cultivators were no different from ants or livestock; they could be priced and traded at will.

To gain a foothold here, he had to hone the sharpest sword!

"Shopkeeper Su, the place chosen for you has arrived." Zhang Sheng suppressed his churning emotions, his voice returning to calm as he stopped responding to the topic of Human slaves.

Su Tang smiled slightly and did not press the issue. She landed with Zhang Sheng in Fu'an City, eight hundred kilometers away from Kyoto—the future external hub in Zhang Sheng's plan.

"This is it," Zhang Sheng introduced. "Fu'an is densely populated, and Hua Prefecture will build this into an external gateway in the future. What do you think, Shopkeeper Su?"

"The location is good." Su Tang nodded and instructed the two plain-clothed maidservants behind her, "Xiao Qing, Xiao He, begin."

"Yes!" The two maidservants responded and simultaneously pinched hand seals.

Buzz!

A powerful Spiritual Pressure spread out. On one side of the street, a magnificent ancient building covering ten thousand square meters rose from the ground out of thin air!

The nearby Hua Prefecture Cultivators were dumbfounded by this miraculous scene.

Zhang Sheng was secretly alarmed. Judging from this Spiritual Pressure, these two maidservants were actually both Divine Power Realm experts!

After entering the Upper Realm, he had maintained his Concealment God Technique at the level of '100 spirit suns,' which was roughly twice that of Song Xian's Clone.

The tone Su Tang used when she mentioned 'Perfected State' earlier made him realize that this Realm seemed to be of no small importance in the Upper Realm.

It seemed he would have to try his best to hide his capabilities in the future.

With a sweep of his Divine Sense, Zhang Sheng silently dispersed the onlookers.

He saw Xiao Qing and Xiao He take out several Formation Plates and drive them deep into the ground.

A pale blue light curtain rose instantly, enveloping the entire pavilion, before fading into invisibility.

It was clearly some kind of defensive or warning Formation.

Just then, a powerful and unfamiliar Divine Sense swept across like a searchlight!

Zhang Sheng's heart tightened, and he looked up toward the high sky.

Su Tang's voice rang out with a hint of amusement, "Prefect Zhang, look, the annoying fellow is here."

"Miss Su Tang, it's very impolite to slander others behind their backs!" A shrill voice pierced the air, and a green shadow arrived before them in the blink of an eye.

The newcomer had a sharp chin and monkey-like cheeks, with tiny eyes and an arrogant demeanor. His robes were embroidered with the same patterns of flowers, plants, and trees as the Spirit Tax Division and Azure Mist Guards.

"Are you the Prefect, Zhang Sheng?" the green-robed man said in a commanding, overbearing tone.

"Hurry up and find the best location for this shopkeeper!"

Su Tang's voice transmission sounded in Zhang Sheng's ear: "Song Yu of the Qinglan Chamber of Commerce."

Zhang Sheng's expression remained unchanged, neither humble nor arrogant. "Zhang Sheng, Prefect of Hua Prefecture, greets Shopkeeper Song. Fu'an is a major city of my Hua Prefecture. Wherever you take a fancy to, just say the word."

"Hmph, Lord Song Hao said you were a sensible one. It seems he wasn't lying; you've saved this shopkeeper a lot of trouble." Song Yu snorted with satisfaction and waved his sleeve. "Right there!"

A small palace model flew out from his sleeve, expanding rapidly as it met the wind, and crashed down onto the city's central plaza.

Zhang Sheng watched silently. Since it was a chamber of commerce, one more or less didn't matter.

The name 'Qinglan Chamber of Commerce' clearly showed it had a deep relationship with the official authorities of Qinglan Prefecture.

From beginning to end, Su Tang did not even look Song Yu in the eye.

Song Yu's eyes were sinister, yet he didn't dare to lash out at all.

That Su Tang could ignore Song Yu, who represented Qinglan Prefecture, showed how deep her background truly was.

Once the palace was set, Song Yu left behind a few shop assistants and vanished as a streak of green light.

"New Prefectures land in Qinglan Prefecture every day. This fellow Song Yu is certainly busy enough to never touch the ground," Su Tang commented casually.

"Is Miss Su Tang quite leisurely, then?" Zhang Sheng asked tentatively.

"Me... why don't you guess?" Su Tang broke into a smile and beckoned with her jade-like hand. Xiao Qing and Xiao He immediately stepped forward.

"Xiao Qing, Xiao He," she instructed solemnly, "From now on, in the territory of Hua Prefecture, follow all of Prefect Zhang's rules. If he has any needs, do your best to satisfy them."

Having witnessed Zhang Sheng's defensive methods, the two women naturally understood why their Young Miss treated him with such courtesy, and they hurriedly bowed in agreement.

"Prefect Zhang, I must head to other New Prefectures." Su Tang looked at Zhang Sheng, her eyes carrying a trace of imperceptible depth.

"A parting word of advice: the various forces of the Song Kingdom are intricately intertwined. One wrong step is a bottomless abyss. In your future actions, Prefect, you must think thrice before acting!"

Before her voice had even faded, she had already vanished into the horizon as a streak of light.

Zhang Sheng let out a very, very long breath of turbid air.

The first day in the Upper Realm! Every step was fraught with terror.

Every Cultivator he encountered seemed capable of easily crushing him to death.

The situation was treacherous, and danger lurked everywhere.

As for Bo Lu... it seemed that information about Hua Prefecture and himself had long been grasped clearly by the high-level officials of Qinglan Prefecture.

The urgent priority was to obtain intelligence on the outside world as quickly as possible, figure out the situation, and find a way for Hua Prefecture to survive in this Qinglan Prefecture!

He took out the two Jade Slips left by Su Tang and sank his Divine Sense into the first one.

Buzz!

A map so vast it was suffocating unfolded in his Sea of Consciousness—Qinglan Prefecture and its surrounding areas!

The details within Qinglan Prefecture were fairly thorough, while the surrounding Prefectures only had outlines and core prefectural cities.

Zhang Sheng gasped!

The vastness of Qinglan Prefecture was beyond imagination!

Where Hua Prefecture was located was merely its edge, adjacent to Luoxia Prefecture.

On the map, Hua Prefecture was as tiny as a sesame seed!

The entire Qinglan Prefecture was sparsely populated with vast stretches of wasteland and sand seas, with New Prefectures dotted throughout like isolated islands.

The nearest small human city was over a hundred thousand kilometers away!

And that Qinglan Prefectural City, located at the center of the map and symbolizing the core of power... was actually tens of millions of kilometers away from Hua Prefecture!